My last day in Varanasi was a bit of a challenge.  Sierra and I went out to a little town about 10 kms from Varanasi which is full of buddhist temples (I forget the name of it right now).  Anyways, it was really nice to get out of the city and get away from all of the people asking us if we wanted boat rides or to buy things.  The sites weren’t all that impressive, but we saw the ruins of a temple where Buddha supposedly gave his first sermon after becoming enlightened.

Then in the afternoon, we had lunch at the great German Bakery place and I got henna done on my hands.  It turned out pretty cool, but it took more than two hours for her to put it on and then dry, so I was a bit late leaving for the train station.  So I decided to get a cycle rickshaw driver to take me to the hotel to get my stuff.  I figured that would be faster, but I was definetly wrong!  The cycle guy ended up going in the completely wrong direction, and I didn’t figure it out until we were almost 5 miles away from my hotel!  My train was leaving in about an hour and a half, so I started freaking out a bit, since the whole city was a traffic jam at that time of day.  I had to get an auto rickshaw, then another cycle rickshaw just to get me to my hotel.  (Sunset must be the peck time for cremating people, because there were 3 shrouded bodies laying on the ground literally right in front of the hotel entrance, which I had to manouver around to get my stuff and then get back to the road.  Crazy!)

Anyways, I got a really nice rickshaw driver to take me to the train station and I got there with about 15 minutes to spare before the train even pulled up.  The 12 hour journey was very chilled.  My train car was filled with middle aged Korean tourists, so I felt very safe.  (What a coincedence I would be put in the carriage with all the Korean ajumas!)

Everyone warned me that Delhi was crazy, and I’m kinda in chill out mood, so I decided to forget about running around town visiting sights that I wasn’t really interested.  I just got a hotel room in Panharganj area (Hotel Scot which is quite nice!) and have just been shopping like crazy in the main bazaar here.  It really reminds me of Khao San Rd in Bangkok, so I feel like I’m in a familiar place again.  And everything is so cheap here!  I even had to buy a new backpack just to get all my purchases back to the UAE!  I’m leaving for the airport in about 6 hours (at 2:30am!!).  So I probably won’t be writing anymore until my next journey.

The train ride to Varanasi went surprisingly well.  (So many people warned me about the trains, I was a bit freaked out.)  The train was about an hour late, but it was much more comfortable than I had thought it would be.  There were triple decker bunk beds in the carriage (I had a middle one) so there wasn’t really any room to sit up or move around, but I fell asleep almost as soon as I got on. 

In the morning, I meet the American girl, Sierra, who had the bunk above me.  And we have been hanging out together in Varanasi.  Its really great to hang out with her because Varanasi would be pretty intimidating by yourself!  The city is made up of tiny winding alleys where we are constantly getting lost.  Plus the aisles are filled with people, cows, goats, dogs, and lots of manure! 

We ended up staying in the Ganga Top Guest House.  It is right next to the Ganges River, but it is also about 50 feet away from the Crematorium!  (We didn’t realize that when we checked in!)  So as we are drinking our morning chai at the rooftop restraunt, we have a lovely view of shrouded bodies being carried into the crematorium!  (If Sierra wasn’t here with me, I think I would have checked myself into a luxuy hotel asap, and spent the next 3 days at the pool!) 

Anyways, the first day we wandered around this strange but very beautiful and surreal city.  We sat near the burning ghat for a while and watched them burn the bodies on the pyiars.  (It sounds really morbid, but Varanasi is supposed to be the most holy place to die, and being cremated on the bank of the Ganges is very Indians wish.)  Then later in the evening we got really lost so we only caught the last 5 minutes of the nightly ceremony (we’ll have to go back tonight) with all of the Baba’s singing and chanting at the main Ghat.  Then we went to watch some traditional Indian music at a little cafe.

Our second morning, we woke up at 5:30am and went on a early morning boat ride down the Ganges.  It was really amazing to see everyone bathing, swimming, and washing their clothes in the same river where they put all of the bodies.  We had  great breakfast at the Brown Bread Bakery and then decided to chill for a bit.  Later this afternoon, we are going to do a yoga class, and then try to watch the nightly ceremony.

Varanasi is probably the craziest place I’ve ever been.  I wish I knew more about Hinduism so I understood alittle bit about what is happening around me!

I arrived in Agra after a pretty uneventful 6 hour bus ride from Jaipur.  The bus was actually a lot more comfortable than I would have imagined (of course a little AC would have helped a bit)!  I immediatly went to the area right by the Taj Mahal, since that’s where all of the backpacker guesthouses seem to be.  The streets seemed a lot more dirty and chaotic than in Jaipur, but maybe that’s because they’re more like little winding alleys here so all of the cows, tuk tuks, street dogs, and people are crammed into 1 lane.

I stayed at Shanti Lodge, which was pretty good.  The best part of it is definetly it’s view of the Taj Mahal from the rooftop restraunt.  Instead of paying $15 to see it, I could just go up 1 flight of stairs and look at the Taj as many times as I wanted.  The first day I arrived in the afternoon, so I didn’t do much. 

