Australia, my new home

From Agra I caught another train to New Delhi. Alison had given me the address of a nursing friend of hers from England, who lived in Agra. Anne and her husband were missionaries, but during the hot months they stayed at a guest house at one of the famous hill stations called Naini Tal, in the Himalayas. I went there for the weekend, catching the train to Barelli, and then by taxi, which I shared with a catholic priest, to Naini Tal. The taxi dropped me at the bus station, as cars were not allowed inside the resort. They said it was only a few hundred yards further, but what I didn't anticipate was how the altitude would affect me. Naini Tal is about 4000 meters above sea level, and any physical effort at that altitude was an enormous strain on my body. Even to walk slowly up the path towards the YMCA was a major effort.

I tried to rest in the afternoon, but my heart was pounding, and I just couldn't sleep at all. The same happened again at night. Later that afternoon I met Anne, Paul and their two children and we had a long talk together over dinner. The following day they took me on a boat trip on the lake. The landscape looked magnificent. The still lake surrounded by high mountains made a lasting impression on me. The evenings were quite cool, a most pleasant climate, I thought. No wonder that people who could afford it escaped the oppressive heat of the plains to spend it up there on a hill station.

On my way back to New Delhi I was able to get an air-conditioned overnight train. I shared the compartment with a most interesting Indian. We sat up half the night talking about religion. I learnt from him a great deal about Hinduism, about their great religious tolerance, and how their religion was affecting their every-day life. It was a most interesting and stimulating conversation, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

In New Delhi I caught a small plane to Amritsar. We had a rather bumpy trip and I vowed never to travel on such small planes again. It made me quite sick.

In Amritsar I stayed at Mrs. Bandhari's Guest House. There were no hotels in town that would come up to the standard of accommodation and cuisine of Mrs. Bandhari. Michael had warned me already of her outspokenness, and she was certainly a personality, respected by diplomats and business people alike. I had to visit several Woollen mills in Amritsar, and also in Ludhiana, a short drive away. Mrs. Bandhari owned her own hire car, and the driver knew where to find all the addresses. This made it very much easier for me. There was even time to go to Chandigar, the provincial capital at the foothills of the Himalayas, a most beautiful area.

I also had enough time to visit the Golden Temple of the Sikhs. The Sikh religion is an offshoot of Hinduism, which had a social programme very much like our Christian church. They had schools all over the northern part of India, also hospitals and community centres to feed and clothe the poor. I was fascinated to find such a caring and sharing

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