David Coats » hassle http://davidcoats.co.uk Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:23:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Rajasthan pleasures http://davidcoats.co.uk/rajasthan-pleasures/2009/09/28/ http://davidcoats.co.uk/rajasthan-pleasures/2009/09/28/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:53:02 +0000 David http://davidcoats.co.uk/?p=84 I arrived in Jaipur on 25th from not-so-special Agra. The Taj Mahal is a bit of a disappointment to be honest and Agra is a pretty terrible place to be. The Taj is too packed with people to really enjoy its beauty. Kids screaming and running everywhere, Indians rudely fighting and barging into people to get the best photo opportunity. I wanted to go at sunrise to avoid the crowds but – PAY ATTENTION HERE PROSPECTIVE TRAVELLERS – the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays, so I had to go on a Thursday afternoon (probably the worst time).

There is little to no power in Agra, so every guest house or shop has its own generator in the street. This

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]]> http://davidcoats.co.uk/rajasthan-pleasures/2009/09/28/feed/ 0 Delhi: Better company, same shit http://davidcoats.co.uk/delhi-better-company-same-shit/2009/09/20/ http://davidcoats.co.uk/delhi-better-company-same-shit/2009/09/20/#comments Sun, 20 Sep 2009 13:20:40 +0000 David http://davidcoats.co.uk/?p=46 I think i’ve finally got the knack of dealing with touts and taxi drivers who hassle westerners non-stop in India. Just tell them to GO AWAY! Ignoring just doesn’t work. You’ve got to be super firm!

Yesterday I had by far and away my best day in India so far. I went to the main Delhi tourist office just off Connaught Place and booked myself onto an afternoon organised coach tour of the city (like in Chennai). On the tour I met my first fellow Brit, Chris from Essex, who turned out to be an awesome laugh and really lifted my spirits.

Up until then i’d really been struggling. In the morning i’d been led up a back alley by some ‘cool’

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]]> http://davidcoats.co.uk/delhi-better-company-same-shit/2009/09/20/feed/ 0 The highs and lows of Chennai http://davidcoats.co.uk/the-highs-and-lows-of-chennai/2009/09/17/ http://davidcoats.co.uk/the-highs-and-lows-of-chennai/2009/09/17/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:56:03 +0000 David http://davidcoats.co.uk/?p=42 I arrived in Chennai yesterday from lovely Sri Lanka for my long stint of lone traveling around the world. Chennai is just as crazy as Mumbai. I guess most of the large Indian cities are similar – roads packed with vehicles honking horns, people everywhere; crammed into backstreets, sleeping under sheets or just on the side of the road. Unlike Mumbai, Chennai didn’t appear to have much by the way of pavements, so I spent most of my time walking through the filth & dodging tuk-tuks, motorbikes and buses in the road.

I stayed in the very simple Paradise Guest house in Triplicane, very close to the main tourist office and a string of cheap but highly rated hotels including the

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