Its been a long time since my last post here, so apologies - this'll probably be a long one...
The train journey; for 589 ruppees aka 8 pounds I wasn't expecting luxury. I got the top bunk (there are three bunks) which was good, because in the daytime the bottom bunk becomes a free for all bench to sit on and the middle bunk is folded away altogether, whilst the top bunk is left alone. Still the 48 hours dragged by unimaginably slowly. I finished Shantaram in a stupidly quick time, and 20 hours into the journey I had nothing to read, and my iPod had ran out of batteries. It was far too cramped to play my guitar, so I had to make do with doodling my way through my notepad and occasionally dozing off, interspersed with periods where I would reread my India guidebook. Finally, at 3.00pm, 48 hours after I started my train journey, we arrived at New Delhi train station. I decided to stay in the Pahar Ganj area, a big backpacker centre - very noisy and congested, but with masses of cheap accomadation and resteraunts. I tracked down a dorm for 100 ruppees a night in the hope of meeting some other travellers, unfortunately, during my time in Delhi it was just me and one other person (a different one, always Korean though) in the dorm. Still, for under 1 pound 50 a night, I couldn't complain.
Delhi; Delhi itself is not a pleasant city. It lacks the upbeat, fashionable atmosphere that is everywhere in Mumbai, and has none of the charm of smaller cities like Kochi. However, there are odd places within the city that are interesting enough to warrant a visit. On the first day I walked from Pahar Ganj to the Red Fort in Old Delhi, an hours stroll through some of the dirtiest, loudest, most polluted, craziest streets imaginable. Tuk tuks and mopeds would regularly be mere centimetres from running you over whilst swerving to avoid something, whether that be a pothole, a food stall in the middle of the road or a holy cow. However at the same time it was fascinating to see tghe day to day life of normal Indians in Delhi - I was the only white person there it seemed, most others must have been sane enough to take a taxi. When I did get to the fort, I found out that it, along with most other attractions in Old Delhi, were closed due to it being a Monday. My morale temporarily crushed, I took a tuk tuk back to my hostel, and spent the rest of the day relaxing in Pahar Ganj. The next day I walked to the fort again and had a look around. It was certainly interesting, although most of the buildings were closed off so some of the more interesting bits were only viewable from a distance. After the Red Fort I walked to a Jain Temple complex to have a look at its bird hospital - Jains believe that they have a duty to help all life and so have set up this building for birds they find with broken wings etc - very strange, a sort of religious RSPB. I then walked to the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, and climbed its minaret, the views were breathtaking, and it was also nice to be able to sit down and relax in the shady arches with a book for a bit. It was now around lunch time, so I found a street stall selling Jalebis, one of the nicest foods I have tried so far - they are just twirls of batter dipped in sugar syrup and deep fried in big open woks - 2 usually cost all of 10 ruppees! Knackered by the mornings sight seeing, I once again relaxed in the afternoon, this time at a place called Sams Cafe, a rooftop bar that clandestinely serves beer! The next day was spent in New Delhi, which was a lot nicer then Old Delhi. It was built by the British, and so felt a lot like a European city with lawns and wide avenues. I went to the National Museum and spent twice the reccommended amount of time perusing through it. I then walked to Humayuns Tomb (a precursor to the Taj Mahal) via India Memorial Gate.
Agra; The next day I departed early for Agra, and arrived at midday, checking in at Shanti Lodge, a well established guesthouse recommended by LP with a rooftop resteraunt with amazing views of the Taj. I explored Agra (there isn't much) and had dinner on the roof of my hotel, watching the sunset against the Taj Mahal. I went to bed looking forward to my first lie in in days - the Taj Mahal is closed every Friday so I decided to sleep in and the explore more of Agra later on. It wasn't to be. At 4.30am after a virtually sleepless night of beig kept awake by a wedding procession and set upon by mozzies, I was woken up from my dozing by a deafening bang. People were shouting and I opened my door to see everyone running out the hotel. Not one to buck the trend, I joined in. After running a suitable distance, I found 3 people who were speaking English to find out what was going on. It turned out that there was a fire, which had started on the top floor, exploding a gas canister and spreading quickly. The firefighters turned up and an hour later the fire was stopped the floor above mine - very lucky for me as I had left all my stuff in my room. Some people had lost all there stuff, but thankfully no one was badly hurt. I checked into a new hotel at 6.00 am and promptly fell asleep, waking up early afternoon. I then visited Agra fort before making my way back to Agra central where I ate at Joneys Place, which had amazing Malai Kofta (deep fried potato and cheese balls in a curry sauce) and chatted to a German guy for a bit, who had been to Himachal Pradesh (an area in the North I was thinking about going to) and loved it. Later that evening, at another resteraunt (the name escapes me) I was talking to two guys, one a Canadian who had also been to Himachal Pradesh and highly reccomended it. The other guy was a Bristol graduate, and we got chatting about halls etc. He also said he may be in Nepal at a similar time to me, so we may meet up. The next day was Taj Mahal day. I had heard many opinions about the Taj, and people I had talked to were all unanimously convinced that it was amazing. I however wasn't impressed. Sure, it was a very nice building, and was certainly quite beautiful, but it lacked atmosphere, and it was very hard for me to get truly interested in it. It was not a fort, or an old house, or a temple where people years and years ago had come to live there lives - there were no personal touches or clues to marvel at that suggested that hundreds of years ago people had lived here. It was just a cold tomb. Some people have remarked on how beautiful it was, a building dedicated to love, but for me it was dedicated to a very megalomanic, obbsessive love that only a religiously fantical medieval tyrant could have possessed. I left after the sunrise dissapointed, and spent the rest of the day browsing round Agra, doing the nature walk which was fun, as well as visiting the baby Taj. I rounded off the day at a rooftop cafe. The next day I had been intending to leave to Jaipur, but my alarm failed to wake me in time, and so I was stuck in Agra for another day. I met with a guy who had been at the fire and we went to Joneys and had brunch before chilling for the rest of the day, swapping books (there isn't a good bookshop in Agra) and talking about travelling. It turned out he was doing my route in reverse, as such we both had places to reccomend to each other, and I got a ton of useful tips for SE Asia.
