Blogs from Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 4

For the first time while in India there would be no need to wake up early. There was no breakfast buffet to get up for. Instead there was an outdoor restaurant that served breakfast and dinner foods all day. And the restaurant was right outside my room. Having woke up luxuriantly late I practically had the whole place to myself. And what a place it was. I picked a table on the rail overlooking the Ganges. From my perfect perch I could observe all the life down below. The locals boarding boats to be ferried across or down the river. People walking along the ghats. The boats clustering and drifting down the river in jolly scrums. On the other side of the river people wandered and clustered on the dry floodplain. To me the distant figures ... read more

Blog # 4 (February 13, 2019). Think Pink – It’s Jaipur. Did you know that Shampoo was invented in India in the 1700’s ? The word itself derives from the Hindi, “champo”, a fruit and herb extract for cleansing the hair. I contemplated this information as I showered this morning, as the shampoo in our hotel room was frickin’ awful. It was more like cold porridge than shampoo. It’s not as if they haven’t had a few hundred years to perfect the bloody stuff. Oh, well. We have just spent time in Jaipur, having flown from Jaisalmer on SpiceJet. (Their motto is “Red, Hot and Spicy”, but if this refers to their food, it really should be “Brown, Cold and Heinous”.) Upon arrival in Jaipur, we grabbed a pre-organised cab to our hotel. Jaipur is the ... read more

This morning I got up before dawn and was taken to the Taj Mahal to watch the sunrise. It was spectacular. The moon was (almost) full, so it was setting in the west as the sun rose in the east. I walked all around the building and we went inside, too, to see the graves. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj as a tomb and a monument to his wife Mumtaz Mahal after she died in childbirth. Husband and wife are both buried there. The tomb building and dome are symmetrical and pleasing to the eye, but the detail work on the walls is also remarkable. I think I mentioned the stone inlay work, but there are also masterfully carved reliefs and gorgeously intricate screens. I took many photos outside - no photos are ... read more

Being a little cooler first thing in the morning we decided to get up early again today. I must admit that without knowing there was a boat waiting for us it was difficult but the call to prayers by the next door mosque at 5am helped wake us up. After finding someone to let us out of our guesthouse we wondered down to the Ghats to watch the morning goings on. The Ghats just north of the Manikarnika ghat (main burning ghat) were surprisingly quiet compared to those we rowed past at the same time to the south yesterday. There were a few men washing in the Ganges and a group having a religious service in an area at the back of the Ghat. Finding a place with a reasonable view we sat down to watch ... read more

We finally managed to get to Varanasi about midnight last night, only 12 hours later than planned. Our tuk tuk driver from the station didn’t seem that confident as to the exact location of our guesthouse and we found ourselves wondering down the narrow alleys somewhat unsure of where we were going. Fortunately a couple of nice locals en route reassured us we were going in the right direction and we soon arrived. Well locked up they fortunately answered the doorbell and were extremely kind and welcoming. Our room is small but clean and tidy and we were soon fast asleep. This morning we decided to do our usual wonder around. After a rooftop breakfast (with view of the Ganges) we walked down to the nearest ghat (munshi ghat) and then headed south along the river. ... read more