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I'd been told by a few people that "you haven't travelled until you've been to India" and "it can be a difficult place to visit". So I was a bit worried before I arrived, but I think the doomsayers had it all wrong.
I spent an afternoon in Mumbai, where it was very hot, and I managed to see the "Gateway of India". I escaped the heat by heading into the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel to get something to eat, and a lot of water.
That evening I was on an India Sleeper train between Mumbai and Jaipur.
Jaipur was painted pink for the visit of King George V back in 1911 and the locals have kept up the tradition. I visited the Jantar Mantar, an ancient observatory with the biggest sun dial I've every seen. I swear that you could counts seconds on it!
Then it was a quick stroll in the sweltering midday heat to the Hawa Mahal, which looks far more interesting from the outside than the inside.
I also made an un-scripted trip up to Haridwar north of New Delhi, and saw where the Ganges make its way between the last two hills of the Himalayas into the flat, flat Indian plain. I got up before dawn and made it up one of the hills to see the sun rise over the valley - a really memorable sight. I want to go back and see more!
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