The new house

Well, we have now moved. It was somewhat close to bedlam last Friday as we attempted to get all the stuff from the flat into the back of a van. I have to admit that 99% of it was my junk and the rest Keith's. Despite that he did most of the humphing of boxes. At lunchtime, when we hadn't had the call about the keys...I hate when things go wrong, we called the solicitor only to be told "well, there has been a bit of a problem", hmm, "so what do we do if we don't get the keys today?", "well, you can get compensation". Brilliant, compensation doesn't rebuild your bed or find the tv under 12 feet of stuff or look after a van full of gear overnight, does it...? Anyway we did what we could to move what we could to my brothers and then sat on the living room carpet waiting for some sign. I decided a little word in Ganesh's ear might be what we were missing - so had a little chat. And about 4 o'clock we got the call - the money had gone through and we could pick up the keys, hurray!

By the time we had gotten the keys it was after 5pm and we still had the prospect of getting all the stuff up the stairs. We were both knackered before we started but knew it had to be done. So off we went again. The sofa was as evil to get in as we imaged, we even managed to crack one of the pains of glass in the front door doing it - but its in. All of it and starting to look a bit more like home.

If have some before and after photos of the old and new house. To illustrate the new pad...

Old hall, new hall - a bit bigger

New bedroom, much, much bigger and huuuge wardrobes

Old kitchen, new kitchen, much smaller, boooo

Old living room, new living room, much bigger - hurray

Additional spare room, one or two bits of junk in....

Additional, grandly titled, study

I think the main difference, apart from the space is the rather less minimalist decor here. Never mind, we will sort that out with time. The kitchen is dreadful though - not built for a couple of cooks that's for sure.

Sibhon and Justin's Wedding

Well, yesterday was Siobhan and Justin's big day. Keith and I headed up to morning side and started with a drink in the Morning Glory pub before the service started at Morningside Parish Church. it was slated to start at 1 pm, but in true Siobhan form was somewhat late - 40 minutes late in fact. The organist had run out of songs to play and the natives were definitely getting restless. People were even seen leafing through the Bible to relieve the waiting - only the pictures though.

Eventually the bride arrived - looking gorgeous but very nervous. The ceremony was short but very sweet, singing All things bright and beautiful and Give me Joy in my heart (Sing Hosanna, sing hosanna, Sing Hosanna to the King of Kings!), off to sign the register and then back up the aisle as Mr. and Mrs.Way. It was a lovely day, sunny, warm and not to much of a breeze to whip up the boys kilts and the girls fancy dresses. There was much congratulations and tears and lots of fussing Aunties and people crowding for photos of the bride and then we all piled into coaches and headed off to South Queensferry for the reception.

The reception was held In Orocco Pier. A lovely venue with stunning views over the Forth Bridges and access to the beach, perfect for the lads to skim stones from. Champagne and strawberries were there to greet us, always a welcome sight and we all hung on the balcony for a while chatting and admiring the views. The piper heralded the arrival of the wedding party and we all said our congratulations and headed down to the reception suite. A room with a stunning view of the Forth and fabulously twinkly lights on the ceiling. The piper appeared again and the wedding party arrived, and Siobhan and Justin got straight down to cutting the cake. Then, just in time to soak up the alcohol dinner was served. Haggis to start, which everyone, even Keith loved, then sorbet, Beef Wellington and Chocolate pudding. Gorgeous. Everyone really loved the food. More wine, a top up of Champagne and then the speeches began. I have never seen so many big, butch blokes cry at a wedding! All the boys from Zimbabwe were in tears at one point or another (Justin is from Zimbabwe) and Justin's brothers speech was particularly heartfelt - and also funny. Even making us wait for it - in honour of the bride making him and his brother wait so long at the altar!

After dinner, the tables were cleared and the band set up. Everyone headed for the bar or stood on the balcony looking at the view and chatting. Soon the band was blasting out all the golden oldies and the dance floor was full. I have a sneaking suspicion that Mr and Mrs Way had been practicing for the first dance as there was much tricky foot work going on on the dance floor and I don't remember the boys from Zim having a reputation for being light on their feet... Everyone else then boogied away on the dance floor, yes, even Keith and the night just flew past. It was a really terrific day and I hope that the bride and groom have a fab time in Dubai and Mauritius (jealous, me, never, lol).

Well, I have been back in Scotland for nearly a week now. And it is great to be back. My last flight went well. Apart from some amazing turbulence which had me ready to barf (and I am a good flyer) and the disappearance of my luggage for 24 hours all went well. It was nice coming back and all my family being here. Mum and Dad were up for Owen's birthday so I spent lots of time with them. Even had the pleasure of looking out the window the first day back and seeing a wedding. A bit different from India...

