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Published: June 20th 2007
Our final blog - phew I can hear you all say!
This encompasses our last week of freedom which we managed to make as busy as ever! After enjoying a few days in Kathmandu, Nepal, we flew back to Varanasi - the holy Mecca of India.
VARANASSI
We had forgotten how hot, busy and manic India was. In the evening we took a cycle rickshaw in the 96 percent humidity down to the Ghats. Ghats are the sacred temples on the river banks that have steps leading down to the water, there are some 60 Ghats lining the Ganges River, each of them used for different purposes, from swimming to cremations to washing.
This was the busiest Indian high street we had been to with literally 10 of 1000s of people walking amongst cycle rickshaws and motorcycles. The street was lined with bright coloured Sari, silk and jewellery shops. We walked along the riverbanks towards one of the infamous burning Ghats where 10s of people are cremated each day. The cremation ritual was interesting to watch but a bit surreal as we viewed it from a deserted building that had
no electricity and was guarded by an 80 year old nurse who blessed us as we left and after we crossed her palm with silver. The cremations go something like this - Indians sandwich the wrapped bodies of their loved ones between 150kg of wood. Only men attend the funeral as women get too emotional. With a number of birch twigs, men perform the last rites on their relative, encircling their body 5 times before setting the body alight. The cremation takes 3 hours in total before the ashes are collected and thrown into the Ganges. Some cremators get lucky as they sift through the ashes collecting gold teeth and earrings that have not burnt, it is their right to keep these belongings. Pregnant women, children, holy leaders and people who have died in an accident are not allowed to be cremated in this way; instead they are tied to a heavy stone and thrown into the middle of the Ganges. As I was not feeling my best and we were both sweating like we were both in a sauna, I was quite glad not to spend too long at the Burning Ghats.
After a sleepless night of tossing
drying sarees
again - they were cleaner before the water!and turning in our oven-like room we woke early at 5am ready for our boat trip down the Ganges. 50,000 people visit the Ganges each day to perform various rituals in India’s holiest water. The boat provided a perfect viewing platform to watch the thousands of Indians bath, take swimming lessons, wash, launder clothes, drink and perform cremations in the Ganges. We saw people meditating, performing yoga and just chilling on the Ghat steps and this was all before 6am! It’s insane to think that people even contemplate getting into this water with all the diseases it must harbour. Indians certainly need to get some lessons in knot tying as frequently some of the bodies that are sunk using string and a big rock become unsunk as the string comes loose, unfortunately for us we saw such a body floating (face down luckily) next to some boats and people happily swimming in the water - bit grim really. After our boat trip we took a whistle stop tour of 5 different temples, at this stage we were ‘templed out’ and we were so quick looking around one temple (don’t think we actually even went in) that when we returned to
our tuk tuk we caught our guide and driver having a sneaky spliff - ganger in The Ganges (Varanasi) is legal and freely smoked.
We were pleased to leave Varanasi as it was too bloody manic for us. We took an overnight train to Agra, the home of The Taj Mahal
AGRA
The trains in India are actually quite good. Very rarely do they arrive on time but once you are on the train with air conditioning you are safe from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and can relax. Booking these last few journeys was easy too - in Varanasi they have a special office for tourists and someone does it all for you rather than having to queue with everyone else.
We boarded the train and were in a compartment with a couple from the UK. Managed to swap some books and then chatted about where we had each been etc etc. The journey was set to be trouble free - until the other travellers arrived in compartment. A couple of Indian men who got on around midnight, woke us all up then and once settled one of the guys was the most
offensive snorer we have ever heard! The noises coming from him weren't human and there was no respite all night!
Arrival in Agra was late as expected but we only needed a few hours to visit the Taj Mahal so no worries! First we transferred our bags to the other train station after the usual fight with the rickshaw drivers for a reasonable fair.
We had a pleasant breakfast in a grotty roof top cafe over looking the Taj and even from this distance it looked impressive. Unfortunately the weather was not great - the sky was the same colour as the marble so the pictures were only ever going to be average at best!
We headed for the entrance and as usual foreigners were charged more than locals! 750rupees as opposed to 10! Not too much of a rip off then - we did get a free bottle of water!
