Blogs from Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

As we exited the Golden Temple of Varanasi, I began to realize that, although I was again on a normal Indian diet of curry, rice and naan, I was still having some slight stomach issues. Klaudia had walked into a jewelry store with Vicky and Roman - the very positive couple we’d met in Khajuraho, she from Azerbajain, he from Kiev, both now living in New York – while I waited outside because I was hot and not in the mood to shop. My stomach grumbled… “Oh, man… This is it…” I groaned to myself. I quickly walked into the store, gave Klaudia the money in my pocket – leaving myself some in the event I’d have to pay for a bathroom – and went in search of relief. In short, there was none to be ... read more

We endured another bone breaking trip down that awful road back to the bus station this morning. Bishon warned us to keep a sharp eye on our belongings as we are now in one of the highest crime rate areas in India. I'm a little mistrusting of hotel staff, particularly in the standard of accommodation we've been staying in, so always put valuables, such as my iPad, in my suitcase and lock it before going anywhere. I never leave anything of value within sight. With this in mind, we all drop our luggage in a pile and stand around it, which we've done at every bus or train station we've passed through. All small backpacks are worn on the front where we can keep an eye on them as well. We have a 2.5 hour trip ... read more

Due to my sleep schedule I’m wide awake at 3am. Not ideal, but it did come in handy since I wanted to go see the sunrise at the Taj Mahal this morning. I get myself together and exit my room to find that they’ve locked the front doors to the hotel—which hey…safety first right? There’s a young guy sleeping in a cot next to the door and I decide to leave him be for a few minutes and see if I can catch a glimpse of the Taj and sunrise from the rooftop. Most of the hotels and restaurants in Agra advertise their views of the Taj, I don’t care that much but thought it’d be a different site. So I make my way up there cautiously because they have signs saying to beware of the ... read more

I’ve never felt so good leaving a city…I’m sure there is a lot of charm there but I sure didn’t get to see it. The train station left a lot to be desired and it was packed! Looks like I’m not the only one looking to skip town. They have metal detectors to walk through and you have to put your bags through an x-ray machine—but I don’t know why. The 3 men ahead of me all beeped as they walked through and no one was watching the x-ray machine?! I just took it as a hoop to jump through and prayed that no one had ill-fated plans for the Jhellum Express train to Agra that morning! After finding my train car (not as easy as it was made to sound) I bumbled my way through ... read more

I know Amelia has written of our time in Varanasi, but I would like to make a short addition to it. People often talk of God speaking to them and signs from Him, and I can now add myself to the ranks of these people. It should have occurred to me with everything that had conspired to stop us reaching our destination, that something in the universe didn't want us to get there. How I wish I had listened. Varanasi was entirely miserable experience from start to finish. The squalor, the utter and complete filth, and the blinding stupidity of the layout of the place did not sit well with me. Angry and belligerent cows have control of the streets, which despite being only 5 feet wide, morons on motorcycles still ride down. More than once ... read more

Amelia has told you about the huge range of procedures that they do at the TLM Naini Community Hospital, so I, as your de facto medical correspondent will give a little introduction about the hand and foot de-clawing operations they do here and at Nand Nagri. Basically there are 3 nerves running up the forearm connecting the fingers to the brain. The radial, median and ulnar, and the quantity of bacteria infecting each one is directly proportional to the amount of clawing in each of the corresponding fingers that nerve controls. The nerve damage caused by the bacteria, like all nerve damage, is virtually impossible to repair. So in order to correct the clawing, a tendon is brought around from the other side of the hand to add some more tension in order to straighten the ... read more

19/04/2013 Our train from Delhi to Varanasi was meant to arrive at 11 am however as the train was five hours delayed leaving Delhi it was given low priority which meant every train behind us we had to let past. Our train therefore took an ironically ungodly 16 hours to reach Varanasi. The train itself, once we were finally aboard was quite pleasant. We were in class AC2 with the majority of people being tablet and mobile wielding Indians. It was only when the train finally left the station that we began to relax. We met a friendly man who used to work for a Irish cafe who was keen to know where we were going and to tell us where we should be going. Andrew and I slept soundly in our bunks despite the train ... read more