Mark Dalton

Okay so Christmas 2007 was certainly different, but let’s start with the negative.

So I woke up Christmas eve about 05:00 with chronic stomach cramps and a bad dose of Delhi Belly. I managed to get back to sleep but was up and down all day. All I could stomach was water and even that was in small sips. By 22:00 that evening I was still feeling rough and had to bail on the party I was supposed to attend, not the way I wanted my Christmas to start but vowed if I was still rough Christmas Day I was going to the chemist and getting something that made me feel better, legal or otherwise.

I woke up Christmas day about 08:00 and wasn’t sure how I felt. I had slept all night and just felt hungry. I took a gamble and made myself some toast. It was only when I heard Christmas carols at full belt I remembered it was Christmas day. Now before arriving here I understood that the Christian faith was a minority faith in India, but I was surprised at how many people were celebrating, even if it wasn’t quite in the way I was used to. Silly really, if I had thought about it for one second I would have remembered how Indians love a good party and don’t need a reason, given a reason it just makes for a bigger party. I’m in!

I took a walk up to the local malls and you wouldn’t know it was Christmas, except the street vendors were selling Father Christmas hats instead of the normal tourist junk. Life was in full swing and it was then I decided I was better. I grabbed some fruit juice, milk, and bread and headed for home where I made myself a bacon sandwich and opened my Christmas stocking that Mum had sent me back with. I thought of opening the Christmas presents straight after but decided I need to keep the tradition so settled back and watched Christmas movies. At about 12:00 I decided it was lunch time and made myself a ham salad. After I finished I opened my Christmas gifts (

Thanks Everyone

). I then called Vikram and we re-organised the Christmas Eve Party.

Karan picked me up at 18:30 and we headed to Vikram’s place. I got the usual warm welcome at Vikrams place, the guard asked me 20 inane questions, I shrugged and quoted the apartment number, he tried to get me to sign in and I refused, he called Vikram and I headed for the elevator shouting back “I don’t understand”. Once inside we had a couple of beers, ordered some food, and headed for the local beer shop to stock up. Vikram took delivery of his new car on Sunday and I wanted a ride so we went for a 5 minute trip around the block, picked up some beer and headed back.

Later that evening we were joined by Vik’s friends and drank, ate, but mainly drank our way through the evening, only really stopping to put the train back on the tracks for the son of Vikram’s friends. It was a great evening and a better outcome that I had thought given how I had felt on Christmas Eve. I left about mid-night and had a lay-in on boxing day.

Boxing Day I woke up about 11:00 and went for a wander for a couple of hours. I couldn’t really be bothered doing anything else so went back to the apartment and chilled out listening to loud music, reading, and about 15:00 I gave in and opened a beer and started to think about what else I was going to do with the few days I had left. I had mentioned to Karan that I wanted to go to the Taj Mahal so called him up. After a little discussion we settled on a 06:00 pick up.

So this morning at 06:01 I was in the car heading for Agra. It was dark and cold and I wanted to go back to bed, but NO NO NO I told myself. I have been here since July and done nothing but work so I was doing this. About 20 minutes from Agra Karan woke me up….WOW what a dump!

We made our way through the car park barrier and were swamped with tout’s, vendors, Camels, and offers of an auto rickshaw ride. I could smell the camels as I got out of the car and opted for an auto rikshaw and the government guide. We drove the 35 seconds to the Taj (Doh first mistake) paid Rs 200 (£2.56), well over the odds, but then enjoyed a pretty good guided tour. The place is pretty impressive, although not as impressive as I was expecting. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting really but other people had told me a lot about it, so I guess I was expecting it to be bigger. It probably is if you look at the reasons for it being built, but it is difficult to appreciate the work that went into it, unless you have first hand knowledge of working with marble.

Anyway after about 2 hours the tour guide offered to show us how the marble inlay was done, and I was quite interested in seeing this (mistake number two). We headed out of a side gate into what was obviously a street of shops and the guide showed me to a little “government” shop. I smelt a rat as soon as I saw the benches in front of the counters and was asked to sit as they brought out a selection of there wares.

Now they were nice and I love marble so listened to the sales patter. They showed me plates, cups, jewelry boxes, and elephants but I got up and said I wanted to look around on my own. This confused them somewhat, but ass I had been suckered so was going to make the most of it. I made them more or less empty ever display case of something or other and inspected every inch. I finally settled on a set of six marble coasters with the Taj Mahal inlaid. They tried to push me further but I then said I changed my mind and wanted nothing. We eventually settled on the coasters.

Next stop was how they made the precious stones, and I saw this one coming. I walked in the shop and the guide stepped back outside. What he hadn’t realized is while paying for my coasters I had emptied my wallet of notes and credit cards into other pockets. The guy spent about 3 minutes getting boxes out of the display cases and I took my wallet out, making sure he could see its contents and asked what I could buy for Rs 150 (£1.92). He was *pissed*.

