Ciao all,
We are back. And happy to be. In spite of some minor annoyance which I will eloquently illuminate in due course. But let's start where I left off.
Leaving McLeod Ganj was one of the hardest things to do. The peace and quiet we found there, the fresh air and overwhelming natural beauty, had easily made it the highlight of our trip. As far as I was concerned, it could only go downhill from there. I did not want to go back to dirty cities and annoying Indians and the thought of Delhi was actually quite frightening. I was still a bit under the weather and had more or less had enough of traveling and just wanted to go home. But on the other hand, I did not want to leave India before at least seeing Shruti (my Indian colleague) and congratulating her on her upcoming wedding. It was bad enough that we could not stay for the wedding itself, as a traditional Hindu wedding would have been the perfect end to our trip, and Delhi did seem to have a lot to offer.
And it did. The Red Fort was a bit of a disappointment, but the Jain temple across from it was cute (at least from the outside), Humayun's tomb (an architectural ancestor of the Taj Mahal) and the Bahai Lotus Temples were very enjoyable. I was not really able to give it my all anymore, but I guess that if we had done Delhi in the beginning I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Shruti was quite busy, so we met her at a shopping centre where she and Elisabetta (her friend and student who had come over to be her bridesmaid). We spent a nice, quiet evening together, topped off by a delicious meal cooked by her lovely mother. The next day we went shopping and bought about 4 billion cheap books, as well as the last souvenirs we were still looking for.
We then took the night train to Mumbai, put our bags in the cloakroom and did all the things we still wanted to do there but had not had a chance when we were there before. I did not particularly like Mumbai initially but the fact that it was now raining constantly pretty much confirmed my negative verdict of this city. The famous Mumbai laundrettes (where rows and rows of people are doing the whole town's washing in ankle-deep dirty water but manage to everything clean and back to their respective owners - while most of them are illiterate and keep track of everything in their heads!!) were a sight to be seen but Mahalaxmi Temple and Haji Ali's mosque on rock in the ocean were a bit disappointment. I did enjoy our boat trip to Elephanta Island to have a look at the 2,000-year-old rock temples there. After that we were caught by bookshop again and lured into buying another truckload of books.
At this point, we were both really ready to go home and it seemed like our wish was to be fulfilled easily. All we had to do was spend the night at the airport in order to catch our early morning flight back to Helsinki. Reality had something else in store for us and the way back turned out to be quite horrible. Having arrived at the airport, I suddenly fell ill. I was shaking uncontrollably, felt ice cold, had a very high fever and burst out in the heaviest diarrhoea I have ever had. I was very happy I had fallen in love with a yak hair sweater when I was in McLeod Ganj because it was the only thing that could keep me warm. There were, of course, no beds and after a night of shaking (which I fortunately got under control as the night wore on), running up and down to the bathrooms and sleeping on the floor because that was the most comfortable position I could find, we were just happy we had made it. Olaf was also suffering from the same explosive diarrhoea but fortunately not from the other systems I had. But then it turned out that our flight was delayed four hours, which meant more waiting but also that we would miss our connecting flight in Helsinki. I felt like crying, screaming and running to the bathroom at the same time. In the end, it was not too bad because FinnAir booked us into a relatively good airport hotel in Helsinki and we could fly back early in the morning. And a good night sleep in a wonderful bed was exactly what I needed and did cheer me up a lot. But not as much as the idea of being out of India and in a civilised country again though!!!
No seriously, India had a lot of positive sides, we ate very well, saw beautiful temples, forts and palaces, did a lot of shopping, were amazed by the countryside and fell in love with the Himalayas. But it was also dirty, smelly and filled with Indians who (like those beautiful errant cows who do not know any better) are apparently not bothered by living - literally - in their shit and garbage and do their number twos everywhere except in the public washrooms or even in the open sewers. It is incomprehensible. Oh, and 99 per cent of them are really annoyingly persistent. In the 26 days we were there, I met just one person who wanted to talk to me to share experiences and cultures and did not just want to sell me something (except for Shruti and her mother of course).
