On arriving in Calcutta we are informed that there will a 'brief' delay due to bad weather in our final destination, Paro, Bhutan (This brief delay turned out to be a 4 hour stopover). As a result, we are ushered off the plane, and an entire (small) plane-ful of eager passengers are crammed into a tiny waiting room where there was definitely more stranded tourists than seats, we learnt this the hard way after getting restless and deciding to go explore Calcutta airport.. only to discover that we were under lock and key (literally) and we couldn't actually go very far at all!

Here is the summary of explorations.. (ok, don't get too excited..) On the wall outside of a thoroughly disgusting toilet (with no toilet paper.. ), there was a homely (looked like it might have been made by local school kids) decoupage map of India with pictures of India's famous landmarks in their appropriate positions, around the corner there was a creaky old lift that went down to the floor below (however the rest of this lower floor was cordoned off so we couldn't actually go much farther than the lift itself, except to get to..) some stairs that led back up from the floor below.

PS. From chatting to our new friend, xx, we learn that such delays to & from Bhutan are not uncommon and almost expected (due to frequently rainy mornings, but tends to clear up eventually).. naturally this makes us a little concerned about our flight home, as we have a very tight connection in Thailand.

Oh.. there was also a little tobacco/alcohol/souvenir/snack shop with these interesting teas which unfortunately we didn't get a chance to sample.. o_O

Safe in the knowledge that we are in fact going to our hotel of choice we sit back in our auto-rickshaw ready to soak up the atmosphere of the Hinduism's holiest city. Our ears are ringing, luckily it's not tinitus - the roads are heaving with bicycles and cycle-rickshaws weaving between each other and any man, woman or beast daring enough to try to cross the roads. Of the three only beasts are safe, traffic stops for no man, cows and dogs are OK though. If you are planning to come to India forget the green cross code, but dig out that pantomime cow costume that you thought you'd never use again. Cows are sacred here, but apparently people are fair game.

The rickshaw couldn't take us right up to the hotel as the roads in Varanasi stop about 500m from the banks of the Ganges, becoming instead a maze of meandering alleyways between tightly packed and towering buildings looming up on either side. As we follow our guide, turning left at this alley and right the next we consider how this could be very complicated if drunk...however, Varanasi is predominantly a dry city so there's little risk of that. We arrive, with no idea of exactly where we are in this labirynth of a city, despite our best intentions to look out for landmarks as the alleys all seem to look the same, but no matter - we're here! We head up to the rooftop restaurant for some authentic Indian cuisine (Bec has a pizza and Will gets slightly closer with an om-elette - apologies for the pun, but you should expect nothing less) and we sit down to chill and drink in the panoramic views.

We spent the next day in full tourist mode, strolling alongside the ghats which line the banks of the Ganges. These are a series of steps leading into the river and are an integral part of Varanasi life. They are used for everything from washing clothes to cattle, as well as for swimming, bathing and drinking. It's hot and the waters look tempting, we'd go for a swim but the Bible (Lonely Planet) cheerfully informs us that the water is considered septic, with no oxygen content but with 10,000 times the safe level of faecal content. We've taken enough shit on this trip already so we decide against it.

The Ghats are also used for cremating the dead as the waters of the Ganges are supposed to allow those whose ashes are scattered here an escape from the cycle of death and rebirth. Our hotel is situated close to Manikarnika Ghat, the main burning ghat. This comes in handy as later that night when we get lost (not for the last time) we are able to follow the dead bodies as they are carried through the streets on stretchers wrapped in bright, multicoloured cloths.

The next morning we took a dawn boat ride along the river, which is a much calmer experience than walking the streets. There is still no escape from the push to purchase however. A boat draws alongside us and, in the middle of the river, we are practically boarded by someone trying to sell us a candle which we are then supposed to set alight and leave to drift, giving us good karma. We were calmer before he got there so we politely decline, unsure how adding further pollution to the septic waters is good for the soul.

On to Agra, the home of the most famous monument in India, the majestic Agra Fort. First though we decide on a dawn viewing of the lesser known Taj Mahal. The Taj is a work of art, sullied only by the gaggle of (mainly American) tour groups with name tags proudly displayed, looking blithely around asking inane questions to long-suffering guides. This does not take away from the beauty of the place though and we spend the next 2 hours watching the growing light changing the colour of the building as the sun rises. Our feet also change colour as you have to remove your shoes when approaching the Taj and with our souls brightened and soles blackened we left to get some breakfast.

The fort is a huge red fort. We fort it'd be different (apologies again). It's big, red and empty. It used to be fuller but the British, in their infinite wisdom demolished most of the historic structures inside back in the days of the Raj. The arctitecture is imposing and impressive and the monkeys think they are too. They certainly leave an impression, especially when we get the camera out to get a picture which we have attached...we'll leave you to make your own judgement.

The next stop on our cultural whirlwind tour was Jaipur, the pink city. The city was painted pink in the 19th century by the Maharaja Ramsing to welcome the Prince of Wales, many of the buildings are also constructed of the local pink stone, basically it's pink.

