VARANASI
An early start lay ahead of us, with a 5am wake up call to head down to the River Ganges to see the sunrise.
Aapji told us that there in India, you have four mothers. Mother you were born to, Mother India, Mother Cow (only other animal to have a 9 month gestation and to also supply human babies milk, when their own mother cannot), and Mother Ganges. The River Ganges is life and death. When a baby is born, it has Ganges water sprnkled upon it’s head, when you are to be married your family floats one of your wedding invitations down the river and when you die, it’s holy to be cremated and your ashes washed away in the River. We had previously seen cremations in the Bagmati River in Kathmandu so we knew it was a solemn, but important affair. There are exceptions to this rule of cremations; pregnant women, children under 5 and Priests are given a water burial.
We travelled across the city and arrived at the River Ganges and the famous and well photographed ghats (steps) leading down to the river. Aapji had arranged for a boat to be ready and waiting for us, in which we all climbed into. We were rowed downstream to see the different goings on that occur on the river at sunrise; from people bathing, washing their teeth, doing their laundry and praying to the rising sun. Our first view of death was a dead cow floating by. This probably got the little bit of shock out of the way, because the next thing we saw floating was a corpse, face down in the river. In this context it wasn’t nearly as shocking as it might be if we’d seen the same sight in a river in Australia. India is all about being in your face and not for the faint hearted. I think the Nufftards were a little upset about it as she had a more-sour- than-usual look on her face. The sunrise we witnessed was one of the most amazing I have ever seen, and I’ve seen a few (chasing them with a camera usually). The haze across the Indian sky gave the sun a beautiful red glow and the light danced across the Ganges river, giving an impression of silk. Before we left to get on the boat, I bought a little floating basket of flowers and a candle, of which you set alight and float down the River with your wishes, hopes and prayers. It was time to light mine, and I set it off, in the hope that my wishes and hopes would come to fruition. By now all the touts in their boats had realised there were 8 tourists seemingly loaded with cash, so it was time to try and sell their wares. They effectively chased us down the river in their boats trying to sell everything from globes, bells and then hilariously a boat came by with a TV and DVD player, playing a dvd of Varanasi. It was so out of place to see on one of these wooden boats, I had to laugh. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the boat trip but by now we’d been out on the Ganges for 90 minutes or so, so we went back to the ghats and got off the boat. Our city guide Dada took us through the amazing and narrow streets, with all the vendors, cows, dogs and people going about their morning routine.
Our next stop was to see the famous Varanasi silk being made by hand. We visited a shop and workshop where using a 300 year old loom, workers made the intricate patterns on the beautifully coloured silks. We also visited the section of town where the workers and their families lived and went to school, of which our tour compnay Gecko’s supports by providing sustainable employment opportunities. Interestingly India is against machinising much of the industrial businesses to allow for more people to remain employed in jobs that allow them to use their hands, and remain skilled. We finished seeing how the silk was dyed, woven and prepared before heading to the shop where the finished products were available for sale. I can’t explain the beauty of these items. We saw silk shawls, table runners, silk art and bed linen. One look at Andrew with my ‘crazed spendy-eyes’ and he knew I was going to unleash! He looked at me and said “Try and keep it around $500AUD, dear”. I wasn’t expecting that long of a spending leash, so I made sure I took good advantage of it – by getting many beautiful pieces including art, table runners and gifts for both my Mum and Andrew’s Mum (I’m not going to say what, in case I put this up on the blog before they actually get the gifts!). For the record I probably spent more than the rest of the group combined! Aapji must have totally loved the commission he gets on what we spend in certain places, after my effort!
Aapji then took us by our bus to a lovely breakfast venue where we all enjoyed a feast before heading back to the hotel for some free time.