I still have not recovered and am getting a bit worried by it. I have been suffering from this explosive diarrhoea for nearly a week now and I had expected a return to normalcy to take care of that rather quickly. So, I called the doctor today and got prescription for a smorgusboard of pills which I am all taking. Let us hope it helps because I am really fed up with it and will not be able to go to the bathroom whenever I need to anymore next week when my courses start again. Yesterday, I started working in the office again. Now that Veronica has left, Caroline and I are sharing her responsibilities and I am going to be working in the office about 3 days a week for about a month until we find a replacement for her. Right now, I could not be happier. But if I do not get this under control those other 2 days a week will be damn near impossible to manage. Fingers crossed!
We went out for a very nice welcome back aperitivo on Thursday with Louisa, Jen, Caroline, Kate, Loic, Gerry, Felix and some more of Olaf's colleagues. That was great but the enormous amounts of alcohol were not too good for my belly. Plus, I am not used to drinking alcohol anymore. I have lost about 5 kgs now and am just under my perfect and have got used to eating much less. If only I was not feeling so lousy, I would be jumping for joy and back in the pool showing off my perfect body!!
A selection of pictures of our trip is online on Olaf's profile page on Facebook. For those who are not on Facebook, these links should work. If not, please let me know.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50422&l=8982c&id=672566816
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50426&l=4a251&id=672566816
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50434&l=f54aa&id=672566816
The ones taken in Khajuraho are quite graphic. Please enjoy the shock and take it in good humour. Let me know what you think of the pictures!
Fedor
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Amritsar & MacLeod Ganj
Ciao all,
So, we finally left Varanasi on that lovely train journey, which was, to tell the truth a tiny little bit too long for my taste. I did however finish most of The Lord of the Rings and being out of Varanasi really made everything worth while. As stated previously - but in need of emphasis - this holy city of Hinduism is a big pile of shit, and hence it obviously gave me Delhi belly. It has been five days since we left that asshole of the world and I still have not recovered. But that aside, our holiday has taken a turn for the better.
After that (including delay) 26-hour train journey, we arrived in Amritsar where the people are nice, the shops have sale and the Golden Temple is stupendously beautiful. The day we arrived, we just went shopping and I bought a lovely pair of dress pants which will be great and very stylish for work - I just need to have them tailored once we are back in Milan. We also tried to go to the museum of Sikh culture but unfortunately it was closed for renovation. From that night onwards, Varanasi's heinous backlash hit us hard and we spent the night and the morning commuting between bed and bathroom. At one point, I had to go out for water and more toilet paper and almost did not make it back. That afternoon, we were feeling a bit better and were able to go and visit the Golden Temple. It is beautiful. Whereas Varanasi felt really fake and like being in Disneyland, the rituals and ceremonies in Amritsar were (or at least came off) genuine. As there were hardly any tourists there, it was quite impressive to spend part of the afternoon there. We also went back at night to take some pictures of the sun setting and the turning on of the lights. The temple itself was a bit to golden for me, when I build my temple it will be similar but made of silver!!!
A couple of days ago, we discovered we had about a three-day gap in hour itinerary between Amritsar and Delhi and after consulting the Bible (aka the Lonely Planet) we decided it would be nice to go up into mountains, as Amritsar is quite far North already and not too far from the foothills of the Himalayas. So, here we are in McLeod Ganj. This village on the slopes of one of the lower mountains of the Himalayas (we are about 1800 meters above sea level) is famous for being the seat of the Tibetan government in exile and the location of Tsuglagkhang, the substitute for the holy Jokhang temple in Lhasa and hence the most important place of Tibetan Buddhist worship. I admit the presence of the Tibetan community here was why we chose McLeod Ganj over all the hundreds of other hill stations. It is quite touristy here but as it is off season it is not too bad. It is a lot colder (we actually need to put on sweaters at night - which we have not had to do yet since we came to India, not even in the desert) and it rains a lot too but that is a welcome change. All in all, we love it here. We have got a massive hotel room with a gorgeous view of the valley for a relatively cheap price. The views here are breathtaking and they are in fact one of the main attractions of this place. Despite the rain and frequent fog, it is very nice and quiet here and the ever-present smell of of wet and replenished pine forest is working wonders. We visited the temple today and took a long walk through the mountains on a little path that led us alongside a mountain stream and to a very cute little waterfall. After that, we were caught by the rain and ran into the first place we could find to have lunch (and restaurants are scarce on top of a mountain!!), which funnily enough turned out to be the exact place we had planned to stop for lunch. Oh, and another advantage of this place is that these Tibetans are Buddhists and therefore live by a live-and-let-live principle and do not try to force their own beliefs on others like the Hindus do. In other words, alcohol shops abound and we were baffled to find out that we could actually order a bottle of wine in a restaurant - which was obviously shit as it was the cheapest local wine, but that is beside the point. And Tibetans are not annoying either!!! I love this place...
