A dead body, short indian men and an elephant with painted toenails

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So i am sat about 500m from a strip of pristine coastline, surrounded by palm trees and coconuts (apologises if you are reading this sat in the office!)– this is south india and i love it possibly more than the north. Here i have been rejoicing at the fact i can walk around for at least half and hour and sometimes no one talks to me. Yes i still seem to have ended up with 3 dinner date options already for tonight but the people are friendly and laid back and its the kind of place where the first man i saw yesterday morning nodded to me and then asked ‘grass?’ in a friendly way – it was 9am in the morning! The pace of life is slower, you can cross the road in under 5 minutes and I finally think I may of stopped blowing soot out of my nose!
But the rest of the north was still amazing. The Taj Mahal is supposed to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and having seen it, it may be a tad cheesy but I think I may agree. Up at 6am we were among the first 50 stupid foreigners to rush in before everyone else arrived about an hour later and it was amazing. The pictures just don’t do it justice. What it would be like to have the place completely to yourself must be incredible.
Anyway enough said – its good! From Agra we then left to Varanasi home of the sacred Ganges. We’d been told to expect dirt, hassle and scams here so turned up expecting the worst and imagine my surprise when we found a lovely relaxed city where rickshaw drivers even apologised for asking you if you wanted a lift. The Ganges itself even looked blue at times and its a fascinating place. They carry the dead there before dipping them in the river and then cremating them but also consider it a very holy place with pilgrims coming for miles. Its a place where you see people washing their clothes whilst dead bodies float past and men clean their teeth using the same water which 2 metres away someone is being cremated in!
Its also the place we happened to be when the Shiva festival was on. This meant processions and celebrations which we went in search for not having to look far as the firework display pretty much marked the start of it. The more time I spend in other countries the more i realise how uptight England. We have bonfire night and two days before it happens mile square areas are being cordoned off to protect us. In India in a street packed with people squashed shoulder to shoulder (think rush hour on the tube!) they were letting rockets and small bazookas off. The start of the procession was marked by one particularly brave man, who in the absence of a handy fence, was holding the odd Catherine wheel above his head! Add to this picture about 10 brass bands and then put an elephant with painted toenails (oh yes) right in the middle. I just think I will find fireworks night a little sedate now!
From Varansai we went to Delhi for one more day before Kay left me (sob!) this we celebrated with a wander around, a final curry and a few final beers back at the hostel. Rejoining the world of the lonesome traveller I headed up to the bottom of the Punjab for a 10 hour round trip in order to visit the Indian equivalent of Letchworth (yes it was based on the garden cities!) and see a garden (yes I know this is me and its a garden, next I will be crossing the country to go to museum!) Never fear though I will not be joining the national trust when I return for this is an artificial rock and sculpture garden made of rocks and rubbish and its very very cool.
My journey there and back seemed to encompass long journeys in the company of very short Indian men (who i seem to have a special talent to attract!). 5 hours of conversation later and various grateful declines of offers of dinner, accommodation and tour guides I arrived to hunt for some Indian nightlife. Chandigah is known to have many restaurant and bars and I was excited to finally find a little nightlife in India (evening entertainment and beer not being that forthcoming so far in India). With a friend from Delhi in tow we set off to enjoy some nightlife and did in fact find some bars (full of men), music, and beer (hooray!). Having been quickly ushered upstairs by a horrified looking waitor (western women in the bar!!) after dinner and a few drinks we emerged at 11pm ready to more on, only to find the streets empty and everything closed. If you want nightlife in India I think it is possible but generally you need to be male and set out at 6pm in order to enjoy yourself and be home in bed by 11pm!
Returning to Delhi with more new very short friends i got a plane south to Trivandrum and from here headed south to the very tip of India. Here you can watch 3 seas join, the sun set over the moon and the sunrise over the Indian equivalent of the statue of liberty (oh yes they have one!). Here i joined 250 Indian tourists who being the only apparent westerner in town were more interested in sticking bindis on my head and taking photos with me than looking at the sunrise. The Indian seaside is an interesting place, it has to be seen to be believed!
Anyway being unable to manage another curry for breakfast I’ve come north a bit to a little town called Varkala which could be Thailand for all you’d know. Its a lovely chilled place to do yoga (yes i was sat cross legged meditating – or rather nearly asleep-at 8am this morning!), wear ali baba pants and rejoice in cornflakes and milk but its not India and thats what i came to see. So tomorrow I head back off into the craziness and chapatis to work my way slowly up to Goa.
Internet is not that reliable but I will try and reply to you all in time.
Till then big love

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Photos

its one stunning building
if i happen to die could i put a request in for you all to build me something similar???

the Ganges
I managed to avoid capturing the dead bodies!

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