Hotel Surbhi Gwalior

... with knowledge and ready to go. I was buying the ticket instead of oscar. I worked my way to the front of the line and pushed with the best of them, 3 minutes later we were heading for the platform to catch the 2807 Samata express to Agra.
Once on the platform , it's just a case of waiting for the inevitably late train, trying to hear any platform changes over the hubub, saying no to beggers and dodging a rat or two ...

... the tombs of a king and a singer which were near by. Was allowed into the tomb of the singer, gave an offering and got a blessing. Maybe it'll help the old singing voice!

The day before I had tried to find a museum dedicated to Indian music but the tuk tuk driver dodnt know where it was. But today after help from the locals we were pointed in the right direction. This place (and the great people who I also met today) restored my faith in India - after hassles in ...

Gwailor is famous for its medieval fortress built upon a 7 km long mountain ridge. The fort changed hands many times over the centuries and has even been used as a prison. It played a major role during the Indian uprising against the British in 1857.It functioned as a fort from 1446 - 1516. There are several sub floors that were later used as a ...

... millions of people just running- Mayhem I might try and get to Nepal soon- as Gwalior is not for me- Everyone follows me everywhere, some just want to talk but it can become worrying. I don't think i will bother with the other cricket match- oh and one Indian tried to sell me his ticket when the stadium was full ,for 2500rupees(500normal) Does he think I'm stupid - it was useless to me even for 20cent.

... worried that our drunk friend from the bus would come looking for us, and we did not really want to talk to him anymore. The next morning we got up early and did some sightseeing (more on that later). We returned in the early afternoon for a quick nap. We go woken up by a call to our room. It was Amad, our drunk friend. He showed up at the hotel and they old him where we were. We told him we were packing and leaving and did not have time to see him. It took a while to ...

... collect 20 or 50 rupees a month and are able help each other to build toilets and are much more independent. We were told that life is more organised and all the children attend school because they don't have to collect water. The project is now just starting to work in another cluster of the slum and the self help groups are being formed. Our visit marked a huge celebration in the community, we were presented with gifts from the self help ...

... were well received by the audience. Finally, a video about the slums of Gwalior was shown to the group. The video was fantastic and really showed the slums as we had seen them earlier in the day. At the end of the meeting it was time for our final surprise, WaterAid asked if we would sing, expecting a performance of our signature turn (heads shoulders). Little did they know that we had secretly been ...

Woke up at 6am by traffic outside and dozed off till 7am when I turned on the TV to watch the Ashes only to see Ricky Ponting being interviewed and congratulated on winning the first test. Great. Received my hot water in a bucket and had breakfast in my room again before walking down the road to the Jai Villas Palace which is where the current local Maharaja, Scinida, lives. The palace is a bright white building in Italian/British style that was ...

... school children were being shown round so I used their light to navigate. It wasn't much fun in the dark so I left and went around some ruined buildings and other palaces. The British also used the fort during the 19th century and there's a large building that looks like it was built by us. I soon attracted the attention of a young boy of about 10 who tagged along with me trying to sell his postcards. I explained to him that postcards were a bit old ...

... had to stand around with our elbows out glaring at everyone in order to get ANYWHERE...End Aside,) I managed to book my ticket to Patna, which I discovered would take a delightful 18 hours. First class though, so it should be fine, right? Haha, young pataoine learner. After arriving back at the Hotel Sheela, I had the singular experience of throwing up in my hotel courtyard. The long awaited Delhi Belly had arrived. I ...