Christmas' been and gone, my memory's still fresh from the recent trip to India. I have to say India is quite a diverse country and must be experienced in person. I had the opportunity of meeting people who I send work from the UK to India for processing. They were lovely and good hosts they told me a bit more about their home in New Delhi. I spent two weeks in India travelling from New Delhi down to Agra, Jaipur, Ranthambore National Park, Udaipur, Aurangbad, Ajanta Caves and finishing up in Mumbai. The whole trip has been really educative and humbling to experience.
The sounds there is different from home, I heard many different tongues being spoken, proper english (victorian), Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Urdu and Santhali. Indians are well versed in two languages due to schooling they recieved as child, English and Hindi plus parent language at home. The sounds of general India is diverse as well, the noise and bustle of New and Old Delhi is very distinct, as New Delhi is very much open plan in the influence of Lutyens who built quite a few famous places including the viceroys palace - now presidential palace among other things so the sounds are quieter. Old Delhi is quite noisy with a lot of Indians going about their daily chores and talking quite loudly particularly when they want something and the buildings are very close to one another and often in a poor state.
The only places one could find solitude was at a mosque or a national park such as Qutb Minar and Gandhi's Raj Ghat where followers pay homage to the founder of New India - Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Gandhi). My hotel was on a travelling train, the style of the train was similar to what a marajah would have had in its heyday. I could hear the wheels trundling over the tracks when it was moving and it's not as smooth as the UK railways, one could tell the speed of the train as it trundles along and the increased bumpiness of the journey. Overall the experience of staying on a train is a one off and a positive experience. The food was first class and the staff very hospitable and helpful. We had our personal butler who served one carriage at our beck and call. The butler we had was very nice and personable sort of fellow.
Ranthambore National Park is one trip I'd never forget, I saw the Indian Tiger 4 times, considering the rarity of the tiger that some people just do not see one on a such trip. I took quite a few photos of the tiger at the wrong settings, mind you it came out of the hidden growth and caught us by surprise that my camera was in the manual mode and had no time to change it to what I wanted. I have a digital DSLR Canon 7D camera. I love my camera and it has brought me good photos but I need more practice with it. You can see all my photos on Flickr . The highlight of my trip is Ranthambore National park and the Taj Mahal. The beautiful symmetry of the place is mind blowing, one could just sit there and admire the place all day without quibble. Jaipur and Udaipur was interesting as we visited respective maharajah's palaces and both had different influences. Ajanta and Aurangbad caves are a feat of human endeavour, devout followers of respective religions carved dieties, religious objects out of basalt rock (Lava rock). It took them 3 centuries to complete the work. Ajanta caves is filled with paintings inside whereas Aurangbad caves is carved out in the open - as my photos on flickr shows.
Mumbai is a mixture of both worlds - rich and poor, the buildings sit by side next to shanty towns/slums. And yet the slums produce $3 billion worth of revenue. Plus Mumbai is also known as the financial district and the home of Bollywood.
Out of two weeks, I only recharged my 24 hour cochlear batteries twice and they performed impeccably in the dust and heat of India. I am now wearing bilaterally with hearing aids, since I have got a new hearing aid with a quieter programming as not to overwhelm the Cochlear implant. The sounds of these two different sound inputs is very different and I freely admit I prefer the quality of the CI against the hearing aid, but that's my personal preference. Besides I was happy to hear in stereo once again. I wonder what the new year brings. Happy New Year to you all.
The sounds there is different from home, I heard many different tongues being spoken, proper english (victorian), Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Urdu and Santhali. Indians are well versed in two languages due to schooling they recieved as child, English and Hindi plus parent language at home. The sounds of general India is diverse as well, the noise and bustle of New and Old Delhi is very distinct, as New Delhi is very much open plan in the influence of Lutyens who built quite a few famous places including the viceroys palace - now presidential palace among other things so the sounds are quieter. Old Delhi is quite noisy with a lot of Indians going about their daily chores and talking quite loudly particularly when they want something and the buildings are very close to one another and often in a poor state.
The only places one could find solitude was at a mosque or a national park such as Qutb Minar and Gandhi's Raj Ghat where followers pay homage to the founder of New India - Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Gandhi). My hotel was on a travelling train, the style of the train was similar to what a marajah would have had in its heyday. I could hear the wheels trundling over the tracks when it was moving and it's not as smooth as the UK railways, one could tell the speed of the train as it trundles along and the increased bumpiness of the journey. Overall the experience of staying on a train is a one off and a positive experience. The food was first class and the staff very hospitable and helpful. We had our personal butler who served one carriage at our beck and call. The butler we had was very nice and personable sort of fellow.
Ranthambore National Park is one trip I'd never forget, I saw the Indian Tiger 4 times, considering the rarity of the tiger that some people just do not see one on a such trip. I took quite a few photos of the tiger at the wrong settings, mind you it came out of the hidden growth and caught us by surprise that my camera was in the manual mode and had no time to change it to what I wanted. I have a digital DSLR Canon 7D camera. I love my camera and it has brought me good photos but I need more practice with it. You can see all my photos on Flickr . The highlight of my trip is Ranthambore National park and the Taj Mahal. The beautiful symmetry of the place is mind blowing, one could just sit there and admire the place all day without quibble. Jaipur and Udaipur was interesting as we visited respective maharajah's palaces and both had different influences. Ajanta and Aurangbad caves are a feat of human endeavour, devout followers of respective religions carved dieties, religious objects out of basalt rock (Lava rock). It took them 3 centuries to complete the work. Ajanta caves is filled with paintings inside whereas Aurangbad caves is carved out in the open - as my photos on flickr shows.
Mumbai is a mixture of both worlds - rich and poor, the buildings sit by side next to shanty towns/slums. And yet the slums produce $3 billion worth of revenue. Plus Mumbai is also known as the financial district and the home of Bollywood.
Out of two weeks, I only recharged my 24 hour cochlear batteries twice and they performed impeccably in the dust and heat of India. I am now wearing bilaterally with hearing aids, since I have got a new hearing aid with a quieter programming as not to overwhelm the Cochlear implant. The sounds of these two different sound inputs is very different and I freely admit I prefer the quality of the CI against the hearing aid, but that's my personal preference. Besides I was happy to hear in stereo once again. I wonder what the new year brings. Happy New Year to you all.