Varanasi is very cool so we decided to spend a few days here. It is also very holy so G decided he had better smarten up a bit, but a trip to the barbers has its quirks - he had his hair cut, beard trimmed and full body massage! G was now looking and feeling better so he went off to worship his own god and watched St Mirren v Rangers on the internet. Now while Varanasi is one of the holiest places in India it doesn't perform miracles so St Mirren lost 3-0.
We did the usual touristy things and took the sunrise and sunset boat trips -v nice. We went past the "burning" ghat where bodies are cremated. It was very peaceful, no-one crying, as they don't want to affect the releasing of the soul. A pot is then filled by the family with water from the Ganges and smashed to signify the breaking of the relationship with the deceased, and the hip and the chest bones don't burn so they are just thrown in afterwards. There's no such thing as privacy in India so this is all done in public with everyone taking their morning dip in the Ganges.
We then left Varanasi for Nepal - but like our first journey in India our last (at least for a few weeks) was a bit of a nightmare! Our deluxe tourist bus was "broke" so they took us round to the local bus station and put us on the local bus for 12 hours. Oh my god - uncomfy seats (bit like the camel ride), bus packed with Indians everywhere, roasting hot, no toilet stops and no food!! But a chance to see the real India - didn't see another white face all day (except for the other strained tourists on the bus) - interesting to watch everyone getting on with their business. Although, felt a bit sorry for the lady sitting next to me, as she was in full burkha outfit and couldn't even see as her face was totally covered. The children were also very well behaved - on the bus for hours and didn't make a sound while being bounced about and the horn going every 2 minutes.
Eventually we made it to the Nepal border where we were greeted by an army of "bed bugs" at our stopover - great, perfect end to the day and loads of scratching for the 8 hour bus journey tomorrow!
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Friday 24 April 2009
22/04/09 - Akber the Great & the Taj Mahal, Agra
Firstly, Graham booked us very plush accommodation here so we could take in the wonder of the Taj Mahal - a lovely 1970's room with straw and water for air con (con being the right word as it didn't work, sounded like a tractor and they kept switching it off).
A good reason to head out on a day trip to the abandoned city and hear all about Akber the Great. Now he was a lovely chap who had all the power but it turns out he was really a short-assed sex pest with 3 wives and a hareem of 300! Those in the hareem were lucky as he had a giant sized game of ludo in the grounds of his palace and those who reached the centre got to spend the night with Akber - liked his style, not!
Then onto the main attraction - went to see the Taj Mahal at sunset. Have to say it is all it is cracked up to be - stunning, what else can you say....next stop Varanasi...
A good reason to head out on a day trip to the abandoned city and hear all about Akber the Great. Now he was a lovely chap who had all the power but it turns out he was really a short-assed sex pest with 3 wives and a hareem of 300! Those in the hareem were lucky as he had a giant sized game of ludo in the grounds of his palace and those who reached the centre got to spend the night with Akber - liked his style, not!
Then onto the main attraction - went to see the Taj Mahal at sunset. Have to say it is all it is cracked up to be - stunning, what else can you say....next stop Varanasi...
17/04/09-21/04/09 The Rest of Rajasthan!
Well our quiet day in Mt Abu didn't really turn out as planned...there's a surprise...- ended up at a spiritualist university for brahmakumaris! Our lecture was pretty informative though - they believe in a few things - firstly that we are all made up of light (not sure about that), but they also like a lot of silence, flowers, disco lights and swings! These things are not bad but think they have picked the wrong nation for silence! They have an office in Polmont Terrace so may give them a visit when we get back.
Udaipur was our next destination- but as always getting there was interesting. Now that we have been on a bus in daylight it would appear that driving the wrong way down the motorway is quite normal, just cross the central reservation and you are back on the right side! The road was also a bit bumpy at some points particularly when we were driving through a quarry for half an hour. But we arrived safely and really liked Udaipur - the view from our hotel was the best so far and the Lake Palace was very impressive. But the best bit was watching the bats!- there was loads of them and they were massive like big birds. Only drawback was that we got covered in bat piss! Another one to add to the list.
We then had 2 short stays in Pushkar (Shiva power was strong here!) and Jaipur before heading to Agra and the Taj! We were struggling a bit with the heat by this point as it was 40deg - so think we saw Rajasthan in the nick of time before we started being boiled alive - it goes up to 49deg in May.
Udaipur was our next destination- but as always getting there was interesting. Now that we have been on a bus in daylight it would appear that driving the wrong way down the motorway is quite normal, just cross the central reservation and you are back on the right side! The road was also a bit bumpy at some points particularly when we were driving through a quarry for half an hour. But we arrived safely and really liked Udaipur - the view from our hotel was the best so far and the Lake Palace was very impressive. But the best bit was watching the bats!- there was loads of them and they were massive like big birds. Only drawback was that we got covered in bat piss! Another one to add to the list.
