Taj from gate
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Sunrise in Agra
Sunrise in Agra
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
I arrived in Agra just as the sky was brightening. I was there to get morning photos of the Taj Mahal, but the morning was so foggy with haze and mist that I couldn't see more than a hundred feet away for another hour or so. I left my luggage at the train station (only 10 Rs per piece per day) and took a rickshaw in the freezing cold to see the Taj Mahal.
At the Taj, Indians pay 20 Rs to enter. Foreigners pay a whopping 750 Rs! But for the 750 Rs (about $15) you also get free bootcovers (like in surgery) and a half a Liter bottle of water, so I guess that makes up for it. On the bright side, the cleanest bathroom in India is inside the Taj complex.
Upper bunk on overnight train to Agra
Upper bunk on overnight train to Agra
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
India has the largest rail network in the world (and happens to be the largest employer in the world with over a million employees). Oddly enough, the trains are not in the best condition. I slept in the 2nd class sleeper bunk which didn't come with bedding unlike in Vietnam or China. Theft is such a problem that you are encouraged to chain your belongings to bars or cables and there are armed guards that patrol the cars through the night (with huge automatic rifles). No one tells you when your stop has arrived, so you have to guess. In both Vietnam and China, someone came to wake you up before your stop.
Interestingly, it was on the train that I realized (having some GI distress after that bad meal) that I actually preferred a squatter toilet over a sit toilet because you don't have to strain your quad muscles hovering. I think I came to this conclusion unconsciously at the Yak Hotel in Lhasa when the Tibetans were crapping all over the toilets.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Grilling food
Grilling food
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Large flat iron skillets used ubiquitously for cooking. I ate at this place before getting on my train to Agra. What a mistake. The food was terrible and I had diarrhea for the next few days.
Delhi and a change in plans
I'm in Delhi now. I arrived on the train yesterday evening from Agra, and found a crappy hotel in the Paharganj area near the New Delhi Train Station. It is a big backpacker ghetto in Paharganj and we spent a good thirty minutes circling around in a cycle rickshaw looking for a hotel that the rickshaw driver said he knew. As it turns out he had no clue and wanted MORE money afterwards because he spend such a long time looking for it. Yeah, right. The hotel (Hotel Shivram International) was a craphole, not at all like the photos on the webpage nor as advertised (all rooms contain the following amenities...etc), so I checked out and checked into the Hotel Silver Shine which is much much nicer. I am getting to completely doubt the recommendations of the old edition of the Lonely Planet (2003 ed.) as the new edition (2005) has changed completely, which is a bit telling about how quickly the tourist business turns over from one management to the next here in India. I suspect once a place gets a good recommendation, the business sells out to the highest paying bid and from there the quality drops completely. The touts here are as aggressive as they were in Indonesia, and unfriendly as in Vietnam. I do miss Nepal.
I am looking for a flight back to Taiwan. My grandfather has passed away, and I will be attending the funeral. I expect to return to India from Taiwan.
I am looking for a flight back to Taiwan. My grandfather has passed away, and I will be attending the funeral. I expect to return to India from Taiwan.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Night streets
Night streets
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Vegetable vendors on the ground, man warming himself by a fire, a cow in the middle of the street. This is night life in Varanasi.
Dinner at Dolphin restaurant
Dinner at Dolphin restaurant
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Finally some great Indian food. I found a relatively expensive restaurant on the top of a hotel. It cost about $10 for two of us -- not bad!
Roaster of stuff
Roaster of stuff
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
I picked out some peanuts, crushed corn, corn flakes, noodles, and rice and he roasted them in sand and salt and sifted it out. Five Rs a bag!
Women performing puja
Women performing puja
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
In contrast to the men, the women don't strip down and keep their beautiful sari dresses on and scrub underneath.
Manikarnika ghat
Manikarnika ghat
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
The main cremation ghat in Varanasi. There are two cremation ghats, one with a modern oven for cremations, and the other is this one with open funeral pyres like at Pashupatinath.
Like at Pashupatinath, cremation and disposing of ashes in the Ganges is a quick trip to Nirvana -- no more reincarnation. Burning is a process of purification. Pure people aren't burned, they're weighed down with bricks and sunk -- and they later float downstream or wash ashore on the eastern banks. Pure people include holy men (sadhus), children, pregnant women (because of the pure fetus), unmarried people (supposedly because they are virginal), and snakebite deaths (because Vishnu appeared as a cobra before). No women are allowed at the cremations which can last three to four hours, because crying can keep the soul from ascending, and to keep them from perform sati, that is, the ritual of jumping on the funeral pyre.
Loads of wood is used for a funeral -- about 200 kgs. Wood costs 5-10 Rs/kg but sandalwood costs about 150 Rs/kg. A very interesting funeral rite.
With these ashes and floaters, people still bath and wash their clothes, and sip the holy water of the Ganges. Awwwwwesome.
Morning boat ride
Morning boat ride
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
I took an early morning boat ride on the Ganges so I could gawk at the morning bathing ritual (puja) that the Hindi perform. It was only 50 Rs/hour, but, as expected, the tout tried to change this half way through the ride.