I do not know if I will be able to update again before we go home on Sunday, so I will just leave with a traditionally Tibetan 'peace be with you and your family'.
So, we finally left Varanasi on that lovely train journey, which was, to tell the truth a tiny little bit too long for my taste. I did however finish most of The Lord of the Rings and being out of Varanasi really made everything worth while. As stated previously - but in need of emphasis - this holy city of Hinduism is a big pile of shit, and hence it obviously gave me Delhi belly. It has been five days since we left that asshole of the world and I still have not recovered. But that aside, our holiday has taken a turn for the better.
After that (including delay) 26-hour train journey, we arrived in Amritsar where the people are nice, the shops have sale and the Golden Temple is stupendously beautiful. The day we arrived, we just went shopping and I bought a lovely pair of dress pants which will be great and very stylish for work - I just need to have them tailored once we are back in Milan. We also tried to go to the museum of Sikh culture but unfortunately it was closed for renovation. From that night onwards, Varanasi's heinous backlash hit us hard and we spent the night and the morning commuting between bed and bathroom. At one point, I had to go out for water and more toilet paper and almost did not make it back. That afternoon, we were feeling a bit better and were able to go and visit the Golden Temple. It is beautiful. Whereas Varanasi felt really fake and like being in Disneyland, the rituals and ceremonies in Amritsar were (or at least came off) genuine. As there were hardly any tourists there, it was quite impressive to spend part of the afternoon there. We also went back at night to take some pictures of the sun setting and the turning on of the lights. The temple itself was a bit to golden for me, when I build my temple it will be similar but made of silver!!!
A couple of days ago, we discovered we had about a three-day gap in hour itinerary between Amritsar and Delhi and after consulting the Bible (aka the Lonely Planet) we decided it would be nice to go up into mountains, as Amritsar is quite far North already and not too far from the foothills of the Himalayas. So, here we are in McLeod Ganj. This village on the slopes of one of the lower mountains of the Himalayas (we are about 1800 meters above sea level) is famous for being the seat of the Tibetan government in exile and the location of Tsuglagkhang, the substitute for the holy Jokhang temple in Lhasa and hence the most important place of Tibetan Buddhist worship. I admit the presence of the Tibetan community here was why we chose McLeod Ganj over all the hundreds of other hill stations. It is quite touristy here but as it is off season it is not too bad. It is a lot colder (we actually need to put on sweaters at night - which we have not had to do yet since we came to India, not even in the desert) and it rains a lot too but that is a welcome change. All in all, we love it here. We have got a massive hotel room with a gorgeous view of the valley for a relatively cheap price. The views here are breathtaking and they are in fact one of the main attractions of this place. Despite the rain and frequent fog, it is very nice and quiet here and the ever-present smell of of wet and replenished pine forest is working wonders. We visited the temple today and took a long walk through the mountains on a little path that led us alongside a mountain stream and to a very cute little waterfall. After that, we were caught by the rain and ran into the first place we could find to have lunch (and restaurants are scarce on top of a mountain!!), which funnily enough turned out to be the exact place we had planned to stop for lunch. Oh, and another advantage of this place is that these Tibetans are Buddhists and therefore live by a live-and-let-live principle and do not try to force their own beliefs on others like the Hindus do. In other words, alcohol shops abound and we were baffled to find out that we could actually order a bottle of wine in a restaurant - which was obviously shit as it was the cheapest local wine, but that is beside the point. And Tibetans are not annoying either!!! I love this place...
