Final days games

In terms of excitement for the final days games we counldn't of asked for more.

England looked to take 3rd place when 3-1 up at half time but the heat and lack of Mantell, especially on shorts, showed, at 3-3 we thought extra time might be on the cards but it wasn't to be, a couple of errors in mid-field and the dutch got the result 4-3.

On the plus side we had virtually a full house, not quite as passionate as for the India games and there was a strong German and Dutch contingent, the umpiring wasn't as good as it could have been but then our man Mair was due on for the final.

So for the final, as expected Asutralia came out very strong, constantly pressing high up the field when they didn't have the ball, which told taking a 1-0 lead into halftime. The Garmans just couldn't find an outlet and whatver was said at half-time did the trick as they draw level and it was a thriller. The Aussies replied and held onto their lead in what was a great game.

In all Delhi has done the World Cup proud, for all the issues they faced before the competition they pulled it off but only just. Wether or not they can do so for a larger competition such as the Commenwealth games still has to be in question but let's hope so.

Other than the hockey today it was the usual avoiding people trying to get us into their emporium, Connought Place just isn't worth the hassle, and explaining to tut-tut drivers where our hotel is.

There'll be a summary of our India visit to follow but extortionate hotel wi-fi rates will mean this will have to follow up back in the UK.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog of my trip to India, please comment and let me know how you have followed me:)

...pictures and video of the final to follow....

Next stop Delhi and the final!

The last two days spent in Udaipur have been a nice contrast to the busy cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur, not least because of the lack of traffic. We've been based in the old city which is a mass of small mazey lanes, full of shops and hotels, mostly offering a view of the Lake Palace which was used in the Bond film Octopussy. It's as an impressive sight at sunset and sunrise as the postcard pictures suggest, just a shame that as it's a rather upmarket hotel now its not possible to see inside.

 Another contrast of the town is the people, more laidback and open to tourists saying no and then open to a chat about the town, one similarity is how easy it is to get lost, maps and road signs aren't one of this countries strong points but then that is part of what makes travelling fun.

We took in a boat road to get a closer look at the two palaces on the lake and a quick wander round the Jag Mandir one, it looked as though it was getting setup for a wedding later in the day, quite an impressive venue for one. Later it's an overnight train ride on the Mewar Express back to Delhi for our lastnight of the trip, it'll be interesting to compare the train with our first overnight ride on the Radjani Express.

As for the hockey we watched the semi-finals lastnight on the tele, the teams that got through both played the better hockey and fully deserved their wins, just a shame we'll be watching England in the 3th/4th place placeoff, am hoping at least for a decent crowd as hopefully the locals will come out in force....there's still the question of who to support in the final, Germany or Australia, any help in deciding is most welcome:)

Moving on to our last stop

The last couple of days have been quite a busy affair, including a change of venue via a domestic plane ride which wasn't originally planned.

Monday saw us decide to do the sights of Jaipur on a half day organised trip, this meant we didn't have any tuttut battles to contend with but brought it's own challenges. In a small jeep mostly full of locals we set off from the government tourism department to take in the main attractions Jaipur has to offer, all good so far, our guide proved interesting as his english wasn't the best and we found ourselves nodding rather actually taking anything he had to say in. Fortunately the tour of the City Palace had an audio guide which was a nice releif, it was again an impressive building in the Pink City but we may now be suffering from tourist attraction fatigue as when we got to Ajmer Fort we didn't even go inside the main palace, just one fort too many.

 There were two food dishes we hadn't yet had, one Dosa's which we'd been told about we managed to have for tea at Sankelps in the main town, I'd compare them with savoury pancakes, nice but fair better when sweet. Our trip back to the hotel that evening was another rollarcoaster tuttut ride, this time our driver knew how to find our hotel which was a bonus, although he took out one motorbike on the way and nearly had a cyclist over. Our last morning in Jaipur was another a nice quiet affair before a friend picked us up to take in some shopping and lunch, which meant we could do the other food dish we'd yet to have, Thali's, a handful of small dishes and desert all on a large platter, yummy!

