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An Extraordinary Way to pass 167 Hours
 
Saturday 19 February

00:05   Dropped daughter at friend’s house, they are taking her to airport for later flight for her school ski trip.
 
00:15   Back at home for taxi to airport.   We’re just taking hand luggage as passing through airport en route to Delhi on Tuesday and don’t want to risk losing bags during transit.  It’s surprising how much you can pack in hand luggage for one week, just a bit restricted as to number of pairs of shoes!
 
02:10   Take off on Emirates direct flight to Seychelles.  Try to get a little sleep but for some reason they decide to serve breakfast immediately after take-off, early for me so give it a miss!
 
06:30   Arrive at Mahe, the main island as the sun is rising – how wonderful after the desert of UAE to see the verdant greenery, a string of Emerald Islands in a perfect blue sea.  Walk from plane to the tiny terminal building, the quaint old wooden terminal brings back memories of a previous trip here many years ago.  It’s pleasantly warm and slightly humid as we exit the airport and grab a taxi to the St Anne Island Gateway.  There’s a motorboat waiting and we’re soon racing across the water to the Beachcomber resort on St Anne Island (about 10 minutes).  This is a top class resort so, as would be expected, facilities and service can’t be faulted.  For us this was a 3-night trip of pure indulgence, something you don’t get to do too often! 

08:00   We are whisked off to our villa by golf buggy, the only mode of transport around the island apart from feet (or you can rent bicycles).  Villa is stunning and probably bigger in terms of area than my 4-bed house in UK!  The bathroom has a huge walk in shower, corner bath big enough for two and dressing area.  There’s an outdoor terrace with table, chairs, chaise longue and sunloungers, most of the day in shade due to the mature trees all around - very pleasant to retire to during the hottest part of the day.  There is also an outside shower for use when you come from the beach.  Speaking of the beach, it’s just a couple of steps from the villa, there are two personal sunloungers and a hammock!  Obviously relaxing is the order of the day here!
 
Won’t bore you with the details but the rest of the day consisted of breakfast by the pool, reading and exploring (oh and buying suntan cream as I’d forgotten to pack it – very costly oversight).  Then superb dinner outdoors at the Italian restaurant just a short walk along the beach from our villa.  Just an ordinary day really!
(24 hours)
 
Sunday 20th February
 
9.45     It’s all too fabulous.  Wonderful breakfast, fruits, pastries, waffles, pancakes, full English with eggs anyway you like.  Ate far too much of course.
 
I’d seen a programme on TV about a private island with giant tortoises.  Didn’t think it was open to the public but chatted to the reception staff about it.  Can’t believe our luck, it’s practically swimming distance from our Island (well walking distance really as the sea is so shallow) and is open to anyone on payment of Euros 10, there is also a restaurant that opens for lunch, can’t think about lunch though after that big breakfast.
 
11.30   So we pop back to the villa, grab towels and swimming costumes, hats, etc and are off to the jetty for the boat across.  It’s a glass bottomed boat and the skipper promises to take us for a trip around our island on our return, he’s picking us up after an hour and a half.  We wade ashore feeling like characters in ‘Castaway’.  There are 50 steps up to the restaurant and little notes posted along the route and at the top of the stairs …… THERE ARE TWO GIANT TORTOISES, can’t believe it, thought they’d be in hiding and we wouldn’t see any, but there they are, and not in the least bit shy!  It turns out the whole island is a nature reserve with a trail for visitors to follow.  Just around the corner and there are another bunch of tortoises!  It’s quite astonishing!  The wooded nature trail is fairly easy to follow, though there’s some climbing involved so you need to be a little fit.  We stopped at a tiny secluded bay for a quick swim and conscious of the time started trekking again.  Now and again a couple of giant tortoises cross our path (there are around 110 on the island).  There’s a small museum part way round and a little chapel with the tombs of the owner’s father and a couple of pirates!  It took us an hour and a half to do the complete trail but you could easily spend a full day there exploring and swimming.
 
