Varanasi

An overnight train ride from Khajuraho with some other friendly backpackers brought us into the holy city of Varanasi. Upon arrival we were struck by the hustle and bustle of this city,just as bad if not worse than Delhi. It was intense. Luckily our tour organiser had arranged someone to pick us up from the train station. Our hotel was quite nice, a hot shower and a long bed is all I really ask for. I'm even getting used to the squat toilets now. After arriving we stopped at McDonald's for some much needed comfort food. At about $3 for a meal it's very cheap, except they have no beef patties. The next day we flagged down a cycle rickshaw and took a ride through the old city down to the ghats for a look at the Ganges river. It looks almost stagnant, but it's actually quite fast flowing. I don't know how people manage to get anything clean in it though it's absolutely filthy! I wasn't game enough to go for a swim, so I stood in it instead. At least I can say my feet have good karma. We also took a boat ride at sunset which was very cool. The colors are spectacular, not so good for photos though as the haze of pollution is so thick. We probably paid a bit too much for the boat ride as Nicole and I did most of the rowing. The guy was amazed as he'd never seen tourists row so well. I think it was the easiest 200 rupees he'd ever made! We also discovered an amazing place called Pizzeria Vaatika Cafe which had delicious wood fired pizza and home made apple pie with ice cream! A good break from Indian food. There was also an amazing place called the Blue Lassi which I highly reccomend to anyone who goes to Varanasi. It is a tiny little shop that sells hand made yoghurt drinks which are more of an art then a drink. They come in clay bowls and are decorated with coconut and various fruits. They were so amazing Nicole and I had to go back a second time.

That night we were due to catch the train to Hyderabad and we found ourselves halfway across the city with an hour and a half before the train arrived. We were meant to be at the station half an hour before the train arrived and the traffic was horrendous. We jumped in with a crazy looking tuk tuk driver and held on to our seats. Finally we arrived at our hotel, picked up our bags and headed to the train station. We were in such a rush we forgot to check the ticket. With only 5 mins to spare we got to the platform and found where our carriage was due to pull up ( the trains are so big you have to find out where your carriage will be.) and got on the train just in time. On the train we checked the ticket only to realize our train was actually the next day and we had no hotel booked. So we had one more day in paradise. This gave us the opportunity to get up early next morning and watch the sunrise which was spectacular.

That evening we had to scramble again to catch the train as there was a big Muslim festival on in our area. There were groups of men showing their devotion to Allah by whipping themselves on the back with metal contraptions. There was a lot of blood and it was very intense. Unfortunately for us there we're no autorickshaws to be seen and we had no way of getting to the station. We had to run through the city with our massive packs asking people where to catch a rickshaw, it felt like we were in the amazing race. Eventually we reached the station and thanks to our rehearsal the previous day were able to find the right platform just in time.

3000 year old fire from which embers are taken to start cremations.

Apple Lassi

Holy Feet

Khajuraho

We spent 1 day in Khajuraho in order to see the famous Jain temples which display magnificent erotic carvings. We thought we were staying longer however our tour organizers had mucked up the dates and instead of staying 1 night and having 2 days to explore our train left at 11.20 that night. It's fair to say it was a bit of a mad rush. We still had enough time anyhow to hire some bicycles and explore the peaceful little villages and temples. Even in a small town such as this it was still difficult to escape the barrage of touts and sales people. On several occasions we quickly ran to our bikes and peddled away to avoid the mobs. It was very common for guys trying to befriend us in order to "practice their english" and take us on a tour around the city. Afterwards we were told they would demand large sums of money which was no surprise to us. Lesson: have to be very weary of anyone who is overly friendly. We were told to say "chaloo" which pretty much means go away.

The carvings all represent souls who according to Jainism are living unattached, unaffected and in eternal bliss.

Agra

From Ranthambore we travelled to Agra to see the magnificent Taj Mahal along the worst road I have ever been on - I mean ever! It was semi tar sealed with enormous pot holes. It took about 6 hours to travel 200km. Our driver said this was the good road! Eventually we arrived in Agra and had enough time to go and see the sunset on the Taj Mahal from the river. This was luckily free of charge. The next day we paid for entry into the Taj Mahal which cost us 750 rupees or about $17.50. When we purchased the ticket a tour guide approached us and said he was a government tour guide. His price was 900 rupees for foreigners, we haggled and he offered us the Indian price 500 rupees which was written on his badge. We still thought this was way too much and he offered us 200 rupees. We decided this was too much again and walked away. 5 mins later another guide came up to us and offered us 50 rupees. We were very glad we didn't go with the first guide. Our guide explained the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan the Mughal ruler in 1653 and took 20 years to complete. It was built in memory of his beloved 3rd wife Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to her 14th child. Shah Jahan wanted to build another Taj out of black marble for himself across the river, but was succeeded by his son and imprisoned in the Agra fort where he died. He was later buried next to his wife in the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was indeed amazing, up close it is much bigger than you would think. Just the top spiral which was previously solid gold is 10m high. The inlaid stone carving is also very impressive.

All inlaid black marble which gets bigger toward the top to give the impression of uniformity when looking up from the ground.

