Sunday 13th Oct
Elsie had been to the Van before I awoke & discovered that
a rear tyre was flat. I inspected it & we had breakfast in
the Van. a nail had penetrated it, so I left it for a while
after pumping if up. The swimming Pool here was good I had
a swim & Elsie booked a car for the afternoon to Visit the
Taj Mahul, we went off at 2.30 straight to the Taj Mahal
It was explained to us by the guide, who I might add, was
no where near as good as Nar Singh we saw the Tombs
of the Emperor & his wife. The Taj Mahul was built
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in memory of his wife, she was his second wife but was
favourite, she died in childbirth 19 years after her marriage
& died as her 14th Child was born. The Taj Mahul was
built for her memory & it took 7½ years to complete &
over 20,000 men were employed to construct it.
The whole of this building plus the four Towers is in solid
Marble & the carvings which were done by hand are
really magnificent art. It was explained that the four
Towers which stand at each corner of the building are
built so that they slope outwards at an angle of 6o this
was done in the event of an earthquake they would fall
or collapse outwards & so not damage the Building itself.
Inside there are Four Tombs, Two of which are imitation
The real Tombs are on the floor below but directly under
the imitation ones. This is so that no person will ever
walk over the real Tombs. The Emperor is buried by
his wife’s side, but this was not intended. He did wish
to build another Taj Mahul in Black withing sight of this
but he died before it was built. The Marble
work is done by craftsmen & this craft is handed down
from Father to Son. Daughters are not allowed to
learn this craft the idea being that when they marry
the craft shall not stray out of the family. This
Taj Mahal is really an amazing sight everything
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in the whole construction is done to perfection, the Taj Mahul
is closed each evening except at Full Moon then it is open
until Midnight so that the light shines & the Jewels glisten
This Emperor was imprisoned by his Son for 7 years &
it was at his death that his Son had him buried by the
side of his wife. The Taj Mahal was built early 1600
In the centre of the building the attendant gave a call
& it echoed & re echoed around for quite a long time
We then went to the Red Fort of Agra, this is now used
as Army Barracks & we were told that this was the
place where the Emperor was imprisoned. It appears that
he was held here by his Son under House arrest, but lived
a life of luxury though not being allowed out of the Fort
We then went to see men & boys working on Marble, but
one has to be careful at this stage because it is obvious
that the guide is on a commission basis & anything you
buy is to his benefit, but the work is good. The return
journey to the Hotel was through Old Agra which like
Old Delhi is just Dirt & Grime, it had been raining & the
Streets were Mud, in these places the Rain water cannot
soak into the ground it just lays in pools, but still the
people walk about bare footed through it all. I asked the
Guide about the Bullocks that were wandering about, & he
said no one worries about them because they always
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return home at evening. We had to cross a one way
Bridge & the cause of the delay is the slow moving
Bullock carts, & if one should break down whilst on the
bridge it causes a long delay. When we got back
to the Hotel we wrote three letters, they were to Nell,
Elsie May & Mrs. Hockley. Elsie then made her route
for tomorrow & we rested.
Monday 14th Oct
My first task for today was to change the rear tyre, it was
very hot, this was the first tyre change of the Van & I used
the spare wheel from beneath the Van. I did not repair
the Puncture which was caused by a large nail but left
it till a later date. As I was so hot after changing this
Tyre I went for a swim to cool off, after 15 minutes I dried
off & we paid the Hotel Bill. We needed more currency
so had to wait for the Bank to open at Mid day, but it
was almost 12.30 by the time we got clear. We left the
Hotel & by some misfortune found ourselves on a secondary
road to Kanpur. Elsie’s charm at the Police Station after
making enquiries resulted in us being asked in by the
Inspector to have Tea with him, he was interested in our
journey. I gave him a spare map which we had of England
& he was delighted. We were told to keep straight
along this road to Karphul [Karhal?], we kept on & finally reached
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the N.H.2. It is important to mention that although this
road is the National Highway of India it is only a single
line road for Traffic. Any vehicles that approach you
cause you to go off the road into the mud or rough shingle
to allow you to get by. These Lorries which are transport
Carriers will not budge from the road & they drive straight
at you at full speed in their efforts to force you from the roads
We only travelled 93 miles during the day this was because of
the late start which was past 1PM & also the Secondary road
This was the hottest day we had yet experienced Milage 9458
Tuesday 15th Oct
We had the usual disturbance during the night & this has been
common throughout the whole of the journey & that is Dogs
barking at night, the only quiet nights we have had were
at the Hotels, at this site where we stayed the Children
were up & about at 6.30 standing around the Van, the only
way to get a wash was a bucket of water so we had a quick
breakfast & went on our way to Kanpar [Kanpur]. We were not charged
