Advertisement
Published: April 12th 2015
I boarded the train at Sawai Madhopur in general class, which was “packed”!! The people were friendly enough to arrange a space for me to sit on a top bed, which was great. I was happy I was in this train for just about 3.5 hours because it wasn't too comfortable. But it was an experience! People were lying all over the floor, squeezing together on the beds etc. I was happy it didn’t stink!
After changing trains once, I arrived in
Agra which has about 2 million inhabitants and is mostly famous for the Taj Mahal. I arrived around 10am and the original idea was to leave my bag in a locker at the station, visit the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort and catch a train later that evening to Varanasi. It didn’t work out because there was no trains available to Varanasi that day. Everything was full! This rickshaw driver said he’ll take me to a travel-agent who could arrange something. Once there, this guy wanted to sell me a ticket in “general” section for 1200 Rupees. I asked him if he was out of his mind and I left the office. I went back to the station
and it started to rain and it would be raining and storming on and off for the rest of the day, so visiting Taj Mahal and leave in the evening wouldn’t be an option anyway.
At the station I booked a train to Varanasi for the next day and also a train from Varanasi to New Delhi for a couple of days later. That was also a problem because the trains were full. The only option they had, was on a waiting list from Mughal Sarai (about 10km outside Varanasi) to New Delhi. I decided to purchase that one, then grabbed a rickshaw to the guesthouse where I stayed. The next day I woke up early for breakfast and then left to Taj Mahal, together with a French guy who was also staying at the guesthouse. It was about a 10 minute walk and we arrived around 6:45 at the Taj Mahal. It wasn’t busy at all, so we quickly got our tickets and entered. The Taj Mahal is India’s most famous landmark and was completely built out of marble. It was built in mid-17
th century by Shah Jahan (emperor), who wanted to build a mausoleum to house
the tomb to his third wife. The building is impressive and the garden is beautiful! Since there wasn’t a lot of people yet, it was easy to take pictures without having to wait too long for your turn to pose in front of the building. After a few shots, we walked towards the building itself and went inside, which was not impressive at all. But after all, it was a place I wanted to see so I can tick it off my bucket list. After this we went back to the guesthouse to rest a little bit, before going to Agra Fort. This big complex was built in the 11
th century but more parts were added afterwards. It’s like a little city with a city wall around it and with palaces, halls, gardens, baths etc. inside. Several royals and emperor lived here throughout the years, from where they ruled the country. There has been several invasions and battles to conquer the fort during those years.
In the evening I took a train to Varanasi and I was in the 3
rd class sleeper, non-air conditioning. It took about 10 hours to arrive in Varanasi. Once there, the rickshaw drivers
start bothering you the moment you step out of the train. They were all over the platform and they asked me if I needed a rickshaw. I told one of them that they always try to charge double the price and that’s why I dislike them. Then he said “no no, I give Indian price, around 70 Rupees” bla bla bla. I kept walking and went outside of the station, and there he was again. I decided to tell him where I was staying and asked how much it would cost. He told me to call the hostel and ask, which I did and they told me it should be maximum 100 Rupees. I told the driver this and he said “ok, let’s go”. Once I arrived at the hostel, I gave him a 100 Rupees bill and he said “no no, not good” and gave it back to me. I asked him what’s wrong and he said “150 Rupees”. I told him that we agreed for a 100 and that he’s not getting a single Rupee more than that. I was angry at this time, told him to f*** off and that they should stop doing these kind of
things all the time. Pisses me off, seriously!
Varanasi (or Benares) lies on the Ganges River and has more than 1 million people. It’s the holiest city in Hinduism and you’ll notice that because of the amount of cows on the street. For me, Varanasi was the exact image of India I had in my mind, especially when I was much younger: “Very busy, a bit dirty, cows everywhere (and cow poop), people bathing, washing etc. in the Ganges River”. Varanasi was just a CRAZY place, let me tell you! But it has to be included in your itinerary through India. I was still a bit tired after my arrival. First I went outside on the main street to get some food and I had to go to the ATM as well. I booked a boat trip with the hostel for sunset (and for sunrise the next day) and then I had a nap. Later in the afternoon I walked towards Dasaswamedh Ghat together with a few other guests, where we boarded the boat on the Ganges River. There are several ghats (staircases down the river) along the Ganges, each with their own name. Some ghats are used as
cremation sites. This is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen! They believe that being cremated at the Ganges is a favourable place for this rite of passage, since it’s considered the most sacred river in Hinduism. The bodies are wrapped into a white cloth and put on top of some wood, and they put wood on top of the bodies too. That’s how the bodies are burned and the ashes thrown into the Ganges! Pictures are not allowed, but from the boat it is possible. Another day I went to another cremation ghat where one of the bodies wasn’t completely wrapped. The head of this older lady was completely visible, wow!! Except for tourists, women are not allowed near the cremation sites.
The boat ride during sunset was very good. There was a guy at the front rowing our way on the Ganges. When going back to Dasaswamedh Ghat, the daily “Aarti ceremony” already started. It’s a religious worship ritual in Hinduism and there was a lot of people, also on the boats in front of the ghat. We also stayed and watched the ceremony for a bit more than half an hour before getting
off the boat.
