Pakdokter and partner had booked to re-visit the Golden Triangle of India, this time by travelling on the luxurious train "Palace on Wheels" way back in November 2009. We had, in January 2009, traveled to the South Indian state of Kerala, but some time in January, when India was warned by 'big brother' the USA government, that India faces a serious threat of a terrorist attack, the Indian government came out with a policy that foreigners were not allowed to travel to India again except after 2 months of the last trip! Pakdokter and partner were resigned to cancelling this trip and loosing our hefty deposit, or God Willing, be allowed to travel some time in April without incurring any loss or having to come out with a penalty payment. Fortunately for pakdokter, with the help of some people in the right position, our appeal for a special consideration was entertained by the Indian authorities, thus allowing pakdokter to join the group of 5 couples from Malaysia to make this special journey.
The Palace on Wheels took us to the fabulous cities of forts,castles and palaces of Rajasthan as well as to Agra where the world famous Taj Mahal is located.
Pakdokter and friends left KLIA late Friday afternoon on a fully-booked Malaysia Airlines flight which took 5 hours to hit New Delhi. New Delhi was in a frenzy of construction, to complete the infrastructure needed to host the upcoming Commonwealth Games in October 2010. The New Delhi International Airport is nearing completion and new highways link the airport to the city. A rapid-train line is almost completed which would connect the airport to the city.
But apart from this, the New Delhi pakdokter remembers from previous trips 10 and 15 years ago has not yet changed very much. The crowded streets, the traffic jam, the dust and the noise have not changed much if not much worse. The the mass of poverty is still pretty obvious.
Hopefully, with its new economic vigour, India will catch up with the rest of the developed world in the not too long future.....
being garlanded and adorned with Rajasthani headgear 
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