at this Rest house for our nights stay. The Road which we
travelled along was the main arterial Road, the condition of
it was extremely poor in places it was as bad or even worse
than the roads in Turkey, but Turkey was a Two way road
& this in India is only Single. Whilst we went along
we saw the first Elephants & later we saw another 2 Batches
Page 24b
The Level Crossing at Kanpur is marked on the R.A.C. route
as Caution. I would advise anyone here to use extreem Caution
because the road has broken away from the Lines & there
are gaps of anything up to 3ft in width & easily a foot
deep, this is not just in one place but in several. The
Trains of India pull long loads and the one we waited
for at this crossing was pulling over 50 Trucks. Kanpur
is a City familiar to all others we have been through in
India. Dirt & Filth & you really cannot wonder at the
disease that spreads in India. India is a place where your
never alone, there are always plenty of people around
no matter wherever you may be. Men seem to be proud of the
fact that they have 7 or 8 Children aged below 10. This is
something which in my opinion could be altered if that
Child limit were restricted to 3, then within a few years
the Poverty that is now so widespread throughout India
would deteriate, the Population of India would drop within
10-20 years to a reasonable number. With the very poor
quality of the road today and all these Men, they could be
taken over by the Government of India to build Dual Carriagway
& Motorway thus improve & attract the Tourist to the Country
As it is at present you see Men collecting stones in trays
carry the Tray on their head to the part of the road which
they are repairing, tip the tray arrange them by hand &
Page 25a
then the roller is past over, the side of the road which they
make is sometimes a foot higher than the other & it is simply
impossible to drive on. There are no Traffic Lights in these
parts of India no Stop & Go Signs & the roadway that is
under repair is sometimes a stretch of over a mile in length so
one has just to emagine what happens when vehicles come in
opposite direction. Road making Machinery is an urgent need
in India not Atom bombs which they are contemplating
It is impossible for a tourist to find a spot to have a rest and
a cup of Tea along the road unless you have at least 12-20
people just standing around you just staring, this happens all
over India. We found a Rest House & decided to stay for
the night the milage is now 9617
Wed Oct 16th
We left this Rest House at 9AM which was at Allahabad and
went on towards Varanasi. the quality of the road was better
in places but in others it was very poor. The Villages in India
are about 1-2 miles apart & because of this you are always driving
along with Cyclists in the road. These Cyclists have no idea
whatever of any Road sense, they ride sometimes three people on a
single machine, they swerve across the road & again they
come straight out of thee side roads with no idea of anything
coming. We saw one come direct from behind a stationary lorry
it was hit by the oncoming lorry which did not stop,
Page 25b
earlier we saw the remains of a Bike that had been run over
by a lorry. We crossed the Ganges River by the
Pontoon Bridge, it was narrow but there was no Police
control so whether or not it was my place to stop or
Go I do not know but we got safely across, the only
traffic that I met coming against me was Cyclists, Rickshaws
& Bullock Carts. The Rickshaws are Taxis where the Cyclist
Peddles with 2-3 people sitting behind him. a job that I would
not have at any price, along this road to Varanasi you
have stretches of road under repair sometimes well over a
mile in length, no one working on it, then a short stretch
of road & again it goes on for a mile or so under repair
You and the oncoming Traffic have to sort it out how best it
is to get by. Coaches & Public Carriers will not budge &
you are forced to get off the road to allow then to pass, the
best thing to do in these cases is to stop & let the other
driver ease up. The Coaches & Transport Carriers ar of the
diesel engine type, they are all old vehicles & throw out
volumes of black smoke which literally hides the view
of any driver. There are not many, if any at all, that
would pass an M.O.T. in England, several wrecks
block the roads & if they are unable to go on then the
driver places a row of stones around the Vehicle this
causes the road to be blocked still further but they do
Page 26a
not worry, this method of Placing stones around the Vehicle
first starts in Turkey, where you as a Tourist are told that
it is compulsion to carry a warning Triangle, but the only
time you see such a thing is if ever a British car breaks down.
We did reach Varanasi and although we were still on the
National Highway the road was blocked with heaps of Stones
Rubish and obstructions of all descriptions it was with great
difficulty that we managed to get through this place. Another big
hazzard is men pushing a truck with Iron bars up to 30 ft in
length & the bars are out at an angle & consequently take up more
than half the width of the road. Some men carry the length of
Iron on their Shoulder and it is dangerous for Passers By & Vehicles
The Population of Varanasi is terrific, People are compelled to walk in
the roads they have no footpaths, Pavements or likewise. People walk
sometimes 6 deep & it is these crowds which compels you to drive at
less than walking pace, in fact it is 1st Gear all the way.
We asked about Rest House & one boy offered to show us where it
was, so we took him along & reached it. Milage 9779
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