My second day in Agra I woke up at 5:30am to be one of the first to visit the Taj for the day.  It is such an amazing sight!  It is even more magical and amazing in person.  I don’t really know what to write about it.  You’ll just have to see it for yourself.  After the Taj and a really horrible breakfast at my hotel (the view is so amazing people don’t really seem to care that the food is so terrible), I hired an auto rickshaw driver for the day.  We went to the Agra Fort, Baby Taj, some Chinese Mausoleum, and a park by the river that backs up to the Taj.  Of course after taking me to all of the places I wanted to go, the driver decided to force me to go to shops and factories so he could gets gas coupons from the owners.  It was kind of a pain, but I guess its to be expected.  I was so exhausted after the long day that I laid down to take a little nap at 6:00pm.  I didn’t wake up until 3:30am!  The sun and the early morning must have been too much for me!

On my third day in Agra I decided to go to Fatehpur Sikri, which is a town about 40 kms from Agra.  I was still kind of annoyed by my rickshaw driver from yesterday, and I had a whole day so I decided to take the bus there instead of being driven in a private car.  The bus was a bit of an adventure in itself, but I think that experience local transport is a big part of seeing the country in a real non-touristy way.  I finally made it to Fatehpur Sikri by about 11:30am, so it was boiling hot!  Fatehpur Sikri is a World Heritage site that is an old palace complex and massive mosque build in the 1500’s.  It was built for King Akbar, but he only lived there for 16 years because there isn’t much water.  So then he moved the whole city and his palace to Agra. 

The mosque was really beautiful and amazing, but since it is free to get in it was full of people try to sell you things and be your tour guide.  It got pretty annoying after awhile.  Then I went to the palace portion and it was so peacful in comparison!  (I would much rather have to pay a few dollars entrance fee than have to deal with people in your face constantly!)  I hired a guide for $1 to show me around the massive palace complex.  He had some interesting information, but his English wasn’t that great so I only understood about 1/2 of what he said. 

After that I had another great meal, and then took the bus back to Agra.  (The only places that I’ve had bad food has been right around the Taj Mahal.  I guess if its too touristy an area the food is gonna be watered down and nasty.)  Now I’m just waiting to get on my overnight train bond for Varanasi.  The train was really full, so I’m going to be in third class.  We’ll have to see how that goes.  (There’s only 2nd, 3rd and 4th class.  And everyone keeps telling me third is the same as second, you just have a little less space.)

I’ve only been in India for 48 hours, but it feels like I could fill a book with all of the things that have happened so far.  I am really loving India! Most of my friends warned me that it was crazy, overwhelming, and a bit scary but so far I haven’t had any problems.  Besides I love craziness and how alive and vibrant third world countries feel.  There is always so much happening on the street, I could amuse myself all day just wandering around.

Anyways, I am staying at a great little guesthouse called Explores Nest.A married couple run it. It only has 4 rooms, so it feels more like you are staying with some long lost cousins, than actually staying at a hotel.  The couple are so friendly too!

My first day in Jaipur I wandered around and got lost on my way to the Old City (even though its only a 10 minute walk it some how took me an hour).  I eventually made it through all the windy alleys to the City Palace (with a detour in the bizarre, I’ve somehow become a shopacholic since arriving in India, I think its because everything is so cheap!).  After the City Palace, I decided to give myself a break so I hired a cycle rickshaw driver to take me around.  We went to the Water Palace, some other temple, the Temple of the Winds (the most famous sight in Jaipur), to a museum, a Hindi Temple, and then back to my hotel. The driver had offered to take me for only 40 cents an hour, buthe worked so hard and carted me around for at least 5 hours, so I paid him $10.  He was so happy!

The next day, I had to stop by the train station first thing in the morning, since I need to book the tickets in advance for my overnight train journeys later on in the week.  The lady was not very helpful, so I only got waitlisted for the trains, but I’m hoping I’ll make it on both of them.  (You can check your status online, so at least I won’t have to stand at the train station waiting.)

Then I got an auto rickshaw (trishaw) to take me to the Amber Fort.  We stopped at the Maharajas’ tombs too, which were really beautiful and were in a surprising peaceful setting.  The Amber Fort is incredible! It was a huge palace where the king and all of his wives lived.  I hired a guide (for $3) and learned a ton of interesting facts about the fort.  Then I went to a Bollywood movie at the most famous movie theater in India, but the movie was really boring.  It was an action movie, half in English half in Hindi and there wasn’t any dancing or singing.  So I left after about 40 mins.  (The ticket was only a dollar, so I didn’t feel bad about it.)

Then I went and spoiled myself with a head, neck, and shoulders massage and a haircut.  I wasn’t expecting the lady to cover my hair in olive oil, which seems to be a key part of the massage, but it was still really nice and relaxing.  (btw- My hair is still super oily, even though she washed it after the massage.)  After spoiling myself I had to do a bit of shopping.

Then I went to dinner.  (I have been eating like crazy since I’ve been here, but the food is so good I just can’t say no.)  This dinner was the best of the trip though-so far.  It was a thali place with only 1 thing on the menu.  Basically you sit down and are give a huge tray and about 10 little bowls.  Men walk around with all kinds of curries, breads, veggies, rices, and desserts and fill up your little bowls.  It is free refills, and it seems like their goal is to get you to eat as much as possible.  So as soon as I took a bite a man would come and put two more things on my plate.  (Funny story- when I first walked in I heard all of this singing and drumming happening in the next room over.  I figured it was a private party with entertainers in the next dining room, so I asked the waiter if I could sit in there.  He said “sure”, so I walked in.  It turned out it was the kitchen and about 20 cooks were sitting around singing and playing instruments as a kind of warm up for the night.  They ended up giving me a tour of the kitchen, showed me how to cook everything, and took pictures with me.)

I’m leaving for Agra tomorrow.  And I hope its as much fun as Jaipur!