The Final, Much Delayed Entry!

Wow, this is SO incredibly late! Suffice to say that things went HELLA crazy on those last few days in India.

One thing I've learned from the trip is NO ONE escapes the dreaded the Delhi Belly before they leave, and just a few hours after I posted my last entry on this blog, I discovered I wasn't an exception.

I blame the condiments at McDs. I guess in some effort to save on costs, they ask that you don't throw away your extra ketchup packages when you finish, but return them to be reused instead. Fair enough. My grandparents used to do the same thing at their restaurant; the difference being that they CLEANED the packs before handing them out again. In India ( or at least agra) I don't think they do, so that when I opened a pack with my teeth(STUPID!), I think I contracted something.

The result? 4 days of laying in hotel beds and wishing I was dead. High fever and constant diarrhea forced Suji to call the doctor, and then I got the antibiotics my body sorely needed. Unfortunately, I was so sick that I was confined to a Delhi hotel for my last few days and had to cancel the Calcutta lag of the trip.

All is well now, and new health problems aside, I did survive!

It's kind of a shame that it happened, but at the same time I'm glad it occurred at the end of the trip rather than the beginning...it seems like I always get sick at the end of trips lol.

Anyway, I still had a wonderful time throughout my travels in India, and it's definitely on the cards to go back some day soon.

Great place, wonderful people, interesting culture. If there's one regret I have about this trip, it's that 21 Days just wasn't enough

Life blood

Thought for the day

Save water, save yourself. Something like this is found in every hotel bathroom I've been in. I guess to remind us to conserve water.

Reality. You have to run water for 10mins< to have a 5 min shower with hot water.

Anyone else see the contradiction?

Agra-vating

Today was our Agra tour, and not wanting to be tired or cranky by the time we went, we opted to visit the Taj Mahal first.

Another short, impolite pat down later we were there; walking down that same photo opt lane that everyone sees in their pictures.

Our guide gave us some info on the site itself, but like always= info in -> info out. I just want my picture dammit!


Damn You Apecture Shooting!

We do our history lesson like good little tourists and walk around, takings pics of the main building, the four towers, and the mosque and guest house on the opposite sides.

The grave itself, belonging to the wife (Mumtaz Shah) of the king who built it, is underground and can't be seen. In the temple, though, they've set up a mock grave that you can walk around and see. No photos though..for some reason.

After seeing it...I wasn't as blown away as I thought I'd be. I'm probably at sightseeing fatigue now, but I didn't get the "wowz" that I was hoping for.

It's still a beautiful place, but doesn't live up to the hype for me.

It was about 1pm now, time flew inside, so we went for a quick curry and then onto our final stop: Agra Fort.

It was another fort. Not a lot to say. There were two interesting things for me, tho.

First, this is where the king was held after he wanted to bankrupt the country building the black Taj Mahal - his own grave. Apparently his son locked hm in the fort after he wouldn't agree to stop building. Not to say the place was a jail, it's still a palace, and the king was placed in a part of the fort where he could still see the monument to his dead wife.

The second thing about the fort are the animals. Like everywhere in India the place has monkeys, but it also has chipmunks. Best of all, the chipmunks are tame and will climb into your hands if you feed them! It tickled!

They don't even poop in your hand!

Upon finishing the fort, we said bye to our guide and his plethora of facts, and then came back to the hotel for a rest. As this trip gets longer I'm finding naps are essential.

Being Valentines Day, Suji and I decided to go see a Bollywood movie, something she's wanted to do together for a while now. We chose a romcom based off the movie "What Happens in Vegas", and even tho it was in Hindi I really liked it.

The plot wasn't that hard to figure out, and Suji was there to translate. We also bought the best seats in the theater , recliners, so the whole thing was great. Definitely my favorite part of the day. Sorry taj :(.

Tomorrow is our last day as we head back to Delhi. Thursday, Suji flies out and I go to Kolkata for my last two days.

Hard to believe my 21 days is almost up!

City of God/City of Sin

Quick stop in Mathura today before heading onto Agra for the night. Mathura is the supposed birthplace of Krisnha - the Hindu Jesus, and has a very Mecca-Ish feel to it. It's also the capital of the Hare Krisnhas - you know, the guys in the airport who try to sell you flowers?

