The Foggy North

So I’m kind of working backwards here.

I took these images the start of my most recent trip to India.  For the last couple of entries I reduced all pictures to 600 pixels (length), but this bothered me as I could really notice a difference in resolution and general quality.. so they’re all back to 800 pixels now.  I’d rather have better quality images that take a fraction longer to load..

The waiting game at Heathrow:

Onboard! More waiting – this time for the queue of planes before us to take off:

I have a preference (by preference, I mean slight obsession) for sitting by the window when flying, so I went onto the Air India website to ensure I could get a window seat.  The seat planner wasn’t very useful so I did some research and managed to find a detailed map of the plane, showing such information as seat sizes and aisle widths (see what I mean by obsession?).  The one thing it didn’t have is where the wings of the plane would be in relation to the seats, so I applied some logic and assumed the worst view would be near the middle where the wing would start.  I therefore selected a seat I thought would provide me with the best view possible!

Well, that worked.

That morning was absolutely freezing.. and I’ve never seen a snowy UK from the skies.  It was a lot prettier in reality than what that picture depicts.

Far far away from London.. landed in Mumbai :D Finally, some sunshine!

I was only there for a short time though before taking to the skies again.. this time headed to Delhi.  Not the best image but I like the contrast of slums next to modern day skyscrapers – just one of the many, many conflicting and diverse aspects of India.  Oh,and at least the wing didn’t invade half the shot:

Gujarati or Janpat market in Delhi:

I wrote about this place two years ago in quite some detail:

We headed off to Haridwar by road for the Kumbh Mela, and on the way noticed some soldiers near India Gate:

I stopped to take some pictures of them.  They were practicing for Republic Day (January 26th – a very significant day in India).

Some of them were visibly distracted by my presence and the guy ordering them around had to tell them in Hindi to pay attention, which was quite funny.

He asked me to take his picture before I hopped back into the car:

The following images were all taken from inside the car (another ‘Shooting From the Inside’ series coming up soon methinks).

Sad sight..

A eunuch, or Hijra:

These ladyboys or whatever you want to call them make money by just being.. themselves.  It’s meant to be bad luck to NOT give them money (apparently they will put a curse on you) so you will see people literally hand over money to avoid their bad vibes.  It sounds ridiculous but this is common practice in India.

I think some of the best food in India can be found in these small, quirky (and often dirty-looking) restaurants, known as dhabas.

Don’t be deceived by the shabbiness of these places – the food is delicious and incredibly cheap (you can get enough for 2 people for as little as £1 – that wouldn’t even buy you one paratha in the UK!).

This boy was literally just walking around with a snake in the hope of making a bit of a money.

Full-view:

Salad – Indian stylee:

Cows in an ashram near Haridwar.  This one was SO cute:

She was only a few days old but already knew her owner’s voice and would go to him when he called her:

Had an interesting conversation with these religious men in the temple:

As is customary in India, they offered some tea which I have to say I really miss.  The tea is simply the best in India! PG tips has got nothing on Indian Chai!

Cows and monkeys are everywhere

If I were doing this blog chronologically, this is where the Kumbh Mela pictures would be.  See previous entry for those – here.

The North was cold.. not as cold as what London was at the time, but still, cold.  It was strange watching the news, though.  While Europe and North America were suffering with sub-zero conditions, 9C seemed like s fairly decent temperature:

Leaving Haridwar.. the fog was ridiculous.  The worst fog I have ever seen.

Visibility was barely a few metres..

I took this video which illustrates just how crazy the roads of India can be, especially in this kind of fog:

Thanks for looking, as always!
Next blog.. Mumbai.. and some much needed sunshine.