Blogs from India, Asia - page 16

Varanasi After our exciting journey from the train journey, we unfortunately had to wait rather s long time to check into our hotel as they were full and nobody was checking out until 11am. But they did give us an upgrade with our room, which was very nice. We also had a guide for the afternoon, which we didn’t realize and he took us around . We visited the University. One of the biggest in the Area especially for the medical department. A couple of Temples...a weaving village..and shop of course! Having never had a guide before we’ve missed out on the hard sell of these types of places. We then walked along the riverbank and watched all the goings on. He explained the ritual of the cremation . It did seem very odd sitting on ... read more

I started the dog rescue story with hope. A happy ending uncertain. But there was hope. So the following is the final chapter I will write while still in India. Hope is still alive. I rescued Buddy from death by tick fever, but found he has a chronic condition called mega esophagus. I could not return him to the streets as I had planned. I cared for him and sang to him and walked him and loved him, ever since he got back from the pet clinic and a temporary caretaker on January 24. Buddy was my companion and best friend. During that time I just knew there would be lots of Indian homes wanting this loving boy. But my knowing turned to despair the closer I got to my exit date with no permanent home ... read more

Our drive back to Jodhpur for our overnight train to Agra was such a contrast to the drive three days previously as it was Holi, and there were hardly any vehicles on the road... still plenty of cows and goats though. Our driver stopped at a beer shop saying that as it was Holi he should buy us a drink. He came out of the shop with a big bottle of Kingfisher beer, which is the local fizzy beer but this one was 7.5% proof and a little bottle for himself....I didn’t think we’d be drinking it during our drive....at 10 am..... Apparently the police are all on holiday so no rules apply and we had all day so didn’t have to gun it along the road. Back in Jodhpur to while away a few hours ... read more

Blogs of Rajasthan are plenty in the net, covering almost all well known places. I will add one more with a different perspective. I searched elaborately thru internet for appropriate inputs, to finalize the logistics of a weeklong tour program covering important historical places, wildlife of Ranthambore and of course the desert of Jaisalmer. But I did not get it in a nutshell and had to pick and choose from various sources. In this blog I attempted to summarize our overall experience, program, means of transport, accommodation arrangements etc. sharing our feelings, advantages and pitfalls as felt by us, to facilitate planning of an overall tour schedule by future travelers of Rajasthan. I also narrated detailed description of my location wise experience in detail, thru separate blogs. OUR PROGRAM Rajasthan is one of the most popular ... read more

Tiruchendur is the place where Lord Muruga is said to have killed Tarakasura.As per the Puranas, Tarakasura was creating havoc as he had a boon that only Lord Shiva’s son can kill him. As Shiva was in deep meditation always and unmarried then, Tarakasura had asked for this boon from Shiva assuming that it would be impossible for Shiva to have a child in this situation. However, due to Parvati devis’s deep penance and with Kama deva’s help, Shiva’s meditation was broken, and he agreed to marry Parvati and their son Kartikeya (known as Muruga in the South) was born. He killed Tarakasura in the place where the Tiruchendur temple now exists.... read more