I do not know if I will be able to update again before we go home on Sunday, so I will just leave with a traditionally Tibetan 'peace be with you and your family'.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Holy shit
Hello again,
Here are some more updates about India. We have also taken loads of pictures but can't put them online just yet. We will do so when we come back though.
After Jaisalmer we went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, which was closed as it was a Friday. Not that we really cared because apparently the inside is not very special. We took some nice pictures of it from different sides though. Agra's Mughal Fort was definitely worth the time and the money, as we could roam freely through most of the (remnants of) palaces and play archaeologist. The UNESCO World Heritage Sight was well-documented and the signs very informative. If you have to go to Agra, look at the Taj Mahal from the other side of the Yamuna river and go to the fort and leave as soon as possible, the people are quite annoying there.
Then we went on to Khajuraho, a little hamlet in the middle of nothing with one big attraction, 24 1000-year-old temples famous for their erotic sculptures which the very Victorian who 'discovered' them described as 'a little warmer than there was any absolute necessity for'. In short, they are quite explicit and illustrate a specific characteristic of the culture that constructed these temples. They show how wonderfully integrated the spiritual and physical life, including sexuality, and how natural it all must have been for these people. They were fortunate not to have been subjected to our Christian morality for so long and hence not to equate sexual enjoyment with moral depravity. Unfortunately, this was also the place where I first used the phrase 'fuck off' to get rid of an annoying Indian. But that was an exception, the people were generally nice and not to persistent. I also tried to eat something else than curry for the first time in two weeks. It was a spaghetti carbonara without any ham and it was, well, not that bad but not very nice either. I just had a curry again the next day! On the bus from Khajuraho to Mahoba we met two fellow backpackers, two girls who made the wait for the night train to Varanasi (scheduled to leave at 1am) a lot more pleasant and made us feel safe.
And then there is Varanasi, which is where we are now. This is the biggest heap of shit I have ever seen, quite literally. I do not think I have ever been in a dirtier city in my life. All the people, and not to mention the errant sacred cows, excrete in the streets and nobody cleans it up, the Ganges is so dirty it makes one want to vomit and there is no way I could get used to the perpetual stench of this city. On top of that, the old city is a maze and it is absolutely impossible to locate anything as maps are either incomplete or inaccurate and hence useless and road signs do not exist. Varanasi is one of the 100 modern wonders of the world but I cannot see why. Leaving aside the dirt and the stench, it really does not have anything to commend it. It is a holy city for Hindus, who believe that when they die here they escape the endless cycle of reincarnation and go straight to their version of heaven. This means there are a lot of old people who come here to die and cremation is big business here. The smoke from the cremation towers is ever-present and Indians charge tourists ridiculous prices to watch the burnings. It is sick and I refuse to desecrate a person's (or a body's in any case) final moment for enjoyment. It shows disrespect on the part of the tourist as well as the tout.
One of the other main attractions of this city is the sunset ceremony at Dasaswamedh Ghat (a ghat is a place where steps lead down to the river). When we got there, all the Indians were mercilessly shoved aside so we and the other tourists could get the best seats (for money obviously), even though we took no part in the ceremony. It was a sham. It was either a reenactment by actors of a ceremony that used to be held there at night or it was the real ceremony but completely customised to the desires of the tourists. There was hardly any singing, the sound came out of a tape player, and most of the monks/performers looked bored. Never in my life have I felt more like a desecrator. But as we were there, I decided that whatever the ritual was, it must have retained some characteristics of the original ceremony and I started studying it. It was a goodbye to the day with salutes to the North, South, East and West. Fire and water were featured a lot and I guess it was a fertility ritual as well, thanking the sun and the Ganges for allowing plants to grow to feed people. It was very repetitive and the numbers, 3, 4, 7 and 12 seemed important, 4 perhaps for the seasons or the parts of the day, 3 for the trinity of Vishnu, Rama and Shiva, 7 for the planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) or the days of the week and 12 for the months of the year (or just as 3 times 4).
