"In India, anything is possible!"

After an exhilarating experience at the Taj Mahal, we packed our bags, collected our very expensive laundry (which still left my pants with the sticky remnants of the chewing gum I accidentally sat on at the metro station) and ate a speedy lunch at Indian McDonald's. We drove about 45 kms outside of Agra to Fatehpur Sikri and hitched a Tuk-Tuk for 4 up the hill(I drew the short straw and had to hang out of the front seat.) We took off our shoes and covered our heads to enter the giant mosque that was built with the largest gate in the world. Unfortunately even though the mosque and the grounds were majestic, with heat and too many hawkers and supposed 'tour guides' providing an overbearing standard of harassment, we decided to surrender and make our way to the safety of our AC Tata Indigo waiting for us in the parking lot.

And so our long 7 hour journey to Jaipur began. Unable to sleep I used the drive to read ( I managed to finish my book - Shantaram which I would seriously recommend) and admire the greenery along the way. We passed through dozens of hills and mountains that were glowing with life and freshness that could only have been so after a season of rain. We eventually pulled into our sweet little guest house after a bumpy detour through the bustling city. We have been particularly lucky weather wise since leaving Delhi and it was nice to enjoy the sunset sitting on the fanned balcony inclusive of dinner, bugs, beer, geckos, two Spanish ladies and even a peacock.

It was certainly nice to have a bit of a sleep-in until 9am after the previous 3 days waking up just after dawn. Shell and I departed with Bittoo through Jaipur en route to the walled Amber city, which houses 3 major Rhajastanti forts. Unfortunately our other 2 lady loves were feeling ill and not up to the task but nevertheless we ventured off with the attitude of fun for four and not just two.

We drove through Jaipur's 'Pink City' entering through the sturdy Sanganeri gate, passing by hundreds of stalls, shops, houses, factories, the city hall and even the Window Palace which was built by Maharajah Jai Singh and is visitted frequently by Prince Charles (apparently!). Everything in the city is painted a salmon-y pink, hence the name. I was a little disappointed that were unable to walk around and enjoy the bubbly atmosphere, sadly the parking situation is nightmare and Bittoo would have been fined. But we pressed on and soon found ourselves on a winding road curving through the hills toward the Amber Valley. The tiny yet busy town is surrounded entirely by a large red sandstone wall that edges up, down and around the mountains. It is quite reminiscent of the Great Wall of China. The Fort/Palace rests on a hilltop that took almost 30 minutes of zigzagging through the cobblestone streets to find. We paid our entrance fee and began to explore the many secret passageways, tiny corridors, winding staircases and vast rooftops amidst giant pillars and marbled, bejeweled and mirrored walls of the former royal residence. It was such fun climbing through holes, running in circles and getting hopelessly lost in the fiendish maze-like design overlooking the whole of Amber from the guards watchtower. It was absolutely picturesque watching the town unfold below us and the green mountains stretching for miles around us. It took us a good half hour just to work our way through the maze to the exit where we found a couple of snake charmers. When Shell was eventually convinced to go and sit and take a picture, one of the cobras lowered itself and slithered and hissed in her direction and was quickly put back in it's basket by it's master. It was quite nerve wracking to say the least and it took a lot more convincing from the crowd and the charmer himself for me to go in. He sat me down, plonked his turban on my head and gave me a recorder-like-flute to play. He then lifted the lids of the two baskets while I attempted to play 'Mary had a little lamb.' Luckily the snakes rose up and did a bit of a dance but I was there as soon as possible. I wouldn't recommend sitting in front of a risen, hooded cobra although I guess in the end, it was an experience and I am glad I did it.

We drove out of the fort and down the hill once again and Bittoo took us to an elephant home. The elephants were feeding on large banana leaves rolled up and shredded and although they were chained by one leg, they looked as healthy as they could be considering their captivity. It was nice to feed them, pet them, talk to them and hug them. I love how expressive elephants are. One can easily tell if the elephant is content because of it's smile or if it unhappy by it's tears. There is a certain serenity elephants behold, that somehow comes with their giant exterior as well as an intelligence that is unforgivably underestimated. It was a heartwarming experience to be in the company of at least 10 such creatures.

It started to monsoon on the way back towards Jaipur city, which stopped just in time for us to see Jalhamel - the Water Palace. It is built on a lake and was used as a daytime retreat for the royal family in the times of no air conditioning and severe heat and humidity.