I left the shop and asked the guide to show us back to the car. We arrived back at the auto rickshaw and climbed aboard. 35 seconds later we were back at the car and the auto rickshaw driver was demanding another Rs 200. I told him I had already paid and walked away. Poor Karan then became the subject of there attention. They settled on Rs 50 from Karan, which I gave to him later and then told me they had booked me a table at the restaurant for a very special lunch. The guide was equally as pissed when I told them that Karan had already booked us a restaurant and we needed to leave to make the appointment. I guess I should of told Karan about this before hand, but he just went quiet and shrugged.

Now lesson number three was that I should have asked the guide how much before hand, but government guides are usually Rs 500 (£6.39) but he was demanding Rs 1000 (£12.78). I thought about arguing, but it’s not in my nature…..Okay so the rickshaw guy’s were gathering and the look on his face when I pulled out Rs 1000 from my other pocket was priceless after hearing the words exchanged between him and the precious stone seller.

Well I had learnt a few lessons, but I don’t think I came out cheated. In fact I think there were a few guys stood there at the end wondering exactly what had happened.

So we jumped in the car and headed back out into Agra. Did I mention it’s a dump? This time I was awake and Karan couldn’t stop laughing when a rickshaw driver hit him from behind depositing his customers on the ground and I yelled

20 POINTS

. We worked our way out heading for

. About half way Karan announced he was hungry and I realized I hadn’t eaten all day so way out of my depth I asked Karan to find a restaurant.

Now given my experiences on Christmas Eve I was a little hesitant when we pulled over into what I can only describe as a little chef without the elegance. I was surprised however when Karan barked something and we were shown into a side building that was just like a little chef (Plastic chairs, and patio tables included). The restaurant was full of other middle class indians all happily eating so I went for it. There were western dishes on the menu, but I have learnt these usually carry more risk as they are not quite sure what they are cooking or how to cook them so we settled on

and

. It wasn’t bad but I couldn’t live on it. The waiter then brought out another dish and set it down and stated it was complementary. Karan wasn’t sure and I could see it in his face. I asked him it was okay and he said he wasn’t sure. I said I would try it and then he said in a very authoritarian way that he would try it first. I could see he wasn’t comfortable. He tried one mouthful with Roti and didn’t look impressed. He took a mouthful of bottled water I had insisted on buying and said, “no it’s bad, old food!” Then started yelling at the lad that had set it down. There must have been something in it as the place went quiet and he cleared it away. Two lunches Rs 220 (£2.81), including a coke and bottled water. Time will tell if it was value for money I guess. We continued on to

.

We arrive in normal style, surrounded by touts but this time we were ready. I had told Karen

No Guides

. He didn’t quite understand the Internet but understood I could read about it. Mind you it didn’t stop the bastards trying. The funny thing was the official government guide started off at Rs 500 and dropped to Rs 100 as we got nearer. Karan and I both laughed when we were accosted by a young lad that could be no more than 7 who offered to be our guide for Rs 7 (£0.09). I gave him Rs 10 for making me smile, and no I still had my wallet as I walked away.

At the top of the steps we were approached yet again and Karan tried every trick in the book to get rid of him. It was when he told me that Karan wasn’t allowed in I bite and asked him if he could fly? He looked a little confused, so I explained if he spoke to me or Karan again I was going to throw him off the top of the stairs, funnily enough he gave up, mind you he did say goodbye as we left. Well I felt better, but won’t win any UN recognition awards.

We drove back and I feel shattered, but happy. I can now say Xmas 2007 I went to the Taj Mahal!

The photo’s can be found here if you haven’t clicked on the embedded pictures already,

Xmas 2007

,

Taj Mahal

,

Fatehpur Sikri

.

One of the hardest things about being away from home is missing out on those family occasions, but if nothing else distance makes you really appreciate friends and family.

So today is my fathers birthday and I couldn’t let it pass with out saying

Happy Birthday Dad

. I also can’t let it pass Dad without putting your mind at rest, and letting you know I have just taken the cork out of a nice bottle of Bushmills 16 year old Whiskey, and am toasting you while listening to the Pogues at full blast.

Dam the Neighbors….

Well this week has been quiet compared to the normal chaos, but that was to be expected really with the wind down in Europe this time of year. Monday night Vikram and I grabbed dinner and Friday night we enjoyed a few to many beers, but other than that I haven’t done that much apart from enjoying a few relaxing evenings in front of the TV. Saturday night me and my Windows support team went out for a long overdue meal at a restaurant called

S4

in Delhi’s

Defense Colony

. It was a chinese/thai menu and was very good. I forgot to take my camera with me so unfortunately there are no pictures,

Today I have taken it easy in anticipation of the parties ahead, but did manage to venture out and get my hair cut (Rs 50 / £0.062) and get some groceries in. Vikram will be on his own for Christmas so we intend on hitting a few bars and partying hard together, and no there will be no pictures. I am thankfully now off work until the 31st December so intend on getting out and about a bit, maybe even venturing down to Agra. Mum & Dad have now got there visa’s and will be out on the 24th Jan so I need to step up my game and check a few places out for them. Otherwise I intend on doing little other than relaxing.

I’ll try and post as I do stuff, but otherwise I really don’t have anything more. so it just remains to wish everybody a

very happy Christmas

.

