Geo: 26.0203, 76.3443What a rip-off! The MonsterWedding (more than 2000 guests) was just about winding down when i got up at 4AM, picked up at 4:30AM and driven to the Tiger Safari sales office. Stood in line until 6:30AM in the freezing cold, got my damn ticket, drove back to the hotel and waited for the Safari Jeep to pick me up. Late, of course, we started our Safari around 10AM and for the next 2 hours saw exactly: Nothing! No tiger, no hyenas, no crocodile, no bear, no nothing! All park animals according to the brochure. A complete waste of time and money, this so called Ranthambhore NP and "Tiger Reserve". And apparently I was lucky to only do this nonsense once. There were other travelers in my tour group who tried 3 of those ... read more

Geo: 27.1661, 77.9865Beat the noise today by waking up at 5AM and getting picked up by my driver (who only speaks broken English) at 6AM to avoid the Delhi morning traffic. Just before Agra we stopped to check out the giant Mausoleum area of Sikandra built "by" and for the Mogul Akbar. In the afternoon I went to see the Taj Mahal. And even though people were stepping on top of each other for the picture-postcard photo it was surprisingly enjoyable and a very impressive building. Although the interior was rather small and simplistic. Nevertheless, definitely a highlight of my trip! Vermied den Feuerwerks-Wecker heute indem ich bereits um 5 Uhr aufstand und von meinem Fahrer (der leider kaum Englisch spricht) um 6 Uhr abgeholt wurde, um Delhi's Morgenverkehr aus dem Weg zu gehen. Kurz vor ... read more

Geo: 28.6137, 77.1834There's one thing about "Incredible India" you'll understand incredibly fast. The second you leave the airplane you're a permanent target. Seen as nothing but a walking cash machine. Absolutely no genuine interest about you or where you come from. Despite the questions.From the 36 countries I visited in my life i would consider India as the one with the most unwelcoming atmosphere towards foreigners. As soon as someone is talking to you all they are really interested in is the content of your wallet. You cannot trust anyone with anything. Or believe anything they say. 9.5 times out of 10 they only wanna lure you into something. Now, of course that happens everywhere in the world if you travel but nowhere have I ever experienced it 24/7 like here.A lot of other people would ... read more

Geo: 28.6137, 77.1834Took the Metro to central Delhi with its impressive government buildings and the India Gate. By the way, a ride in the Metro is an experience in itself. The "people shuffle" is incredible! And the subway no place for claustrophobics. Then I walked towards the shopping district Connaught Place, a gigantic circular square if you will ;) On the way I came by a big mosque where Muslims celebrated a holiday and hundreds of street vendors selling mostly unidentifiable food. At the central Place happened to be a big music and performance festival too. It felt like the whole city gathered there. But more likely it was just another ordinary Sunday in Delhi ;)Nahm die U-Bahn zum Stadtzentrum mit seinen beeindruckenden Regierungsgebaeuden und dem grossen Indien Tor. Uebrigens, eine Fahrt mit der Metro ist ... read more

Geo: 27.7029, 85.3182Like a Swiss clock the erupting noise from the street woke me up at precisely 7:30AM. Went to a cafe nearby for breakfast before I ventured out to the temple district of Kathmandu. Later I took a Tuk Tuk to the other end of the town, Patan. This is the oldest part of Kathmandu and has an extraordinary Nepalese architecture as well as museums and thousands of little vendors in alleyways like labyrinths, selling all kinds of crafts. It's a place where you still see women going to the public wells for water and monks roaming the streets in their orange robes.After sunset I let me drive back one last time through the virtually lawless evening traffic of Pollutmandu.Praezise wie eine schweizer Uhr weckte mich der morgendliche Strassenlaerm puenktlich um 7:30 Uhr. Ging zu ... read more