May 29 – Rajasthan & Varanasi

We’ve spent the past week driving city to city with our driver and basically doing the tourist thing; visiting forts, monuments, temples, etc…

Pushkar

While making the 6 hour drive through the desert, we got trapped in a sand storm and were forced to stop and wait on the side of the road until it passed. We eventually got to Pushkar which is a small town encompassing a holy lake where people bathe and pray at the Ghats. We spent the day fighting off vendors and temporarily adopted the hotel owner’s dog who we named Indie. Lungi literally tried to pack him in our bag.

 

 

 

 

 

Jaipur

Also known as the “Pink City”, Jaipur is filled with amber and pink buildings which glow at sunset. It’s fairly large and very hectic which seems to be the norm everywhere we’ve been in India. We spent one night with a relative of a friend of mine from Montreal. On our second day here I got very sick, I think from eating street food (even though everybody warned me not to). Our driver brought me to a clinic but it was really just a hole in the wall in some slum and I’m pretty sure it was actually a dentist. Nevertheless, they were eager to get some of my cash and insisted on giving me an IV. Lungi was getting pretty upset about this and they were trying to convince her that they were real doctors and that she was overreacting. Fortunately Lungi was there to defend me because at this point I was in so much pain that I would have let them inject me with anything. Lungi let loose on this poor doctor and I’ve never seen her so upset and confrontational with anyone before. She basically insisted that they were not going to touch me with anything…nice to know that my wife has my back! Anyway, Lungi eventually carried me out of the building and demanded that the driver bring us to a private hospital and after half a day in the emergency room, I was released with a bag full of pills.

 

 

 

Agra

A very hot and busy city and home to the Taj Mahal which was built entirely of marble by the Maharaja as a memorial for his deceased wife. It was incredible. After our visit, our driver dropped us off at the train station and we took an overnight train complete with cockroaches and rats to Varanasi.

 

 

 

Varanasi

One of the oldest and holiest cities in the world. The buildings, temples and former palaces are built along the banks of the Ganges River where people prey, bathe, swim and wash clothes alongside cows and dogs. This is quite an incredible place but definitely, without a doubt the dirtiest city I have ever been in my life. The narrow alleyways are filled with people, cows, dogs and monkeys all of whom pretty much shit, piss and spit everywhere. Once you get over the dirtiness, you notice the beautiful culture and the musical and religious atmosphere. The people here are also the friendliest and most humerous that I have met in India so far. We hired a boat to row us up and down the river at 5 am to watch the people praying to the river. We also watched one of the cremation ceremonies that takes place along the Ganges.

 

 

 

 

We’ve been on the road for almost 4 months now and although I’ve snapped several times, Lungi has stayed strong and often keeps me going. I’m very impressed on how well she’s done on this trip but I think India was the last straw for her. By the time we got to Varanasi Lungi lost it and insisted that we go home. Fortunately a small bribe with some jewellery has helped to keep her going a bit longer but we’ll be cutting our time in India short.  

May 22 – India

We arrived in Delhi late and shared a taxi with a guy we met on the plane, Charles, also from Montreal. I have been looking forward to India since we started the trip but I wasn’t sure what to expect. So many people we met have said that Delhi was extremely hectic and overwhelming. We were told that we would be constantly harassed by vendors, beggars, kids, taxi drivers, etc… But it’s not nearly as bad as what we were expecting. Maybe because it’s the low season for tourism or maybe because after Africa everything seems relatively tame. Delhi still is definitely intense; there are cars honking, cows in the streets, monkeys climbing around on electrical wires and rickshaw drivers everywhere. The biggest shock is the heat – it’s usually around 45^oC before humidity and combined with the air pollution, it sometimes makes our eyes burn.

We spent our first day in Delhi planning an itinerary for India, wandering the streets, sampling the delicious food and getting Lungi some traditional clothing so that she feels more comfortable walking around. The tailor insisted that she wear a thin scarf to cover her “lumps”.

 

 

Rather than taking buses and trains, we’ve hired a car and driver for the week to drive us through Rajasthan, a desert area south-west of Delhi. After a 6 hour drive through green desert and some minor car problems, we arrived in a small town called Mandawa (population of about 15,000). The town is filled with Havelis, mansions built 200 to 300 years ago by wealthy families. They are covered inside and out with colourful paintings telling stories of the Maharaja’s, Krishna, Ganesh and the caravans that would pass through as part of the silk route. We are actually staying in a Haveli which has been converted into a beautiful hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we’re continuing our road trip and heading to the religious town of Pushkar.