The road east

The journey from rajasthan to our target of darjeeling in the himalayas was more like a migration. An overnight bus from pushkar to agra, the day in agra, overnight train to lucknow, early morning flight to bagdogra via delhi. Yes a bit of a long winded arsed about and expensive way to get from one place to another but that was the most effective route taken. Lucknow was a bit of a shit hole in all fairness. Apart from some swanky government building it was pretty grim. After no sleep on the train the rickshaw touts were straight onto us and absolutely relentless. I was pretty close to windmilling them all down in a fit of rage. We ended up finding a decent homestay and chatting to a group if really interesting people who were residents there. Some were studying local languages, one american guy was employed cleaning up the nearby lakes on an industrial scale. I got some much needed rest in the afternoon then we ventured out to check out some if the famous kebab places and the market. After no food for a couple of days i was chomping at the bit for some meat, only the kebab was mushy and peppery. No idea how lonely planet rates the kebabs, it was pretty foul.

The next day we took our flight from the shabby lucknow airport and changed at the brand spanking terminal 3 at delhi airport. I take everything back about what said at dubai airport, this is heaven. Marks and spencers, wh smith, bland food options like subway and mcdonalds. Yes. A sausage and egg muffin was grim but scoffed with gay abandon, i also grabbed a tuna subway for the plane which i had been craving for weeks. The bombay mix diary was right at the back of my mind although i did spot a hallowed haldirams shop selling everything mix and non mix under the sun. Being ill and sick of indian food at the time i couldnt even set foot inside the place. Urgh i need to get better.

I was hoping to catch some amazing views on the plane but due to the heat and dust, the sky was set with a thick haze. So no views if the himalayas but we did follow the mighty ganges for many kilometres down its silty route through uttar pradesh.