The next morning we woke up, packed up and drove 15km our of Jaipur to a place known as 'Galtaji' - the Monkey Temple/ Hundreds of Monkeys roam the grounds of the gorgeous ancient ruins buried in the mountains. There were also a couple of families bathing in the holy pool, the women still wearing their colorful saris , the men wrapped in a cloth that resembled a toga. It was great to watch everyone clearly having such a joyous morning, frolicking in the water. We were half tempted to jump in ourselves, especially in the sweltering heat but the thought of wet clothes in the car for another 5 hours kept our feet firmly on the ground. We hiked for about half an our up a steep incline on a stone pathway which curled up towards another temple  known as the 'sun temple.' From the balcony we could see the whole of Jaipur and beyond which was a happy consolation considering our dehydrated , sweat drenched state after the climb in the blistering midday sun and air-swallowing humidity.

We made it back to the car and began our rocky ride to the small sacred town of Pushkar. The town is a holy place where no drinking, smoking or blasphemous behavior of any kind is permitted. Many of the roads along the way were either flooded or under construction and the detours through the country side were more like being in the front cart of an old, unstable roller-coaster than being enclosed in a safe vehicle. Bittoo did do his best to keep us calm by playing music mixes of Shakira, the BackStreet Boys, Ricky Martin and the Vengaboys which moved us with bumps into a minor dance party in the backseat.

Many rockpiles, ditches, puddles, 5 point turns, buffalos and near encounters with fast moving trucks later, we pulled into our hotel in Pushkar: the Pushkar Heritage. Bittoo has done a great job of finding us clean, well-priced places to stay saving us a lot of time and probably broken backs from lugging our backpacks around from place to place. We ate a quick lunch and then headed into the town. bitoo gave us a tour of a large Sikh temple and explained all the traditions and worship cycles of his religion which was very interesting. We also drank tea in the garden with some sikh gurus who work at the temple.  We walked around the rest of the town doing a bit of shopping en route to the famous lake where pilgrams come to pay respects and families pray for health and happiness by tossing lotus and jasmine flower petals. It was a beautiful place but we were warned about the significant amount of phonies tring to sell us prayers, blessings and faily happiness for an even more significant amount of rupees. We slowly made our way back to the hotel and enjoyed the evening reading and writing postcards.

And so after a relaxing night in Pushkar, back in the car we climbed for our longest drive thus far, 8 hours further South to Udaipur, Rajasthan's so-called 'romantic city.' Unfortunately our lucky streak with mother-nature has come to a grinding halt and the rain has been bucketing down all  night and morning, giving me time to write this update..hopefully it will dry up sometime soon so we can get a chance to see the exquisite lake and city palace - arguably one of the most beautiful settings in the country - but for now we are enjoying camping out in our little 'love-nest' room in a converted 300 year-old palace which along with what appears to be a quaint yet lively city, with  colorful and vibrant people to paint the perfectly 'romantic' atmosphere that Udaipur is famous for.

Well, that's it for now..here is hoping the rain stops and our exploring can continue..

With Love,
Katie xoxo

PS: unfortunately the picture uploader is taking too long so I will post a couple on facebook instead.

...and then there were 4!

After a long week in Dirty Delhi we were definitely ready to get the show on the road. Shell and I took a Tuk- Tuk in the rain to the airport on Sunday night to meet Jess and Kate who were flying in from Malaysia! Of course it was all hugs and excitement to see them and for Shell to meet them both for the first time. We went back to Paharganj and made way to our new hotel (CG international.. - apparently you can make any dodgy place seem legitimate by adding 'International'  to the name!) It was alright especially for the $20 dollar price for the 4 of us. We spent Monday wandering in the famous Lodi Garden, hoping to find a place to relax and read, but unfortunately all the nice spots were taken up by creepy-looking staring men. aaaaaand just to add insult to injury it took us a whopping TWO hours in the blistering heat standing on at least 8 different corners to find a taxi. Buuuuut Sitting atop another rooftop restaurant over looking the bustling centre of Paharganj during the 'Festival of Brothers and Sisters', watching the families dancing, playing and decorating themselves in Henna, I was definitely reassured as to why, already I love India so much. The people are just so full of life and energy, it's irresistable. 

 Tim and I in Paharganj. Tim is spending 6 months travelling around India. I am so glad we were able to cross our paths! It was a great few days x x x

 

Tuesday came around the bend and we caught the Metro to 'Old Delhi' which is home to the RED FORT and JAMA MASJID (the largest Mosque in the world.) The suburb itself is very run down and largely uninteresting and although the Fort was very impressive from the outside, inside we had more fun playing with some little kids than looking at the buildings. We walked along the road to try and find the entrance to the BIIIIG Mosque but were constantly misdirected by rickshaw drivers and touts that we got there too late as it was time for prayer. We decided on heading back to the Metro instead of dealing with all the hawkers and touts outsideonly to find that *SURPRISE* there were some 'technical difficulties' and 4 or 5 packed to the brim trains that left us waiting in the station for a while. It was of course all part of the Indian Experience.