Early in to India I explained to the others in the group why there were street vendors everywhere selling water pistols and piles of coloured powder, but I guess noone did any research or took me seriously when I explained that the 19th, 20th, and 21st of March form the three day celebration of Holi. Basically this is a festival of colour and craziness. I can’t really recall what it signifies for Hindus (they have 330 MILLION deities, so it’s hard to remember), however Aapji explained people got seriously off their faces on opium, marijuana and alcohol and throw colour and water at one another, and tourists included. The Nufftards started to freak out when Aapji reminded us to start thinking about wearing clothes from this afternoon onwards that would be okay to get colour on them that was unlikely to come out. They constantly complained and asked if he could stop people ‘getting them’ but he said he could not. I had to laugh – they seriously could not comprehend that they were in another country and had to give in to another way of life. So, the afternoon consisted of them trying to get their hands on cheap clothes that were okay to get trashed. Aapji arranged for us to go to a number of shops and did his best to find stuff that was suitable, others bought the usual souveneir t-shirts (us included) and some also bought Indian style pyjamas. The Nufftards however were not willing to fork out the equivalent of less than $10AUD for any of the options provided to us and loudly proclaimed that they would just wear the 1.50 pound Tesco shirts they had brought with them all along. Andrew nearly choked laughing when he heard this and neither of us could understand how they thought they were going to find anything cheaper than that anyway.
After our little shopping trip Belinda and I had arranged to have an Ayurvedic massage, facial and manicure at the spa attached to our hotel, the Hotel Surya Varanasi. For 1650INR (about $40AUD) we got the most incredible 45 minute massage including a hot stone rubbed all over, a divine facial treatment and then our nails done. It was great although Aapji had warned us that the smell of the oil would be hard to remove – he was right, it took about 24 hours before I couldn’t smell it on my skin anymore. It was well worth it though! We both felt so relaxed afterwards, and no doubt Belinda’s muscles that had taken her to Everest Base Camp only a fortnight beforehand were happy to receive such attention.
Aapji had explained to us that our optional activity for the sunset was one not to be missed, so we all took his advice and met up in the lobby at 4.30 to head back to the same spot on the River, that we had seen the sunrise earlier in the day. What we came to witness, words could not describe. Because it was the time of Holi, the place was absolutely packed with both Hindu’s and western visitors alike. We had originally been meant to sit on top of a building to look down on the ceremony, however because of terrorist fears, the police were not letting anyone on the rooftops, so we jumped back in a boat so we could get a view from the river. I think this was probably more special, as the Ganges plays such a part in the ceremony anyway. Young Hindu priests took to the top of the ghat and became to chant and sing to bless the Ganges and the people of Varanasi. The ceremony included lots of fire and people began taking floating candles down to the river and floating them away, as I did earlier in the day, with their hopes and wishes attached. The sound, the lights and the people were something else. Hindu or not, it was very humbling to witness and visually amazing. Our boat had been surrounded by at least 50 or more, with people all trying to see the ceremony take part.
Once the ceremony was over, we went back to the banks and walked through the INSANE streets. Aapji was clearly nervous having to lead 8 of us through completely jam packed streets filled with people, cars, cows, dogs, motorbikes, tuk-tuks and rickshaws all vying for a small part of road real estate. To make it even more tight, the streets were lined with markets trying to sell everything possible from shoes, bras, pens, and food. We had been warned to very careful with our belongings and I had our cash and passports strapped to be tighter than a fat kid to a donut. Belinda was walking in front of me and Andrew was at the rear, as Aapji at the front, could always find Andrew at the back, being so tall. I noticed a guy come out of nowhere towards Belinda and at first it looked like he was just going to bump into her (this was not uncommon with so many people everywhere) but at the last minute I saw his hand flick out towards her watch! I think he assumed it wasn’t on properly or something, and had tried to snatch it! We weren’t at all phased, and actually got a good laugh out of it! We all split up and jumped into the tuk-tuks that had brought us from the hotel to head back across town to have dinner at the hotel restaurant.