The next morning I woke up before 5am to go to the sunrise boat trip. I enjoyed this one better than the one during sunset. Once the sun came out I was able to take some excellent shots of the sun rising from the east and the whole colourful waterfront and the ghats looked so much better. Some ghats were already quite busy with people bathing, washing etc., everyone doing their own thing. Later that day I took a “Champissage”, a traditional Indian head-and face massage and it was a “funny” experience. I wandered around the busy streets of Varanasi (the traffic is MENTAL), then took a right when I arrived at Dasaswamedh Ghat. Here I just wandered slowly, speaking to some people, watching a bit of cricket (they allowed me to bowl a couple of times too). At Harishchandra Ghat I just sat down and watched the cremation, while speaking to some other people. I slowly made it back to the hostel after this, where I hung out with several other travellers until late. The next day was my last day in Varanasi, since I was going to leave in the evening. In the
afternoon I walked around a little, with a guest from the hostel, and this time at Dasaswamedh Ghat I took a left and we slowly walked all the way until Manikarnika Ghat, the main cremation ghat. Like everywhere else in India, we were constantly approached by people asking “where are you from” etc. They seem to just want to have a chat, but it always turns out into asking for money, donation, take a look at their shop etc. So annoying! Beside the ghats, there are some temples in Varanasi but I was at a stage where I had more than enough of temples etc. At the hostel I met with MJ from Washington DC, a girl who is travelling through Asia independently despite of the fact that she's deaf-mute! We interacted by writing on her phone and showing each other. She's such an inspiration!! 😊
Later in the afternoon I started to feel a bit strange. I walked back to the hostel around 6pm. The feeling got worse and I had to go to the toilet because of diarrhoea; then I had to go again. A bit later I threw up twice in the toilet, which immediately made
me feel much better but the diarrhoea didn’t stop. This happened because of a fresh salad I ate at a restaurant earlier that day. I left the hostel just before midnight to go to Mughalsarai, where I had to board my train to New Delhi and I obviously wasn’t feeling a 100%. I got to the station and walked all the way to the last platform where my train was departing from. Once there, they told me that I was on the waiting list (I completely forgot that) and that I couldn’t board the train. I had to go and cancel the ticket to get a refund. I was tired and a bit weak, but I had to move on. I walked back to the counter, had to go to platform 2 to cancel the ticket and back, then I and got my refund. I asked when the next train to New Delhi was and they sold me a “general” ticket and there was no way I was going to sit for so long in packed wagon. He said I should approach the employees on the train and pay them extra for an upgrade. I got a ticket for this
train that had a 4 hour delay, meaning that it should be arriving in about half an hour (2:15am). Wishful thinking; the train did not come! I was so tired and not feeling well. I had to go to the toilet twice. I carried all my things to this waiting room and asked this friendly-looking couple and their baby, if they could please look after my stuff while I went to the toilet. The train came at 7:15am!!! Once on board, I paid and got an upgrade (thank God) in sleeper 3
rd class with air-conditioning. On board I had to go to the toilet very often and I didn’t eat much. The train was constantly stopping in the middle of nowhere and most of the times it was going slow. It took 19 hours to arrive in New Delhi, what a hell of a ride! I got off the train in New Delhi at 1:30am.
New Delhi is the capital of India with about 13 million inhabitants. Luckily enough my guesthouse was pretty close to the station, but I took a rickshaw because I was feeling way too weak and tired to walk. At the guesthouse I immediately
went to bed, but often waking up to go to the toilet. In the morning I had a shower and went for breakfast. I bought sachets of ORS (recommended by a former class mates from Curaçao who is a doctor now) to help me rehydrate. I wasn’t in the mood of doing much exploring so I didn’t see everything I wanted to see in New Delhi. I walked to the metro station and went to Connaught Place where I met with Chandan, who I used to work with at Mc Donald’s in Darwin, Australia back in 2008. Working with Chandan meant a lot of laughing and fun in the kitchen. I didn’t stay with him because he lives a bit outside of the city, so it wasn’t convenient. We wandered around Connaught Place and went to Palika Bazar, which was underground. Later Chandan drove to the Gate of India, which was built to honour Indian soldiers who died in World War I. Then we drove to Raj Ghat, a memorial to Mahathma Gandhi and where he was cremated. Mahathma is considered the “father of the nation” since he led India to independence from the UK and he appears on every
single Rupee banknote. The next day I went to Indira Gandhi Memorial, the house of India’s first and so far only female prime-minister. Indira was shot to dead in 1984 in her garden by one of her own body guards. The house is now a museum, showing many newspaper articles about Indira’s political achievements and her original clothes, bedroom, study-room etc. The last few metres where she walked before being was shot, are now covered by glass. After this, I took a metro to Gurgaon where I met with Chandan for some dinner and beers with a friend of him. Then I made my way back to the guesthouse and left India the next day, after spending five weeks in the country.
Incredible India, great experience except for the last five days. I’d definitely recommend visiting India but you need be “mentally” prepared for a possible culture shock; the traffic, the filth, the crowdedness. I handled it very well. India was among my top-5 countries I really wanted to visit and I'm happy I finally did! I would like to visit again someday in the future to see more of the country but I think five weeks at
a time was just enough for me. I was slowly getting very annoyed by all the touts, people approaching you on the street etc. Next stop will be one of the “Stan’s”!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.162s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 9; qc: 31; dbt: 0.1123s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
taracloud
Tara Cloud
5 fab weeks in one of your top 5
A proper end to your amazing Indian journey--famous sites, the India that matched your imagination, Delhi belly and finally some of the infamous train drama, after all your previous train luck. And of course, you had a meet-up with one of your fine, former co-workers, who seem to be in every place you go. Congrats on fulfilling a dream!