So, before going to the main temple, we stopped at a few smaller ones for photos. The thing that surprised me about the city was how aggressive the touts are.

We were stopped at a train crossing for about 15 mins, and through that time "guides" kept coming up to our car and pestering us for tours. In every other city I've been to, you say no and they will (eventually) walk away, but here they put their hands in your car so you can't drive away, follow you when you try to get out, and even open your car door!

The 3 experiences we had with them were enough to give me a bad vibe about the city.

Then we reached the temple. This place supposedly has the rock that Krishna was born on, and because it's such a holy place security is very tight: no cameras, phones, or other electronic devices are allowed in, and before you do go in, you're patted down twice.

Whites beware: the second pat down is very personal, especially if you stand out.

After you get in, the first thing you'll notice are all the guards standing around with their assault rifles. Like I said, the place is protected.

Suji went to the main temple and said her prayers, and then deposited a gift of money, which she was told not to give to the priest because they tend to take it for themselves.

Finally, after that, we went down a long tunnel to the chamber that held the stone. It was very intricately carved, but after a minute the priest drew a curtain for prayers. Exit me. Stage right.

When Suji finished her prayers we walked around some more and got some lassi - Krisnhas favorite drink, apparently. Our driver gave us a quick history lesson about Krishna and then we made our way back to the car...followed by more touts of course.

We later found out that these guides spend all their money drinking and are, essentially, beggars.

The whole time we were there, I was surprised; it's really sad that this is how corrupt such a holy place could be become.

Repose in Reshikesh

A light day today.

After the whirlwind of rituals and driving yesterday, I woke up pretty exhausted.

Sadly, more touring.

We met our new guide early in the morning, and the day started out bleak...these guides, why am I paying them again?

We took our car down the hill of the hotel that we were staying on to a small ashram at the bottom. Ashrams, to my understanding, are like boarding schools: you stay there with the yogis and learn meditation and yoga. At most this is taught free of charge, and you get a free room too, while at others you pay a small fee, but nothing too high(1-200 rupees).

So we went to this place to see the altar of some very famous yogi - I don't remember the name. I said before how I feel uncomfortable faking ceremony in religion, and that was apparently very evident here, as I was told I had to meditate and then get the blessing of a priest. Again, I don't believe in this stuff so I hate having to pretend I do.

We did  that, longest 20 mins of my life, then the guide takes Suji to another temple while I wait outside. Lol, this will become a recurring theme for the day.

After the ashram, the day began to improve as we were taken to the heart of the town, and had to cross a suspension bridge. The bridge was very narrow and went across the Ganges- stunning views of the river and Himmialya mountains.

The bridge is supposedly only for foot traffic, but that didn't stop motorbikes and horse arts from using it as well. As a result, it's a bit crowded, but still a great place to be.

From there we arrived on the other river bank and, of course, did more temple hopping.

It was fine, tho, Suji visited them and I relaxed outside. One thing I learned today: cows like coffee. I had a cup in my hand, and one cow was following me all over, trying to take it; at one point even rubbing his head against me to try to steal it.

Of course cows aren't the worst thieves there: monkeys are. Reshikesh is crawling with the buggers, and they steal food every chance they get.

Earlier in the day we saw a baby monkey staking out a fruit cart, just waiting for the vendor to look away. Of course, the moment he did the monkey darted in and got a once grape before he was shooed off.

Don't be fooled by the cuteness - They WILLfuck you up!

Later in the day I had my own encounter as a monkey knocked a bag of chips out of my hand while I was trying to take a picture. I tried to shoo him away, but he wasn't having any of that and bared his teeth at me in a, "let's go, tough guy" kind of way.

Tempting as a monkey fight was, I let it go and walked away.Yeah, I'm being the bigger primate today.

Other than the temples, the only highlight, besides shopping, was a great 30 min boat ride along the river. It was cool to see everything from the water, and to actually be in the water itself. Everything was so quiet and clean, I was surprised.

After the ride we were taken to some more shops, where I got to see Suji do her bargaining thang, entertainment in itself, and then back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.

It wasn't a long day, but I've really enjoyed my time here and it's another of my favorite places, especially with all the city traveling I've done: it's a nice contrast.

Tomorrow is a stopover in Delhi again, and then back on the road again.

Next stop: Agra!