The food at our hotel was incredibly good, after eating there late on the night we arrived. On the first night Andrew had the muglai chicken and I had the paneer (cottage cheese cubes) in a cashew sauce. For the second nights meal I again had paneer, but in butter masala served with garlic naan! Yum. I will have to do a lot of work on losing some kilograms, which I have gained by being on this trip. The food has been absolutely fantastic so far, giardia or not!
Varanasi, on the banks of the holy Ganges
People doing their laundry in the Ganges. There was a corpse floating in the water not far from them.
The banks of the holy Ganges River, in Varanasi
Flowers on the Ganges River, Varanasi
The sun rises over the River Ganges, Varanasi
People taking a morning bath in the River Ganges, Varanasi
Andrew and the guard at the Hotel Surya, Varanasi
Much to our pleasure, our second day in Varanasi had nothing planned except our booked train trip to commence from Varanasi to Agra. We took full advantage of the 12 noon check out time, and slept in what was the best bed we’d encountered since leaving Australia and also the incredible amount of television channels on Indian TV, including the seven or so dedicated to cricket. Take that, Foxtel! I must admit, whilst it seems really lazy to have lounged around in bed watching TV, it was really good to just not only recharge all our electronic items batteries, but also our own. I also need to make mention of the fact that the shampoo provided in India is like nothing else at home, it’s absolutely glorious and I was enjoying having a bit of a pamper with the day before, a hot shower, and nice clean hair and feet. The one thing that has driven me crazy about India is that because it’s hot and dusty, and Havianaas are essential, you also get incredibl y dirty feet. I cannot sleep if my feet are not clean, so after having lazed in bed for half the day with clean feet, I was on top of the world. Small things!
After having a big lunch knowing we’d be having a prepacked dinner (courtesy of the hotel) on the train, we wandered over to the Mangi Ferri (Mango Tree) Bar and got them to put the cricket on the big screen whilst we enjoyed some cold drinks (Kingfisher Strong – 8% beer). Australia were playing Pakistan, and because of the hatred in India towards Pakistan, we had the full support of all the other Indian’s watching the game with us. It was great to see the Premadasa Stadium on the big screen and relive a little of the atmoshphere we encountered in Sri Lanka a few weeks ago at the same venue. Time passed quickly and it was time for us to collect our prepacked meals and head to the train station a few blocks away. We all piled into the bus and just as Aapji was getting on, his phone rang. This was not the best news – our train had been cancelled for no reason apart from the assumption that it had something to do with Holi being celebrated. Aapji explained that there was little we could do for the minute and we’d need to get off the bus and wait around the hotel. I think the Nufftards muttered a few mean words under their breath and I assured Aapji that noone would be upset, as there was little we could do apart from just wait for his instruction on what we would do next. Everyone got off the bus and lazed around the hotel grounds and Andrew discovered the cricket was being shown on the TV in in the hotel lobby so sat back and relaxed watching it. I grabbed some internet time, knowing it would be few and far between from here on inwards, to pass our time.
Aapji got back to us about an hour and a half later and said it was looking like we might be able to get on the 10pm train, but he wasn’t 100% sure. After waiting for more information he advised us that we were waitlisted for our first class airconditioned sleeper but without a little bit of ‘financial incentive’ pushing on his behalf, nothing was guaranteed. We weren’t required to pay any extra money, he just knew some people and knew the right things to say and do apparently. He worked wonders and got us on the 10pm train however we would be split up across the sleeper section, but I don’t think anyone midned. I was glad to be free of the Nufftards for a few hours!
Our prepacked dinners were now no good, so Andrew, Belinda and I grabbed some dessert at the restaurant before it was time to get on the bus (9pm) to head to the train station. By now everyone was pretty exhausted and feeling really tired. The train station was everything you would assume of India. It was absolutely filthy, with people sleeping everywhere and the longest train I’ve ever seen in my life (even longer than those monsters in the USA) waiting at the station. We got all our bags and held them nice and close as we walked through the well-lit part of the station and down towards the back of the train in the dark, where our section was. We could hear the Holi celebrations going on in the nearby streets and the smell of marijuana was wafting across the station in a eye-blinking cloud. Andrew and I found it funny that you are not allowed to take photographs at train stations, however it was evident that someone or many people nearby were smoking marijuana! Ahh, India!