Pushkar; The next day I went to the train station at 6.00am to get the train to Jaipur. It was 4 hours late, but the journey itself was fun - I met 8 Indian guys my age, all students who were having a 1 week holiday around Rajasthan. They got me to play through my ever increasing repetoire of songs on my guitar, and after we talked through the journey about all sorts of stuff, they were pretty much like every other student, and we got on well. Once at Jaipur I got a bus to Ajmer, the transport hub that you have to arrive in to get to Pushkar. I got a tuk tuk to Pushkar, and checked in at Lake View. It was quite late so I went straight to bed. The next morning (this morning in fact) I woke up and stepped out of my door. On the massive balcony there was a beautiful view of Lake Puskar, surrounded by temples and hemmed in by huge hills on all sides. Exploring further afield, I found that Pushkar was a really cool place, there are streets lined with markets, temples and monkeys, and lots of other backpackers. I even found a place for breakfast that does Peanut Butter!!! However, it doesn't feel touristy like Varkala or Agradid - Pushkar is first and foremost a religious Pilgrim town (including strict rules on no beer, no meat and no eggs allowed) and so it feels very genuine and Indian. I think I'll like it here.
The train journey; for 589 ruppees aka 8 pounds I wasn't expecting luxury. I got the top bunk (there are three bunks) which was good, because in the daytime the bottom bunk becomes a free for all bench to sit on and the middle bunk is folded away altogether, whilst the top bunk is left alone. Still the 48 hours dragged by unimaginably slowly. I finished Shantaram in a stupidly quick time, and 20 hours into the journey I had nothing to read, and my iPod had ran out of batteries. It was far too cramped to play my guitar, so I had to make do with doodling my way through my notepad and occasionally dozing off, interspersed with periods where I would reread my India guidebook. Finally, at 3.00pm, 48 hours after I started my train journey, we arrived at New Delhi train station. I decided to stay in the Pahar Ganj area, a big backpacker centre - very noisy and congested, but with masses of cheap accomadation and resteraunts. I tracked down a dorm for 100 ruppees a night in the hope of meeting some other travellers, unfortunately, during my time in Delhi it was just me and one other person (a different one, always Korean though) in the dorm. Still, for under 1 pound 50 a night, I couldn't complain.
Delhi; Delhi itself is not a pleasant city. It lacks the upbeat, fashionable atmosphere that is everywhere in Mumbai, and has none of the charm of smaller cities like Kochi. However, there are odd places within the city that are interesting enough to warrant a visit. On the first day I walked from Pahar Ganj to the Red Fort in Old Delhi, an hours stroll through some of the dirtiest, loudest, most polluted, craziest streets imaginable. Tuk tuks and mopeds would regularly be mere centimetres from running you over whilst swerving to avoid something, whether that be a pothole, a food stall in the middle of the road or a holy cow. However at the same time it was fascinating to see tghe day to day life of normal Indians in Delhi - I was the only white person there it seemed, most others must have been sane enough to take a taxi. When I did get to the fort, I found out that it, along with most other attractions in Old Delhi, were closed due to it being a Monday. My morale temporarily crushed, I took a tuk tuk back to my hostel, and spent the rest of the day relaxing in Pahar Ganj. The next day I walked to the fort again and had a look around. It was certainly interesting, although most of the buildings were closed off so some of the more interesting bits were only viewable from a distance. After the Red Fort I walked to a Jain Temple complex to have a look at its bird hospital - Jains believe that they have a duty to help all life and so have set up this building for birds they find with broken wings etc - very strange, a sort of religious RSPB. I then walked to the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, and climbed its minaret, the views were breathtaking, and it was also nice to be able to sit down and relax in the shady arches with a book for a bit. It was now around lunch time, so I found a street stall selling Jalebis, one of the nicest foods I have tried so far - they are just twirls of batter dipped in sugar syrup and deep fried in big open woks - 2 usually cost all of 10 ruppees! Knackered by the mornings sight seeing, I once again relaxed in the afternoon, this time at a place called Sams Cafe, a rooftop bar that clandestinely serves beer! The next day was spent in New Delhi, which was a lot nicer then Old Delhi. It was built by the British, and so felt a lot like a European city with lawns and wide avenues. I went to the National Museum and spent twice the reccommended amount of time perusing through it. I then walked to Humayuns Tomb (a precursor to the Taj Mahal) via India Memorial Gate.
