In transit to Agra.

11.10.11

We got to Bangalore around 6.30am in the morning. We had been told that to get to the airport was very expensive by taxi and that Bangalore itself was very spread-out with not alot to see so we'd decided to go straight to airport to wait for a flight to Delhi this evening. So we were in no rush! We had a horrible breakfast in the station and then made our way to the huge bus station across the road to get a shuttle bus to airport.

We actually had quite a pleasant day at the airport, reading and having coffee etc until our flight at 5.45pm. Although they had some pretty ridiculous security systems. Men and women have to get in separate queues then they insist you put a baggage label on each item of hand-luggage, but aren't interested in you filling the label out. The idea is they stamp it to say your hand-luggage has gone through security. Fool proof! However Martin hadn't realised the purpose of this and they hadn't stamped his label. So when we got to the gate to board the plane

they wouldn't let him on. So they made hime go all the way back through security! How you could have got in to the departure lounge without your bagage being x-rayed I don't know but there you go!

It was then a brief 2.5 hour flight to Delhi, which seemed pretty painless after the journeys we had already done especially the miles we would have to do by train.

In Delhi we decided to head to the train station we would be leaving from the next morning and we had been told there were loads of places to stay there. They weren't wrong! however the area around Nizamuddin station was carnage! there were rickshaws parked anywhere and everywhere. It was extremely dirty (which is saying something for India), flied everywhere. By this time it was 10pm so we had no real choice, but we didn't feel particularly comfortable or safe. Anyway we found a room. It wasn't nice, it was up loads of floors

and was really quite dirty and he wanted 700R for it - no way. We knocked him down to 400R, which was still ridiculous compared to some of the nice rooms we stayed in, but we knew we were just sleeping then leaving. Then the cheeky bugger wanted us to go and pay for him to photocopy our passports! We told him where to go!

So unfortunately neither of us slept very well particuarly as there was a powercut for hours during the night so there was no fan and it was so noisy with continuous beeping from the rickshaws. So poor Martin woke up in this s**t hole for his birthday! And I woke up covered in insect bites again!