We got onboard the train and it wasn’t anything more or less than I had expected. I will say that it was probably better than my last trip on the Sunlander from Cairns to Brisbane in 1998. The sleeper configuration was 3 bunks on one side, three on the other and then at the end of those was a walkway before another 2 bunks on the left handside wall of the carriage. Andrew and I were lucky enough to be given the 2 bunks on the left handside! I grabbed the top one, because I didn’t think Andrew would fancy climbing up and down to get in. The aircon wasn’t on yet, and sweat was absolutely pouring from us. Belinda was unlucky enough to be in the section beside us with the 3 + 3 bunks however it didn’t appear there she was sharing the space with anyone else. Not long after we got on, the aircon started up (hooray) and the train started to move. I must also say that it was incredibly gentle and not very much braking and hard stopping, again unlike the Sunlander. I was near exhaustion so once we started to move I closed the curtains to my ltitle part of the train, secured my personal belongings to the nth degree and fell asleep on the vinyl bunk. I felt like I was sleeping lightly and not much time had passed before the noisiest family came on at one of the stops and filled up the space that Belinda was in, next to us. These people were incredible, they were laughing and having the loudest conversations in Hindi, with their kids playing noisy computer games and the adults constantly on their mobile phons. I thought this was pretty rude – but hey, I’m in their country, so whatever goes, goes. As it turns out, this all happened around 4.30am, so I had uninterrupted sleep until then, which I thought was pretty good! I dozed off again and didn’t wake until I heard more noise and checked the time and it was 7.15am already. I rolled over the edge and opened Andrew’s curtains to see if he was awake, and he was sitting up and reading his book (Shantaram). He asked me had I slept well and told me he got up a few times to check on me and wasnt worried in the slightest, as I must have been dead to the world to have been snoring as loud as I was! Oops! He also told me that he can see I will out-do my Dad in the snoring department as I get older – ha! I climbed down and Andrew converted his bunk to the two seats it was configured for, for day travel and we both read our books (I was reading Into Thin Ice, about a horrifyi ngly fatal expedition to the summit of Mount Everest) whilst kids came past to stare at us. That’s another note about India – people here stare, intensely. If you are uncomfortable with this, India is not the country for you. Our silence was only broken by someone nearby doing the loudest, funniest fart in their sleep. By then Patrick (who was in the 2-bunk beside ours) had woken up and the three of us laughed like kids, whilst noone else did at the sleepy farter. I held out as long as humanly possible before giving in and needing to use the toilet. The only toilets were Indian toilets – basically a squat with a rare and generous handle to steady yourself over a hole in the bottom of the train to leave your mark on the world. It was pretty clean by Indian standards – and even had toilet paper, although I had bought my own, in case. I guess they don’t need to worry about toilets getting blocked up, because everything is just dumped behind the train between the tracks. I got back to my seat and for the nine-hundredth time covered myself in hand sanitiser before settling back into my book. Every now and then I glanced at the slow moving countryside out of the train window and saw beautiful fields of rice with people tending to their crops, edged with their ramshackle brick homes. I instantly thought of my Aunt Lorna and Uncle Carmine as I saw some of the biggest most beautiful Mango trees along the railway line, in full flower growing out of the dusty grond. My thoughts of them and their farm so far away in Dimbulah were interrupted by the sight of a young boy doing a big poo by the side of the tracks, his pants down, eveything on display. Andrew and I had a laugh between us about how nothing in India is hidden.