Kimchi ramen
Kimchi ramen
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
There are loads of Koreans in Varanasi. Why? I don't know. As with the Swedes in Thailand, the Koreans are in Varanasi. Restaurants have loads of Korean food on their menus. As it turns out, most of the food in the tourist quarter is pretty mediocre and the menus are the same. I did opt for some kimchi ramen as everyone else seemed to be ordering it.
Puja Ganga ceremony
Puja Ganga ceremony
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
A nightly event of offering to Mother Ganga, the river.
Cows free to stand in the middle of the street
Cows free to stand in the middle of the street
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
This is a Hindi country, and cows are everywhere. Cow crap is everywhere too. No one bothers the cows.
Dasaswamedh ghat
Dasaswamedh ghat
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
This is the main ghat in Varanasi. There are about 365 ghats, or so I was told, in Varanasi, many built by wealthy Maharajas in front of their palatial estates. Those estates are now subdivided and rented out or in disrepair, giving Varanasi a decaying elegance like that of Venice -- just don't mind the floating bodies in the water.
Tourist area in old city
Tourist area in old city
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Varanasi is a holy city in India for Hindis as it is on the Ganges and the site for pilgrimages and cremations, like Pashupatinath in Kathmandu -- but on a much larger scale.
The touts are aggressive and the rickshaw drivers are out to rip you off. I had my guard up here.
Sleeping on the train
Sleeping on the train
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We caught the morning train (0500) to Varanasi. It was pretty cold, and we had unreserved tickets. I couldn't find the unreserved chair car, so I found a spot in the 2nd class sleeper car. Of course, we hadn't paid for these bunks, and we were chased out of the compartment by the ticket agent. Eventually, we were charged extra for sitting there.
Men wrapped themselves in thin blankets to keep the cold out. Even tourists, did the same. The train didn't get to Varanasi until 1100.
Leaving Nepal
Leaving Nepal
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
After a five-hour ride, we reached the border, exchanged Nepalese rupees for Indian ones, and caught a bus to Gorkhapur. We were headed to Varanasi, but we would have to stay overnight in Gorkhapur, a couple hours away.
Morning mist in trees
Morning mist in trees
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Our last morning in Sauraha, we split from Simon and Annabel, who were heading back to Kathmandu, to catch a flight to Mumbai. We were headed to Sunauli, the border with India.
Armor-plated
Armor-plated
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
These rhinos were pretty amazing, and we got great views of them walking away.
Finally, a rhino
Finally, a rhino
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We crashed through a lot of brush, Simon and I making jokes to each other since we were facing the rear and missing most of the action, when we happened upon a couple rhinos resting. The elephants all encircled these beasts, and they slowly got up and backed out of the clearing. It was a very slow process, interesting that the didn't take much alarm at being encircled by elephants, which weren't natural enemies to them.
Elephant parking lot
Elephant parking lot
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We had sort of struck out with our all-day 4wd safari, so we slept in the next morning, opting not to go on a canoe ride and jungle walk in the cold misty morning. In the afternoon, we signed on for an elephant safari. I thought they meant we could hunt elephants, but they meant riding elephants around for a couple hours. I wasn't expecting much after the jeep safari, especially since there were five elephants loaded with tourists crashing through the brush of the park buffer zone.
Picnic spot next to the river
Picnic spot next to the river
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Picnic on the sarong. We hadn't seen much this morning: wild boar, deer, monkeys, parakeets, crocodiles, storks, cormorants, but no rhinos! After lunch I got a post-prandial snooze in the bumpy jeep ride.
Elephant grass
Elephant grass
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We were in a watchtower looking for rhinos. It's pretty improbable to see a tiger, but there are supposed to be many rhinos. There used to be 500 rhinos, but there are now about 300 due to illegal poaching. It seems, this is yet another toll of the Maoist uprising. Many of the troops protecting the park against poachers were reassigned to other areas in Nepal to quell the uprising. There were still quite a few checkpoints, but there were many abandoned ones too.
River crossing
River crossing
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Here's where we learned that our "4wd" was a 2wd; the driver didn't want to proceed across the river. We made it after Mayaram's lengthy discussion with the driver.
Our supposed 4wd
Our supposed 4wd
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We sat in the back of this 4wd and our guide, Mayaram from Kingfisher Tours, stood on the back bumper all day.
Bear hole
Bear hole
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
This was a large hole dug out by a bear, looking to feed on termites. There were large termite mounds everywhere. I don't know why the bear doesn't just knock down one of these things. You can see the claw marks in the dirt. Or are those shovel marks? Who knows if what these guides tell tourists is true?
Crossing river to Chitwan National Park
Crossing river to Chitwan National Park
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
We opted for an all-day 4wd jeep safari into the park for a whopping 6000 Rs (not including 500 Rs/person national park entrance fee). This was a sunrise to sunset expedition through the jungle to find rhinos and tigers (oh my!) It came out to about 1900 Rs a person, which is about $28. Not bad for a safari.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Mountain over rapeseed fields
Mountain over rapeseed fields
Originally uploaded by bastchild.
Manaslu (8162-m) was readily visable even though it was about 60 miles away.
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