Avp Guest House Noida

... to head to the airport for our next stop - Delhi, about a two hour flight. We were thrilled when we got there because the temperature was about 75; a welcome change from Mumbai. Kip and I were comfortable in cotton shirts, but almost everyone else was wearing sweaters and jackets. We got a pre-paid taxi, the only way to go around in this city known for cheating tourists, then ...

... so we stopped and had some food in a local restaurant which cost us less than a pound for 2 meals and 2 drinks, the food was great too. Then we realised we had walked in a huge circle as we were right back were we started and Pahargani was literally across the road from the train station haha!

We found a hotel which was recommended in Lonely planet but it was quite expensive about a fiver and the room was really basic and the bathroom rank ...

... pretty early again and had ample time to try a lot of the food. There were guys walking around with appetizers and drinks as well as a fruit station, a paan station, and even a stand with different types of popular street foods. The hotel's manager noticed us and decided to be our tour guide through the different stations. Everything tasted so good, but I quickly found myself full and in need of a break.

Once again, many Indian people wanted to talk to ...

... walked for 14 kilometres. Gajendra had already reached there with the ration and had prepared the food and the adrak wala tea. This was badly needed. Everyone just sat outside the premises and had the Rice and Daal with the large cup of tea. It was a treat. The weather was cool. The eyes were relinquished with the sight of mountains, rivers, streams and the village Osla. The earlier route was through the village Osla but for the last ...

... but he spoke such broken English that we could not really understand him, so we just followed him where he went and nodded our heads. After about five minutes of this, we realized what he actually wanted was money and when we didn't give him the exact amount that he quoted for his five minutes of hard work, he made a big scene and we became laughing stock for nearby children. We left him awkwardly and discovered that we could climb the minaret ...

... not want to get a guide but wound up with one half way through. He showed us around and we learned that the first language in India even before sanskrit was "pali". It was all very fun. We tried to get some homework done but did not get very far. We went out to dinner to "Punjabi by nature". I had eaten the appetizers thinking that was the main course and when the main course came I couldn't eat very much. WE ...

... a valuable lesson about bartering in the taxi on the way here, we paid a ridiculous price but we won't be doing that again! We meet up with the tour tomorrow and hopefully that will give us a chance to be more adventurous as we may not be so petrified when we have a guide and some other tourists with us. Anyways, since there is one computer in this hotel and its first come first serve there are people watching me type and waiting for me to finish but I will send another message ASAP!

... we must. Imagine one billion people and everyone traveling by train, the system can get pretty impacted. With our guide book, we begin the process of figuring out which places we want to visit and then eliminated at least half of them based on inconvenient locations, value and time. It's tough because his country is massive and full of history. The back and forth conversations are excruciating. Will our experience here be the same without seeing ...

... curve but fortunately, aside from a few bruises there was no harm done. The bike is challenging to manage because with me, Kaarin, and all our stuff we're carrying far more weight than the bike was really designed for. Fortunately the average travel speed is 20-30 mph so as long as we don't slam into the front of a truck or fly off the side of a cliff or something, we should be just fine. Getting out ...

... that was available there. Auli is a very famous skiing destination in the winters and has 180 degree Himalayan view repute. I decided to take the rope rail, which was horribly expensive (Rs 400 both ways), it was supposed to be the second highest rope way in Asia (with the one at Gulmarg - Jammu and Kashmir being the highest). As I spoke to the operator in the cabin, I got to know about how Auli was a natural skiing slope and it took almost 11 years to build the ...