We'd planned to leave Jaipur in the evening getting the overnight train to Udaipur, the one issue was that our tickets still weren't confirmed, rather oddly we'd been 1 and 2 on the waiting list for the past month. Not wanting to risk not being able to get on the train we cancelled that and booked an afternoon flight.


So now we find ourselves in Udaipur, home of the palace on the lake which featured in Octopussy, more updates to follow over the next few days before heading back to Delhi for the final. Just hoping England can beat Germany in the semi, my hopes aren't high but Germany without the Zellor brothers have looked beatable so we are in with a chance, if only Mantell wasn't injured.

Down and dirty in Jaipur

The day started off at silly o'clock, 5am to get up and out for a 6:30am train to Jaipur, fortunately it was only a 5hr trip so we'd have the afternoon to mooch around, and we needed it. The train was lovely with it seemed constant food and drink being offered, I spotted the tannoy announcements being done by a man with a tape recorder, not quite as you'd expect in this day and age, still the train worked and we got in on time.

Just like New Delhi train station, we'd been warned about the taxi touts and told to head straight for the pre-pay tuttuts, so we did although got the usual followed along which led to us being taken to the wrong hotel, whose fault it was who knows but its a shame that the few devious people here end up making one sceptical of all, when most people have been very friendly.

The hotel is just as expected and almost on its knees, a sort of Indian Faulty Towers, a grand old building which has been left and no needs some serious repair work, that said the staff are friendly, the rooms nice and it has a pool which I may brave in a bit.

We thought we'd pop down to down for a coffee but soon realised the map we'd been given wasn't to scale, plus every hundred yards someone wants to offer you a rickshaw, if I wanted a bloody rickshaw I would ask for one and wouldn't be walking!!:) Yet again there's few westerners around which doesn't help us out. Finally we found our tried and tested coffee house chain and a while later thought we'd get a rickshaw back to the hotel, this would be our first and maybe last rickshaw of the trip. Firstly we forgot to check that our rickshaw driver was upto the job, geting on for 55-60 and of a slender built probably wasn't the best choice, and so we set off at a pace just greater than walking.

So time later and knowing he wasn't taking us in the right direction, he stops and points to what should be our hotel, but no he'd got it wrong, we decided to get out and try a tut-tut instead, after explaining to a driver where we want to go and with a map in hand we set off, again in the wrong direction, we did finally make it back somewhere near our hotel but think we may need to have a plan before we set out again!:)

Drama in Delhi as England get to the semi finals.

We had our last two days in Delhi before moving out of the city for some sightseeing, they were a mixed affair, I went into work on the Friday to offices in Gurgaon, which is just half an hour outside of Delhi, it was good to catch up with people I'd only had email and phone calls with although really needed more than a day.

My dad made the most of the time without me to have a lazy day discovering some nearby parks and admiring the local construction industry, something which I'm trying to get him to write a guest post on. With the Commonwealth games in October virtually the whole city shows signs of some building work     and it is hard to see them being ready in time. The hockey stadium was only just ready and outside of the pitch area there's still a lot to do, plus what they have done shows obvious signs of being rushed and should be ripped up, at least the pitch seems to have settled down from the first days play when it was rather bobley. 

We'd decided to stay in Delhi until the England vs India game and it was worth the wait, a packed house of around 15,000, with no more than a dozen obvious England fans made us feel a little outnumbered but never threatened. When we scored it felt a little surreal being the only person to stand up and cheer and you have a feel partly sorry for India, such a passionate crowd who expect so much but the team simply isn't up to competing with the top teams at this level at the moment.

The game went pretty much as planned although we should of been at least two more goals up by half time, a couple of sitters were missed and it wasn't till near the end that India got into the game, their skipper failing to get hold of a sitter from a cross in the last minute which would of drawn the game, so it ended at 3-2 and were in the semis.

The issue now is it's most likely to be either Germany or Holland, who play tonight in their group game, I think we have a chance but it'll be an outside one mainly due to Mantell missing, his long balls from the back deep into the corners were dearly missed lastnight, still as were back for the final let's hope we do get through.