So with a somewhat sour taste in the mouth we entered the Taj grounds. I was clean and not too crowded. After the usual requests for photos with Indian tourists and a few attempts at sneaky pictures - we would see the Indians lining the picture up then move
at the last minute and tell them how rude we thought they were! If they asked we wouldn't mind but it amused us for awhile!
So, the Taj Mahal - it is pretty amazing. From the end of the fountains it is perfectly symmetrical and just as it looks in the photo. It is cleverly raised from the ground so the only backdrop is sky - shame it was cloudy. After several pictures we went into the tomb - the carving of the marble is very detailed and despite expecting more precious stones in the actual marble it was still beautiful. Along side the Taj are other buildings constructed out of red sandstone and marble which are also impressive. Overall the Taj is a must see, not just for the architecture but also the story behind is construction.
We headed to the Oberoi (5 star) hotel to kill time before our train for a cool drink in an air conditioned bar and a bit of peace and quiet. We got most of that but there were renovations going on so it was very noisy!
Back through all the tourist shops, another fight for a rickshaw and then a train to
Delhi for a quick overnight then up very early tomorrow for the journey to Amritsar.
AMRITSAR
Trying to maximise our remaining time in India we took a flying visit to Amritsar from Delhi. The two main reasons were to visit the Golden Temple and also the border closing ceremony at Atari.
We left Delhi early morning having arrived late the night before, our last week has been one of the busiest of the whole trip! We took one of the best train rides so far - high speed, AC, and we even got breakfast, a newspaper and courtesy tea for the whole journey (6hrs). Arrival in Amritsar was as chaotic as ever, a group of Rickshaw Wallahs at the bottom of the stairs as usual and then the ensuing bartering and arguing for a reasonable fare to our hotel. We took a cycle rickshaw and the guy was fairly normal but did try and suggest things we did not want to do.
Once settled in our cheap but damp room we watched a bit of TV and decided to leave the sights for the following day. Amritsar was packed with Sikhs on pilgrimage to celebrate/pay homage
to a religious figures anniversary which was the next day. So much for peace and tranquillity at the temple! We ate a quick but simple meal then watched cable TV for the evening.
The following day was another warm one. We made our way to the Golden Temple, just around the corner from our hotel. Put our shoes into the locker, walked bare foot through dirt, donned a bandana and went in. The nice thing about this place was that it was free - a first for India! You can even eat and sleep here for free too.
The temple is very nice and the Golden Temple sits in the middle of a lake/pond. There were thousands of people there but not too much pushing and shoving - manners and respect were being shown for the first time since we had touched down in Bangalore 3 months ago. I liked the temple not just because of the setting and architecture but there was a distinct feeling of "holiness". The temple has seen its ups and downs and Amritsar too has played a big part in India's history - especially the independence movement. Inside there was a continuous Punjabi
chant which I thought was a recording but turned out to be a live band! As usual we had Indians take pictures of us but all in all it was an enjoyable afternoon and well worth the trip from Delhi.
We also visited the Jallianwala Bagh - a small memorial park dedicated to 2000 Indians killed by the British under orders of General Dyer. Quite a sour note amongst one local we met but he did not seem that annoyed with the Brits as he too wanted a picture with us.
That evening we went to the border closing ceremony at Atari. This is like changing of the guard but more circus than ceremony. The Indians and Pakistanis aren't particularly fond of each other and there was a real sense of nationalism amongst the huge crowds gathered to watch a bit of marching, shouting, flag lowering and gate closing! The two sides pack in the tourists (probably 10,000 Indians), play nationalistic music, have an MC, and then a few soldiers blowing whistles, marching like you've never seen before. The whole thing was quite amusing but took bloody ages and the stampede of the Indians down right dangerous -
the calm of the Golden Temple hadn't lasted very long!
We made our way back to Amritsar, had a puncture, then ate Pizza Hut for supper before catching our last train overnight back to Delhi for 4 days of shopping and a bit more site seeing!
DELHI
This was our second visit to Delhi on the trip. Our first stop was really to catch the flight to Darjeeling however we managed a bit of sight seeing as well.