This morning we took a boat trip at 5.30am to watch the sun rise over the Ganges but it was overcast so that was another disappointment. All in all, I guess this city is just a big disappointment and does not really deserve to be included in a trip to India. But I guess it is too late to turn the tide and leave Varanasi to the Hindus and stop harassing them and disturbing their sacred ceremonies. Oh well... We have just had lunch with Devatara and Toni (the girls from the bus) who are leaving for Agra today. Good luck to them. We are going on a nearly 24-hour train journey Northwest to Amritsar tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. 24 hours in a train without worries and with a bathroom near.
That's it for now. Bye.
Here are some more updates about India. We have also taken loads of pictures but can't put them online just yet. We will do so when we come back though.
After Jaisalmer we went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, which was closed as it was a Friday. Not that we really cared because apparently the inside is not very special. We took some nice pictures of it from different sides though. Agra's Mughal Fort was definitely worth the time and the money, as we could roam freely through most of the (remnants of) palaces and play archaeologist. The UNESCO World Heritage Sight was well-documented and the signs very informative. If you have to go to Agra, look at the Taj Mahal from the other side of the Yamuna river and go to the fort and leave as soon as possible, the people are quite annoying there.
Then we went on to Khajuraho, a little hamlet in the middle of nothing with one big attraction, 24 1000-year-old temples famous for their erotic sculptures which the very Victorian who 'discovered' them described as 'a little warmer than there was any absolute necessity for'. In short, they are quite explicit and illustrate a specific characteristic of the culture that constructed these temples. They show how wonderfully integrated the spiritual and physical life, including sexuality, and how natural it all must have been for these people. They were fortunate not to have been subjected to our Christian morality for so long and hence not to equate sexual enjoyment with moral depravity. Unfortunately, this was also the place where I first used the phrase 'fuck off' to get rid of an annoying Indian. But that was an exception, the people were generally nice and not to persistent. I also tried to eat something else than curry for the first time in two weeks. It was a spaghetti carbonara without any ham and it was, well, not that bad but not very nice either. I just had a curry again the next day! On the bus from Khajuraho to Mahoba we met two fellow backpackers, two girls who made the wait for the night train to Varanasi (scheduled to leave at 1am) a lot more pleasant and made us feel safe.
And then there is Varanasi, which is where we are now. This is the biggest heap of shit I have ever seen, quite literally. I do not think I have ever been in a dirtier city in my life. All the people, and not to mention the errant sacred cows, excrete in the streets and nobody cleans it up, the Ganges is so dirty it makes one want to vomit and there is no way I could get used to the perpetual stench of this city. On top of that, the old city is a maze and it is absolutely impossible to locate anything as maps are either incomplete or inaccurate and hence useless and road signs do not exist. Varanasi is one of the 100 modern wonders of the world but I cannot see why. Leaving aside the dirt and the stench, it really does not have anything to commend it. It is a holy city for Hindus, who believe that when they die here they escape the endless cycle of reincarnation and go straight to their version of heaven. This means there are a lot of old people who come here to die and cremation is big business here. The smoke from the cremation towers is ever-present and Indians charge tourists ridiculous prices to watch the burnings. It is sick and I refuse to desecrate a person's (or a body's in any case) final moment for enjoyment. It shows disrespect on the part of the tourist as well as the tout.