I unpacked all my cases and then began repacking the whole house. I move a week today and so far it is going ok. Only minor hiccup is that with me having my picture part of my drivers licence stolen and Keith only having an old style licence we are struggling to hire a van - sure we will sort it out though. The living room is currently piled high with boxes, bags, suitcases and anything else I can find to stuff things in. I think moving the shoe collection will be a job in itself.

Off to a wedding tomorrow and then the festival kicks off on Sunday so lots to see and do. No excuses not to be busy. Going to see the Andy Warhol exhibition today at the Mound, they have covered the pillars with Soup Cans and it looks pretty cool. The picture shows how it was started but the cans cover the whole thing now. I like Edinburgh in the festival. Even this week it is bustling with people and has a really nice atmosphere. Its nice to walk around wide, litter free streets, which smell of fresh air and are warm but not so hot as to make you sweat like a sauna when your walking. In fact the weather has been really nice since I got back. Sunny, warm and just a light breeze - watch it rain next Friday when I am moving!

I guess I will need to rename my blog now, any suggestions? Edinburgh for Dummies? Will think on it whilst I continue my packing.

Monsoon hits Mumbai

Well, rain drops are definitely falling on my head. It has been raining for about a week now but yesterday lunchtime it started chucking hit down and then about seven it just went mad. I have never seen a white out caused by rain but there you had it. Amazing though it was it wasn't a great time to duck out to a restaurant, even a very good one. Soggy feet happened in about two seconds and all the taxi's now seem to have wet seats, not nice.
This morning I had planned to do all sorts but again it was slashing it down. A break in the weather appeared about 9:30 so I made a mad dash over to FabIndia (a store specialising in hand made cotton and linen bits). The doors were shut but luckily the manager turned up a few minutes later and let me in. I headed for the back stairs (all the house linens are up there) and found a small river running down them. I presumed that would be that, but know, the Indians know a thing or too about rain and they simply opened up the delivery stairs and let me in that way. Meanwhile a team got on with mops and cleared up the mess.
90 mins of hard shopping later I hopped back in a taxi and headed back to the Hilton. So far it has continued to rain on and off all afternoon, but not so heavily. Its a bit miserable being stuck in the hotel all day. I keep thinking I hear a small boy on a tricycle cycling down the hall....
This will be my last few weeks here in Mumbai and it is a shame its so difficult to get out and about. The trains are not running as normal, planes are being diverted out of the state and walking is not fun - if not at times dangerous.
I am spending my time now gathering up all the things I want to bring back with me. I am trying to think why I didn't start bringing more stuff back sooner, not sure if I will fit it all in! I guess that much of my panic buying stems from acquiring a new, bigger house back home and suddenly realising the value for money in things such as sheets and curtains, sad I know. I also have my eye on a big wooden Ganesh with I think may crack the luggage allowance. Let's hope that will squeeze onto my little rucksack as carry on. At least though I have everyone's Christmas and Birthday presents bought for this year, how organised is that?

Agra Cadabra - Part 2

After a hectic morning at the Taj Mahal and the general hecticness of the journey so far we decided to spend the rest of the day chilling out. We had a spa appointment at four so could spend a good few hours relaxing. We lay around the pool, sipping drinks and munching on rather excellent club sandwiches. The pool was great, set at the bottom of a "valley" , steps leading up either side to little pavilions. One end was overhung with the balcony above and under it the water lapped right up to the pool edge, which featured gold paintings of Ganesh and Chaise Lounges to chill on. We played around in the water for ages (maybe a little too long, I got rather pink) and put up with the racket from a bunch of South Africans who seemed to feel everyone was interested in their loud chatter and bad manners. The British, French and Germans did not look amused. All over the surface of the pool were massive bright dragonflies. Pink, blue, green, all picking off tiny insects from the surface of the pool. Fantastic.

