Blogs from Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 157

Well after a long drive from tiger less Ranthambhore we arrive at Agra - and what can you say about the place - well for a start it's a bit of a dump to be honest, which is a bit of a shame as the quintessential Indian icon is located here - the Taj Mahal. Built for the love of his late wife it’s a pretty darn impressive building - one of Diana’s favourites I believe. The building itself is built from imported marble and it’s even rumoured that once it was complete the architects and workers had there hands either mutilated or amputated so that the same beauty could not recreated else where - a bit drastic if you ask me and I bet that wasn’t in their contract. Once again we are spoilt for ... read more

Bon... ben je crois que ca y est... J'ai rencontre un pote de Goa, par "hasard", il y a 1 mois, alors que je "planifiais" de partir 2 jours plus tard pour la suite de mon voyage... Resultat ? Ben 1 mois de prolongation ;o)) Nous avons fete nos anniversaires ensembles, car lui du 9 et moi du 7/02, et il vient de partir hier, pour sa Suisse natale. Je n'ose "prevoir" mon depart a nouveau, mais disons que ce devrait etre "incessamment sous peu" !!! Varanassi... Ville de Legendes, que j'avais prevue tant de fois a mon programme. Il m'aura fallu plusieurs annees d'attente (et de Patience) avant d'en parcourir les rues labyrinthiques et les ghats de lumiere. Patience recompensee bien au-dela de toutes esperances ;o) On a du mal a imaginer que de tels ... read more

Today I saw a donkey giving birth by the side of the street. Animals are a big thing out here. They are everywhere. Mostly dogs. What Mick would term 'little rats' are everywhere! Most of them look pretty minging but we have met one nice one in Agra, at the palace we are staying at. It's a German shepard. Mick thinks it's got a faraway look on it's face (well he says it's looking for the black forest). As well as dogs there are cows (or bison) just about everywhere. I'd love to know who owns them because they just wander about the street mingling with the traffic and the tourists. There's no harm in them. There are also lots of monkeys hanging about, mainly in railway stations. So far we haven't been approached by any. ... read more

Varanasi is famous for being a Hindu holy city. It's also a holy city for Buddists and Jain but I think it's most well known for being the place that Hindus come to wash themselves in the sacred river Ganga and if possible to be cremated there when they die and have their ashes sprinkled on the river. The city itself is probably about the size of Gourock and there are 3.5million people living there. It's made up on tiny winding streets and lanes behind the 'ghats' which are steps up along the riverbank. There are maybe 20 or more individual ghats all with their own significance. Most spectacular are the burning ghats where funeral pyres are built and bodies are cremated. It takes 3 hours for the body to burn and the family wait there ... read more

Hey! We finally got photos on our last entry...check it out first! We departed Delhi this morning with our driver Jatinder in a small 4-door sedan called an "Indica". Jatinder is really nice, and from Rajasthan so he should be able to offer some great info along the way. He always has great advice, like "you only need four things to drive in India: a good flag, a good God, a good Horn, and a good Driver." We didn't question him about his rank ordering - he bought some India dashboard flags as we left Delhi (good flag), he has a picture of Durga, mother goddess and fierce destroyer (a lethal combination - good God) on the dash, we definitely have a great horn that shows no sign of wear, even after four hours of continuous ... read more