14:30   After a cocktail in the bar we are back at the villa for a rest/reading/afternoon tea etc – it’s all so stressful!  Later another fabulous meal in the other restaurant at the resort and wander home along the beach.
(48 hours)
 
Monday 21 February 
 
09.00   Early (!!!) breakfast today as we want to catch the 10:00 am hotel boat to the main island Mahe and visit the capital, Victoria.  The hotel has a regular boat schedule to the main island.  We noticed that a couple of fellow guests had hired a car to tour the island, what a good idea, why didn’t we think of that!  There’s not an awful lot to do in Victoria, there’s a good two-storey market - downstairs for the locals, selling fresh fish and wonderful fruit and veg and upstairs lots of little souvenir shops.  We stopped for lunch at a very stylish restaurant owned by a Frenchman, all animal print décor and african style artifacts.  Seychelles is very much a mix of African and French.  We sat upstairs on a covered balcony watching the progress of daily life below us, and wondered what someone like Ernest Hemingway would write about the scene.  A spot of souvenir shopping, then wait for the ferry back to St Anne’s island.  We could definitely see ourselves retiring here quite happily with a sailing boat (him), motorboat (me).
(72 hours)
 
Tuesday 22 February
 
04:45   urgghh! Telephone alarm, time to get up.
 
05:30   On ferry across to Mahe, then taxi to airport, chatty taxi driver told us they usually call him as he’s always on time.  Pointed out Tsunami devastation along the way (fortunately very little damage).
 
08:00   Flight should be departing but it’s running late bit worrying as we have only 1.5 hours between flights.
 
12:30   Dubai.  Being Emirates they make up the time en route and we arrive on schedule, very smooth transfer and even get time for a coffee in the lounge.
 
14:00   Flight departs for Delhi.  Had my glass of champers but disappointed that no menu choice left by the time the flight attendant gets to me.  Was resigned to eating vegetarian Indian dish, but kind Indian chap across the isle offered to swap his chicken for the vegetarian. I like Indian food but had been used to French/Italian in Seychelles and wanted to wait till India to eat authentic Indian food rather than airline version.
 
18:00   Delhi (local time).  Flight on time but some glitch with connecting the walkway so had to wait a while to disembark.  Also were not given disembarkation cards till leaving plane so all foreigners frantically filling them in at the airport, poor Japanese chap desperate for a pen.  Overtook all those in passport queue who’d decided to fill in forms while queuing, the queue was moving quicker than they’d anticipated.  Brilliant travelling with only hand baggage no time wasting at carousel.  Driver from Imperial Hotel waiting for us with sign board and away we go in an unassuming Indian made black car (pity about his rather ostentatious uniform with chauffeur’s hat and gold braid).  Shame it was dark as we couldn’t see much, but driver gave a running commentary of the sights anyway.  I just watched the traffic with horror, there weren’t any lane markings and everyone seems to converge on one spot, swapping lanes continuously, there are bicycles and motorbikes, tuk-tuks, white government cars, black and yellow taxis, lots of Indian made cars a few imported Japanese.  But, how refreshing, no Mercs, no BMWs, no Porsche’s, no big 4x4s.  No flashing of lights and speeding (not possible), just unremitting horn honking.
 
The Imperial is a gorgeous colonial style hotel famous for its King Palms.  The doormen are dressed in traditional Indian costumes, rather like they might have dressed in the days of the Raj.  There are so many antiques and such a huge art collection that the hotel has an in-house team with curator to look after them. Room was quite fabulous and, as it was already fairly late by the time we’d checked in and made a tour of the hotel, we decided to crash.
(96 hours)
 
Wednesday 23 February
 
09:00   Breakfast outdoors on the terrace, weather is perfect.  Quite a mix of nationalities and fascinating eclectic mix of dress styles. 
 
10:00   We were on a mission.  I had come to Delhi especially to look at the Emporiums to get an idea of what’s available to buy, for a possible new business venture.  We had a map and knew that the Emporiums were walking distance from the hotel, but trying to walk proved an impossibility.  Taxi and tuk-tuk drivers vie for our business, ordinary people on the street are intent on advising us where to go and accompanying us asking questions, and no-one could accept that we just wanted to walk!!  In the end we got into a tuk-tuk because when there are so many of them and the drivers so desperate for business and the cost is less than a dirham, it’s an injustice to walk.  We got to one Emporium and spent some time looking at products and getting prices.  You’ve got to be very strong (or poor) to avoid buying something and somehow we ended up buying two Kashmiri silk rugs (at almost the same price we would have paid in Dubai) and other items which we discovered were vastly overpriced, especially when the 12% Government tax is added on.  We’ll know better next time!
 
