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Published: November 3rd 2011
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Travel Team in Old Delhi - Jama Masjid Mosque
Dressing gowns were obligatory for all Western women K- We arrived in India about 10 days ago and were immediately joined by my Mum and her partner Don. We are traveling together from Delhi to Jaipur via Varanasi, Khajuraho, Orchha, Agra (Taj Mahal) and Ranthambore (tigers - hopefully). India is a very tough country to travel – a constant onslaught on all the senses - so we are pretty impressed that they are taking on the challenge in their 70s. To make things a bit easier we have hired a driver and pre-booked hotels and I must say that it is very relaxing! However, we also still have the flexibility to decide what we want to do and when – unlike the big tour bus trips.
I was in India back in 2003 and Delhi is still as chaotic, noisy, dirty and crowded as I remember. However we had a lot less hassle than I experienced previously. I once was followed down the street for 30 minutes by 4 touts telling me the tourist information was closed and I should go to their shop instead- nothing short of shouting “Go away!” would suffice. Which I finally did - to be told I was very rude! This lack of
hassle could of course be because I am accompanied by Mark this time round!
We arrived in Delhi on the eve of Diwali, one of the major Hindu festivals and the streets were decorated with lights and garlands and there was a definite party atmosphere. We were wished and wished others a Happy Diwali as we wandered along the crowded streets watching people scrambling to do their last minute shopping – it was exactly like Oxford Street at Christmas. On Diwali itself the fireworks started at about 6pm and continued uninterrupted until about 2am – with the odd screech and fizzle still being heard at 6am! It was great fun to watch and listen to from the rooftop restaurant. Not so much fun at 2am – but that’s what earplugs are for!
After a couple of days of sightseeing and acclimatization we caught the overnight train from Delhi to the holy, Hindu city of Varanasi, one of the oldest living cities in the world. Anyone who dies there attains instant enlightenment and to be cremated at Varanasi or even to have ones ashes scattered in to the Ganges is a very big deal.
We drove down to
the Ghats at Dawn and took a boat trip along the river, watching people praying and washing, often in combination. We also visited the crematoria Ghats and again were struck by the dignity of the public but very private proceedings. We did not take photographs there but the scenes on the main Ghats were so colorful that I have overcome my squeamishness at photographing people whilst washing and praying – see photos.
In the interests of time we had elected to fly from Varanasi to our next stop of Khajuraho where we were met by our driver from Delhi, Avtar, who has the dubious pleasure of driving us for the next couple of weeks. Khajuraho is famous for the erotic carvings on its splendid 950-1050AD Hindu temples. The carvings were described by the Victorians who “rediscovered” them as “highly indecent and most of them disgustingly obscene”. Highly acrobatic and probably dangerous is possibly a more accurate description but I will let you form your own views from the photos.
In fact only about 10% of the carvings are erotic and are almost irrelevant - the beautiful temples impressed us all a great deal as the detail in the
carvings is extraordinary and the scenic grounds very relaxing. We also went to an evening sound and light show at the temples and I am probably not going to live down the fact that I had forgotten I had seen it before on my previous visit. I remembered when the first words were spoken ……”I am the spirit of the master stone carver……” Mark is adamant that no-one could forget going to this unless they were drunk or stoned (I was neither!) but in my defense I have visited a lot of places and seen a lot of shows!
Scroll down for more photos!
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Carl Harris
non-member comment
Done that
Dead easy.......not xxxxxxxx