We then had 2 short stays in Pushkar (Shiva power was strong here!) and Jaipur before heading to Agra and the Taj! We were struggling a bit with the heat by this point as it was 40deg - so think we saw Rajasthan in the nick of time before we started being boiled alive - it goes up to 49deg in May.
Thursday 16 April 2009
16/04/2009 Mt Abu, Rajasthan
Did we mention how much hard work this travelling lark is? Well, we decided we needed a mini-break so we headed to the hills and Mount Abu with the other Indians for their hols. Mt Abu is about 4,000ft up but is like a wee seaside town where you can induldge in all those holiday treats. So we hired a pedalo and drank slush puppy!
The only differences being that all the other pedalos on the lake then start heading towards you so they can take another photo! And, you don't get signs saying rowing boats are limited to 12 people!! Bizzarely, you can then finish off your weekend trip by buying a gun at the market - air rifle, pistol whaetever takes your fancy - and they look real! - we're not going to bother though.
We have also been keeping fit and went on a 9 mile trek into the hills this morning - no mean feat in this heat. We were on the look out for local wildlife and did see a few - peacocks, mongoose, kingfisher and a few monkeys. But we weren't lucky enough to see a panther or bear - although, we did see some bear poo! Or at least so we were told - you see a lot of poo so it can be hard to tell.
Back in town this afternoon, Graham decided to refuel and had "brain curry" for lunch. This was goat brain and was very mushy not like meat at all - but he seemed to like it!
Taking it easy tomorrow then back to the desert on Saturday....
The only differences being that all the other pedalos on the lake then start heading towards you so they can take another photo! And, you don't get signs saying rowing boats are limited to 12 people!! Bizzarely, you can then finish off your weekend trip by buying a gun at the market - air rifle, pistol whaetever takes your fancy - and they look real! - we're not going to bother though.
We have also been keeping fit and went on a 9 mile trek into the hills this morning - no mean feat in this heat. We were on the look out for local wildlife and did see a few - peacocks, mongoose, kingfisher and a few monkeys. But we weren't lucky enough to see a panther or bear - although, we did see some bear poo! Or at least so we were told - you see a lot of poo so it can be hard to tell.
Back in town this afternoon, Graham decided to refuel and had "brain curry" for lunch. This was goat brain and was very mushy not like meat at all - but he seemed to like it!
Taking it easy tomorrow then back to the desert on Saturday....
Monday 13 April 2009
13/04/09 - Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
Jaisalmer was lovely - consisting mainly of a fort which looks precariously perched on a load of sand! The other main attraction is the desert. We eventually left for the camel safari which as all good tours do - start with being packed into a really hot jeep. And we were only a few minutes in to the journey when we stoppped so our driver could take his hit of opium to keep him awake! Reassuring start. We were back on the road and passed a few of the Indian army troops on their way to the Pakistan border - which was only about 50km away.
A little while later we were introduced to our camels and headed off on our trek. At sunset we set up camp and had a wee sing song round the camp fire - which was kicked off by our Indian camel men. No idea what they were singing but whatever they were smoking seemed to be helping. Graham continued with a rendition of Flower of Scotland and our English friends suggested Bohemian Rhapsody!! - this was a most surreal and bizzarre request but was hilarious and beautifully done (not)! And quite a challenge for our Indian drummer.
Camping in the desert was a little different from what we have done in Scotland - for starters no midges, but plenty other biting beasties. Also, no tent required to keep the howling gales out - just a couple of blankets and a 'sand' pillow - but it was a little hard for sleeping on to be honest. But we were lucky to have a very clear sky with millions of stars and a full moon (it had been raining a couple of days before!) .
Bizzarre to think that exactly 3 weeks ago it was our wedding and now we are sleeping under the stars in the desert in India - things seem to be going well. Although, while we are taking in the space and peace and quiet our Indian guides are talk, talk, talk....they never stop.....would love to know what they find to say.......
A little while later we were introduced to our camels and headed off on our trek. At sunset we set up camp and had a wee sing song round the camp fire - which was kicked off by our Indian camel men. No idea what they were singing but whatever they were smoking seemed to be helping. Graham continued with a rendition of Flower of Scotland and our English friends suggested Bohemian Rhapsody!! - this was a most surreal and bizzarre request but was hilarious and beautifully done (not)! And quite a challenge for our Indian drummer.