At 4pm we headed up to the spa. The treatment room was on the 4th floor overlooking the Taj Mahal and was set up for two people. There was a massage bed for each of us and a large clawfoot bath in front of the window. We started by completing an application which assessed our Ayurvedic balance - this would determine the oils used on us. Next came a foot bath and a very fetching little pair of paper pants! Lying down on our beds we were smeared with a honey mixture and then massaged with a muslin bag filled with fine wheat. With my eyes closed it felt very odd. The wheat bag felt like a big, rough tongue licking you - kind of like a cow - but it was very nice. Water the mixture was smelt sweet and creamy and was very warm, once wrapped in a towel I quickly drifted off to a lovely sleep. After a while we were peeled out of our towels and sent for a shower (there was a large walk in shower room in the treatment room), a good rinse and then out to get our hair oiled. The came part two - the oil massage. Lying on our fronts we were given a very long, smooth massage with oils selected for our Veda's. Starting with your back and then working on long strokes from foot to hand via your back and then down again. Very gentle and relaxing, hardly any pressure. We were then flipped over and the same lovely experience was repeated and then we got a facial massage as well, before they finished off our head massage - I was nearly unconscious with relaxation, lol. Next we were dumped in to the steam room for ten minutes to sweat out the oil and then we were each given a bowl of green goo and we used this to scrub ourselves down with. Finally, as if it hadn't been enough already, we got to step into our milk and rose petal bath. Warm milk covered in fresh rose petals, we relaxed whilst sipping our herbal tea and gazing at the Taj Mahal - wow!

Agra cadabra - Part 1

The first place we stop in Agra is Fatepur Sikri. It is a ghost town on top of a hill which was the capital of the Moghul Empire until 1585. The Emperor Akbar built this stunning city, unfortunately in an area with a water shortage and shortly after he died it was abandoned. There is a large palace compound and a Jama Masjid (Mosque complex) inside which is white marble tomb. You tie a red string into the marble lattice work and walk around the tomb in a clockwise motion - then your wishes will come true - so they say. Inside the main palace complex is a Diwan-i-Khas, house of private audience (see left), it has a spectacularly carved central column (see right) which supports four stone bridges going to each corner of the room. Akbar stood in the middle and the scholars of different religions stood at each corner and debated religion with him. There is also a Palace of the Winds, behind the lattice work of which the ladies watched court life without being seen. I am not sure if Maryam, Akbars' Christian wife got up to the same tricks in the Palace of the Christian wife, a truly gilded palace. A huge stable housed 200 elephants, horses and camels - there is a tomb in the grounds for his favorite elephant. Akbar was a very wise ruler and believed in Peace for All, however he was also a bit of a lad. He appeared to have a hide and seek house, where he played with the ladies of the harem. There was also a Parchisi courtyard, set out like a giant game board but the cheeky chap used to use slave girls for game pieces. There was also a very large Hammam (Bath house) and I have a feeling he didn't just get in there with his rubber duckie...

By the time we left Fatepur (and some of the most persistent touts we had come across on the whole journey) it was getting dark and as we headed the last 40ks to Agra it turned black. The drive into Agra was a huge disappointment. It is a dirty, grotty city. Very built up, not at all the romantic image we were expecting. The hotel however was stunning. The entrance was a set of marble walkways over small ponds (right), in the centre of which, during the day, a Indian flute player sat and added a little magic to the place. Inside you step into a huge golden domed reception area where we escorted to our room from. We were on the 3rd floor and facing straight onto the Taj Mahal (why is it not floodlit?)and down below was a beautiful pool and gardens. The pool was open 24 hours so we went down to take a dip. Partly covered by a pillared gallery the pool is surrounded by steps leading up to pavilions and gardens. As we swam bats swooped down and picked insects of the surface of the water, how cool!

The next morning we were up at 5am to watch the sun rise over the Taj Mahal. It was an awesome view from our balcony - just a shame about the view into the local woods, just beyond the gardens, which was punctuated with little nudy Indian bums pooping! We breakfasted in the room and then headed out to explore the Taj further. Down at the gate they called us up a little golf cart. Now, I had read about these and thought "good grief, how lazy are western tourists" but in actual fact what it did was whiz you past all the hawkers and tatt sellers in the route down. We were dropped at the vehicle boundary and escorted by a security card to the entrance (never found out why we needed him, not exactly a problem) got our tickets and headed into the main Taj compound. The first thing you pass is the little Muslim school rooms which now lay empty. Turn right and you are at the gateway into the main gardens (see left) - looking through you can see the white marble of the Taj Mahal. You walk through and see that famous scene, with the Taj reflected in the water . On each opposing sides of the Taj is a mosque and a fake mosque (it doesn't face Mecca) and everything else follows this symmetry. We walked around the red stone mosque (my god the ground was hot kept having to jump to marble bits) and then around the back of the Taj where you can see the river and the weather station which monitors the air pollution (which is pretty bad there). Back around the front and inside the main tomb which is very busy and horrifically noisy. When do tombs stop being solemn places and start being entertainment zones? When does death become a day out? Back outside we sat in a cool, shady marble corner and watched the crowds. There was all nationalities there Indian, Japanese, German, Americans, Brits and a few other indistinguishable. We headed around the gardens and the chap who had taken some pictures of us on the way in brought over our snaps- very good ones too. We look around an architecture exhibit and then called it a day, it was just too busy. We decided to make a bet on the hawkers, I went for 12 offers of crap, Keith 15 - he won with 18 offers of hats, rickshaws and Taj Mahal key rings. The prize was making it back to the hotel.....

