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Published: March 19th 2007
Mini Taj Mahal
Humayun's Tomb in Delhi. The inspiration for the Taj Mahal is said to have come from this tomb. It's been tough to get adequate internet access in India to post a new blog entry, and I apologize to all our readers who are eager to hear about our new adventures. This entry is old, summing up our time in our first three stops, but it's all I have for now and I've been trying to upload it onto a public terminal for over a week now. The owners of the internet cafes don't allow USB memory keys to be plugged into their computers, so I had to be sneaky and James Bond like in getting this entry and pictures uploaded. Fitting, since we are in Udaipur at the moment, and the movie Octopussy was filmed here. It's not hard to forget either, seeing as every budget restaurant in the city plays the movie nightly. Anyways, onto our update:
Delhi - The capital of India, the unofficial heart of the country and our arrival point. It left our heads whirling and senses reeling while we tried to adjust to this entirely new and exotic culture. We spent 4 days sightseeing as well as attending to some paperwork. Burmese visas were on the list of things to do, as there
is a Myanmar Embassy in Delhi. Autorickshaws bomb around the city like troupes of yellow and green armies. They remind me of a real life version of bumper cars, except they always stop a half second before the BUMP. Amid the people, stray dogs, garbage, cows, cars, auto and cycle rickshaws we wandered trying to process the world around us that we were seeing. After 4 days we were ready to move on from the big city and try out the infamous train system…
Amritsar - Near the border in the heart of Punjab province, this is the center for Sikhism in India. The holiest of Sikh shrines, the Golden Temple, is the major attraction. Before entering you are required remove your shoes, cover your head and wash your feet by walking through a small pool of water. Upon entering there is a temple in the middle of a large sacred pool, completely gold in color. Some men strip to their underwear and dunk their bodies in the pool, believing that the water is holy. I found it to be a very serene place despite the number of other people there. A long bridge leads to the temple and
Mob!
This Adidas store is in Connaught Place, Delhi. On this particular day an Indian cricket player was inside for some reason, and caused the large mob to form outside. Since then we've learned that Indians have a natural curiousity about everything and form a mob over the most trivial of matters, but this was pretty exciting. Security personnel kept coming out of the store to beat back the crowds with sticks, and everyone would run and laugh and then crowd around the doors banging and screaming. Finally he emerged and the crowd cheered while he was escorted to his car and driven away. worshippers form a huge line holding food offerings to place inside. Loudspeakers broadcast the four Sikh priests chanting in Punjabi from the Sikh holy book to the entire complex, continuously. We visited the temple twice, once in the middle of the day, and again that same evening when it was lit up. It was far less busy at night and we even waited in line to go inside the temple itself.
The other attraction in Amritsar is the border town of Attari only 30km away. Every night at the India-Pakistan border there is a 20 minute extraordinary performance. It’s become such a spectacle that grandstands were built on either side for the audiences! The general idea is to march out a small team of your countries army men, they parade up and down in front of the audience in a spectacular way, puffing up and scowling, then march off in a hurry to the border gate. Once all the men are down there, the gates are opened and they stand face to face with the guard from the Pakistan side. The commanding generals shake hands and salute and then they turn to face their respective flags and lower them.
