http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , India , Uttar Pradesh en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:19:34 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 13:19:34 +0000 A new year and a new start. Landed myself in India yesterday in Gorakhpur. But first need to made the tiring journey through Bhairawa200m and Sunauli both were uninteresting place with the sudden rain the night before the whole plain was covered by fog the Nepal didn't wanted to show herself to me anymore so I made my departure the border crossing was easy and straightforward with no non http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/blog-464356.html Still in Varanasi a cold spell has set in and life changes with the weather.Reading on my balcony is now a bulky blanket filled affair. Rooms with doors that close are sought out and street fires are common everything being burned mainly plastic and other garbage. Local authorities provide bonfires at night in a few areas for the street dwellers and police posts. Cows also take advantage and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-464254.html i saw jesus two days in a row at varanasi but more on that later.meanwhile don't think dirty.a hop skip and jump in the air transported me to a completely different world where serenity is overrun by chaos where muted tones rupture into a palette of psychedelic hues where agoraphobic criminals are banished for life as punishment where amiable wellmannered touts morph into their rude aggre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-463124.html So out of the rural and into the radical. India really has it all and i'm starting to believe that my 5 months could well be 5 years and still not enough time to understand this crazy wonderful land. Learning basic hindi in the village has helped me more than i could have expected and gets you some respected recognition among the locals. The phrase 'Mujhe dari barani hai' translated as 'I am http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-462655.html To leave Gorakhpur what a dump we hitched a ride in a second class train carriage to Varanasi. 2AC essentially means that you share a small lsquocabinrsquo between 4 people each of whom has their own bunk bed. As with all our other experiences of Indian trains this one was good as well. The bottom beds convert into a chair during the day and within a few minutes of leaving we were each prov http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-462648.html Our departure from Delhi marked the official start of our tour of Rajasthan and Agra with our driver Vipan. Having a driver is completely different to the way we normally travel however on our way to Agra we quickly saw the benefit as we were able to stop off anywhere we wanted.Our first stop was Akbarrsquos Mausoleum which is about 10km outside of Agra City. The tomb was a massive and very http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-462633.html One little joy that is only available to men here is that old classic the shave. Hardly happens in the west anymore and if it does probably really expensive. Here for a few rupees one can feel like a maharaj and let himself be pampered as I did this Xmas morning.Just a trim but I knew there would be extras offered to which I usually decline but what the hell. So when the face massage wa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-462610.html it may be winter but middays in north india can be sweltering. as beads of perspiration trickled down my forehead i knew i had to take off my hoodie before i suffered a heat stroke. clearly my little striptease act made the old indian lady sitting next to me on the bus very uncomfortable. she turned to her husband sitting in the window seat and complained in hindi about my lewd behaviour. she b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-462495.html It was cold in Darjeeling but necessary to stay overnight since Malin was showing symptoms of rabies she was bitten by a 'cute' dog in Sikkim Astonishingly enough the doctor said all was normal The bags we're getting to heavy so two medieval looking packages wrapped in cheese cotton sealed with candle wax were sent home We hopped into a full shared taxi jeep and got out of the city just before http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-462086.html Crossing the Nepalese border and entering India is one of lifersquos greatest experienceshellipok well that was a lie. Crossing the Nepalese border and entering India is actually a bumpy dusty manic and poorly organized experience that leaves a lot to be desired.We farewelled Chitwan and the two aussie we had spent a bit of time with at around 9.30 and trundled along in the bus towards Sun http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Sunauli/blog-461935.html Matol fogva 87 fele vegyi anyagot tiltottak be a ganga partjan tobbeik kozott a sampont mososzereket szappant es fogkremet is mely igencsak at fogja alakitani az ittelok szokasait... Sokan minden reggel furdenek a gangaban valmint itt vegzik teljes toilettejuket. A Guesthouse a kis hostel ahol lakunk egyik serp'ja meslte hogy az egyikhaverja volt az elso akit elkaptak ilyesfajta vetseger http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-461650.html Igen igen egy par nap itt es elvarazsol Varanasi... A kozepkori damaszkuszt idezo kis sikatorok a kujon blogbejegyzest erdeemlo festett faragott es kovacsolt kapuk a folyamatos emberi es tehen kakkanytyu a foldon a kis palmalevelekbe helyezett aldozati gyertyak es viragok melyek este sodrodnak a gangan a kisgyerkocok akik aruljak es nevetve mondogatjak hogy Rupee Chapatti Cookie amig e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-461018.html As I mentioned in the last blog it snowed all the last day I was at SECMOL the NGO near Leh. I eventually got into town and spent the night in a freezing cold little room with no hot water. My flight was scheduled to leave at 0900 the next morning and as I tried to leave at about 0700 I found out that the ownerrsquos wife had apparently not told him that I wanted his taxi services to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-460840.html Day 531 Saturday 12th December Attending an Indian wedding Mention Agra to 95 of people back home and they will probably return a blank look. Instead mention the Taj Mahal the cityrsquos most famous landmark and Indiarsquos iconic symbol and 95 will know exactly what you are talking about. We arrive in the city of the Taj Mahal two hours later than scheduled but the trainrsquos dela http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-460739.html This is a town that noone ever wants to go to but that many travellers accept is a potential unplanned detour that can mess with the best laid plans at any time. It's a strange place in some kind of parallel universe that exists alongside the world we know though while you are in Sickville you can often lose your sense of interest in and energy for this 'real' world.I rather unexpectedly fou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-459636.html I would have enjoyed Varanasi much more if I hadn't been too sick to see much of it more on that in the next entry. As it stands I have very little to say about it other than that I wish I had been sick somewhere else because its a really cool place with a great vibe. Getting there was a bit of a mish we travelled by bus from Jaipur to Delhi and then by train from Delhi to Varanasi anothe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-459560.html Madetoorder India Tours offer the most luxurious kind of travel experience. Interests and fantasies define true luxury for different individual clients. A guided tour through the villages of Rajasthan and rides on the Yak in the Himalayan terrains of Ladakh can be luxury for some while others may prefer cozy honeymoon cruises on Kerala houseboats or relaxing and soothing Massage and Meditation http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Noida/blog-457940.html I'll have to go into some detail at some point but this place is so...muchincredible..will have a real problem describing it. For now I can just tell stories of the ghats and little Galis lanes.This is my home. I'm not sure what that can mean to you or if it's understandable but this is where I am at home. Other places are for making money or enjoying friends or chasing birds but this i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-457908.html For a holy city Varanasi is full of shit. The hordes of cows and buffalo roaming the winding alleys of the old town deposit great steaming piles of it to add to the general detritus of litter terracotta pots bloodred paan spit and mulching vegetables that oozes along the narrow pathways. These lanes are barely wide enough for the mangy bulks of bovine flesh that plod through them indifferent t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-457165.html The next four or five Blog entries will be from several weeks ago and will be the rounding off of our journey. They will all be sent from our home here in Australia but will refer to places we have seen and enjoyed in India.So from the 11th of November Greg and Catherine and 22nd of November Catherine only.The first step of our Intrepid tour was the trip by train on the 6 am to Agra. India http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-455763.html