Yes thanks jacketwatch ..the perspective seems to be improving as I write the report..so I will keep going..
AGRA ctd. The Taj Mahal was fantastic despite being fairly busy by mid morning. We didn't continue on to the Red Fort because we didn't want to spoil the impact of the Taj visit...We stayed for ages and soaked up the experience...chatted to lots of young people and took and posed for many photos showing many beautiful views of the Taj...

TUNDLA STATION....Next day we headed off to the Tundla Station bright and early again..after having to call reception at 2am to quieten the indian party which had taken over our floor...
It cost 1,000 rupee for the 40 minute trip..The hotel had said it might take 1.5 hours.All a bit puzzling but we needed a reliable journey so accepted their deal. At the station we booked a porter..50rupee per bag...a tiny man who shocked us by putting both quite big bags on his tiny head.. He was a hero to us and looked after us very professionally, despite a long wait for the train. He checked our bookings and guided us to another platform following one of the announcements. We would have been in trouble without him as we couldn't follow the loudspeaker directions even though they might have been in english. We paid him as he put our bags on the train and were happy to give a good tip...

This was a Shatabhi executive chair class, with airplane type seats and not as roomy as our compartment on the Rhaniket Express. We dutifully did not eat any train food except bottled water and packaged biscuits...Did I mention that we didn't have one day of tummy troubles?

The journey was comfortable enough and lots of exuberant children to entertain us.

LUCKNOW. We arrived in Lucknow LATE... more like 2 than 1 and found it difficult to organise any touring so just walked around to see what we could find. Lots of grand old british buildings and beautiful sari shops...and the uniformed traffic controller at the roundabout. We were on our own as the hotel..the Best Western Plus Levana didn't have any tourist maps or information ..it was more of a businessman's hotel I suppose. It was very luxurious and glamorous but we felt quite discouraged when they charged us 80 rupees for an orange. We were only booked for one night and there was so much we could have seen..top of the list was the British Residency ruins...but there just wasn't time..

AC2 to VARANASI...The next day we travelled AC2..to Varanasi. We had tried to get an AC1 seat and had waitlisted 1 and 2 bookings..but they didn't budge in 2 months so we cancelled a few days before and kept the AC2 booking. The train was to depart at 9 but was more than an hour late..Our porter had a trolley this time and smart coat and turban. While we waited for the delayed train a young sociology graduate from Patna approached us to chat...Soon we were surrounded by a small crowd .nothing else to do but watch this fascinating conversation...We realised we hadn't seen any other westerners all morning.

AC2 had compartments to sleep 6 but we were in different compartments..Someone sat in my seat and wasn't moving because of his back.so I was obliged, happily enough, to sit opposite his family...and R was with a family in the next compartment with a sadly disabled child stretched across the seat. For me it was an enjoyable trip as the ticket inspector organised me to have a whole seat to stretch out with my own window..I had made an exchange with the sore back man apparently and it was fine. I chatted to the young indian girl opposite who was now living in Sydney, Australia.She was very interesting. The scenery was all in sepia and quite beautiful..like a biblical landscape...I loved the trip and took many photos. Meanwhile in the next carriage R had a miserable time and was too tall to see much through the window. He also saw a rat which was headed my direction..but I was too engrossed in conversation to notice...

VARANASI...The station was packed but Bupa from the Alka Hotel found us within a few minutes, even though by now we were two hours late. He put us in a tuk tuk and then escorted us on foot through the old city to the hotel.Of course no tut tuks through the winding alleyways. .We stayed at the Alka for three days and had a wonderful view of the river from our balcony. We were very happy here and couldn't have enjoyed our visit more. The location, service and food were all quite perfect...We took a trip to Saranath on the first day hiring a car from the Ganpati, next door. We were in a good position to walk to the Aarti ceremony and see the burning ghats and to organise a boat to take us on to the river.

BODH GAYA...We booked a car through the Alka Hotel to take us to Bodh Gaya . We had a very enjoyable trip leaving at about 9.30 and arriving at about 3.30. The scenery was scattered with palm trees old stone buildings and neat farms and was quite beautiful. Unfortunately we discovered we had a flat tyre about 2 km from the Root Institute where we were staying but were able to get there with some help from a group of mechanics from a nearby auto shop.

Bodh Gaya was an easy place to visit..smaller and much quieter than any of the places we had been to this trip. We had three nights here. There is a lot to see..with the famous Bodhi Tree and temple and numerous other places of worship. We found the museum which housed the most ancient artifacts very interesting though completely empty of tourists.

The Root Institute was very comfortable with a neat good sized basic room and vegetarian meals available in their dining room. The hot water runs on solar power and is therefore very limited in the morning. They are a retreat so there are guidelines to be followed including silence in the dining room. These rules suited us fine but maybe not everyone.

DELHI ...We caught a plane from Gaya airport, via a taxi through the Root Institute's travel agent. At Delhi we bought a prepaid taxi ticket in a portable booth outside the main airport doors. It was 420 rupee to get to our hotel, the Florence Inn in Karol Bagh. Several drivers refused the ticket then we were pleased to see a young fellow step forward to take us. The traffic was very dense and the trip took seemingly forever..at least an hour. Then we had some trouble with a false arrival at the Hotel Perfect..ours was round the corner. We had a deluxe room in the Florence Inn which was very spacious, with writing desk, as well as a small kitchen bench for tea and coffee. The paper was delivered each morning. We were only a few minutes from the metro and a local market area...oh and the Robinson Centre adjoining the hotel opened during our visit. We had 4 nights here.
On the first day we accepted an offer from a tuk tuk driver to tour the red fort and chandi chowk for only 100 rupee. We ended up at a tourist store between the Monkey Temple and Connnaught Place...When we came out quite quickly our driver said he was leaving as the traffic was now too heavy and Chandi Chowk was closed today..and the Red Fort wasn't open for two hours yet....etc...We turned around and he was gone...so we spent that day walking to and around Connaught Place...which turned out to be best as it would have been closed on the next day, a Sunday. Older and wiser we hired a hotel driver the next day and saw the sights and so learnt a lesson about budget priced tuk tuks.

BANGKOK ......We spent the last few days in Bangkok despite some upheaval there which we managed to avoid completely. We stayed at the Centre Point Silom which was very pleasant and convenient to the BTS and the river boats..As it turned out any trouble with demonstrations was around the Democracy Monument. We saw the Wat Pho, Grand Palace and Khao San Road and Jim Thompson House.and Chinatown on our last day. All worth a look..maybe not Chinatown..
Owing to the instability we decided to book a hotel near the airport ,the Lilac Relax Residence. This helped us with our early start next day and was cosy enough with an efficient shuttle service.


We feel lucky to have kept so well and to see such a range of interesting places...to travel in a variety of ways..by tuk tuk, by car , by train and by plane over India...and to have been able to research so much information on this... and other forums. Thanks to all.

Sorry ..mistake in Delhi section.We stayed 3 nights at Florence Inn.in Delhi.....No Robinson Centre near Florence Inn..note should be next to Centre Point Silom in the Bangkok section of course.

Again it seems you got a lot out of this trip and you certainly made the most of it.

Will you ever go back to India?

Thanks for taking the time to do a report. It's always fun to read about other people's experiences.

Thanks for your response Djunbug..your report was a great help to me, particularly regarding the train travel..

Jacketwatch....Will I go back?....a good question...and a few weeks ago I would have said no...the travel is too tough.. But now nostalgia is setting in....so may be a possibility..