We stayed in Karol Bagh which was surprisingly nice - well not awful - which was a relief. Our hotel was pretty modern and although expensive by Indian standards still cheap. We even had television and for our second stay in Delhi the TVs had been replaced with brand new flat screens - luxury.
For our first day in Delhi we headed to the Old part. There is a pretty good metro in Delhi that provides welcome relief from the annoying rickshaw drivers who unsurprisingly try to rip you off left right and centre. With any luck the metro will mean they need to lower their fares however with the sheer numbers of people in
India there will always be demand and as long as there are tourists they will always be ripped off - a constant annoyance to me and it’s not just the rickshaw drivers!
We decided to visit the Red Fort, a huge complex with high walls and some nice buildings inside. In true Indian form the entrance fee for "FOREIGNERS" was 200 rupees, for locals 20 rupees. This was not too extortionate - for example at the Taj Mahal "FOEIGNERS" pay 750 rupees compared to 10 rupees for locals. This in my mind is institutional racism and is supported by the ministry of tourism in India. "Incredible India - Incredible Prices". Whilst still not a lot of money for us it adds up and is completely unfair - leaving a bitter taste after most visits to tourist sites. Can you imagine if the British decided to charge visitors up to 75 times more for entrance to our national treasures! Most are free in London anyway! Just for one day I would like to be a taxi driver and charge Indian tourists a fortune for their journey to a museum where they are charged more than locals for entrance - only
to find the museum is awful and a complete waste of time and money!
After the Red Fort we popped into the Jain Temple next door to visit their bird hospital. This was free (amazing) but I can see why. Inside there were row upon row of tiny cages filled with all kinds of birds, from peacocks to pigeons. It stank and I wanted to leave immediately for fear of contracting "Bird Flu". Sally thought this was hilarious but wanted to keep looking around. There were several birds that appeared to be dead - she told the attendant who opened the cages, picked them up and declared them to be unconscious! We left soon after that having given the mandatory donation. I thought it was a pretty cruel place - most birds were on their last legs and once (if ever) well again would just be released and left to similar fates.
The rest of the day was spent planning our last few days in Delhi at the end of our trip, mainly scouting out shops and potential tailors to make a couple of suits. Delhi does have everything, Connaught Place being the central shopping area - plus
some out of town "Malls" which thankfully we didn't have to go to. We then left for Darjeeling and returned to Delhi after a months absence.
Our second trip to Delhi was for 4 days. We stayed in the same hotel and same room, complete with our new flat screen TV!
Mission one in Delhi was shopping. Firstly for souvenirs and then for clothes. Souvenirs are easy to come by in India and Delhi seems to have everything we had seen throughout the country all in one place. We searched, haggled and bought numerous little trinkets ranging from a brass elephant to a little table (which we squeezed into a rucksack). You can go overboard with bits and bobs but we limited ourselves to things we thought would look good at home!
Clothes shopping was fun and pretty cheap too. We both left with bags of t-shirts, jeans, trousers, etc etc. I had two suits tailor made which were incredibly cheap and do actually fit! Tailors are the same world wide and conform to the "Fast Show" sketches perfectly.
Shopping out of the way we had three days to kill. The national railway museum passed an
afternoon and was pretty interesting - they have an elephant skull on display from an incident years ago - the elephant lost the encounter but did manage to derail the train. On route to the museum we passed the Indira Gandhi memorial museum which was fascinating and full of admirers pushing you all over the place to look around! We saw India gate, the government secretariat buildings various parts of old and New Delhi and used the metro as often as possible to avoid rickshaws.
On our final night we hooked up with Hector (our friend from trekking in Nepal) and had a few beers whilst planning the rest of his trip with him.
An early start the next morning and a final death defying taxi ride to the airport sees the end of our trip and a return to reality! Hope you have enjoyed the blogs and we'll stop here for a while until boredom sets in again!
This time round we have travelled about 5084 miles on trains, planes, buses, not to forget the walking in Nepal! It has been an amazing trip overall, great people (apart from taxi drivers), great food (if you don't mind
the occasional runny tummy), great scenery (especially Nepal) and somewhere completely different to anywhere we've been before!
Siging off until the next time.
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clair
non-member comment
welcome back!
good to have you back, what a great diary, brings back lots of memories of our time in india.... xxx