Rest of Nepal and into India

More updates from our travels... though sorry no pictures cos the computer keeps losing internet connection when we try and upload them!
The rest of the time in the Kathmandu area we spent looking at more temples/culture etc, this time in Patan (just south of Kathmandu itself). The Durbar Square here, though similar in terms of style of architecture etc, was so much calmer, more organised and you got far less hassled by people trying to sell you stuff that it seemed a hundred times more enjoyable! Unfortunately it wasn't as sunny (apparently it's permanantly misty for all of December in the Kathmandu Valley!) but didn't detract from the atmosphere. Back at the Hotel everything had gone christmassy - fairy lights and mince pies for breakfast!! Were invited to Raj's house for dinner and to meet his family...was brilliant - as soon as we walked through the door we were plied with beer and copious amounts of really tasty home-cooked food that seemd to keep on coming for hours! Learnt to play a new game with his kids, think it was called "cannonball" - involded flicking pucks around a table to try and get them in holes in the corners - a strange cross of pool and ice hockey! - quite good fun though! Then we went off to stalk some wildlife in Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal. Staying on an island within the park which had three wild tigers living on it - sadly we didn't see them!!! just scratch marks, footprints and pooh to prove they really did exist somewhere! did get to see rhinos, 2 sorts of crocodiles, monkeys, deer, civet, lots of parakeets, cranes and a multitude of weird and wonderful bugs from walks, boat rides and elephant safaris - yep, we rode an elephant!!!! Had a bit of time to get to know the elephants one afternoon, learning about how they were trained, looked after etc....Kerry got to feed them and get spat at as thanks (the elephant was just upset she didn't have any more food for her!) and Ben got to experience getting on top of an elephant Mahoot-style - holding it's ears and being lifted up by it's trunk!! Muchos fun - if a bit wobbly trying to turn round to sit on it's shoulders!
After an early morning xmas eve jungle walk where we woke up a rhino, it was time for a three hour bus ride to the India border. A couple of things to note about travelling on Nepal's roads...
- horns are the most important thing cars can have - whoever's is most tuneful wins on the roads!
- they dress up their lorries in bright colours and designs - even give them afro's!
Then into India...
Possibly the most laid back immigration ever - 2 casual-clothed men sat at a wooden desk by the side of the road, one sleeping, one doing a sudoku! but they let us in so we won't complain!
Met up with a Dutch couple to get a taxi to Gorakhpur (the nearest place on the main train line), finally sorted out a ticket to Delhi, but had to put up with Indian "queueing" - elbows had to be employed, even against old women, to avoid being trampled and bundled out of the way! Thankfully the train was on time, well, only half an hour late (instead of the 6 hours late that many trains were!), cos Gorakhpur really didbn't seem the most exciting of places to spend much time...The train was great though, clean and comfortable, good food...good job when we were on it for 22 hours!! Got there 4 and a half hours late, which meant we didn't have time to see anything that day before leaving early the next morning to come to Agra.
Arrived here (Agra) yesterday and spent the afternoon at the fort - a collection of very impressive red sandstone and white marble palaces, fortresses and mosques, with monkeys running around and views over to the Taj Mahal. Which is where we've been today! So much more impressive than you imagine from the pictures! Intricate carvings and delicate inlays of semi-precious stones everywhere you look, and not unbearably crowded early in the morning. Think we should set up a business though - apparently blonde and ginger English people make very good subjects for Indian tourists' photos...we must have been asked to be in tens of them these last couple of days!
Heading back to Delhi tonight for a whistle-stop tour of the sights tomorrow, then we're flying to Hanoi in Vietnam...will update you on that soon!