Around 11am we were watching the countryside disappear and more houses appear before we saw what we thought had to be the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort! It was a rear glimpse of the Taj, but it was clearly the Taj! Wow. Minutes later we pulled up at the railway station and Aapji came to tell us this was our stop. We quickly grabbed all our belongings, including our chained up travel packs from the seats under us, and detrained. The station was even dirtier than the one in Varanasi and there were flies everywhere, as it was much warmer here in Agra than Varanasi. Thankfully the flies were happy to buzz around the piles of rubbish than come anywhere near us, much to my pleasure. Outside were two big Toyota Tarago style vans waiting for us, and we jumped in a drove about 5 minutes through Agra to our hotel, Royal Residence. I must say, the hotels have exceeded our expectations based on what we have paid for the trip, so I must again say thanks to Gecko’s. Upon arrival Aapji got the coloured powder out for Holi and pretty much everyone (I opted out) got covered in coloured poweder – Andrew looked awesome and Patrick was the clear winner (or loser?) absolutely covered head to toe in multiple colours! It was hilarious and everyone including the hotel staff enjoyed it thoroughly.
Whilst I had gotten a fair amount of sleep on the train, poor Andrew had no more than about 2 hours – and was exhausted and not feeling the best, so we opted out of the tour of Agra Fort rather than exhaust ourselves and not enjoy the Taj Mahal which was later on in the afternoon/evening. We both grabbed a shower and a light lunch and relaxed in the room whilst the rest of the group went to Agra Fort. Because of our delay with leaving Varanasi and the cancelled train, I knew that the now reduced visiting time of an hour for Agra Fort was not of any value. Agra Fort would need at least 2 hours to explore and photograph. Aapji told us to be downstairs at 2.45pm and they would collect us and take the whole group on to the Taj Mahal.
I’ve never seen a place with more stricter visiting conditions than the Taj Mahal. We could not wear certain clothes, with visible brands, hats with any kind of products/advertising, not even a bag that showed a brand. Water, tripods, batteries and anything metal was also prohibited. Patrick even had to brush some of the colour off him, as the officials didn’t want people’s faces obscured by colour so they could be seen on the CCTV security coverage at the Taj.
Our driver took us to the main eastern gate, where battery operated tuk-tuk’s took us the rest of the journey. The Indian Government is trying to reduce the amount of pollution that surrounds the Taj from all the cars on the roads in Agra, so the battery operated tuk-tuks were quite interesting to see. They have absolutely no power though so it may have been faster to walk. We were supplied with bottled water (you cannot take your own to the Taj) and ltitle shoe covers to protect the marble inside the mausoleum part of the Taj.
Our guide escorted us through the enormous wooden gates and through the walkway and gardens before we entered through the second gates and entry to get our first glimpse of the majestic Taj Mahal. I literally felt my breath escape as I saw it. It is everything I imagined, and more. When you finally see a sight like this, that is so familiar in photographs and television, in real life the feeling inside you is overwhelming. The marble was striking and stunningly white against the nearby buildings of muddy red. The next thing I noticed was people. Everywhere. Our guide later told us this was a good day, as during winter the Taj will receive around 50,000 visitors a day. We may have had probably 10,000 whilst we were there. We all posed for photos with the Taj and wandered around looking at the beautiful gardens surrounding it. Andrew and I are semi-obsessed with squirrels and spotted lots of them doing their cute little bouncy runs across the grass and up the trees.
Whilst the others continued on as a group, we found a quiet shady spot and spent about an hour just gazing at the sight in front of us. It’s very humbling to witness, and to sit and take it in was essential. Andrew still wasn’t feeling 100% and suffering from a big headache, so the rest was welcomed. I wandered off for a toilet break and paid my ‘donation’ to use a filthy toilet before we spent the rest of the time sitting, watching and admiring the different nationalities around us. When you travel you gain a real appreciation of human nature, and forget that not everyone means harm as we’re slowly being led to believe. Some women who I think were Middle Eastern came up to us and in broken english tried to have a conversation but we only managed to express from which country we were from, and they semeed to like that. I am really proud to be Australian – from my experience, we are usually very well received wherever we go.
