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Jan. 14th, 2014 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hathycolMore India stuff! Contained herein is a bit of TMI - although with a bitter notice that IT WAS A LOT WORSE WHILE IT WAS HAPPENING - and the stuff that I did actually manage to do...
I left these updates at the end of the wedding reception. I had a dreadful night - sweating and freezing and everything in the middle. I got up for some breakfast, tried not to think about things too much, and caught another nap.
I have a dodgy stomach at the best of times and can quite often power through. Thinking it was no more than this, I decided to head out into Delhi and try and Be A Tourist. Iona had recommended the night previously to try the Metro, so we did. This was a mistake. Feeling distinctly queasy, we ended up getting off slightly early, but luckily somewhere I wanted to see anyway! So we spent a few hours at Khan Market. Richie got some jeans, and after a few cups of green tea I felt much more human and we continued with our plan to go to the Imperial for afternoon tea. The journey ended up being really stressful - I'm not great at navigating and there was people and noise and I did keep my promise to hug a London tourist map when I got back, that's all I'm saying - but the Imperial was lovely, a little haven of quiet and calm.
We ordered the tea and unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy it nearly as much as I wanted to, as I ended up feeling - and being - very ill. Same was true, unfortunately, on the Metro on the way back. Sorry again, Richie. And, er, the Delhi public transport system.
Ahem.
As this day was New Year's Eve, we spent the evening in the hotel. It was really sad to miss the organised New Year's Eve party, though probably for the best. We ordered room service which I ate some of them and then threw most of it up again oh dear. Still, a night of two hours sleep and a lot of time reading Jane Austen in the bathroom because it's quiet and still is quite good for the soul, I suppose?
The reason I didn't really go back to bed was so that I could get up with Katy, Euan, Tali and Anwar and go to the Taj Mahal. I was slightly afraid I was going to throw up over a historical landmark, but Tali loaned me some sickness tablets, I failed to eat anything all day, and we powered through. Hurrah!
I'm so, so, glad I went. We got up ridiculously early and stumbled our way to the car we had booked, and I promptly slept for the whole journey. I am reliably informed the journey was mostly a bit scary because of the horrendous fog. Still, we arrived into Agra and went to the Taj as the sun slowly started to burn through the clouds. We had unexpected tour guide and everything!
It was just... oh, it's so beautiful. I was afraid it would be a bit of a cliche but oh my goodness, I was overwhelmed. The gardens, the architecture, all of beautiful stones... oh, it was lovely. I think my favourite bit, weirdly, was the view from the back - looking over the Yunuma, eagles soaring overhead, the sun coming through. I didn't know anything about it before I left - exact words used by me were "wow, we were having a civil war and burning witches for shits and giggles when they were building this" - but oh my goodness. Definitely worth powering through for.
We got taken to a craft workshop - pushy sales! - where we learnt how some of the marble stuff at the Taj was made, before politely declining to buy very much. I did get two teeny elephants which are sitting on the mantelpiece now. Well, if you're going to do a thing...
The afternoon was less good, unfortunately. I was starting to flag, and Agra was horrendously busy. The Red Fort nearly made me lose patience and I did get quite shouty at touts. Shame, as the Red Fort was rather lovely in itself and there were some lovely moments when I just sat and looked out at the gardens. Ah well.
I slept all of the way back, and pretty much collapsed when we got back. I stayed collapsed for the next... er... well, this is where I started going fuzzy from lack of sugar etc. I was 'enjoying' dioralyte, etc, but that's really all I could do. Cried my eyes out in the middle of the night, whilst attempting to let Richie sleep. Ah well.
The next day Richie went out with Tali and Anwar, andI was very glad he did. I spent the day curled up in bed. I watched The Life of Pi, which was good! Plus, to make up for the scarf and bag I had ruined (victims of the Delhi Metro Incident) Richie got me a handbag with an ELEPHANT and MIRRORS and BELLS on, as well as two lovely pashminas. I was quite chuffed. You'll need to ask them about their day though - I understand it was fun, but again, I was mostly just sleeping.
