Back to INDIA!! Agra & Jaipur

Well, you know what this is.

City of Jaipur through the small windows of Hava Mahal

Hava Mahal

Thirsty monkey

A game of cricket

Central Museum, Jaipur

It took me two days to get from Pokhara to Agra. As the next step in my adaptation process I started eating the food by hand during my trip. Even the brothy, soup-like food are eaten by hand, either by dipping bread or mixing it with rice. It's fun and helps to connect with the locals easier. I arrived in Agra around noon and spared the rest of the day for resting after the tiring ride. Walking to my hotel I was constantly getting harassed by the rickshaw drivers as usual. Rickshaw drivers, who do not accept no as an answer, have a habit of lying about everything, whether it's about the distance, price, or hotels. Having gotten a certain degree of immunisation to their lies and harassment, I naturally didn't believe them for a second when they were saying "Taj Mahal and Agra Fort are free, take a ride with me". Later I found out from the people I met at the hotel that maybe for the first time in their lives they were telling the truth. I got there on one of the two days in the year Taj Mahal, having an entrance fee of $17 (almost my two day budget), opens its doors to the visitors for free. By the time I found out it was already dark and Taj Mahal had closed its doors. Next day was a Friday, which is the only day of the week Taj Mahal is closed. Therefor it was certain that I wouldn't be going into Taj Mahal since I wasn't going to be spending more than two days in Agra which didn't have anything interesting except for Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, and also the high entrance fee I was reluctant to pay. We decided with the half German half Turkish guy I met at the hotel to spend the day just walking the streets of the city. It hadn't been long after we started walking that we stopped at a shop to get some water and started chatting with a guy around the age of 55-600 who was fluent in English. By the end of our chat about Indian philosophy, Hinduism, and his adventures living in Chicago, the sun was slowly setting. We decided we should at least take a look from a distance to Taj Mahal, and said our farewells. It was more precious having a sincere and enjoyable talk than seeing a monument or building in this country where anyone having any communication with you is trying to sell you something. Next day I arrived in the last one of the so called Golden Triangle cities of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, which are attracting the most tourists coming into India, hence the title. I had a chance to take advantage of the website couchsurfing.org, which I hadn't been able to utilize before as I never knew when I would be arriving at my next destination and didn't always have the internet connection. I was hosted by a person who replied to my last minute request posted on the site. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite a satisfactory first experience I had through using this site, which is supposed to be built upon values such as hospitality, cultural exchange and good will. Most of our conversation evolved around him trying to convince me to go shopping (so that he could get his commission), so I was displeased and retired to my room early in the evening. I left the house, where I had planned on staying for two nights, first thing in the morning, and checked into a hotel. It's not possible for me to say anything bad about him since he opened his house, shared his food and never left his polite manner, but expecting to make money just contradicted the whole concept of the site. After sightseeing in Jaipur during the day I finished off the evening with a delicious meat dish. There's a large Muslim community living in Jaipur in addition to Hindus, Jains, and Sheiks. Although delicious, it sometimes got boring eating only vegetarian dishes since most devotees of other religions in India are vegetarians. It was a nice change having some meat with my Muslim brothers : ) At last I've completed the bigger cities of the north and now heading to the smaller settlements of the Thar desert.

Pokhara, NEPAL

World Peace Stupa

Phewa Tal (the lake) and the Himalayas

Harvest time in Pokhara

Pokhara is an outdoors center with its living quarters spread out around a lake surrounded by mountains (much like Lake Tahoe), trekking trips you can take in Himalayas for ten, twenty, thirty days, and other opportunities it offers such as paragliding and rafting. It's been infested with tourists for many years and still keeps its popularity so it's highly commercialised. Especially the lakeside, where the most hotels are located, is no different than a small European village. With prices twice or thrice higher than the rest of Nepal and India, one should come here for the purpose of outdoors tourism and not cultural visits. As a result I spent the two days here with outdoors activities as much as possible (yes, the city boy can hike). First day I went out of the city by a bike I rented. After touring the streets of the old city, where locals live, I went to the so called "bat cave". Although not too interesting with hundreds of small black bats living on the ceiling of the cave, the possibility of them waking up and attacking you any moment gives a little excitement. After bicycling around the lake for a while, I decided to return the bike due to my butt getting damn soar from the uncomfortable seat and the noises the old bike was making, and spent the rest of the day reading my book at a restaurant. Second day was spent hiking the mountains around the lake and enjoying the breath taking views. My body, not being used to hiking, got really tired but a little nap by the lake took care of it. I again spent the rest of the day resting in the city. I'm ready to hassle with my Indian brothers again after resting for two days in the peaceful atmosphere of Pokhara. I will be starting my long trip to Agra tomorrow.

Kathmandu Valley, NEPAL

Stairs going up to monkey temple

turning wheels (can someone tell me the name of these)

locals reading the newspaper posted on the wall

Kathmandu Durbar Square

Eye to eye with Buddha

Bhaktapur

Must have been the harvest time for a certain type of grain, the city was full of these

Happy to be out of school :)

Himalayas!!!