We wandered around the old city, visiting the palace (which was a bit uninspiring, lots of swords and textiles - yawn), the Janter Manter and the Hawa Mahal. The Janter Manter is a huge open air observatory housing a bizzarre collection of oversized astrological instruments. It looks like a half finished Flintstones-style theme park and is one several built around the country by the Mughal emperor Jai Singh, who the city is named after. After the Hawa Mahal, a tower built for the ladies of the court so that they could see the activity on the streets without actually having to go out (which seems a good idea the 30th time someone shouts at you to sell you a sari), we got back to the hotel as we had accepted an invitation from the owners for a tour of the city with his family. It was the day before Diwali, the festival of lights, and every year he takes the kids out to see the illuminations of the town. It's like Christmas in Blackpool but without the chavs and the blatent commercialism (and the cold) and it is touching to see lots of families out doing the same. A lovely end to the day and our time in Jaipur. We leave for Delhi tomorrow, up to our eyeballs in history.

Culture-vultures out.

written by  BecnWill on November 7, 2007 from Jaipur, India
from the travel blog: The World By Knight
tagged TajMahal, Monkeys, AgraFort, Jaipur, JantarMantar, ManikarnikaGhat, DawnBoatRide, TourGroups and LeaveAnImpression
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After I got back from Mumbai, I came back to Delhi with every intention of staying in Delhi through the next week. That is until one of my friends found cheap bus tickets to Rishikesh, a town about 6 hours away, for Rs. 250 one-way (about $6 American). Of course I couldn't pass up a good travel deal so I tagged along. There were 6 of us in total; 3 stayed in an Ashram, and the rest of us stayed at a guest house in the upper bank area of Rishikesh and met up with a few friends we had met in Dharamsala.

Rishikesh is this beautiful hillstation town in the Himalayas that is situated right along the Ganges River. It has a lot of religious and historical significance to the Hindus and is full of temples and shrines. We wound up meeting these really nice locals who took 3 of us on 2 motorbikes all the way up through the mountains to this Hindu temple that’s supposedly 5,000 years old. Afterwards, they took us up to this beautiful waterfall that’s close to one of sources of water that flow into the Ganges. We went swimming, took some pictures, and ate food at this great restaurant near our guesthouse.

The Rs. 250 bus ride home was not worth a rupee more than we paid. It was unair-conditioned so we had to keep our windows open to get any kind of breeze, and we must have driven through the dirtiest, smelliest, dustiest rural towns in all of India. It was so brutal. We also hit a ton of traffic coming home and we got dropped off at the most remote location in Delhi we had never been. Long story short, we got home really late and sitting and commuting to class for about 7 hours the next day really sucked.
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The following weekend we had a scheduled group trip to Agra and Jaipur. We were all excited to go see the Taj Mahal and spend some quality group time together. We wound up staying in 4 and 5 star hotels because our travel agent, Pulin ji, was able to pull some strings. In Agra we got to see this huge palace/fortress, and of course the legendary Taj Mahal. In Jaipur we drove through the Old City (or “Pink City”), rode elephants up through this big fort complex, and saw some more palaces, gardens, and ruins. It was a lot to pack in to one weekend, and we were on the road for probably 6 hours each day.

At some of the more touristy sights, the beggars and vendors were really aggressive. They’d follow us all through the main fortress roads and bazaars. Outside the Taj Mahal, there was this one little boy trying to sell us keychains who couldn’t have been more than 12 and spoke really good English. He kept following us and it turned out that he spoke Spanish, French, Chinese, and multiple local Indian languages almost fluently. We actually conversed with him for awhile in Spanish - it was so random. Perhaps he only knows a few key phrases really well, and might not have be able to write or read them, but I just think about all the opportunities for someone like that back in the States and seeing him there on the streets of Agra begging tourists to buy keychains…it seems like a talent wasted.
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This was pretty much the first weekend I got to really explore Delhi. I’ve been so grateful to finally be able to take a break from travelling and get to know my way around the city. I’ve also started to explore some side projects and have gotten acquainted with various people involved in some really interesting stuff that will help compliment my studies here.

Friday I went out with my Cities of Delhi class on a trip to see the Qutb Minar complex, just south of where I live in Neeti Bagh. It was built around the 12th century AD and was one of the first (if not the first) “city” of Delhi. It’s still very much intact and houses the world’s largest stone brick minaret (architectural feature of Islamic mosques).
It was just nice having some free time this weekend to hop in a rickshaw and go exploring. I saw a lot I haven’t seen before, and there’s still so much left to see. Next week we have a break from classes and the program is taking us down South to Kajuraho. Afterwards I’ll be travelling to Viranasi and I’m definitely looking forward to it.

But for now I’ve gotta go finish some papers. Peace!

written by  Indiestani on September 7, 2008 from Agra, India
from the travel blog: Rishikesh, Agra, and Jaipur
tagged TajMahal, Jaipur, Agra, Rishikesh, Ganges and PinkCity
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