One of the other main attractions of this city is the sunset ceremony at Dasaswamedh Ghat (a ghat is a place where steps lead down to the river). When we got there, all the Indians were mercilessly shoved aside so we and the other tourists could get the best seats (for money obviously), even though we took no part in the ceremony. It was a sham. It was either a reenactment by actors of a ceremony that used to be held there at night or it was the real ceremony but completely customised to the desires of the tourists. There was hardly any singing, the sound came out of a tape player, and most of the monks/performers looked bored. Never in my life have I felt more like a desecrator. But as we were there, I decided that whatever the ritual was, it must have retained some characteristics of the original ceremony and I started studying it. It was a goodbye to the day with salutes to the North, South, East and West. Fire and water were featured a lot and I guess it was a fertility ritual as well, thanking the sun and the Ganges for allowing plants to grow to feed people. It was very repetitive and the numbers, 3, 4, 7 and 12 seemed important, 4 perhaps for the seasons or the parts of the day, 3 for the trinity of Vishnu, Rama and Shiva, 7 for the planets (sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) or the days of the week and 12 for the months of the year (or just as 3 times 4).
This morning we took a boat trip at 5.30am to watch the sun rise over the Ganges but it was overcast so that was another disappointment. All in all, I guess this city is just a big disappointment and does not really deserve to be included in a trip to India. But I guess it is too late to turn the tide and leave Varanasi to the Hindus and stop harassing them and disturbing their sacred ceremonies. Oh well... We have just had lunch with Devatara and Toni (the girls from the bus) who are leaving for Agra today. Good luck to them. We are going on a nearly 24-hour train journey Northwest to Amritsar tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. 24 hours in a train without worries and with a bathroom near.
That's it for now. Bye.
Friday, August 08, 2008
India - more impressions
Hi all,
I may have been a little bit too hasty being proud of myself for being in India for a week without getting Delhi belly. I suffered from it for two days but am fine again as of today. Here are some more updates.
Jaisalmer: Imagine a fortress slash walled city on a hilltop in the middle of the desert made of limestone glittering golden in the sunlight. Very small and very cute and the people were unbelievably nice. Hearing random people say 'hello' and 'good morning' to you without any ulterior motive was a welcome break from all the hassling. We got cornered by a holy cow near the ramparts that was suffering from Multiple Personalities Disorder. When we tried to pass it started to rub its head against Olaf, it thought it was a cat!!!
Lodhruva: used to be the capital of Jaisalmer state before the founding of Jaisalmer state. It is a small village in the middle of desert consisting of absolutely nothing!
As it turned out, traveling from Jaisalmer via Bikaner to Amritsar would be really annoying with lots of trains leaving and arriving the middle of the night and we decided against it. So, we changed our itinerary and decided to Uttar Pradesh first.
Agra: after a night with hardly any sleep on a sleeper train that arrived at 5.30am and then a regular 2nd class train sitting on hard benches trying not to be pushed off by Indians, we arrived in Agra where it immediately started raining. It has been drizzling all day and as it is Friday the Taj Mahal is closed. We did take some nice pictures of it though and visited Agra's Mughal fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And now we are done here. The people are annoying and the weather sucks. Tomorrow we are off to the erotic temples in Khajuraho!
Ciao, Fe
I may have been a little bit too hasty being proud of myself for being in India for a week without getting Delhi belly. I suffered from it for two days but am fine again as of today. Here are some more updates.
Jaisalmer: Imagine a fortress slash walled city on a hilltop in the middle of the desert made of limestone glittering golden in the sunlight. Very small and very cute and the people were unbelievably nice. Hearing random people say 'hello' and 'good morning' to you without any ulterior motive was a welcome break from all the hassling. We got cornered by a holy cow near the ramparts that was suffering from Multiple Personalities Disorder. When we tried to pass it started to rub its head against Olaf, it thought it was a cat!!!
Lodhruva: used to be the capital of Jaisalmer state before the founding of Jaisalmer state. It is a small village in the middle of desert consisting of absolutely nothing!
As it turned out, traveling from Jaisalmer via Bikaner to Amritsar would be really annoying with lots of trains leaving and arriving the middle of the night and we decided against it. So, we changed our itinerary and decided to Uttar Pradesh first.
Agra: after a night with hardly any sleep on a sleeper train that arrived at 5.30am and then a regular 2nd class train sitting on hard benches trying not to be pushed off by Indians, we arrived in Agra where it immediately started raining. It has been drizzling all day and as it is Friday the Taj Mahal is closed. We did take some nice pictures of it though and visited Agra's Mughal fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
And now we are done here. The people are annoying and the weather sucks. Tomorrow we are off to the erotic temples in Khajuraho!
