India; One of the worlds busiest and dirtiest countries is a treat to travel around. The cities are buzzing, the landscapes are attractive and the history is awe-inspiring. However after two weeks I was ready to leave. This is partially due to the fact that I was beginning to grow tired of the constant hassle that comes with travel in India and partially because I was so looking forward to the next segment of my trip.
Following my departure from the blue city of Jodhpur where I wrote my last blog entry I arrived in the desert oasis town of Jaisalmer. A stunning town built entirely from sandstone and rising majestically from the desert. After a day looking around the town and its fort I decided that I wanted a slightly more in-depth desert experience than peering at the desert from the balcony of my hotel. So I booked myself onto a desert safari and took off into the desert for a couple of days riding a camel. This was probably the best part of my time in India. I had chai with desert-dwellers, roamed dune seas, slept in the desert under the stars and learnt how to ride a camel, all whilst dressed as a pirate. This was not intentional. My guide instructed me to purchase some light clothes in town before I left to wear in the desert, but for some reason my well thought out purchases (amounting to around 2 pounds for a shirt, trousers and a head-scarf came together to make me look like I was auditioning for a part in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie (I do think this was largely down to the fact that I did not know how to tie the headscarf properly so ended up wearing it as a bandanna). However after 1 and a half days in the desert my groin was very happy that the trek had come to an end. Any longer and a don't think i would have sat down properly for a week.
My next stop was Agra and using the ever efficient Indian train network I arrived after 36 hours and a brief stop in Delhi I arrived. Agra itself is a fairly unattractive and unspectacular city that would see few tourists if it wasn't the home of India's best known monument, the Taj Mahal. The Taj itself does not disappoint, but the town offers little else to do or see, so I jumped on a train to my last stop in India, Varanasi.
Varanasi is the city the most spiritual city in Hinduism. For a Hindu to break free of the cycle of life-and-death he must die in Varanasi and have his body deposited in the Ganges river (either thrown in with weights or as ash). It is deeply spiritual and horrendously dirty. How Indian people can bathe in it I do not know. Aside from the dead bodies floating in the river, hundreds or bodies are burnt every day on the banks, animals are washed in the waters and the sewage of approximately 1 million people pumps into this river, yet people are still happy to bathe and wash their clothes in it. Needless to say I steered clear of taking a dip, and following a day where I took a boat ride and wandered the maze that is the ghats of Varanasi I decided to make haste and take the journey up to Nepal. I was surprised myself how quickly I completed my itinerary in India. I had thought that I would spend at least 3 weeks traveling around India if not a month. However in 2 weeks I had done everything i wanted to do and left the country feeling satisfied. The speed with which this was achieved was in part down to my exuberance and partly due to the fact that whilst India was a fascinating country to experience, I never felt comfortable. whether it was the over-persistent touts of Jaisalmer and Agra, or the swarms of locusts in Varanasi. I never once lingered in a place longer than it took me to take in the sights and spent most my nights not in hotels, but taking night trains.
Anyway, now I am in Pokhora in Nepal where I hope to hike in the Himalayas, go paragliding and relax in the cool mountain air. I will update you all soon.
Phil
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