From A to V (Agra to Varanasi).

We left Jaipur, and Rajasthan altogether, and we soon found ourselves in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Our first stop in this new state was at the magnificent fortified ghost city of Fatepur Sikri. This city was once the short-lived capital of the Mughal Empire between 1571 and 1585. Today it is famous for its large and beautiful mosque, known as the Dargah Mosque, and that was our reason for stopping. We toured around the mosque for about an hour, and were surprised by its sheer size and overall design. We entered through the Buland Darwaza (Victory Gate), the largest gate in all of Asia. We proceeded to walk around and explore. Soon after we were asked to leave (not us specifically, but everyone there) as a group of VIP's were coming to visit. We headed down and thought that we would be back on the road, but as it turns out, in India, if there are VIP's on the road, everyone else must wait with their cars pulled off to the side for the VIP's to pass. We ended up waiting for over an hour, but finally they came. We were thinking maybe they were important political figures, or even Bollywood stars, but they turned out to be delegates from the Commonwealth (nothing too exciting!) The VIP's left, and we were soon on the road, heading towards the city of Agra. We were thrilled to be heading here, as it is the city that is home to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world! We quickly unpacked our bags and then headed out for some grub. We wanted to get some good food with a good view of the Taj. We found one restaurant and went in. As it turns out, they don't light the Taj at night, so it was dark, but we could still see it. It was beautiful!! We thought that we would eat and stare at the beautiful building, but we were forced to leave. Not by anyone, but rather through our own convictions. Our driver, Beer, had come along with us for the evening to enjoy our last full night together. However, the restaurant where we were planning on eating told him that he would have to go downstairs and wait for us. Because he was Indian he wasn't allowed to eat there. We wouldn't have any of that so we went to look for something else. As it turned out, all the restaurants we tried with a Taj view said the same thing. How unfair to our friend! We decided to go to a restaurant near the city centre, and it was great. We ate good food and had a lot of laughs, and that was worth more than a shadowy Taj view. The next morning we woke early, 5 am, with hopes of making it to the Taj for the Sunrise. When we looked out the window it was far too cloudy, so we decided to just rest in bed and go later in the day in time to catch the sunset. Around noon we began our day. We went first to the Agra Fort and palace, a beautiful massive red-sandstone structure built in 1565. We toured around and enjoyed the beautiful buildings. After that we stopped at Mickey D's, for the first time in India, and filled our bellies with a couple of yummy Maharajah Macs! Canada should look into getting some of these bad boys!! We were full and ready to go the the most remarkable sight in India, the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal has been described as the most magnificent building ever built for love. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631, as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their 14th child. It is said that the Emperor was so heartbroken that his hair turned grey overnight! The Taj was then created and completed 2 years later, and stands today as a reminder of the love of an emperor. It is a fantastic building, and we were thrilled that we had been given the opportunity to see it. It was more beautiful in person than any picture could ever illustrate. It was massive and at first sight literally took our breath away. We stayed there until sunset, admiring its beauty and trying to get in as many photos as we possibly could! That night was a sad one, as it was time to leave our friend Beer and head out on our own for the remaining time we had left in India. After hugs and well wishes, we were on our overnight train, heading for what is said to be the holiest Hindu city in India called Varanasi. We arrived in Varanasi at 5 am, and were thankful that we had been set up with a train station pickup (we had no idea where we were, and since we always had Beer we weren't used to finding our way. We would soon get back in the habit though!) We were dropped off at the hotel an hour later and within a few minutes we were in bed catching up on some z's (you can never get a proper sleep on the train!). After some time we decided it best to head into the city and see what all the fuss about Varanasi was. We made it to the main area after a short auto rickshaw ride, and were not overly impressed. It was busy, noisy, crowded, just like any other Indian city. We made our way down to the Ganges River (also known as the Ganga) as proceeded to walk along the river bank. We passed by many Ghats (stairs that lead down to the river), where people bathe, wash cloths, swim, etc. in the river. There were even ghats designated as cremation areas where cremations were constantly taking place. We spent the afternoon walking up and down the river, although there wasn't really too much happening, and we still weren't blown away (as quite a few people we talked to described Varanasi as the highlight of their trip). We also weren't impressed with the water itself. We did some reading (Lonely Planet, as usual) and found that in in 100ml of bathing water, the acceptable amount of fecal coliform (poo) should be less than 500 (in Niagara Falls it is roughly 80). However, water coming out of the Ganga is so septic, that the numbers are in the neighborhood of 1.5 million!!! We were not going near that water for anything!! At least thats what we said. Not necessarily what we did. The next morning we made our way back down to the river and jumped in!! We were splashing all around and gargling the water in our mouths... GOTCHA! Actually, we hired a boat and road up and down the Ganges as the sun rose. It was an amazing time, as we saw people come down into the river to pray, bathe, brush their teeth, swim and wash their clothes in their holy water. It is said that all Hindus try to make it into the Ganga at least once in their lifetime, and it is an honour to die in Varanasi and to be cremated there. The experience of seeing the Ghats at dawn was a beautiful sight to see, and really made our time in Varanasi worthwhile. That night, with our time in Varanasi at and end, we were back on the train, and quite literally, heading for Bollywood!

