The Real Marigold Hotel

I have not yet seen the Marigold prog as I am in India, and return home by the end of the month.

My first visit was in 1992 travelling alone with my camera for company. Sadly I have not seen the Taj. At the beginning of a trip I am too eager to get on with my plan, and by the end cant be bothered by the hassle by touts.

I have seen but a fraction of the country, and each state differs from the last, food people, climate.

For the last 15 years we have rented a flat in a temple town in Tamil Nadu. Each month on the full moon day people converge from all over S India to walk round the holy mountain here, barefoot, its about 14km and the wise ones do it at night.

However when we first came our street died at 7pm and there were only a few pedal cyclists around, and you could easily cross the road., now its full of 2 wheelers weaving in and out. Rules of the road...... Ha they dont exist anywhere in India, and the policemen spend all their time in tea shops.

In our 15 years here traditions have changed a lot, but the caste system still exists, and dowry too. Before ladies always wore flowers in their hair, no itsonly on marriage days which are designated by astrologers, for a fee of course.

Bribery is rife and overcharging foreigners is fair game

The people are friendly and kind, and if you can get over poor people existing, you wiil enjoy your trip.

Please dont be beguiled by travel companies who tell you to bring pens to dish out to kids. Thekids who ask for them normally attend private schools,and that is very costly fro their parents, normality is that if it is a good school you are asked for a donation[ large] to get a place. I used to bring baloons, light and easy. Good pens are cheaply availalable.

Another scam is tuition. The teachers both private and Govt are not well paid, so supplement their income by extra tuition, and if the parents dont play ball the kids get marked down.

In the 15 years we have seen kids do well despite the caste system, earning good money abroad which is sent back home.
Sunday we get a train from Madras to Calcutta which should take 27 hours,

Oh I loved every moment of it and wish we had more programmes like this.

It made me smile and it made me cry.
I cried for Jan Leeming when she admitted she is lonely, and I cried for Roy Walker when he talked about losing his wife all those years ago. I never really liked him before, but I could have reached out and hugged him when he talked about her.

I'm hooked. I have already looked into flights and accommodation. The idea of going there for a holiday is very enticing

Roy Walkers wife died over twenty years ago , I am sure he said this

Roy Walker had very little to contribute though, didn't he? I thought that a lot of the time he seemed quite unsure and really quite sad. He did say his wife had died (not recently, but not many years before). Warmed to Wayne Sleep, too - and it was good to see the friendship growing between him and Bobby George.

I really enjoyed the series, made such a change having people I have actually heard of and who did not argue to camera all the time. Roy did not get to say much did he.

I've never really liked Wayne Sleep but have changed my opinion of him completely. He came across as very kind and caring.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and agree that it was nice to see a group of people who were considerate of each other and not arguing all the time - as seems to be the case with many reality programmes.

Who would ever of thought Bobby George and Wayne Sleep could become bessy mates

I really enjoyed this series. I nearly didn't bother to watch but I'm so glad I did. Lovely to see a bunch of celebs getting on together without all the backstabbing you seem to see on most of the reality shows. Loved the family of puppeteers And what a nice chap Bobby seems to be.

I agree about the flowers 'things' Jan wears in her hair they are so dated and ageing, maybe she'll read this thread and realise they need to GO!

I think Mariam M was lucky to find a toilet. When my sons were in India they couldn't find one!!!!!

Yes very lonely , and I could be so wrong but I think it is a man she is needy for , I find this so sad , surely five ex husbands would put anyone off needing a sixth

She did seem to be a very lonely person, though. In one of the previous episodes she said she never went on holiday because she had no one to go with.

I doubt if Jan would find companionship out there. Not without the film crew in attendance.

I agree that Jan seems very needy. She's been married a few times so she's either made the wrong choices or is difficult to live with.

I rember Rosemary in a programme called How to be a Lady a few years ago where she was teaching clueless girls how to cook. Clarissa Dickson Wright died a couple of years ago so I didn't confuse Rosemary with her. Rosemary seems a much nicer person than CDW was.