The hustle and bustle of Old Delhi plus another great win

Today had two main objectives, find a certain restuarent for lunch and see hopefully another England win, fortunately both were easier to do than expected. After a lazy start to the day we headed north from our guest house to Old Delhi, a seathing mass of busy narrow lanes and yet again non stop horn honking.

 First stop was the Red Fort, very similar to the one in Agra as they were built by the same people it was similarly impressive but felt calmer which made a welcome change. After yet more photo opportunities it was back out onto the busy streets in search of what has been called the best curry house in the Asia and the world (Times magazine, Sunday Times).


Walking past some rather interesting sights, the meat market being the most unpleasent as people were cutting up sheeps heads by the side of the road, the general mele of business was relentless, we soon realised as seems to be often on this trip that once outside any tourist attraction we become the only western people around.

After a few stops to check the map and rickshaw drivers pointing the way, down a backstreet we found it, 'Karims' is as much an insitution as a restuarant. We got shown to a table in one of the several eating halls and studied the simple menu wondering quite what all the fuss could be about. Going for what we thought was relatively safe dishes in that we could recognise them slighly, the food was lovely, quite a different taste to what we have had so far, definately worth the time it took to find.

Once we'd made it back home and taken a brief siesta it was time agian to head up to the hockey, hoping today our driver would know how to get there, and he did, which with none of the expceted rush hour traiffc meant we just caught the end of the Australia vs South Africa  game. On this form there can be no doubt Australia are the team to beat, having started the tournament slowly, their now peaking at just the right time, 12-0 is a druppng in anyones books.

Next up the one we were there for, England vs Pakistan, starting off at a great pace, England looked the much more structured, using the width and controlling the game for much of it, some lovely breaks and crosses into the back post, combined with managing to keep Sohail out at the shorts meant a well deserved 5-2 win, the only issue being a big injury to Mantell who now misses the rest of the tournament.

Now the local team were up in what was really a must win game against Spain, the stadium was pretty much full and a very passionate crowd got behind their boys. As a spectator you have a develop an understanding that every cheer does not necessarily mean goal mouth action for the locals, every touch by one of their players, no matter what part of the pitch means a great roar from the crowd, this could be interesting when England play them on Saturday and my Dad and I may stand out from the rest of the crowd a little....should be fun:)

It's the big one!

Today was the big one in terms of sightseeing, a trip to Agra and the Taj Mahal, one of those must do's even if getting there sounded like as mission. Leaving our lodging's at 6am we headed out of Delhi still half asleep and any chance of catching a kip was gone as soon as we hit any sign of other cars, due to the way they drive out here. It seems when passing anything, it may even be a cow crossing the road, instead of just driving past, you have to honk your horn a lot, rather disturbing when your trying to nod off.

Making very good time, just 2hr 45mins we got to Agra and it was straight into the Taj Mahal, having heard about long queues and lots of hassle, our ease at which we got in was a nice surprise, might of just missed the crowds. It is exactly as you see in all the picturs yet the shear scale and story of how it came to be, make it even more special in person, 22 years in the making and when you see it up close you know why.

Having spent a couple of hours soaking up the Taj's charm it was down the road to Agra Fort, not as spectacular in detail but still impressive in terms of scale. With all the signtseeing for the day done and some lunch it was the mission back. This was definately a mission as hitting the outskirts of Delhi at rush hour was not much fun, I've no idea how or why anyone would want to do it day in day out, it really was horrific, in part due to the building of the new metro and road south of the city, I really hope they make a difference but probably not in time for the commonwealth games.

Tomorrow it's a trip to Old Delhi, hoping to find the infamous Kareem's for lunch and then England vs Pakistan, one we should again win, that's if we can look a bit more awake and keep Sohail away from any shorts.

PS: ....on our drive back from Agra our driver got caught speeding, the limit being 80km, a brief discussion with an army man and it seemed he was 400rupees over the limit, straight into the man's pocket and no receipt, nice little number if you can get it!;)

Day of two halves

Seems like I'm losing track of days and am a little behind but will try to get things back on schedule...yesterday was Tuesday which meant more hockey to see but first some sights and sounds of Delhi, it's handy having the games not starting till 4:30 in the afternoon, means plenty of time to take in the city beforehand.