The Office Pooja

A break from the travel stories today - will continue though, don't fret.

We moved to our new office this week in Mital Towers, about another 5 mins walk from the old office - which doesn't sound a lot but come the monsoon could me the difference between soaked and drowned rat! We are up on the 8th floor now and my desk is in an area beside the pantry along with the rest of the servicing and finance teams.

Before we could use the office we had to have a Pooja, this is where the holy man comes in and performs a ritual. We used two deities, Ganesh ( remover of obstacles and keeper of knowledge) and a Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) and various acts were performed. They were washed, rinsed, fed, covered in flowers and then chanted over. Candles were lit to represent the fire and incense wafted around the office. The holy man did a lot of chanting but all I really picked up was "Ohm Ganesh" and "Ohm Laxmi". At the end we took in in turn to waive a candle clockwise over the deities and then bless ourselves with the fire. It lasted about half an hour in all and certainly gave a sense of occasion to our office move!

We have settled in nicely to the new office now - which boasts a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and a panini toaster. Which meant on Friday we all had a feast of cheese, ham and bean toasties. Hurray! Now I know for most of you that is so dull its unbelievable but too a bunch of guys who live on Paratha, Biriani, pav vada and naan this was a true treat. Its amazing the things you miss when you are a long way from home......

You say Dausa I say Dosa

We relaxed by the pool in the morning before picking up Sham and heading off to Agra. He is a lovely chap and a bloody good driver, always pointing things out and helping me with my Hindi. We were ripping along at a good pace when we were stopped by a level crossing in a little place called Dausa (pronounced Dosa, like the Indian pancake). Stuck in traffic front and back we were forced to just sit and wait. After a while curiosity got the better of me and I got out to take a picture of a camel. That drew a little crowd, not for the camel, for me! All the tourists normally bypass Dausa but we had gone through to get a chemist. We were a total novelty. We took pictures of camels, tuc tuc's and kids - and they begged us to take more. Keith made friends with the owner of the camel and the schoolgirls flocked around me. No one asked for money, food or anything - they just wanted to look. After an age (well an hour) the traffic moved a little, and then stopped again. But we had enough room to do a U turn and back track to the bypass. The rest of the journey was back to barren scrub and agricultural land, the colours not from the land but from the people. The bright pink and yellow saris, the elaborately painted trucks and the camel trains. Tractors groaned under the weight of heavily overloaded wheat sacks, spilling over front, back and sides. Peacocks and peahens filled the fields and monkeys run around wild at the roadsides. No flowers, few trees, just a tonne of cars, motorbikes, bicycles, tractors and camels and a very long, very flat stretch of tarmac - all the way to the busy city of Agra.

Jaipur City

Sham picked us up after breakfast and we headed up to the Amber Fort. You drive up through a mountain pass to get to it and as your round the bend you see it, magnificent in the morning sun. High above the bone dry valley a parade of elephants makes it way up the front of the fort, carrying tourists to the main building. Unfortunately we were to late to get a ride on an eleflump (they finish at 9am) and we had to take the back road up in the car. Inside we found the remains of a once splendid fort - now rather gone to rack and ruin. It was teaming with tourists and apart from the main entry gate and a few pavilions it looked pretty shabby - still an awesome sight though. We looked around the various rooms but many had gone past there best and the pressure of so many bloody white people was getting to us so we beat a retreat and headed to the main town.

Next stop was the City Palace. You enter the main gate, painted beautiful colours and into the centre of the walled city. We buy a ticket come postcard from the main desk and Sham went off to park the car. Through another splendid gate and into the first courtyard. Here a central building houses (the old Welcome Palace) the textile museum - hundreds of brilliant costumes and fabrics, worn by the Maharajahs and Maharanis are displayed in cases. Everything from elaborate wedding outfits to the Maharajah's billiards costume and polo outfits.

In the Maharani's Palace was the weapons museum - an amazing collection of guns (shot, flint lock and camel mounted) knifes (daggers, huge 25kg scimitars and ladies knifes with ivory and jade handles), shields made of rhino and crocodile skin and a very cool night polo ball ( ladies could not been seen during the day so played polo at night, the ball was an iron filigree cage, in which a gyroscopic mount sat with a candle on it, when lit the ladies could bat it around in the dark, play their game and keep their modesty - very clever). A guide took as around, pointing out all the artifacts, metal back scratches for the men, ivory for the more delicate ladies and swords so flexible you could hide them in your belt.

