Is the Dalai Lama Home?

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The answer to that question was no, he wasn't at home. But we'll get to that later.

Firstly, after a great time in Agra, we treated ourselves to a better class of carriage on the train, 3AC -one with AC, what luxury. We were off to big bad Delhi. We had heard so much about it and we weren't sure what to expect, but it wasn't as scary as we imagined. We stayed in a place right beside the train station, Paharganj, an area that is full with backpackers and tourists so we felt right at home. We got in late enough so found a great place to stay with one of the best showers in all of India - seriously, you take these things as a given at home, but a good shower is such a luxury these days!

During our sight seeing in Delhi we found one major problem.....everytime we would get a rickshaw driver to bring us somewhere, he would tell us we were there, just a few minutes walk from where he was dropping us, 10 mins of walking we still couldn't find where we were supposed to be. This happened to us on nearly every rickshaw journey, it was impossible! So everything in Delhi took us a lot longer than expected. But we did manage to see the Red Fort aka Lal Qila. This is a very large sandstone fortress built by none other than Shah Jahan as he planned to move his capital from Agra to Delhi but this never happened due to him being imprisoned by his son. Theres not much to see in here, it's mostly just a shell of it's former self. The British army used it as it's headquarters at one point. Nearby we also went to see the Jama Masjid, which is the largest mosque in India built in the 1600's, and it is huge. We had to cover up to go in here so at the door they kindly gave Garry a sarong type thing to cover his legs and me a big moomoo. There are usually so many touts at these places offering guided tours so when anyone approaches us we just say no no no. Unfortunately when Carol was approached by someone she cut them off assuming this was happening and walked off, she was basically quite rude, and this guy was just being friendly wanting a photo! It's sad that we sometimes miss out on meeting nice people in India because of all the touts.

After our stint in the 3AC carriage, it was hard to go back to normal sleeper class, so we decided to treat ourselves to a fancier train carriage to get to Amritsar - chair class. It was pretty damn good, being fed every hour and it was an express train so got us there just before bed time. We went to a place recommended by the lonely planet and we were so tired and we knew we had a big day ahead of us tomorrow we just took it, but it was not what we expected. It was a cockroach infested place with only ice cold showers, probably one of our worst nights accommodation in the year. We managed to make it through the night but changed hotel first thing the next morning.

After we found a fabulous room (anything would be good after the room we had the night before!) we decided to check out the golden temple, one of the main reasons to come to Amritsar. The golden temple is Sikhisms holiest temples where all are welcome. To enter the temple, everyone has to cover their head and wash their feet. When you walk inside there is a marble walk way with a pond in the middle, and in the middle of this pond stands the golden temple with a causeway linking it to the marble walkway around the edge. On loudspeakers all throughout the day there is a continuous chant from the Sikh holy book. It's a really beautiful place.

Just as we were about to walk up the causeway, we realised we had to run off to our next reason for coming to Amritsar - the border closing ceremony. Every evening on the Pakistan - India border the military of both countries performs a border closing ceremony which may be one of the funniest, most entertaining things we've seen. It involves men in funny head dress marching very fast with very high kicks from both sides of the gates shaking hands and then making funny faces and actions to intimidate the other. This goes on for about half an hour and then the flags are taken down and the gates slammed in each others faces one more time, while the crowds on both sides shout for their country. It is definitely worth seeing if you ever get the chance.

So back in to town and to the golden temple, and if you can believe it, it's even more beautiful by night. One of the most amazing things about the Sikhs and their temples is that they have a dining hall with free food for any person 24 hours a day. We wanted to see what this was all about so we went in for dinner. It was a fantastic experience to sit on the floor in the hall with many other people, and we met a lovely Sikh man from who comes to visit the temple a few times a year from Delhi. We walked around the temple with him, and this time we made it up the causeway and in to the temple where we donated some money and received a gift in return, although we're still not quite sure what it is! The experience here was well worth coming to Amritsar for.

Back on the wonderful government buses and on to McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama and tibetan government in exile. And where do you think the Dalai Lama was while we were in his home town??? Sydney of course! As soon as we arrived in McLeod Ganj we were already talking about how we could extend our stay here by another night. It was like a rest from India, not so many touts and people hasseling you. There are possibley more Tibetans than Indians here. We learnt so much here, going to the museum which tells the story of the chinese occupation of tibet, how many were tortured and had to flee the country to places like McLeod Ganj. It is totally horrific. We also went to the main temple here, very simple in comparison to some of the other temples we've been to throughout India, but has some amazing views of the surrounding mountains.

We spent a lot of time in McLeod Ganj just wandering around the streets, watching all the tibetans in their red robes and wrapping up in the cold weather that we didn't expect in India! In Delhi we had done some window shopping, and had pretty much decided we wanted to buy a carpet, but we decided McLeod would be a good place to buy. My god what an ordeal. I think we went into nearly every shop in town and listened to the same drivel "my carpets are the best quality" "you won't find anything like this any where else" "I can guarantee it" We did manage to get one but my god, it was the toughest shopping we have ever done!

After McLeod Ganj we went back to Delhi for a day. We arrived at some ridiculous hour in the morning way out in the middle of nowhere and of course had to deal with the rickshaw drivers trying to take all our money once again. It's the same ritual at each new town, figuring out where you are in relation to everything and how much is the "real" price for a rickshaw. I asked the bus driver and strangely enough, the rickshaw drivers were trying to charge us triple! We negotiated down to the real price and were on our way. After not being dropped where we requested as is usual for us in Delhi, we found a hotel and then did a tour with a street kid. One of the most interesting tours we have done all year. He told us his story of how he ended up on the streets at 8, being looked after and shown the ropes by a kid 2 years younger than him. This charity organisation found him and helped him by trying to educate him among other things. Now he is planning on going to university to do tourism. One thing we were curious about was whether to give money to beggers, particularly children. He pointed out that the kids aren't hungry although they may say they are. Instead they use the money for drugs or alcohol, very sad, but amazing to see the success story.

After a short day here we were back on the trian and on our way to Khajuraho to see some different temples we had heard about. But before boarding the train Carol managed an impressive feat. Most Indian men use the whole of India as their toilet. We had a 45 minute rickshaw ride to our train station that night, and Carol had not been feeling well most of the day. During the drive, things got worse and when we arrived at the train station, Garry and all the bags were forgotten about as she ran to the side of the foothpath and threw up. Normally we are surrounded by men trying to "help" us around the train station but funnily enough the crowd seemed to clear around Carol about this time - she had disgusted some locals and got rid of all touts! An amazing acheivement!

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Photos

Sshhh!
No drinking allowed

Garry outside the Golden Temple
what a trend setting individual!