The Route Through Rajasthan Continues...

We left Ranakpur early the next morning (as there was nothing more to see there), with our sights set on the small city of Udaipur. Before arriving we made a quick stop (ok, a few hours) at Shilpgram, a village that displays traditional Indian homes, dances, foods and crafts. We enjoyed seeing the traditional way of life, and picked up a few goodies for our own collection to remind us of India. We arrived in the city of Udiapur in the early afternoon, and spent most of our time walking around and exploring the downtown bazaar. Udaipur which was made famous by being featured in the 1970's James Bond movie “Octopussy”. The city is a cool (temperature wise) city, situated within a small mountain range. It was nice to get out of the heat for a change! The next morning we were up and on our own, our driver Beer was busy getting the car tuned up for the rest of the trip. We began our day by heading off to the city palace. We spent some time exploring the museum inside, which holds a collection of various items from past Maharajahs. After a few hours of looking we were ready to head back, disappointed that there wasn't more to see. However, on our way back to the hotel, we ran into a festival procession that made our time in India feel the way that we had imagined India to be. Thousands of people had gathered in the main street, around the main temple, and were partying in the street (and it was only 3:30 in the afternoon!). They were celebrating the last day of a ten day celebration for the birthday of the Hindu god Ganesh. It was one of the most wild things we had seen in India. People were singing, dancing, throwing pink and green powder, lighting fireworks, riding camels, and carrying statues of their god down to the river. At the river they dropped statues of Ganesh in, allowing the them to sink to the bottom in the hopes of bringing them good luck for the rest of the year. The festival lasted for several hours, and truly blew our minds! We were worn out after such a big display, and made our way to a rooftop restaurant to enjoy some good Indian food. We spent the evening watching “Octopussy”, and we noticed some of the locations where the film was shot (both in the city Palace where we were this morning, as well as in the streets were the festival took place). With the car tuned up, we were back on the road the next morning, heading for the small, holy city of Pushkar. We arrived after about 6 hours, and relaxed for a bit before heading out to explore the city. We were on our guard as we made our way down to the holy lake, as many men came up to us and offered us flowers and prayers. This may sound like somewhat of a nice gesture, but when your prayers are finished and you get your bill, you won't be so happy. We were thankful that we were warned about this before hand (you know we hate scams!) and had no problem turning them down. From there we met our friend Beer, and went together for a tasty buffet dinner to celebrate his birthday. The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn, getting ready for a gift that Beer had prepared for us (in India people celebrate their birthdays by giving parties and gifts to their friends!). We were greeted outside the hotel by two big camels, and two young camel guides. We jumped on top of the camels, and were off for a sunrise camel safari. We rode for about two hours, stopping to watch the sun rise, and to rest our tired bums (believe us, camel bums are not much fun!) After our camel safari we were back in the car and on our way to the capital of Rajasthan, the pink city of Jaipur. We arrived and made our way to our first destination, the Raj Mandir Cinema, which is the place to see a movie in India. We bought our tickets for the movie “Chak De India “ (Champions of India) as a treat for both ourselves and a birthday treat for Beer. After some yummy samosas and chatoris, we were in and watching the movie. Although the movie was in Hindi, and we didn't understand a word of it, the overall message of the movie was clear and we really enjoyed it. After that we headed to the restaurant Indiana, for a dinner to celebrate Beer's birthday. We ate decent food, but the entertainment really made it a night. Classical Ragasthani music and dances were performed all throughout the dinner, and of course, we were up on the dance floor showing off our Indian moves (as if we even have any!?) The next day was to be our last day in the state of Rajasthan. We made our way into the old pink city, towards the Amber fort. We passed on elephant rides up the walkway (we still had sore bums from the camels!) and walked up to the top. We walked around the old fort, enjoying the view of the pink city below, before deciding it was way to hot and it was time to head back. From here we hit up a few shops (carpet, jewelry and clothing) and decided that the prices in the bazaars were more in our budget. From there we went to the city palace, which turned out to be a huge waste of time and money because you couldn't even get into the palace (the maharajah still lives there, and I guess he doesn't want anyone to come in!). The only good thing was that we ran into our friend Rochelle, who we originally met in China, and we were able to catch up. With Jaipur seen and done, we had completed our Ragasthani route. We would be heading out the next day to a new state, with even greater sights to see!