The Modern Brahmin and The Great Ganga

Finally made it to Reshikesh today, a small town about 300km north of Delhi. It's been an interesting day to say the least.

After 5 hours of driving, we made our first stop 20km before Reshikesh, in a bigger town called Hardiwar. Hardiwar is one of the more important religious places in India because the Ganges passes through it.

We got here just before sundown at around 6pm and met our guide for this leg of the race. He was younger than the last one, seemed more comfortable talking in Hindi than English, and so directed most of his attention to Suji and not me.

He offered Suji the chance to do pujah (prayers) with a Brahmin (priest) on the Ganges, and she agreed. We were then taken across a bridge over the river, which is just breath takingly beautiful, and met a guy dressed in hipster clothes who introduced himself as the priest.

He took Suji down to the water, and together they discussed prayer packages: yes, there are different types of prayer/offerings you can buy, apparently. Having settled that, he was off for a bit and left us to soak the atmosphere in.

The place is amazing.

Hindus believe that the "Ganga" Is sacred, and that when you stand or bathe in, you can wash away your sins. At this location in India the water is coming straight from the Himmialyas, and so is much cleaner than other places like Varanasi in the south.

There are Brahmins everywhere, sitting on makeshift tables and each with his own alter to various gods. My understanding is people come to these priest and pay them to say a prayer for themselves, family, and friends. I don't know where the money goes, but I'm pretty sure its not to these guys- they definitely don't look to be rolling in the dough. Also, and this was part of Sujis package, you can pay to feed them as they don't buy their own meals. It's something like 50 rupees for one Brahmins dinner, which is usually some daal and rice.

Anyway, our guy comes back and takes Suji down into the river. There, he starts chanting the prayers and making the offerings, along the way asking for information about family and relationships to pray, accordingly.

Interesting fact: boyfriend/girlfriends are looked down upon in India, and Suji was asked whether I was her friend or fiancé. I went with friend since it seemed closer, but the guy apparently was unsatisfied and reminded her that you can't tell lies in the holy water (lol).

So he finishes with her, and then gets me to come down.

Now, I am fine with other peoples religious views, and don't mind watching ceremonies, but I get uncomfortable when they want me to participate. I'm not Hindu, don't believe in god, and feel like I'm demeaning the rites when I participate - its pure lip service to me, so why should I insult the people's views like that?

I still did it.

Thankfully, I got the cliffnotes prayer (Sujis took 15 mins, mine 5), but still had to stand in the water, which, let me tell you, in February is dead freezing. The guy asked me to keep the river in my mind as he prayed, and as cold as it was, there was no way I WASNT being reminded of where I stood.

So he says the prayers, and then at one hilarious point while in mid prayer, takes a tablet out of his jacket and checks it quickly, puts it back and finishes. The modern Brahmin knows how to multitask!

The ceremony ends with an offering to the river: a banana leaf-like boat carrying a candle, which is pushed out and sails down the river.

Then, while waiting for the goodies bag that accompies the prayers, the best part of the night happens.

Every evening, as the sun goes down, the priest perform the aarti - a fire ritual, where lamps soaked in ghee (curd) are lit on the shores of the Ganges and prayers are sung as they slowly burn out.

It's an experience.

The whole crowd becomes involved, singing the prayers, horns bellowing in the background.The priests offer the fire, swinging it up and down along the water, probably 20+ fires in all. The ghee is also scented, giving off a fairly sweet aroma.

People come down and hold the lamps, singing along, and then receive a blessing from the priest after. It's probably the closest I've come to a full on religious experience.

I absolutely loved it.

Things settled down then, and after some quick stall shopping, we were off to Reshikesh and a much needed rest at our hotel. Tomorrow we get to see more of this beautiful place and the Ganges.

Can't wait!

Distance is Relative

You don't appreciate how good highways are back home until you've been to India.

In Canada, if the sign says 300km to your destination, you know you've got a 3ish hour trip ahead of you. Maybe less, no more.

Here, with narrow roads, lax traffic laws, and people/pedestrians who constantly run across the road, 300km can = 6+ hours of travel. It's seriously like a game of frogger here, and my respect for our driver has doubled after seeing what he has to put up with on the road.

Still, you'll never appreciate how long those last 10km of a trip can be til youve been down an Indian highway.

They say time is relative, but spend some of it here and you may start to disagree...