First up after breakfast was a tut-tut ride south of the city to a more modern temple, the Lotus Template as were calling it (Bahá'í House of Worship is its real name). It was as beautiful inside as it looked from the outside, often compared to the Sidney Opera house for obvious reasons. 


Next it was the Qtab Minar which getting to took a bit more tut-tut negotiation than we've been used to in order to avoid going via someone's handicraft factory, but we stood to your guns and didn't get an unwelcome detour on the way. It was another lovely large piece of monument and templates in an older style and plenty of picture moments as seems to be the case on most of this trip so far.

Then there was the days hockey, England started off the days play against South Africa, a game I expected us to win but we made rather hard work of it and it ended up bit of a sloppy game with lots of goals at 6-4. I'm not sure if it was the heat being first on but England didn't really look up for it, again Hawes was creative in midfield but Mantell too inconsistent at the back, which if we make the later stages of the tournament will get punished.

Next up was Spain vs Pakistan and the less said about this the better, the first half was so dull and uneventful I'm sure I caught my dad dosing off at one point, at least a 2-1 win to Pakistan helps England out.


Then as it seems to always be the last game of the day was the hosts against Australia, local confidence was high after Saturdays win but this time reality struck, the Aussies were simply too strong and India only showed very brief spells of decent play, the 5-2 result being fair.

Tut-tuts and temples

Our morning started off with a nice breakfast with our host Pervez and a couple of fellow guests at our logdings for the week, Delhi Bed and Breakfast, with most of the talk about the previous days games and Holi. The festival of Holi seems to mainly involve getting coloured, so we took to the terrace to watch some of this going on, deciding to head out once it was safe around mid-day.

With no hockey matches on our agenda today we thought we'd get some sightseeing done and headed out to Humayun's tomb, the roads were nicely quiet and the parks packed with locals making the most of a day off. Inside it was a relief from the busy outside, Delhi seems a city of contrast from almost chaos on the roads and littered streets, to places of tranquillity and beauty.

The tomb and next on our excursion, Lodhi Gardens were in the later bracket, lovely well kept gardens, people playing cricket and enjoying the peacefulness. All this trekking around Delhi was done on what is the easiest way to get round, the auto-wallah or tut-tut, at around £1-£1.50 to get into town from where we are it's a rollarcoaster ride bargin. With some sightseeing done it was back to near where we are staying for a curry and then home to see Holland easily beat Argentina, although I thought they were a little dependant on two of their older stars, Vogel's in goal looking rock solid and Taekema's short corners proving deadly.

It's back for some more hockey tomorrow, a small matter of Endland vs South Africa, a game we'll be expecting to win but before that some more tombs and tut-tut's....of which one of our driver's today seemed to of had his Holi fun today.

Couldn't ask for a better first day of games

Having finally got to the stadium after being sent the long way round, the Spain vs South Africa game had just started and the stadium was still filling up. Spain were always the more inventive and used a lot more width which  told in the end, them coming out 4-2 winners.

Next up was England vs Australia, my hopes weren't high but with the crowd getting bigger and it cheering England on, something to do with Australia cheating in the cricket I thought we would have a chance. Although the opening play was mostly Australia we were always in it mostly on the break, our short corner defending was telling as the Australia on slought was kept out. As we grew with confidence in the game, the counter attacking style looked like it might pay off and with our short corners being converted and the home crowd behind us we came out deserved winners 3-2.

Now the big one, with the stadium virtually full, all 15,000 (somewhere around there), the crowd was very vocal, even the Indian national anthem reverberated around the ground as one voice. The small pockets of Pakistani supporters were trying there best but getting rather mocked and so the players seemed to find it hard going. India scored early on and even the master of the short corner Sohail Abbas couldn't find his way, putting two rockets onto the crossbar. So once they went 3-0 up just after the start of the second half so things were all over, its good the local team got through as hopefully this will help the support and the game develop into what it once was.

So quite a first day of games, pretty much what we could of wished for and to top it off a friend took us to a lovely curry house, not too spicy and very tasty.

