India Overland with Swagman Tours, London to Kathmandu.

Delhi to Amber
Delhi is the most modern city we have seen since Tehran but it still has its third world trappings. The buses are grossly overloaded and every vehicle belches black smoke making the air very polluted. Our passengers have lots to see here and we will be busy getting ready for the last part of the journey to Nepal. First we have to find Fred and a note on the campsite board gives us an address in Janpath Lane near Connaught Circle. Mrs. Mawahars turns out to be a home away from home, a three story building with little rooms everywhere and a very relaxing garden. It has a very mixed group of guests and Fred is to be found relaxing with a copy of the Hindustani Times and a glass of chai. In the future I will find Fred here on many occasions, just passing through or waiting to be picked up. He has picked up money for us from American Express so we now have enough funds to finish the trip. We head of for a treat at Wengers Cake Shop then finish up with a flavoured milk from a small milk bar off Connaught Circle.	Jamu Masid Mosque
Birth Control Clinic	Parliament Building
Some of us needed to update our vaccinations so a visit to the clinic was arranged. It just so happens that it is in the same building as the Birth Control Clinic. At this time India has a 2 child policy and is making men under go vasectomy, they do get a free portable radio as compensation. This policy proved to be very unpopular and Mrs. Gandhi was punished at the polls for supporting it. It became a bit of a joke every time we saw a man with a portable radio, music for the ears but not the loins. To speed thing up we gave a tour of the main sights even a visit to the Dali Lama who was living in a Delhi suburb at the time, he waved and bowed gracefully. On the way back I stopped at my favorite Indian sweet shop and told everyone they would regret it if they never tasted "Gulub Jamin". It is a ball of semolina like substance that is deep fried and served in rose/saffron syrup. Very sweet and not to ever ones taste, I was counting on that and offered to eat all the unwanted ones. After about 12 even I, had had enough.	Laksmi Narian Temple
The parliament buildings in Delhi are quite grand, built by the British before they departed in 1947. They stand at the end of a long boulevard facing down towards India Gate, nearby is a colonnade that once contained a statue of Queen Victoria, now long gone. The traffic in parts of new Delhi is very civilised but the closer you get to central Delhi the worse it gets. On arriving back at the camp site one evening the passengers were a little concerned about Doug, he was travelling with his wife Mary but had returned without her and no one could get any sense out of him. I am not the worlds best diplomat so we got Celia to sit with him to try and find out what was wrong. The news was unbelievable, they had been riding in a Tuk Tuk that was hit from behind. Mary had been thrown out of the vehicle and run over by a bus killing her instantly. When it finally sank in that we had a death on our hands we had to work out what to do. It was arranged that in the morning two passengers would take Doug to the Australian Embassy to make arrangements to get her body released and transported home. She was Scottish so the plan was to have her returned to Scotland. I telexed Norm to let him know that we may need some help at his end when her body arrived. Meanwhile other passengers were making enquires as to where her body was and what needed to happen to get it released.	India Gate
The Australian Embassy turned out to be useless and of no help, the British Embassy were better but required a guarantor to pledge funds before they would arrange transport. Norm contacted their insurance company but it was not going to happen in a hurry so Norm put up the 1500 pounds to cover the costs himself. This was taking time and some of the passengers were complaining that they wanted to get going. Everything was in place for Doug to fly with Marys body to Heathrow were a hurst would transfer her to an Edinburgh flight her home town. We left Doug with an English couple who promised to get him on the flight in two days time as arranged. ( The story didn't end there, everything went as planned and she was buried in Edinburgh. Doug did contact Norm once, then several weeks went by and no news. Norm found out that the insurance had paid out and now suspected that Doug was going to do a runner with Norms money. Then a stroke of luck, the story of this accident had gone around the industry so Doug's name was well known. Doug walked into a London travel agent to book an expensive trip home for himself, what he didn't know was that this was Norms agent. When he handed over the cash for his trip the agent said "well that Norms money back now were's the money for the trip". What could Doug do he just walked out a lot lighter in the wallet. It is hard to belive that someone would try and make money from their own wives death.)	Harley Davison Taxi
We left Delhi heading to Amber via Gurgaon, Rewari & Ringua, it was the rainy season and just before Rewari we ran into a heavy rain storm. With in minutes the road was awash and it was dangerous to move as you could not be sure where the road was. Indian roads are usually built up above the level of the land so there is a drop beside the road which could easily turn a bus over. We waited for about an hour until the storm had passed and the water was off the road before heading into Rewari to find some bread for lunch. These Indian towns have to be seen to be belived. There is traffic every where with pedestrians milling around, cows wandering about it is hardly any wonder that people get killed. By late afternoon we arrive at Amber Fort and most passenger take a lazy ride to the top by elephant. This is typical of many hill top palaces, a little run down these days but still able to give you a glimpse of their past glory. They seem some how out of place here, the people are dirt poor while living in the shadow of what must have been the grandest of buildings. We head into Jaipur for the night to stay in the grounds of an old palace now being used as a hotel.	The Fort at Amber
Jaipur is known as the "Fabled Pink city" because of the pale pinky tone of its buildings. The buildings may be pale but the women are brightly dress in vivid yellow, red & blue. It must be a desert thing, you often find desert people dress very brightly in contrast to the scenery around them. We spend most of the day looking at palaces, the city walls and just wandering the streets. While walking in the main street I noticed a very ragged looking women lying in the gutter, she was quite motionless as if dead. Passing by the same spot 20 minutes later the police were moving people on as they waited for transport for her body, her body had been there all day before someone thought to checked if she was alive. Life is cheap here and the poor have a low life expectancy, it is not uncommon to see this sight played out on the city streets. Even in the country you see bodies being carried in from the fields at the end of the day, people literally die on the job, they have to work as there is no social security system. Mid afternoon we head out of Jaipur heading for the Bharatpur bird sanctuary, camping for the night near Bandikui were the main train line crosses the highway. We don't usually camp this close to a village but there is a water bore beside the road, a chance to bath and do some washing. It gives the locals endless amusement to see Westerners sitting in the water washing their clothes.	Elephant ride Amber
Hall of Winds - Jaipur	Cows in street
The trip continued