Agra; The next day I departed early for Agra, and arrived at midday, checking in at Shanti Lodge, a well established guesthouse recommended by LP with a rooftop resteraunt with amazing views of the Taj. I explored Agra (there isn't much) and had dinner on the roof of my hotel, watching the sunset against the Taj Mahal. I went to bed looking forward to my first lie in in days - the Taj Mahal is closed every Friday so I decided to sleep in and the explore more of Agra later on. It wasn't to be. At 4.30am after a virtually sleepless night of beig kept awake by a wedding procession and set upon by mozzies, I was woken up from my dozing by a deafening bang. People were shouting and I opened my door to see everyone running out the hotel. Not one to buck the trend, I joined in. After running a suitable distance, I found 3 people who were speaking English to find out what was going on. It turned out that there was a fire, which had started on the top floor, exploding a gas canister and spreading quickly. The firefighters turned up and an hour later the fire was stopped the floor above mine - very lucky for me as I had left all my stuff in my room. Some people had lost all there stuff, but thankfully no one was badly hurt. I checked into a new hotel at 6.00 am and promptly fell asleep, waking up early afternoon. I then visited Agra fort before making my way back to Agra central where I ate at Joneys Place, which had amazing Malai Kofta (deep fried potato and cheese balls in a curry sauce) and chatted to a German guy for a bit, who had been to Himachal Pradesh (an area in the North I was thinking about going to) and loved it. Later that evening, at another resteraunt (the name escapes me) I was talking to two guys, one a Canadian who had also been to Himachal Pradesh and highly reccomended it. The other guy was a Bristol graduate, and we got chatting about halls etc. He also said he may be in Nepal at a similar time to me, so we may meet up. The next day was Taj Mahal day. I had heard many opinions about the Taj, and people I had talked to were all unanimously convinced that it was amazing. I however wasn't impressed. Sure, it was a very nice building, and was certainly quite beautiful, but it lacked atmosphere, and it was very hard for me to get truly interested in it. It was not a fort, or an old house, or a temple where people years and years ago had come to live there lives - there were no personal touches or clues to marvel at that suggested that hundreds of years ago people had lived here. It was just a cold tomb. Some people have remarked on how beautiful it was, a building dedicated to love, but for me it was dedicated to a very megalomanic, obbsessive love that only a religiously fantical medieval tyrant could have possessed. I left after the sunrise dissapointed, and spent the rest of the day browsing round Agra, doing the nature walk which was fun, as well as visiting the baby Taj. I rounded off the day at a rooftop cafe. The next day I had been intending to leave to Jaipur, but my alarm failed to wake me in time, and so I was stuck in Agra for another day. I met with a guy who had been at the fire and we went to Joneys and had brunch before chilling for the rest of the day, swapping books (there isn't a good bookshop in Agra) and talking about travelling. It turned out he was doing my route in reverse, as such we both had places to reccomend to each other, and I got a ton of useful tips for SE Asia.
Pushkar; The next day I went to the train station at 6.00am to get the train to Jaipur. It was 4 hours late, but the journey itself was fun - I met 8 Indian guys my age, all students who were having a 1 week holiday around Rajasthan. They got me to play through my ever increasing repetoire of songs on my guitar, and after we talked through the journey about all sorts of stuff, they were pretty much like every other student, and we got on well. Once at Jaipur I got a bus to Ajmer, the transport hub that you have to arrive in to get to Pushkar. I got a tuk tuk to Pushkar, and checked in at Lake View. It was quite late so I went straight to bed. The next morning (this morning in fact) I woke up and stepped out of my door. On the massive balcony there was a beautiful view of Lake Puskar, surrounded by temples and hemmed in by huge hills on all sides. Exploring further afield, I found that Pushkar was a really cool place, there are streets lined with markets, temples and monkeys, and lots of other backpackers. I even found a place for breakfast that does Peanut Butter!!! However, it doesn't feel touristy like Varkala or Agradid - Pushkar is first and foremost a religious Pilgrim town (including strict rules on no beer, no meat and no eggs allowed) and so it feels very genuine and Indian. I think I'll like it here.