Ranthambore

From Jaipur we travelled to the small town of Ranthambore where we were to do our tiger safari. We stayed in a very nice place that had a buffet lunch/dinner and a pool. There we met an American lady from Anchorage, who was a bird enthusiast. She was very nice and we exchanged information about what to do and where to go as she was travelling the reverse route from what we had. We went out for a walk with her through the town and ended up at a little local joint where we sat down, ordered some water and chatted for a while. We were not game enough to try the food from such a small, street side place. Turns out looks can be deceiving. That night we decided to go out for dinner with the lady as she had been recommended a nice restaurant. Where did we end up, but exactly the same place we had been at that afternoon. They had a delicious cashew nut curry and naan bread straight from the tandoor (wood fired) oven. All up the meal cost me about 150 rupees or $3.50. The tiger safari on the other hand was not so good as we didn't see any tigers. There was a lot of deer, some interesting birds and wild pigs, which we could see on the street anyway. It was also freezing cold in the mornings and evenings. We had to pay about $30 for each safari and I went out twice so was a little disappointed. The driver said it was the worst time of year to see tigers as there was a lot of water around after the monsoons and they could travel large distances without having to drink at the watering holes (or this was his excuse anyway). I wish I had known this earlier. We decided to do another safari down in Kerala where we have the chance of seeing Elephants and also Rhinos in the wild.

Samba deer

Jaipur

Jaipur is the famous Pink city as all the buildings were painted pink for the Prince of Wales visit in 1876. We stayed 2 nights in Jaipur where we visited the Monkey temple and Amber fort. Other than this I did not think it was a particularly interesting city. We had a look at many silk shops, one could have tailor made me a suit for around $300 NZ or a shirt for about $30. Unfortunately my budget couldn't stretch that far and I felt like we were being taken on the tourist track as many other tourists were being taken to the same shops. The salesmen would not let me leave without naming a price. Name your price, give me your best price etc etc. Even when you don't want the item they still persist which can be very annoying. One even grabbed my arm when I tried to walk away. No is not a word they like to hear. The monkey temple was Nicole's favourite place so far. There were hundreds of monkeys eating bananas and climbing all over the place. I took about 300 photos on burst mode which I had to cull down to 100 as they were all the same. It was like being in a zoo except the monkeys were not behind a fence but right in front of us. Some had little babies which were very cute.

Playing cricket in the background

Amber fort, the fisherman checking his empty net.

Monkey temple

Pushkar

On the way to Jaipur we stopped in the religious town of Pushkar for 2 nights. On the first day our driver dropped us in the middle of town and told us to go down to the lake were we would be blessed by a Hindu priest. On the way we were given flowers we were told to place in the lake. When we arrived at the lake we were immediately picked up by priests and taken to the edge of the lake where the priest annointed us with sandalwood and recited a mantra for us and our families to give us good karma. It was quite a spiritual experience and very peaceful. After this we released the flowers in the holy water. I'm not sure how water so dirty can be so holy, but never mind. In typical Indian fashion we were asked for a donation of anywhere between about 2000 and 5000 rupees which we were told would bring good karma. Wasn't the point of the blessing to bring us good karma? Luckily we had been forewarned by our driver to give no more than about 100 rupees. This was a good money making scheme if you ask me! The guy was so relentless though we both ended up giving about 250 rupees just to shut him up. He then gave us a cotton wrist band and told us with this no one would bother us again in Pushkar. We then went for a wander through the streets and some ladies out of nowhere grabbed our hands and started shaking them and asking us questions. At the same time they started drawing henna designs on our hands without even asking us. We just went with it - a bad move in hindsight. Before we knew it we were being asked for 500 rupees each, you feel so sorry for them though it really is very hard to say no. The girl was about the same age as us and lived in the desert and didn't go to school as she had to look after her family. It becomes more of a donation than a payment.

Following this we went back to the hotel where our driver Babloo had organized another camel safari seeing I was soo sick on the last one I couldn't really enjoy it. We had some lunch and then hopped on smelly, arthritic camels for a 4 hour camel safari. Mine was called Mr John. We stopped out in the middle of a small village to watch the sun go down and drink a beer which surprisingly made the return camel ride a lot more comfortable. I guess you don't have to worry about drinking and camel riding.

Udaipur

Called the City of Romance Udaipur is easily my favourite city yet. Our hotel in Udaipur overlooked the lake and provided some spectacular views at night of the city skyline. On day 1 we looked at the city palace home to the Maharajas which was used in the James Bond film Octopussy. This is the towns claim to fame and is repeated by just about every tour guide and passer by. We wanted to go on the sunset lake boat ride however another wedding party meant the lake palace was being used and there were no boat rides so we had to settle for some temples and a walk around the city instead. So far we have encountered a wedding party in every city and they are fast becoming the bane of our travels. We fell asleep to the heavy techno rave Indian music coming from the other side of the lake. No noise control here. Day 2 we went and ate at a little cafe we found in lonely planet which served very nice Italian food and had fantastic smoothies. They served chocolate chilli cheese pizza which was an interesting experience. An Australian lady next to us was complaining how the food was not up to standard as her porridge was not what she expected. We thought you've got to be joking this is India. We didn't know how she would survive the rest of her travels. Anyway after this we went and did the boat ride we had wanted to do the day before. It was very cool and provided some fantastic views of the ghats and lake palaces. The smell of the boats petrol engine and the feel of being on the water made me ever so slightly homesick and reminded me of going out fishing early in the morning back in NZ.