Hole In The Wall
Quite literally, notice the hole near the bed. This was the dingiest dirtiest hotel we've stayed in on the trip thus far, but at midnight after a long train ride we didn't have many options. And for $5 a night, you don't have many complaints! Neither flag can be higher than the other while they bring them down, as that would imply superiority of one nation over the other. The flags are then quickly folded and marched back to the respective sides. It was a really marvelous sight to watch, and a great display of patriotism. Even the Pakistan side had a surprising number of fans cheering from the stands, though not nearly the packed, screaming bleachers that India had! Our last day in Amritsar was cold, rainy and miserable and we were wet and grumpy as we boarded the 9 hour train back to Delhi. Devlin was also beginning to feel unwell. A late arrival in Delhi meant our favorite hotel was booked and we were forced to stay at a magnificent hole in the wall. Dirt cheap, pun intended, we took the room and told ourselves it was only for one night, our friend at the other place assured us a room if we came back the next morning. During the night the infamous Delhi-belly took hold of us, and reared it’s very ugly head. By morning we were aching and not able to go very far from a toilet. We ended up
Golden Temple
Amritsar's main attraction is the Golden Temple, and it's a beautiful sight to see. staying a couple days longer in Delhi, coaxing our systems back to health. We had jumped into the Indian food perhaps a little too eagerly and were now paying the price. Thankfully we had a clean room, an understanding hotel manager and decent satellite television to keep us company and help us get over it. Also, Subway delivers here in India, and fresh sandwiches seemed to be exactly what we needed. Feeling better and not wanting to lose any more time we booked a bus to…
Bikaner - A dust swirling desert town Bikaner proved to be exactly what we needed. After a chaotic sleeper bus journey (which reinforced just how much we hate sleeper buses) we arrived at our best accommodation yet. Camel safaris are the reason travelers come to Bikaner and we weren’t going to be disappointed. We chose to stay at the guesthouse of the Camel Man himself, Vijay Singh (really!). The room was massive, clean and was more like a homestay than a guesthouse or hostel. There was a long table in the living room where the guests are served all three meals of the day, if they wish. Although we felt like we would
Golden Temple at Night
I think I preferred it at night, with all the lights and the reflection on the water it became truly magical. vomit if we ate Indian food again so soon after being sick, this had been the best home cooked food we’ve had, and surprisingly we ate it and enjoyed every bite. It seems a lot of people we’ve met have gone through the stomach problems, and much to my dismay I met an Icelandic girl on our camel safari who had been in Bangalore for 2 months and still has stomach problems. The only food besides Indian vegetarian fare outside of Delhi hasn’t been too promising either. It’s incredibly difficult to find anything non veg or Western and when you do it’s usually a terrible re-creation. We ordered chowmein and spring rolls in a restaurant, and the chowmein was spaghetti and the spring rolls were samosas filled with spaghetti!! For my sensitive stomach I’ve taken to eating whatever form of potatoes I can find and a bowl of vegetable soup, or eggs with the occasional Indian meal. So as I mentioned of course we partook in an amazing camel safari while here. For 2 days and 1 night we had an unforgettable authentic experience in the desert. I had never been on a camel before so I didn’t know what
Pakistan-India Border
The crowd gets amped up with some flag runners at the border closing ceremony. to expect, and after that much time in the saddle we were certainly sore though nothing was going to wipe the grins off our faces. Sleeping in the desert under a blanket of stars and a nearly full moon was romantic, and live music was even provided to set the atmosphere while we dined with our new friends. We passed through some tiny villages along the way and it was heart warming to see the children come running as fast as they could when they saw us and wave. I encourage anyone to come to Bikaner and try these safaris, it was totally different than anything we’ve done and so much fun. Karni Mata temple at Deshnok deserves a mention as well. This is one of India’s weirder places of worship, as it’s completely overrun by rats. Legend has it that Karni Mata asked Yama, the God of Death, to restore life to a dying storyteller. Yama refused and Karni Mata reincarnated all dead storytellers as rats, to deprive Yama of human souls. You must remove your shoes and walk barefoot among the hoards of holy rats, which scurry everywhere. It’s auspicious if one runs over your feet, and Devlin
Look, there it is!
Yup, right behind me is Pakistan! The border guards were all very tall and handsome Indians too, don't you think? had one do just that! It’s also considered good luck if you spot a white rat, and we saw not only one but two! This was a nice change of pace from the usual temples, it was really interesting to see something so different, and actually walking around the rats didn’t bother me as much as I thought it might.
In a nutshell that is what we’ve been up to for the past 3 weeks. I would love to write more detailed accounts of everything but I’ve been having trouble putting my thoughts down on paper about this country. One minute I’m loving it and can’t get enough, and the next minute I’m planning our early escape. For the most part I think we’ll stay our course, and stick it out for the planned amount of time. We’ve barely scratched the surface, and the deeper we’ve gone the more intrigued we’ve felt to find out more. It is the most difficult country we’ve traveled in so far, but it also seems to give the most rewarding moments just when you’re ready to flag the next taxi to the airport.
I am in the process of writing an entry
Thali
A popular lunch option is the thali, which includes 3 veg curries, a sweet dessert type dish and chapati. It's also usually all you can eat, though one round was enough for us. Rounded off with the best lassis we've drank yet, it was a perfect meal. for the places we've visited since then, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur. Tomorrow we arrive in Agra to take in THE attraction in all of India, the Taj Mahal. If the internet cafes cooperate a new entry should be posted soon!
Until next time!
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lindsa y in hali
non-member comment
yay!
so glad to see an entry!!! xoxox