It's Holi tomorrow so it may mean not going out till midday to avoid getting coloured at least a well deserved lie in can be had.

Delhi we have landed!

Overnight we did around 750miles, had several lovely meals, breakfast and all for £45 each, imagine trying to get from London to Glasgow for that much, it couldn't be done.

Our arrival in Delhi was the shock the guide books had warned us about, the New Delhi Station is pretty grim, even before we got off the train, people were offering to take our bags and then the offers of taxis came flooding in...no, no, no, we decided to stick to our guns and battled through to the pre-paid autos, at 30rupees it was a bargin.

So far this trip there's been lots of waiting, seems to just be how it is out here, getting our hockey tickets was no difference, an hours wait for them to open and then we needed a photocopy of our passports, luckily a nice army guy also had the same problem and so off we went and finally we had our hockey tickets...well all except the final, got to go back for those in a weeks time....and if anyone is looking forward to some photos of the games later I'm afriad there won't be any, no cameras, mobiles or beer in the stadium at all....your just have to beleive me that I was there really:)

Just a few hours now till the first game and a little longer till the big one: India vs Pakistan

Mumbai - City of Horns

We made it in at a very early hour lastnight after reaching Mumbai on time but not being allowed to actually land for hour, maybe a sign of things come.

The flight was nothing I expected, probably helped by the fact it was only half full, but the food was probably the best I've ever had in flight, lovely service, loads of room, I take all of my preconceived conceptions of Air India back!

The brief part of Mumbai we've seen is constant traffic to some it up, some interesting driving, the use of horns is relentless, don't reckon the traffic police department can be of any size at all.

Having made it to the central station, we dropped off our bags and headed for a walk along the streets, some lovely sights, the odd cow drawn cart, a mele of noises and little street businesses all getting on with their daily ruotine....oh and I forgot to mention the heat! Apprently it's around 37degrees today and it certainly feels like it.

Not long now to get on the Radhjani Express for our overnight experience, looking forward to it...next stop Delhi!

Nearly lift off!

Bit of early start 3:30am but Air India check-in went without a hitch, now to see what the state of the plane is like!

Just seen the forecast for when we land...20degrees at night! 35 in the day! Going to be bit of a shock from the cold and rain we're leaving behind, not that I'm complaining at all.

Next step Mumbai:)

6 days to go...and counting!

Now what have I forgotten to get?

Seems everything is coming together just in time, even with a couple of last minute panics over not being able to take Rupees into India, and noticing that the trains I had booked weren't all confirmed seats. Not a problem though it seems with the trains, as friends have said just board them anyway, definitely need to get myself into the local way of thinking as soon as possible.

Only four more days of work to survive, a potentially interesting Air India flight, hoping it's not as bad as some of  the reviews I've seen, an overnight train on the Radjani Express to Delhi and it'll be the opening day of the Hockey World Cup.

It's interesting reading the local press suggesting India are aiming for a semi-final place but with only the top two teams from the group going through it really could be anyone's, only Australia stand out, leaving five other teams potentially looking for that second spot, not an easy one to predict.

Considering England are the European Champions after their win in August last year over the more fancied Germany, we may be an outside bet but I don't think the crowds or the heat will favour us too much.

13 days to go

So everything's booked although there seems complete confusion about where to pick up tickets for the hockey games, why when one has an e-ticket it needs to be exchanged for a real ticket before the games still hasn't been explained.


Apparently the ticket booths at the new Dhyan Chand stadium in Delhi haven't been built yet, I guess this is just a sign of things to come on our trip and it'll just be a case of going with the flow.

What would Major Dhyan 'Chand' Singh think of the whole state of affairs?  Gone are the days on the 1930s and 40s when India ruled the hockey world, will this tournament help reignite local interest in a game that doesn't carry the money and television coverage of the dominate sport of the day, cricket.


Unfortunately I have my doubts but would like to remain hopeful, no one realistically expects the local team to get very far in the tournament, with Australia and Germany being the favourites, but I'm hoping for large passionate crowds to create an event one will always remember....that is if the ticket situation gets sorted out!