Jan's need seems to be another husband , surely she has close friends in this country, living part of the year in India for company seems the wrong reason to up sticks

I empathised with Jan when she was upset during the funeral scene. My father died alone and it prays on my mind. My neighbour tried to console me by saying most people die alone. Other cultures seem to do it in a different and probably better way.
I have enjoyed this series, the views of India and the people. The celebs mostly seemed to find life in India suited them especially Wayne. Some careful editing though no doubt.
It put me in mind of when The Beatles went there too.

I intended to add that I think if Jan did go out there for longer she may see more of the poor areas and find it too distressing. But they were in Jaipur? I don't know what that's like, perhaps better run?

We were lucky enough to get to India the winter before last and do the "Golden Triangle". We went with a wildlife touring company so got off the beaten track and into the countryside as well as Delhi, Agra etc.

It's a wonderful, fascinating country. So much to see and we really, really want to go back. I loved seeing the groups reaction to the first glimpse of the Taj through the gate. It was just the same as mine. I had thought, "well, if we're going to India I want to see the Taj Mahal" but hadn't expected it to be such a mind blowing experience. Some of the places we stayed had been maharajas palaces (one still was!) so it was quite an experience. It is a vast country and we want to visit the south next time.

However, I could never contemplate living there. The poverty is terrible among some of the lower castes and the caste system is so impossible. You are what you are and it CANNOT be changed. Not in this life. There are low caste families living in rags under fly-overs next to de-luxe apartments. And the women sweeping. Always sweeping. But no one clears the rubbish as the money allocated for it has been sidetracked into someone's new swimming pool, so the pigs, goats, cows and dogs spread it all out again. So much to do. Too much to do. Two weeks was enough for my emotional abilities! The best I could do was 'twin' my toilet for one of the villages. Every little helps!

I think they are a lovely group of people. I've always been a fan of Miriam M. I loved her performance in one of the Black Adder series.

I've always wanted to go to India. Two of my sons have and were very upset by the poverty.

The Taj Mahal looks soo beautiful. I had tears in my ears thinking about my dh who passed away in 2012. It's wonderful monument to true love.

I was impressed by the honesty of the group and alarmed by how unwell some of them looked but maybe they were affected by the intense heat.

It was interesting to hear about the philosophy of the caste system and to see how friendly and accepting the people seem to be.

Find Miriam a foul mouthed bore, absolutely self obsessed and her constant references to her bodily functions turns my stomach. Patti is self obsessed too, fantastic skin though. Rosemary is very loud and in your face but I think she is a very kind person and quite sensitive underneath the bluster. Jan is very needy but lights up when a man pays her any attention. The others just merge in somehow. Be interesting to see how they all gel together.

What a beautiful programme and series. Whe Jan got on the horse, it made me cry. I do hope she goes out there for a few months and feels the companionship she seems to need. And it has seemed to touch the rest of them too, apart from Sylvester who didn't say very much at all.

The people themselves, the Indian communities, were all very welcoming, gorgeous, friendly people. I really loved the films of the Marigold Hotel but to follow it up with a series in which it shows the real India and it still comes across as a very warm and generous place to live and visit, then I, for one, am envious of the people who can go there. Maybe in this country we could learn something from these wonderful people.

I thought she was too, a real effort to remember that she is Rosemary! I think CDW lived in India as a child and was confused that she didn't mention it, then I realised it wasn't her anyway. Bobby proved so much more open minded that he appeared at first, shows one shouldn't make assumptions.
Jan Leeming does seem to have had bad luck, or maybe bad judgement, in her personal life. Lovely dress sense but she looked as if she had sunburn when she went to the fortune teller.
Overall a very good series, I wish I were brave enough to take my arthritis (and similar urgent needs to MM's!) there!

I haven't seen this weeks episode [been away with no catchup tv and kept missing things]. I thought Jan Leeming was lovely. I still keep thinking the chubby cook lady is Clarissa Dixon Wright though .

I would want a pool and air conditioning to cope with the heat so India is not for me I guess.

I thought Jan came across as very vulnerable . Which made me feel differently about her but she really needs to ditch the fake flowers i think her hair , put up looks lovely and then its topped with something that looks like a shower pouf thingie !