Ciao, Fe
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
India - first impressions
Hey all,
This is our sixth day traveling through India after a short stopover in Helsinki. Here are some first impressions:
Finnair: a lovely airline after years of flying RyanAir, they actually provide service. I was so ashamed at ordering another bottle of wine free of charge, it felt so naughty!!!
Helsinki: cute yet provincial, quite pleasant in summer but I would not for the life of me set foot there in winter
Mumbai: culture shock, too many people in too small an area. It could have been something but it just does not have enough enough architectural monuments and overall beauty to compensate for the pollution, dirt, stench and overpopulation. Although the dry rain was an interesting surprise...
Kalyan: hell on Earth, never in my life have I been stared that like that. You would think that the people there had seen caucasians before... I was so glad we did not have to spend the night there!!
Ahmedabad: dusty, sand everywhere, some cute mosques and temples but nothing really worth mentioning. Gujarati snacks are delicious however and the people were not as annoying as expected. Got wet all through though, thanks to a sneaky rainshower lurking behind all the buildings.
Udaipur: my first shower in three days!!!! Joy, utter joy. We met up with Felix and Annaig and strolled through this lovely little city and visited palace after palace. As the monsoon has only just started here, the lake was still quite empty. But no matter, the view from the roof terrace of our lovely hotel with its soft and comfy pillows to sit on and relax our feet after a long day's walk made up for a lot...
Chittorgarh: an amazing fort, but what a heat. The view from the Tower of Victory was magnificent, but oh that heat... Traveling by regular bus turns out to be quite comfy and so cheap, we will do that again!
Jodhpur: the silk route city famous for its antiques, textiles and spices. Its amazing fort of Meherangarh gives one a sniff of how the Maharadjas lived and worked. Gorgeous, and the fabrics... And another rooftop terrace with a view to a kill. And our first glass of wine in days!!!
Tomorrow, we are off to Jaisalmer and then we are going to North to Amritsar via Bikaner in the desert. Hope to be able to update again soon!
XXX, Fe
This is our sixth day traveling through India after a short stopover in Helsinki. Here are some first impressions:
Finnair: a lovely airline after years of flying RyanAir, they actually provide service. I was so ashamed at ordering another bottle of wine free of charge, it felt so naughty!!!
Helsinki: cute yet provincial, quite pleasant in summer but I would not for the life of me set foot there in winter
Mumbai: culture shock, too many people in too small an area. It could have been something but it just does not have enough enough architectural monuments and overall beauty to compensate for the pollution, dirt, stench and overpopulation. Although the dry rain was an interesting surprise...
Kalyan: hell on Earth, never in my life have I been stared that like that. You would think that the people there had seen caucasians before... I was so glad we did not have to spend the night there!!
Ahmedabad: dusty, sand everywhere, some cute mosques and temples but nothing really worth mentioning. Gujarati snacks are delicious however and the people were not as annoying as expected. Got wet all through though, thanks to a sneaky rainshower lurking behind all the buildings.
Udaipur: my first shower in three days!!!! Joy, utter joy. We met up with Felix and Annaig and strolled through this lovely little city and visited palace after palace. As the monsoon has only just started here, the lake was still quite empty. But no matter, the view from the roof terrace of our lovely hotel with its soft and comfy pillows to sit on and relax our feet after a long day's walk made up for a lot...
Chittorgarh: an amazing fort, but what a heat. The view from the Tower of Victory was magnificent, but oh that heat... Traveling by regular bus turns out to be quite comfy and so cheap, we will do that again!
Jodhpur: the silk route city famous for its antiques, textiles and spices. Its amazing fort of Meherangarh gives one a sniff of how the Maharadjas lived and worked. Gorgeous, and the fabrics... And another rooftop terrace with a view to a kill. And our first glass of wine in days!!!
Tomorrow, we are off to Jaisalmer and then we are going to North to Amritsar via Bikaner in the desert. Hope to be able to update again soon!
XXX, Fe
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