14:30   Back to the hotel for a rather nice lunch outdoors, the contrast between the quiet, clean, opulent surroundings of the hotel and the crowded, noisy and dirty streets outside was immense.  A feeling of guilt that what we are spending for two nights at this hotel could probably feed a couple of families for a year.  On the other hand, another way of looking at it is that by coming to India and spending money you are aiding job creation and helping the economy!
 
16:00   A mini adventure for the afternoon.  We go to see the Red Fort.  We go by taxi, but they are only allowed so far, after that you have to take a rickshaw!  Our taxi driver dropped us in a place that seemed much too far from the Fort.  He found us a rickshaw and said he’d wait for us.  The rickshaw driver was a thin young man, I was not at all sure he would have the strength the cycle the two of us, but he was off without complaint and I clung on to J’s hand as I wasn’t sure we would make it without serious incident!  The traffic is ferocious, there are cars, rickshaws, bikes, tuk-tuks, people and animals all taking up space on narrow roads – this is Old Delhi, quite a different place than New Delhi with it’s wide tree lined avenues and spacious parks.  We arrived at a set of traffic lights and I was tempted to close my eyes as everyone lines up, as if in a race to be the first away, it’s a bit like the London marathon but instead of runners there are various modes of wheeled transport all desperate to get somewhere and get there first.  Our driver finally dropped us at the Fort and with some relief we jumped off, if it wasn’t for the fact that we might not find the taxi again I would have taken a tuk-tuk back.  The Red Fort is very impressive, the entrance is lined with tourist shops naturally, but we didn’t have time to look as we had just half an hour till closing time, in fact we were inside the grounds for almost an hour.  There is some very impressive marble work, and in its day the gardens must have been fabulous.  We idled a little on the way out and found a cute little artisan workshop where they make their own very impressive jewellery, it was quite a treasure trove of gems and silver work.
 
18:30   ‘How will we find our rickshaw driver in this mass of humanity?’ I queried – don’t worry said J, he will find us, and he did.  The cycle ride back was much more pleasant for both him and us, as it was mostly downhill and we didn’t need to do any right turns only lefts – much less dangerous!  The taxi driver was waiting for us by another tourist emporium, guess this was all planned.  ‘Just have a look around’, said the salesman, but we’d had enough shopping for one day so we declined, much to the taxi driver’s annoyance - he made up for it by grossly overcharging us for the trip.  Although, when you convert it into foreign currency it’s such a small amount that you would really feel peevish complaining.
 
19:30 Back at the hotel, look around the boutiques and a couple of drinks and snacks in the bar then off to bed, long day tomorrow.
(120 hours)
 
Thursday 24 February
 
10:30   We’d arranged to have an art tour of the hotel after breakfast.  The curator came to show us around, his dress was a little odd, though I couldn’t work out why.  He was wearing a suit with double cuffed shirt, cufflinks and tie, perhaps it was the colours that didn’t work but the whole ensemble looked like he’d taken it from a dressing up box!  Anyway he kindly gave us ½ hour of his time, saying a full tour would take 3 hours!  It really is quite an amazing collection. 
 
11:30   Checkout.  Driver, Manoj, arrives to take us to Agra for the Taj Mahal.  But first I wanted to visit the President’s Mogul gardens, which are open to the public only 15 days each year.  There was a festive atmosphere and tight security – no cameras, mobile phones and even my pot of Molten Brown lip salve was confiscated at the security check.  As seems to be the story of this trip we had to practically run around the gardens as we needed to get to Agra before the Taj closed at 5.30, it doesn’t open on Friday’s.  The gardens are huge and stunning, in particular the areas closest to the residence, which are laid out in blocks of colour with waterways between.
 