Into Incredible !ndia

We boarded the bus from Kathmandu to Delhi, India, expecting the 36 hour ride to be slow and tedious. However, we were not prepared for what was in store for us. After about 2 hours, and only 5km later we found ourselves at a standstill on the side of a mountain somewhere in a line of backed up cars and trucks which seemed to go as far as the eye could see in both directions. We figured that this traffic jam would only last a little while, maybe an hour at the most, but it soon became clear that this was only wishful thinking. But after just 12 hours, the line, along with our bus, finally started to move. Apparently an electrical wire had fallen below, and a car drove over it, killing all those inside. The police were notified but no one showed up. This caused some of the locals to start a riot, burning tires and other materials on the road. It was quite unsettling for us and it also made our already long bus ride even more unbearable. We arrived after 48 hours in Delhi, the capital city of India. After finding some accommodation for the evening, we set out to plan our time in India. Not too long after heading out we had booked ourselves in with a driver, hotels, and train tickets for the next month. We were ready to go! Our first official full day was spent seeing the sites of Delhi. We went to the India Gate, the National Museum, Humayun's Tomb and the Sikh Temple. We had a great time, a got to know our driver, Beer Singh, who would be with us for the next 14 days of our journey. The next day it was time to head off and explore the state of Rajasthan. We made a few stops in Old Delhi before hitting the road. These included Jama Masjid (India's largest Mosque), the Red Fort, Raj Ghat (Ghandi's memorial) and Chandni Chowk (a famous bazaar). After these stops (we were tired out already!) we were on the road heading to our first stop, Mandawa. We arrived in Mandawa late in the evening, and settled in to our hotel. Here we ate (what has so far been our favourite meal in India) and then headed to sleep. In the morning we saw most of Mandawa in about 45 minutes (its only a small village!) Then we were back on the road. This time heading for Bikaner. We arrived in Bikaner, in the early afternoon, and quickly dropped our bags at the Sagar Palace, a hotel that looks like an old Maharaja's Palace (cool!!). We made our way towards Junagarh, a most impressive fort, constructed between 1588-1593. We spent our afternoon exploring the fort and all of its secret and interesting aspects. After the fort we drove about 50 km outside of the city to Karni Mata Temple, also known as the rat temple. We took our shoes off (a must-do in temples) and braved our way into the rat temple. Inside there were literally thousands of rats, scattered all over the temple. In every nook and crannie rats were piled in. Jono thought that this was one of the coolest sites to date (a real Indiana Jones moment), however, Amanda was utterly mortified of all of the rats. It was her most disgusting site so far! We were on the road once again early the next morning, heading towards the golden city of Jaisalmer, where all the buildings are made out of yellow sandstone, casting a golden sheen over the entire city (very Aladdin-esque!). We arrived late in the afternoon, and instead of stopping first in Jaisalmer city, we drove 50 km away towards the India-Pakistan border. Here we set ourselves up with a sunset camel safari in the Thar desert. We rode camels for about 3 hours, stopping on the sand dunes to watch as the sun set over the dunes. It was very romantic, and the camels were really cool to ride (although not the most comfortable as we would find out over the next few days)! When we made it back to the base camp, we were greeted with a huge buffet dinner, something any camel rider looks forward to! The next day was spent in Jaisalmer, enjoying the sites of the golden city. We first went to the Jaisalmer fort, the largest fort in all of Ragasthan. The fort was built in 1156, and inside it houses the Maharaja's palace. It also also houses hundreds of havelis (homes for the nobility). We made our way into a few of these and they were breathtaking! We wanted to spend more time wandering around the rest of the town, but it was just too darn hot. The temperature had reached an unbearable 43 degrees, the hottest we have experienced on our entire journey!! The next morning we were up and on the road again. This time our destination was Jodhpur, nicknamed “The Blue City”. Here, all of the old part of the city that is just outside of the Meherangarh, was painted blue. They say that there were a few reasons for this. First, the local maharajah had a fondness for blue. Also, blue is said to be cool and keep the buildings cooler, and also to repel insects (who'd have thought)! We started our day with a tour of Meherangarh (the city fort), which is still run by the current Maharajah. Later, we made our way into the heart of the blue city, to the clock tour and bazaar. Here we shopped for spices, handicrafts and other Indian goods! We ended our day with a sunset, rooftop dinner overlooking the blue city enjoying great meal to end a good day! The next stop on the itinerary was Ranakpur, a small village in the middle of a small range of mountains. Although it was more of a pit-stop on our journey, for us, Ranakpur was a pleasant surprise. This dot on the map was home to one of the most beautiful Jain temples in the world. It was constructed in 1499, and made entirely of milk white marble. There were exactly 1444 pillars within, and no two were alike! Outside we were also greeted by an interesting troop of monkeys who seemed so used to humans that it was like we weren't even there. So we said our goodbyes to Ranakpur and hopped back in our car and the 3 of us continued our journey across the “Sun State” of Rajahsthan.