This was because we were flying that night - well, at 6am the next day - and I needed to power through. I was quite poorly at this point, I think. The best description is 'hot snakes in the belly', combined with some lovely kidney pain and sores in my mouth. DEHYDRATION IS NOT FUN, KIDS, I DO NOT ADVISE IT. I slept as best as I could on the plane in the happy knowledge at least I was right at the front and right by the toilet...
And then we were home. Lovely Anwar was driving us back so got a vat of coffee whilst I phoned NHS Direct, and you all know the rest. Blah, blah, ill, liquid diet, etc.
So that was my visit to India! People have been asking me about it in work, and the best answer is generally '... a culture shock'. I have never been away from the West; I'm not very well travelled, I will be the first to admit. The furthest I'd been was America, and that doesn't really count, not culturally. I'm unbelieveably glad I went, mind you. The traffic, the occasional levels of quite shocking poverty (particularly in Agra) and the noise of the city was quite shocking to my mindset - since I've come back I listen to the silence and really enjoy it. But I liked that it was so different, though - I liked that the birds circling in the sky were so different, that the light filtered through the fog in a completely new way to me, and the people and the culture were different and yet similar to London, in a lot of ways. The terrifying but exhilerating tuk-tuk rides will be remembered for a long time, too...
Plus, it was really lovely to make some new friends. We spent a lot of time with Katy and Euan, who are friends of Shim - I was really glad to get to know then better, and we all ended up getting on really well. I also got to know other people better than I have previously, and that's a really good thing to do I feel.
When I first came back I was basically insensibly crying for my bed and some familiar food, but now I'm getting over the illness I'm able to think a little more about the overall experience. And as I said, I'm really glad I went and if someone can invent a way for me to not get ill every time I travel that would be lovely!
(And for anyone wondering about the tag for this posts - well, you need to see the Gap Yah video, in which a posh bloke goes to Tanzaniaaaaa and chunders everywaaaaah. We changed it to India. I laughed when not crying. Look, after you've been sick on your husband's best coat in public you need to take your laughs when you can get them.)
(Oh yes, and I am much on the mend. I'm still shattered quite a lot of time, but am back in work full time as long as you let me go to bed at about 9.30pm at the latest. Plus I'm eating again, which is bliss. Am listening to my body as well as I can and massively craving high calorie food more than usual, but it's all good. Hurrah for that.)
I left these updates at the end of the wedding reception. I had a dreadful night - sweating and freezing and everything in the middle. I got up for some breakfast, tried not to think about things too much, and caught another nap.
I have a dodgy stomach at the best of times and can quite often power through. Thinking it was no more than this, I decided to head out into Delhi and try and Be A Tourist. Iona had recommended the night previously to try the Metro, so we did. This was a mistake. Feeling distinctly queasy, we ended up getting off slightly early, but luckily somewhere I wanted to see anyway! So we spent a few hours at Khan Market. Richie got some jeans, and after a few cups of green tea I felt much more human and we continued with our plan to go to the Imperial for afternoon tea. The journey ended up being really stressful - I'm not great at navigating and there was people and noise and I did keep my promise to hug a London tourist map when I got back, that's all I'm saying - but the Imperial was lovely, a little haven of quiet and calm.
We ordered the tea and unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy it nearly as much as I wanted to, as I ended up feeling - and being - very ill. Same was true, unfortunately, on the Metro on the way back. Sorry again, Richie. And, er, the Delhi public transport system.
Ahem.
As this day was New Year's Eve, we spent the evening in the hotel. It was really sad to miss the organised New Year's Eve party, though probably for the best. We ordered room service which I ate some of them and then threw most of it up again oh dear. Still, a night of two hours sleep and a lot of time reading Jane Austen in the bathroom because it's quiet and still is quite good for the soul, I suppose?
The reason I didn't really go back to bed was so that I could get up with Katy, Euan, Tali and Anwar and go to the Taj Mahal. I was slightly afraid I was going to throw up over a historical landmark, but Tali loaned me some sickness tablets, I failed to eat anything all day, and we powered through. Hurrah!
I'm so, so, glad I went. We got up ridiculously early and stumbled our way to the car we had booked, and I promptly slept for the whole journey. I am reliably informed the journey was mostly a bit scary because of the horrendous fog. Still, we arrived into Agra and went to the Taj as the sun slowly started to burn through the clouds. We had unexpected tour guide and everything!