Another magnificent gateway and we moved though to the main palace square, straight in front was an elaborate pillared hall were the Maharajah entertained his guests. Inside sat two huge silver vessels, the biggest ever items made of a single piece of silver and use to carry Ganges water to the UK for the Maharajah who didn't trust our water supply! Look up and you see a yellow building atop the red. This is the reigning Maharajah's palace, the Maharajah, Maharani and Maharajah junior all live in here. We looked through the transport museum, housed in the old stables. Old fashioned cars and elephant carriages filled the old stables. There was also an art gallery, filled with not only pictures but 17th carpets and books written in Sanskrit, Arabic in Hindi.

I had a brief look around the observatory next door but Keith wasn't feeling too well so after a short stop for a shop we headed to the Palace of the Winds, which is more of a photo opp than a visitor attraction. Although the shop keepers took advantage of my being on the pavement and tried to flog me everything from pots to saris. We headed back to the hotel for lunch were we received the most mediocre room service imaginable. I went to the pool and Keith took a nap. He felt no better later so we stayed in the room and watched DVDs and after such a poor lunch stuck to apples for dinner.

Delhi to Jaipur - The desert trail

Sham - our driver, turns up with a six seater people carrier bang on time outside the Imperial. Its a great car for the long distances, reclining seats, air-con, and a thoroughly lovely driver who has good English. We start a fairly uneventful drive from Delhi to Jaipur along a surprisingly well made road. As we leave Delhi we see a huge statue of Shiva. Once we leave the outskirts and have passed through the industrial town of Gurgaon there is mostly arable land with tractors, camels and women hard at work in the fields. Camels pull all the waggons here, no horses or bullock carts. It takes about 5 and a half hours to get to Jaipur and the landscape is fairly dull, desert scrub land, the hotel is not in the centre of Jaipur but about 8ks outside so we head straight there, dismiss Sham for the day and check out our next two nights home.

The entrance is certainly grand and we walk up a waterfall lined staircase (picture left) and through a huge wooden door where we are welcomed with a tika on our forehead and a seat. We are shown the facilities on our walk to our tent (yes, tent), the bar, shops, dinning areas (indoor and out), through another huge wooden door and into the main grounds (picutre right). Wow. There is a huge garden, the air is perfumed with mogra (like jasmine) and peacocks strut around the immaculate lawns. We view the pool, complete with stone elephant water jets and the Temple to Lord Shiva which sits in its own lilly pond. And then we see our tented villa - solid walls with a canvas roof entered via french doors. The floor is solid teak and the air con makes it cool. The front area contains a large bed, desk, tv and dvd cabinet, two chairs and two tables - all in teak. Through a curtained partition is the bathroom - freestanding bath, separate shower, toilet, 2 wash hand basins and a door to our back veranda, complete with

2 chaise lounges. All around the bedroom are french doors - beautiful cream blinds embroidered with gold elephants cover them. Look up and the canvas is embroidered with gold, red and tiny mirrors in Rajistani patterns. Outside the bedroom is a dining area and small flower filled garden.

Before dinner we take a turn around the grounds. Taking it slowly as it was still madly hot we looked at mango trees, bottle brushes, peacocks, monkeys and lots of birds and squirrels. We visit the temple and the priest says a pooja and marks our foreheads. We then head to the library bar for cocktails and a look at the books. It was a splendid room (picture left) filled with heavy furniture and wood paneling, lots of old books and board games (Keith refused a game of Scrabble). Keith had a whisky sour and I tried a drink with Gin, lime and a local herbal syrup called Khos, made from a root. Very interesting. Dinner was good. Served in the courtyard, incense wafting over the balcony, live Indian music playing. Keith started with soft shell crab cakes and then had lamb cooked in yoghurt - a very Rajisthani dish, they rely heavily on dairy and chickpeas here in Rajistan. I couldn't decide so went for the Rajistani Thali. First up was chicken cooked in the Tandoor; succulent and spicy, then rice, Rajistani bread (made with gram flour), Chicken with sweetcorn, a sour and citris fish dish, sun dried berries and bark and a sumptuous 5 lentil dhal. My Gulab Jamon with fresh fruit was donated to Keith for want of tummy space. There was a short burst of Rajistani dancing (girl spun like a whirling dervish with bells on) and then we succumbed

to the heated and headed back to our tent. We had the historic city of Jaipur to explore tomorrow and poured over our rough Guide to check out the best spots. We figured we would start early at the Amber (you pronounce it Amer) Fort and beat the crowds. So another early night. What a couple of party animals!