Jess and I decided to spend the late afternoon and what soon became the evening and then almost midnight reading and relaxing at the rooftop garden at Everest, a restaurant with lovely sink-in chairs especially nice to fall into after a 6 story stair climb! We met an Indian Man, living in Australia (who we had seen there the night before) who invited us to drink some Vodka - which was hidden inside a water bottle - with him, his Indian friend from the North and a 52 year old Spanish traveler called Mercedes. I can honestly say I don't remember the last time a complete stranger in such a bizarre context made me laugh that much. He was  just hilarious, intertwining and mixing up the most random stories, we had absolutely no idea what was coming next. We left that restaurant with such a happy smile on our faces!

And then it was time to say goodbye to Delhi, Dirty Delhi...It was a great start to our Indian Adventure and even though, I can probably say I won't go back in a hurry. I really enjoyed becoming acquainted with India, the place that I will call my home for the next 2 months!


And On to Agra we went.. We decided to hire a driver to take us around Rajasthan for 13 days. With 4 of us it actually worked out to be pretty reasonable, especially considering the extra driving to all the different places during the day and the secret tips we get from spending 13 days with a born and bred Indian from Delhi. Our driver's name is Bittoo and he is just brilliant. On the way to Agra he took us to see a couple of temples, ashrams and monuments in small villages along the way. On arrival, after 6 HOURS in the car, Bittoo drove us into the country to a spot along the river where we could see the behind of  the Taj Mahal. Wow, wow and WOW! It really is just Magnificient and generated a lot of excitement for the following day that we were to spend exploring the whole complex. We ventured back into Agra city and used the rest of the afternoon walking around, enjoying the town and reading and chatting over coffee in 'Cafe Coffee Day' , a chain of coffee shops.

We left a 5,7,5 Heiku in the Visitors book:
 "Caffe Coffee Day.
A Nice Retreat from the Heat.
thank you for the stay."

We woke up at 6am to see the sunrise over the TAJ MAHAL. Yes the TAJ MAHAL. It was so surreal to be thinking that we would finally be entering the grounds of the Beautiful monument of love. And it really was one of the most stunning, breathtaking places I have ever seen in my life. So Beautiful that it actually gave me goosebumps. Pictures can truly not do justice to this palace of perfection. It is built entirely with Marble and just gleams in the sunlight. Wow I loved every second of being there, marveling at what I truly think to be the most exquisite work of architecture in the world.

Agra was a fun city, our hotel was lovely and we enjoyed eating some good Tandoori. One thing I especially noticed about Agra, moreso than Delhi was the COWS. There are SO many cows, EVERYWHERE. Cows are so sacred in India that killing a cow, intentionally, will earn you a 500 Thousand Rupee fine and 3 years Jail time. With this protection, the cows rule the place and cars swerve in all directions to avoid them, even in the MIDDLE of a 5 lane freeway. The people are many things in India, but Cruelty to Animals is definitely not in their nature. It is quite refreshing to see, well thus far anyway.

And now, we are in Jaipur and heading to Pushkar tomorrow. I have run out of time to extend this post long enough to write about our time here and in Amber but as soon as I can, I will tell all the details.

Loving India, Loving every minute of it. Loving traveling with 3 such special ladies. Loving the food. Loving the wild and heart-thumping traffic. Loving it all.
 
With Love from Jaipur,
Katie
xoxox   



PS: There are some pictures up on Shell's Facebook Wall.

Welcome to Incredible India.

Sitting, in the sweaty, congested heat in my $8 (for two) hotel in the middle of one of the grimiest, dirtiest, grubbiest parts of India and probably the world - Paharganj, New Delhi...it seems suitable that I should not have the most exciting things to say about my first few days in India. Instead I am finding it difficult to string together the right words to describe how utterly fantastic it is to be in the centre of all the chaos. 

On arrival into Delhi international airport and taking the advice of a very helpful 'air host, steward...' we stepped off our 2 hour late plane into sweltering heat to prepay for a taxi into Paharganj, where we planned on looking for a hotel, backpackers, guest house..anything that really fit the bill. We eventually arrived at the Main bazaar by taking a detour up the wrong side of the road directly into oncoming traffic. Whilst Shelly and I braced ourselves and begged for our lives, the driver laughed hysterically. We were soon to discover that road rules are non-existent in India, there is simply chaos and every man, bus, car, tuk-tuk, bicycle, cow, truck. dog and rickshaw for themselves. We piled out of the taxi and with our backpacks on our back(and front) set out on foot in search of a place to stay. This turned out to be very interesting as every second person trying to "Practice their English" tried to direct us in to their hotels. The rain also started and this was mostly unpleasant because of all the construction going on in preparation for the Common Wealth games coming to Delhi in October. Inadvertently this means that the roads are just a big sludgy mess of mud and grime., rocks, sand, bricks and more chaos. 