It was just... oh, it's so beautiful. I was afraid it would be a bit of a cliche but oh my goodness, I was overwhelmed. The gardens, the architecture, all of beautiful stones... oh, it was lovely. I think my favourite bit, weirdly, was the view from the back - looking over the Yunuma, eagles soaring overhead, the sun coming through. I didn't know anything about it before I left - exact words used by me were "wow, we were having a civil war and burning witches for shits and giggles when they were building this" - but oh my goodness. Definitely worth powering through for.
We got taken to a craft workshop - pushy sales! - where we learnt how some of the marble stuff at the Taj was made, before politely declining to buy very much. I did get two teeny elephants which are sitting on the mantelpiece now. Well, if you're going to do a thing...
The afternoon was less good, unfortunately. I was starting to flag, and Agra was horrendously busy. The Red Fort nearly made me lose patience and I did get quite shouty at touts. Shame, as the Red Fort was rather lovely in itself and there were some lovely moments when I just sat and looked out at the gardens. Ah well.
I slept all of the way back, and pretty much collapsed when we got back. I stayed collapsed for the next... er... well, this is where I started going fuzzy from lack of sugar etc. I was 'enjoying' dioralyte, etc, but that's really all I could do. Cried my eyes out in the middle of the night, whilst attempting to let Richie sleep. Ah well.
The next day Richie went out with Tali and Anwar, andI was very glad he did. I spent the day curled up in bed. I watched The Life of Pi, which was good! Plus, to make up for the scarf and bag I had ruined (victims of the Delhi Metro Incident) Richie got me a handbag with an ELEPHANT and MIRRORS and BELLS on, as well as two lovely pashminas. I was quite chuffed. You'll need to ask them about their day though - I understand it was fun, but again, I was mostly just sleeping.
This was because we were flying that night - well, at 6am the next day - and I needed to power through. I was quite poorly at this point, I think. The best description is 'hot snakes in the belly', combined with some lovely kidney pain and sores in my mouth. DEHYDRATION IS NOT FUN, KIDS, I DO NOT ADVISE IT. I slept as best as I could on the plane in the happy knowledge at least I was right at the front and right by the toilet...
And then we were home. Lovely Anwar was driving us back so got a vat of coffee whilst I phoned NHS Direct, and you all know the rest. Blah, blah, ill, liquid diet, etc.
So that was my visit to India! People have been asking me about it in work, and the best answer is generally '... a culture shock'. I have never been away from the West; I'm not very well travelled, I will be the first to admit. The furthest I'd been was America, and that doesn't really count, not culturally. I'm unbelieveably glad I went, mind you. The traffic, the occasional levels of quite shocking poverty (particularly in Agra) and the noise of the city was quite shocking to my mindset - since I've come back I listen to the silence and really enjoy it. But I liked that it was so different, though - I liked that the birds circling in the sky were so different, that the light filtered through the fog in a completely new way to me, and the people and the culture were different and yet similar to London, in a lot of ways. The terrifying but exhilerating tuk-tuk rides will be remembered for a long time, too...
Plus, it was really lovely to make some new friends. We spent a lot of time with Katy and Euan, who are friends of Shim - I was really glad to get to know then better, and we all ended up getting on really well. I also got to know other people better than I have previously, and that's a really good thing to do I feel.
When I first came back I was basically insensibly crying for my bed and some familiar food, but now I'm getting over the illness I'm able to think a little more about the overall experience. And as I said, I'm really glad I went and if someone can invent a way for me to not get ill every time I travel that would be lovely!
(And for anyone wondering about the tag for this posts - well, you need to see the Gap Yah video, in which a posh bloke goes to Tanzaniaaaaa and chunders everywaaaaah. We changed it to India. I laughed when not crying. Look, after you've been sick on your husband's best coat in public you need to take your laughs when you can get them.)
(Oh yes, and I am much on the mend. I'm still shattered quite a lot of time, but am back in work full time as long as you let me go to bed at about 9.30pm at the latest. Plus I'm eating again, which is bliss. Am listening to my body as well as I can and massively craving high calorie food more than usual, but it's all good. Hurrah for that.)
