Sensory Overload

(The Ghats of Varanasi and the Taj Mahal in Agra).
After Varanasi Dave and I bolted to Agra, a tiresome 12 hour journey. A room with a view of the Taj Mahal was just what we needed. The Taj Mahal is every bit as impressive as you expect it to be, you can't help but admire it quietly for a few hours. By this point we were both feeling a bit better, but still hadn't quite kicked our Delhi-belly.

(Dave and our goat friends at Amber Fort in Jaipur).
Jaipur was the next stop and well worth the trip. Driving from the train station to the hotel we saw the usual slew of cows, goats etc. walking down major highways and roadways. But now added to the mix were camels, long-tailed , elephants and donkeys. We visited several tourist sites in Jaipur including an observatory, palace, mosque and the Amber Fort. The Amber Fort is how you expect a photo of India should look. Definitely our favourite part of the city!
The trip from Delhi to Jaipur was relatively short in comparison to traveling anywhere else in India. Delhi was fantastic! Why do people say such bad things about Delhi? There are some rougher neighbourhoods, but the new parts of the city are sparkling. We had arrived the same day as the Olympic torch run in Delhi, but the government had evacuated everyone out of the area to prevent any trouble. So only a handful of Indian citizens (the rich and famous) got to see the torch! We visited the Gandhi memorial where we were suddenly joined by 50 Tibetan monks taking part in a peaceful demonstration. They had obviously been in town from protests of the day beofre. They were now protesting a peaceful return to Tibet.
(Some angry Tibetan monks at the Ghandi Memorial in Delhi. Dave in the Rock Garden).
We left Delhi vowing to get back there to spend a few more days and headed to Chandigarh. The city was designed by an architect who created equal blocks known as sectors. The city is clean (the cleanest in India), organized and the people seem to be fairly well off. There is a large Sikh population here and the men wear colourful turbans representing castes and family background. We visited a place called Nek Chand's rock garden. It was created by one man years ago who decided to use up rocks and other waste by creating a bit of a Wonderland. When the government found his illegal creation they encouraged the artwork and even paid for additional workers. It is literally a work of art.

(Starting to look local in Shimla).
Dave and I are in Shimla right now, which is way up north in the foothills of the Himalayas. It's about 2300m up, perched on cliffs. These aren't the pleasant rolling highlands that we're used to. Infact, the entire bus ride up involved gripping the seat handles with white knuckles, while getting thrown around like a rag doll. People were sick, I'm talking violently ill, out the windows as we whipped around corners. My tactics were to prevent myself from looking down the sheer cliff faces and pretending that I was driving. Shimla is amazing! It's cooler than the 40C we've been getting, there are plenty of shops and walkable streets. Of course, we have met up with our old nemeses...the monkey. They steal things from your room, underwear, bras, hats, bags and these monkeys are hearty mountain monkeys. A breed that is far hairier, fatter and perhaps a tad more superior to the desert monkeys of Jaipur.
We will be attempting to make our way to a place called Manali and then to McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala) and may not be able to write for a little while.