Police barricade in the back

Maoist protesters

I wasn't sure about whether to come to Nepal or not, but just the gorgeous scenery I enjoyed during the car ride coming into Kathmandu was a good enough reason itself. I reached Kathmandu after a tiring 30 hour long train and car ride from Varanasi. The lush green mountains welcome you about an hour of drive into Nepal and accompany you all along the way. It was a pleasant ride despite taking much longer than it was supposed to, due to waiting for a customer who forgot his bag at the terminal, car having a minor breakdown, waiting at numerous army and police checkpoints and getting the luggage searched (they don't bother with tourists' luggage, just the locals!). I went hotel hunting after arriving in Kathmandu, and had to settle at a hotel which I thought was expensive at 4 dollars a night since I hadn't done any research and didn't have any guidebooks or maps with me(later found out it was an average price and Nepal was little more expensive than India). This has been my first hotel room with it's own bathroom and hot water since starting my journey. The attitudes and helpful manners of the hotel employees I came across while looking for a hotel gave the first hints of Nepali being more polite than Indians. This impression was confirmed the next day walking around in the city. We sat down with the receptionist that night and created an itinerary for my travels in Nepal. He lent a lonely planet guidebook and maps to me, which saved me at least ten bucks.
Next day I started sightseeing from the so called Monkey Temple. Its original name is different, but came to be known by this name among tourists due to the large groups of monkeys living around the temple. It's possible to get a view of the whole city from this temple that sits on top of a high hill. Unfortunately Kathmandu, a much larger city than I had thought, is having the same serious air pollution problems as the other big cities I have visited on my journey. Many Nepalese wear masks on the streets to be protected from the pollution and constant dust that fills the air. It's unavoidable for people living in cities like Tahran, Delhi, and Kathmandu to have respiratory problems I guess. Streets are much cleaner in Nepal compared to India, and people politer. My dense body hair must be very unusual and interesting for Nepalese, because I keep noticing people staring at my arms (only uncovered part) and laughing. There's nothing I can do but laugh with them. A guy sitting next to me in the bus was showing his two year old daughter the fur on her coat and my arms, and telling her something, I think he was telling her not to be afraid, that I wasn't a werewolf or something :)
After visiting Kathmandu's Durbar Square, which is filled with antique structures featuring magnificent architecture, I went to Boudhanath, a holy place for buddhists. I came across familiar scenes here as I had in many other temples. Buddhists circling around the stupa, monks singing prayers, piles of food consisting of packages of chips, cookies and other food donated by people as an offering to Buddha, and people praying and donating money to nothing but a pile of rocks. It's sad to see Buddhism, which doesn't have a god or prophet and is only supposed to be a philosophical teaching of how one should lead his life to become a better person, turned into a paganistic practice as all other religions are.

On my second day in Kathmandu valley I went out of the city to a small mountain-top village called Nagarkot. It's a popular spot as it's possible to watch the sun rising and setting over Himalayas from this location. It was all cloudy and rainy when I got there, so had to start looking for a hotel without enjoying the view. Electricity was out in the village so there was nothing for me to do but reading my book at candlelight at the restaurant of the hotel.
I woke up the next morning at sunrise to blue skies and a spectacular view of the Himalayas. Giant mountains rising above green valleys and white clouds were mesmerising. After enjoying the view for a while I hit the road before the sun rose any higher. A 20 km (13 miles) downhill hike was waiting for me from this mountain top village, where I had taken a bus coming up to. I had the chance to pass through many Nepali villages along the way of this long but pleasant hike (more of a walk). The villagers, not being to used to tourists, were much more sincere and naive. All the towns were surrounded by fields, and it was mostly Nepali women working in these fields. Since Nepal is all mountainous and doesn't have many plains, people cultivate the hills by forming steps and steps of green fields, that look like gardens of Babylon. These steps covering the hills from top to bottom present a nice wave-like feel.
The interest Nepalese have been showing to the hair on my arms, although not bothering at the beginning, has become little disturbing. Unmistakably every single person I walk by on the streets lock their eyes on my arms and we pass each other smiling. I think they would be shocked and pass if they were to see the hair on my chest and legs too :) I now have a better understanding of how women must feel getting stares on their bodies all the time instead of their faces.
I found myself in the middle of protests by Maoists (communists), that had been taking place for the last two days, when I was trying to reach my hotel back in the city. Although crowded, it was quiet and calm. People were walking in a single file through a barricade with a large number of police presence in the direction I was headed to. Trusting the high security measures taken and the calmness of the crowd, I got in the line to pass through the barricade. It had only been a minute or two when all of a sudden people turned around and started running and yelling. Naturally, I turned around and started running as well, and climbed on top of a wall to get out of the crowd. After relieving the first shock of the event on the wall I noticed people smiling while running away. I think Nepalese were used to this kind o attraction and found it amusing. After things calmed down I went up to the police barricade again, thinking they would let me pass by being a tourist, but was turned down. So I ended up taking a detour to reach my hotel. My visit to Kathmandu was concluded with this exciting day, and I got on a bus to Pokhara in western Nepal the next morning.