Okay so I have been a little slack again with updating the blog, but let’s see if I can pick up where I left off last Sunday. Well the plan was to head off to the Red Fort in New Delhi so Laurence’s driver picked us all up at 13:00 but advised us that it was closed this time of year due to terrorist bombing incidents in the past. So we headed into Delhi anyway and just drove around to give Mark Leggo a sense of what it was all about. We then then headed for Khan market and did a little shopping in preparation for the cheese and wine party Laurence was hosting that evening. As soon as we entered the market we were stalked by a couple of shoe shine boys and just before we left Laurence relented and allowed them to clean his shoes (Rs 50/63p). Mark and I were then feeling hungry so we headed for Ansel’s Mall where we sat down to Pizza and a couple of beers. We then headed back towards Gurgaon and the local off-license to pick up some wine for the evening.

Sunday Evening Laurence, myself, Mark Leggo, Chris, Sandra, and Vikram meet up and enjoyed several bottles of wine and a collection of cheese and biscuits. Vikram had been partying the night before and excused himself early. He did look delicate. Now unfortunately the real purpose of the evening was uncovered early on as both Chris and I turned up with out MacBook Pro’s, and after sufficient cheese and wine started waxing lyrical about the virtues of Mac’s compared to PC’s. Chris had discovered a cool piece of software called

that allows you to share iTunes library’s. The only problem was I couldn’t get it to work. How frustrating. Well the party finally broke up about 00:30.

Monday we were joined by Jason Hamer and Simon Derry. They were both pretty tired and by the end of the day were struggling to stay awake. We headed to the Crown Plazza for a couple of beers and then they both headed for there respective rooms and a nights sleep.

Wednesday night we all met up (Myself, Mark Leggo, Laurence, Simon Derry, Chris, and Sandra) at the Galaxy Mall for dinner at a restaurant called Axis. The food was very good and everybody was able to catch up with events in the UK and compare views on India. Mark Leggo flew back on Thursday, and Simon and Laurence flew out early hours Friday morning. Friday night I had a few beers with Jason as he wasn’t due to fly out until early hours Saturday and didn’t intend on going to bed. I got back to my apartment about 21:30 and after a quick short hit the sack happy in the thought I didn’t have to get up early.

I woke up yesterday (Saturday) at about 11:00 still full of cold (I brought it back from the UK with me) and decided there and then I needed a R&R weekend. I was supposed to meet up with one of my teams that evening, but I was still tired and knew that I wouldn’t be good company so postponed it. I ended up laying on the sofa watching DVD’s all day (Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Office). The temperate has dropped to about 10 degree’s Celsius and I am feeling the cold, so I am laying on the sofa with the heater on high next to me wearing two pairs of socks and a jumper. I managed to speak to Mum & Dad via Skype and planned a video call for today.

So today I am feeling a little more together, but decided once again to take it easy. I got up about 10:00 and the ironing man turned up about 11:00 but that is as social as I have got and intend to be today, with the exception of my Skype call with Mum & Dad. I have managed to catch up on email and few person admin tasks, but otherwise this afternoon I intend to chill out with a book.

Next week is going to be be very busy with everybody trying to get things completed prior to the Christmas break, and I am on leave the week commencing the 24th so need to get as much done as possible if I am going to enjoy it. I was planning on getting away, but I have left things a little late so I think I will just try and explore Delhi a little more, especially Old Delhi, and then get out and about a bit in the new year.

Okay so tomorrow is one week since I returned from the UK and it has flown by, then again time does seem to move faster here. Wednesday night Mark Leggo and myself headed off to a restaurant called Earth and enjoyed a few beers, dinner, and generally caught up. Thursday was another quiet night, after work I went back to Laurence’s and we ordered Thai curries before heading home about 22:30 for some much needed shut eye. Friday was a really busy day and leaving the office at 18:30 we all needed a beer so Chris and I headed to Dine Estey, a local (Indian) Chinese restaurant, not to eat, but just because the bar is one of the cheapest around. Vikram joined us later for a drink and then had to head off to meet up with some other friends just as Laurence arrived. Sandra joined us later and I think by the end of the evening was the only sober one there.

Yesterday was “lay-in/sleep it off” day and I didn’t wake up until about 11:00. Mark Leggo and I headed into Delhi about 13:00 and visited the Indian National Railway museum. After spending a couple of hours looking around we had seen everything there was to see so jumped in the car and headed for Delhi. Karen took our to the Parliament building and then to India Gate (Photo’s available in the

gallery

). About 16:00 we headed back to Gurgaon so I could do some much needed shopping. I had pretty much run everything down before returning to the UK so needed everything. Mark made a very good basket carrier!

Once we had stocked up on the necessary items (we also bought food), we headed back to my apartment for a snack and a beer. We met up about 19:00 with Laurence and headed for a nice Italian restaurant creatively named “Italino” for dinner.

Today we are off to the Red Fort in Delhi and then depending on the time into Delhi itself to do some sightseeing (I’ll post some more pictures later). Tonight Laurence is hosting a Cheese and Wine party. Life in the fast lane!