As a group we gathered to watch the sunrise over the Taj Mahala before heading back out via tuk tuk to our waiting bus before heading back to the hotel. Andrew was still not feeling 100% and we opted to get some room service and catch up on some sleep before the next day had us leaving Agra and heading for a very small off the beaten track, town of Tordi Garh, about 8 hours by bus and 4WD jeep, away.
Here we are - the majestic Taj Mahal, Agra
The Taj Mahal, Agra
Andrew after celebrating Holi (The Festival of Colours) in Agra
Andrew and Aapji after celebrating Holi
Aapji and Patrick (from Brazil) after Holi in Agra
We had another big day of travel ahead for this day. Tordi Garh is a remote village nearly 8 hours by bus and 4WD jeep away from Agra, on the way to Jaipur. We got to the bus station to catch a local bus, and after travelling across some of the best roads we’ve seen by way of an actual freeway (with tolls) for about 3 hours, we stopped in the middle of nowhere and our Gecko’s group got off the bus. Along the major highways in India there are tourist stops, which are basically a small cafeteria with toilets and a place to stretch your legs. After about 3.5 hours after leaving Agra, the bus let our Gecko’s group off (the rest of the tourists on the bus were headed for Jaipur) and we had crossed over the state border from Uttar Pradesh into the wealthy state of Rajhastan. The scenery had changed dramatically in that period of time, from a city to a desert like landscape. We grabbed a small lunch at the tourist stop and got onboard the 4WD jeeps (similar to a Toyota Troop carrier) to make the 4.5 hour journey across both bitumen and dirt roads to the sleepy village of Tordi Garh. The trip was a bit rough and even with a stop along the way to stretch our legs, we were all pretty sore by the time we arrived at Tordi.
We added another two travellers to our group, for our stay in Tordi Garh, Evan who is in his mid 40’s and from Adelaide, and Courtney who is in her late 20’s and from Colorado in the USA but about to move to Atlanta, Georgia to continue her studies in medicine. They are both great value, and I’m always happy to meet fellow travellers with a good outlook on things, as both Evan and Courtney have. Their guide also joined us, Kuldeep.
The accommodation in Tordi was in a 16th century palace, once belonging to a Maharajah. The place was incredibly beautiful and huge, with a small rocky mountain behind, with a fort perched on the top. We were greeted with cold glasses of Thumbs Up (India’s own version of Coca-Cola, that pre dates Coca-Cola’s arrival on the subcontinent) and some beautiful flowers to wear around our neck. The porters carried our bags to the room, and due to the cramped and bumpy trip, I think I’d managed to pinch a nerve in my back and my left hand was weirdly numb. There was a planned camel cart ride and hike up a sand dune to commence not long after our arrival and because I was a little worried about the numbness in my hand, I opted out. Andrew went along and enjoyed it, and got to witness a beautiful sunset from the top of the sand dunes with a cold beer. When the group returned I was feeling a little better, not 100%, however freshened up and we went up to the rooftop to enjoy some pre dinner drinks.
Aapji had been jokingly goading us for a few days by telling us that when we got to Tordi we’d be cracking open the Indian black rum. Well, after we enjoyed another amazing Indian feast, he lived up to his word. This stuff is absolutely potent. It left the Arrack we tried in Sri Lanka for dead. Aapji explained that to truly enjoy it you must drink it straight, however once I did try it, it most certainly needed something else added! I added some Thumbs Up and some water, but it was still pretty fierce stuff. One by one, the others from the group said their goodnights and went to bed until it was Andrew, myself, Aapji, Kuldeep and Evan left. Trust us Aussies to be the mainstayers when there are drinks to be had! We talked about anything and everything (including the obligatory cricket discussions with Australia having to play India in a few days time) and laughed so hard we were crying at times. Aapji was most impressed with my definition of the fart we heard on the train as a ‘sheet tearer’. By about 11pm we were all pretty drunk, so we all said our goodnights and Andrew and I stumbled back to the room.
Villagers from Tordi Garh
Our accommodation in Tordi Garh, a 16th century palace