Varanasi

It was a twelve hour train ride from Delhi to Varanasi. I had problem finding my seat in the train, settled in someone else's seat, and a little later the conductor came and placed me in an empty spot. Sleeper class, although crowded, is comfortable with your own place to lay down. Other backpackers I chatted with later in the journey mentioned that they tried the more expensive sections in the train but it was a waste of money, and confirmed that the sleeper is the best value for the price. The cheapest section with only seats and no beds are over crowded and not very suitable for long journeys. I paid 7 dollars for the train ride from Delhi to Varanasi, it's not all that bad since I didn't have to stay in a hotel for the evening. I rented my first rickshaw in India for 20 rupees when I got to Varanasi, and came to a hostel by the Ganj River that is very popular with backpackers. We sat at the rooftop cafe with a view of the Ganj River with other backpackers I met, and waited for some rooms to become available after 12 pm...


I spent two days among Hindu pilgrims. Varanasi is India's oldest city where people have practiced the same rituals for thousands of years, presented their offerings to their gods, repeated the same prayers. A city where numerous temples are surrounded by the dark houses of Indians alongside the Ganj river. Labyrinth-like streets, constant smoke arising from Ganj side where they cremate the bodies, endless Saree shops, old canoes, bell sounds, and Sadus... Ceremonies, starting at sunrise around 6:00 am, go 'till sunset. I'm leaving this holy Hindu city for Nepal.


kids being kids

Cremation of the bodies by the Ganj River
Sunrise over Ganj





Starting the day by washing up in the holy waters of Ganj


Evening ceremonies by the river

monkeys are a common sight
rickshaws everywhere
getting ears cleaned on the street

little buddha

Flying to UAE and the first days in Delhi, INDIA!!!!

Public restroom!!
Narrow streets of Delhi
Kids playing marble
just one of the million gods they have
and another one!!
My breakfast stop, fresh cooked omelette, yummm
very popular among Indians, some kind of chewing thing
needs a paint job
school bus!!! get in kids
Ambassador cars, white ones for government use, green yellow ones as taxi
PaharGanj, Delhi

After a short flight I arrived in UAE, Sharjah airport. The airport had a very unusual mix of people. Mostly consisting of Indians, Filipinos, and Malaysians, it was possible to see people from all different nationalities. Unfortunately the seats weren't suited to sleep on comfortably in the terminal, where I had to spend 24 hours. By getting my body in various different shapes, I succeeded in sleeping for a few hours. The Air Arabia plane I got on the next day took me to the second leg of my journey, India. I took a bus from the airport to the city center and got my first shock as soon as I stepped off the bus. No matter how much you read and research about India, nothing can prepare you for this country. I knew it was going to be dirty, crowded, and chaotic but still all my senses were shaken by shockwaves. From the piles of trash on the streets to the strong smell of urination, from its traffic jam to the food being sold on the street one could not imagine eating, with its dust cloud, noise and poverty you're transfered into a different world. With a huge smile on my face I started walking in search of a hotel. After a long walk I found a room in one of the cheapest places in town for 130 rupees ($3). Of course it's impossible to expect a decent room for that price. Half of the building is in ruins as if there were some construction going on, but it's obvious that nothing has been done in a long time. The walls of the room are plywood, with cracks and holes in parts, not to mention the dirt. A filthy sheet is spread over an 1 inch thick uneven piece of sponge that is intended as a bed. I took out the sheet Iranian railways had provided from my backpack, spread it over the bed and fall in a deep sleep with the contentment of being where I'm and tiredness of being on the road for two days.
I heard fireworks, music, and screams in the morning but I was too tired to get out of the bed to go to the window and check out what was going on. I think it was some sort of a holiday and the sounds were from celebrations taking place. I decided to rest for the day without doing much when I woke up. I went out searching for a better hotel but found 6 dollars a little high :) for a room so kept staying at the same palace. I concluded my first day in Delhi sipping my first beer in a month at an Indian bar.
I'm finishing off my third day in Delhi at the only clean and peaceful place in Delhi namde Raj Gath. It's a big green park created as an attribute to three presidents of India who wre assasinated, Mahatma Gandhi, Indra Gandhi, and her son Rajiv. As much as I enjoy Delhi's crowdedness, filthyness, and noisiness, a small get away has been nice. I thought I would get over the sense of shock I had when I first got to Delhi but (although getting little more adapted) I still get the same kind of shocking feeling every time I step out. Poverty and unsanitary conditions are effecting most of the population in Delhi except for some parts in New Delhi. Food is cheap, you can dine for a dollar or two, lodging is also economical, you get a decent place for 6-7 dollars (or you can get a not so stylish place like me for 3 bucks). Museum entrances costing 5-6 dollars seemed a little expensive to me after getting used to paying 50 cents in Iran. They have a habit of constantly honking that drives a person to the edge of insanity. Drivers must be keeping one hand constantly on the horn, whether it's necessary or not. They must be aware of their honking illness themselves because there're signs and posters all over the city telling people not to honk for their own sake. I decided three days in Delhi was enough, so bought a train ticket to Varanasi for the next day. I'm curiously waiting for my 12 hour train ride in the sleeper class. I'm still undecided about going to Nepal, I think I will decide once I get to Varanasi.