12:15     Finally we are on the road to Agra. I could write pages about the car journey alone, but will just say that it was an experience we would probably not be in a hurry to repeat.  It should have been 3.5 hours but turned into a nail biting 4.5 with us wondering if we would make it before the Taj closed.  Our driver honked his horn most of the way, we drove through areas of unimaginable poverty, and paradoxically, acres of leafy green countryside.  There were camels, donkeys, oxen, cows, dogs and the odd goat sharing the road space with people, regular cars, taxis, motor bikes, tuk-tuks, buses, rickshaws, camel carts, etc.  Not sure how we got through Agra without having an accident, as by then Manoj was quite fed up and determined to get to our destination whatever the cost!  We had wanted to go directly to the Taj but Manoj insisted we check in at the hotel, probably because then we could get the hotel golf cart to the Taj.  The Oberoi was a haven of peace and tranquillity, a quite unimaginable contradiction to the mayhem we had left outside.  The effect is to calm you and give you strength to carry on!  And carry on we did, very speedily, as our objective was in sight!  We jumped into the golf cart, so did Manoj and a guide that Manoj had somehow conjured up for us, a friend of his it seems!!  The guide immediately started talking and my hackles began to rise, we didn’t ask for a guide and didn’t want one, we wanted to experience the Taj Mahal, alone, just the two of us in peace and quiet.  Inside the entrance the guide excused himself to use the bathroom and asked us to wait for him.  Like a couple of school kids we seized the opportunity to wander off into the crowds and ‘lose’ him.
 
17:00   So we finally get to see the fabulous monument and the wonderful gardens. We watched the sunset and took photos and an enterprising little old man showed us the best places to take photos so that the buildings were reflected in the water, for that we gave him a few rupees.  The mausoleum itself closed at 5.30 but the gardens and other areas remained open.  It was all quite awe inspiring and reluctantly we took our leave and at the exit met up with the apologetic guide who said he’d tried to find us but there were just so many people.  We said we understood and no harm caused, then to earn his money he gave us the complete history of the monument in about 2 minutes!
 
As a wonderful bonus, our hotel room has a perfect view of the Taj.
 
19:30   We ask for a quiet table in the restaurant for dinner and are guided to one tucked away at the back, we settle down to enjoy a romantic dinner for two - but almost immediately a family of very loud Americans are shown to the table next to us!  C’est la vie. 
 
It would be a shame not to mention our hotel.  The Oberoi is really a dream of beautiful surroundings, smiling, helpful staff and excellent food.  It has its own Mogul gardens with the swimming pool as the central feature, we wandered around after dinner reluctant to go to bed as we had so little time here.
(144 hours) 
 
Friday 25 February
 
05.45   We had asked for an early morning call in order to watch the sunrise, unfortunately it was a bit hazy but still quite an experience to be able to watch the Taj appearing through the dawn.
 
10:00  After breakfast and a spot of shopping in the hotel boutiques we are on the road again back to Delhi.  This time we are prepared, we have water, snacks and books and the journey back is expected to be a bit shorter.
 
14:00   Back in Delhi, I wanted to go to a Trade Show I’d seen advertised.  Manoj wasn’t sure where it was but he called his office to get more info.  Manoj had been trying during the whole trip to show us various tourist sights and emporiums and had not been happy that we had our own itinerary.  Finally we got him to understand that the need to see the Trade Show was for business reasons and he became quite co-operative
 
15:00   We arrive at the location not knowing if we would be allowed in as we have no passes. Manoj had instructions to come back in one hour.  Interestingly we are not challenged at all and walk into the halls without anyone asking to see tickets.  In an hour we succeeded in seeing only one hall out of seven but it was very worthwhile.
 
16:00   Manoj arrives on time and we are off to the airport.
 
16:45   It’s quite amazing how almost everything has gone like clockwork.  Here we are exactly on time, 3 hours before the flight departs.  Manoj has the usual customer service questionnaire to be filled in, I tick most of the ‘good’ boxes and when it questions the driver’s driving ability, I smile at Manoj and tell him we could have done with a little less horn honking, but otherwise tick the ‘good’ box, conveniently forgetting the many close calls and near misses on the way to the Taj Mahal! 
 
23:00   Back home.  Feels like we’ve been away for a month as we packed so much in, but it was just 167 hours of unforgettable experiences.


Karen Letherby
 
 
 
 
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