We stumbled luckily upon the hotel that Jonathan had already booked into and on our first step into the air-conditioned bliss, we decided on the place for the night. It was expensive ($40 for the 2 of us!) but after a long few days we couldn't resist the perfectly clean bed and a good dependable shower. We would continue the search for more budgetable accomodation in the morning after a long nights sleep. Jonathan arrived soon after us and we set out on foot to explore the area. We took a tuk-tuk to the famous Connaught Place looking for some food and a good walk. We found a sweet restaurant called "Piccadelhi" and ate our first Paneer Masalas, absolutely delicious.  We spent the rest of the evening walking back to Paharganj and going in and out of hotels to check the rooms and prices. We eventually settled on $8 for a double room at 'HOTEL SILVER SHINE.' The staff were friendly and the room was ok, nothing that our own sheet and pillow case couldn't fix.

After a lovely nights sleep, we woke up for breakfast and spent the morning relaxing and getting our lives in order - ie throwing out anything we deemed unnecessary from our backpacks.  We spent the afternoon walking around the rest of the area. We tried to take a tuk-tuk to the 'Government Tourist office' to get maps and ideas of trains and itinerary. We were taken to a small room, compartmentalized into 3, given a poster that said 'Incredible India' and almost conned into booking unnecessary trains and taxis. We realized that they were not the official government office only when they could not give us a business card or address. We walked another 20 metres down the street and low and behold, the biggest most official building with the biggest most official sign saying "Government of India, Tourist information centre. 88 JanPath Avenue." At least we found it in the end, no harm done. We found a gorgeous restaurant on the Outer Circle of Connaught Place and had curry, naan and some 'Happy Hour' Mojitos. We wandered through the shops, in and out of broken down structures, avoided hotel and tourism touts and finally checked into our new hotel. After a shower, getting our beds ready and washing some clothes we thought we would be pretty exhausted. By 2am, however, we were still awake tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep. We finally dozed off sometime after that only to be woken up at 5am by construction workers loading up 3 trucks directly below our room. deciding to make the most of our early rise we hauled ourselves out of bed and up to the rooftop garden where we thought we would watch the sunrise. No such luck, as we panted up 8 flights of stairs, we heard the rain. It was only drizzling, but sadly no chance of a sunrise worth watching. We spent the day driving in Tuk-Tuks with different drivers going from one side of the city to the next in search of a supermarket. It was such a beautiful way to see the city. We drove past antique and marble markets, the India gate, the Common Wealth Games Stadium, the Sikh Temple and a couple of shopping centres. We eventually made it back to Paharganj alive in need of a good dinner and an even better cocktail. After a few double tequila shots, delicious Indian Kebabs, a very friendly waitor and the arrival of three lovely Danish Girls, the night just got better at the beautiful rooftop restaurant on a perfect cloudless night. We stumbled back through the deserted streets dodging a large herd of cows along the way. We woke up early once again and met the girls for breakfast on another rooftop restaurant (it seems these places are the fashion in Paharganj!), we walked all around New Delhi for most of the day, took refuge in a Mcdonalds waiting for the monsoon to pass, walked back through a couple of markets, sat on a stool in the middle of a crowded street and got a henna tattoo, organised an Indian Sim card and figured out the New Delhi Train Station. We ended off the night sitting on ANOTHER (yes you guessed it!) rooftop Garden, with a Big Bottle of Water and some relaxed conversation.

The thing that has already made me fall in love with India is that even in all the crowds, poverty, dirt and chaos the people you see and interact with on the streets are still lively and full of color, still happy to be alive and still fighting for another day and another chance, putting their utmost into what they do and trying to make the absolute best of their situations. Yes, the poverty we have seen just being here for four days has been excruciating and every time you look around you, you wish you could do more.  But beyond that, beyond the dirt and the sludge and the mosquitoes and the frenzy about drinking unsanitary water, is a beautiful culture full of loud and wonderful expression, love and humor. Each person you meet has a smile on their face that lights up even more if you offer them a smile back. 

Kate and Jessie arrive from Korea tomorrow night! and then our adventuring and exploring reeaaaaaaaaally begins! We are planning on heading to Agra on Wednesday morning and then winging it once again from the Taj. :)

So that is India, for now..and I love it.

Lots of love to everyone reading xoxoxox