Camping in the desert was a little different from what we have done in Scotland - for starters no midges, but plenty other biting beasties. Also, no tent required to keep the howling gales out - just a couple of blankets and a 'sand' pillow - but it was a little hard for sleeping on to be honest. But we were lucky to have a very clear sky with millions of stars and a full moon (it had been raining a couple of days before!) .
Bizzarre to think that exactly 3 weeks ago it was our wedding and now we are sleeping under the stars in the desert in India - things seem to be going well. Although, while we are taking in the space and peace and quiet our Indian guides are talk, talk, talk....they never stop.....would love to know what they find to say.......
Thursday 9 April 2009
9/4/09 - Bikaner, Rajasthan
Well, buying the train tickets in Delhi was a breeze, but the journey was a bit more tricky! Firstly, we have seen Michael Palin on the trains in India but for some reason it still took us about half an hour to work out how many beds there were! A wee cabin shared with a couple of other folk it was not. Anyway, after we had sussed out that everyone was going to be sleeping everywhere we settled down for the night - with a wee indian man booked into the bunk in the middle! - but it was not a good time for Irene to come down with Delhi Belly!!!.......
........1x busy train, 1x really minging toilet, 4x immodium, 1x antibiotic and 1x packet of tissues later Irene woke Graham at 4.00am to let him know that this was one of the worst nights of her life!! (being ill at the Malmaison really doesn't compare!). Anyway, we are hopeful that we have both now acclimatised - fingers crossed!
The other things which really did not go to plan with the train were that it took 14.5 hours instead of 10 - in light of the above - this was not good either and to top it all a singing quartet joined the train when I was trying to recover - we thought this was a joke. But we did eventually make it to Bikaner.
This was a nice desert town with a much more chilled out feel to it than the chaos of Delhi. The highlight of which was a wee trip out of town on the local bus to the Karni Mata temple - where some Indians worship sacred rats which they believe are reincarnated storytellers! We, however, just thought they were lots of rats running around everywhere in rat heaven and we were walking around in our bare feet in what must have been rat s***! Nice! G has recorded this experience on his camcorder and will put a link to it so you can judge for yourselves.
So we have left Bikaner now and arrived in Jaisalmer today. And we now plan to get around to going on the camel safari into the desert so we will be back in touch when we return.
........1x busy train, 1x really minging toilet, 4x immodium, 1x antibiotic and 1x packet of tissues later Irene woke Graham at 4.00am to let him know that this was one of the worst nights of her life!! (being ill at the Malmaison really doesn't compare!). Anyway, we are hopeful that we have both now acclimatised - fingers crossed!
The other things which really did not go to plan with the train were that it took 14.5 hours instead of 10 - in light of the above - this was not good either and to top it all a singing quartet joined the train when I was trying to recover - we thought this was a joke. But we did eventually make it to Bikaner.
This was a nice desert town with a much more chilled out feel to it than the chaos of Delhi. The highlight of which was a wee trip out of town on the local bus to the Karni Mata temple - where some Indians worship sacred rats which they believe are reincarnated storytellers! We, however, just thought they were lots of rats running around everywhere in rat heaven and we were walking around in our bare feet in what must have been rat s***! Nice! G has recorded this experience on his camcorder and will put a link to it so you can judge for yourselves.
So we have left Bikaner now and arrived in Jaisalmer today. And we now plan to get around to going on the camel safari into the desert so we will be back in touch when we return.
Saturday 4 April 2009
Day 1 - Delhi
"A little Bollywood at India Gate"
Hello there - thought we had better start with this blog before everyone thinks we have disappeared and you all forget about us!
Day 1 0f lots!
We arrived at 4.00am on Friday to the sights and sounds of Delhi!!Be assured there are many sights and sounds in Delhi - people everywhere, horns everywhere, lots of smells, lots of staring and the occassional cow!
Combine this with a little jet lag, 35 deg heat and a few curries and it won't be a surprise to know that it is 8.00pm on Saturday and we are about to fall asleep - we are shattered! But we are having a ball, love India and are looking forward to the next couple of months.
We are planning to head off to the desert and Rajasthan tomorrow - that is if we manage to find out the train times and buy tickets, which may not be as easy as you may think. So in the next few days once we have recovered from the 10 hour train journey we are hoping to go on a camel safari and spend the night under the stars in the desert.
We have also turned into total back packers very quickly and if it costs more than a couple of hundred rupees (i.e. £3) its too much! Although,we are still staying in the fancy hotel we pre-booked so a few adjustments still lie ahead!
So first impressions - this travelling lark is v good (still can't believe we are going to be doing this for 9 months),india is full of colour, the people are friendly (even though they want you to spend, spend, spend) and the food is fantastic (although we have learned that if you only eat curry you sweat curry)......on that note......
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