Darjeeling and New Delhi are miles and worlds apart. Going from one place to the other felt like we were in a different country. We expected to arrive to pollution, oppressing heat and utter chaos, but we were pleasantly surprised. The air was clear (meaning we could see blue sky and the sun), the temperature nice and we had tea and coffee outside at the airport in peace while waiting for Anup (our driver for the next 3 weeks) to meet us.

First, let me tell you about Anup. He’s 50 years old and has been a driver for over 20 years. He’s very well educated and insightful about his country and its quirks. His English is good, but when he gets excited his accent is so thick. It’s very cute. Sikhism isn’t a religion to him, it’s his way of life. He was so patient with our many repeated questions of clarification about Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna, Ganesh and the millions (literally) of other gods they have. He dresses like a boss (dress pants and a button down shirt every day) and is very professional. We found out late in our trip that a couple of years ago he was a driver for OPRAH when she visited India and back in the day he even drove for Princess Diana. He was our India guru and we learned more about the people, history and culture than we ever would have alone. So, on top of being safe, staying in great places in awesome locations, we got to see India with a local.

 

NEW DELHI

Our hotel was in Old Delhi, which is a cultural experience in itself. I don’t even have the words to describe it. So many times Mark and I said that we wished our eyes could be like a live stream to people at home. The things we saw were so unbelievable. Photos just don’t do it justice. Google “Old Delhi” video (or click this link) and just watch a few……We once had a friend tell us that he visited Delhi and didn’t leave his hotel room for 3 days. Every time he tried the number of people, noise and smells were just so overwhelming that he had to go back in. I believe it. Nepal was our training ground; I’m not sure how we would have fared had we gone directly to India from Europe.

Delhi is the capital of India and there is so much to see. We asked Anup to take us to the highlights (our weeks ahead were full of monuments, forts and palaces so I didn’t want to start off with too much). At many of the places we visited we were once again inundated with people asking for selfies with us.

After the mosque we jumped in two bicycle rickshaws and zipped through the narrow streets of old Delhi. There was everything and more for sale. Every street had different goods for sale. There was a fruit street, a vegetable street, a clothing street, a shoe street, a paper street, even a whole street just for wedding invitations.

Gandhi, the Indian activist and leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule using non-violent methods, was assassinated in 1948 and has a memorial in New Delhi where he was cremated.

Indira Gandhi was the first, and only, female prime minister of India and was the longest serving Prime Minister after her father (who was the first PM of India). She was assassinated by her body guard and is memorialized in the same park as Mahatma Ghandi.

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is the largest Sikh temple in New Delhi and one of the most memorable places we saw in India.  Anup is a Sikh and he personally took us to see it. We were able to go in (no photos allowed except outside and in the kitchen) and see all the inner workings of the temple as well as people worshipping. One of the most interesting things about this temple is that they serve 50,000 free meals a day to anyone who comes in, regardless of their race, religion or caste. The rich and the poor eat the same food together, on the floor, side by side. The tour of the kitchen was crazy. There were pots that would have easily fit 5 kids the size of Molly and Grace filled with curried vegetables, daal, rice and chapattis, and this was just for the evening meal (they do this 3 times a day). All of the food is donated and volunteers do all of the preparation.

MANDAWA

After New Delhi we drove west to Mandawa, it took about 6 hours but was only about 270km. Driving in India is not very efficient but we also stopped for a coffee break and about an hour lunch stop. Mandawa is known for its havelis. Havelis are traditional mansions in India. They have intricate, beautiful paintings decorating them. We were able stay in a few that had been converted into hotels along our journey.

BIKANER

Bikaner was our next stop. Just outside the city is the famous Rat Temple. The Rat Temple is just like it sounds; it’s full of rats. Not giant, gross rats, but small, more mouse-like rats. But, it’s still very gross and pretty smelly. There are thousands of them. The rats are considered holy and people buy and bring them food offerings. It’s considered good luck for a rat to run over your feet or if you spot the albino rat. Well yup, a disgusting little rat ran over my foot, I’m waiting on the luck…..

After our rat experience we headed to our hotel to wash up. Then Anup piled us into a tuk tuk and took us on a tour of the city. The streets were so narrow and bustling that it would have been impossible to drive anywhere, and really, tuk tuk rides are more fun. It brought us so close to everything that was going on. We stopped and got out at a fruit and veggie market to buy some carrots, oranges, bananas and peanuts for snacks. We had bought some fruit earlier in our journey so we knew the ball park price we should be paying. Anup was great at balancing our independence with guidance. He would give us input on what a good price for things would be before we headed to the market, but left the hunting and bargaining to us.

JAISALMER

The landscape changed to desert as we got closer to Jaisalmer. Random camels replaced random cows on the side of the road and trees gave way to shrubs and cacti. Just outside town was the Jaisalmer War Museum, the history lessons continued from a different country’s point of view.

The Golden Fort in Jaisalmer towers above the city and our hotel had a great view from the roof top restaurant. People actually live within the walls of the fort which was different from any of the other forts we saw in India. We had a through tour of the city before heading into the desert to spend a night on the dunes. Our tour guide was kind of a schwarmy guy who talked about opium and chewed and spit this stuff called “betel” (it’s like chewing tobacco but it stains the mouth and teeth). We had a variety of guides at different monuments, the girls called this one “opium guy”.

About 45 minutes from the city we came to a small village and where we were going to stay for the night. Everywhere we looked villagers we working hard going about their daily tasks. Ladies were carrying water and wood on their heads, men were herding goats and moving loads with camels. We pulled up to our destination and across the road were about 15 camels. We went over and loaded up (which is not easy, Grace cried a little) and rode the camels into the dunes. We reached the top of the dunes in time to watch the sunset over the golden sand.

The temperature dropped quickly and we headed back for dinner and watched a traditional music and dance performance. Around 9pm we jumped into the back of a jeep and were taken out on to the dunes where we bedded down in the sand and slept under the stars. I asked plenty of questions about snakes and scorpions before we went out there, but I was assured that in the winter season it’s too cold for them and they stay away. Just as we were falling asleep Grace yelled out “Something’s stinging me!!” We turned on our head lamps to check things out but didn’t find anything. She had definitely been bitten but there was no sign of any creature. It stung for a bit, but felt better after a while. We think it was the work of a dung beetle. After that it was a peaceful night and we woke up in time to see the sunrise.

JODHPUR

Before I even get started you need to know that we were in Jodhpur just days before Nick Jonas (yes, one of the Jonas brothers from Disney that was popular in the early 2000’s) married Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra. What did this mean to us? Nothing except the city was extra busy preparing for the wedding. Indian weddings are days long and involve many parties!!

It’s known as the blue city. The people of the Brahmin (priestly) caste painted their homes blue. From the fort above the city you can see the blue buildings. It’s also the place where jodhpur pants were invented. I won’t go into the history of that, but you can read it here if you want. The history and architecture of the places we saw are astounding, there is no way I could go through everything we saw and learned. Here is the highlight reel.

From Jodhpur the plan was to head to Udaipur and on the way stop in Ranakpur to see one of the most famous Jain temples in the world. There was a lot of driving during our time in India, but honestly there is so much to look at on the way it’s like you’re constantly visiting a new place. Here are just a few of the interesting sites (in no particular order)!

 

RANAKPUR

Our only stop here was at the Jain temple which was built in the 1400’s. It’s in the middle of a forest which was a big change from the desert we came from. We saw monkeys in the trees along the road and even some sitting beside the road hoping for a treat from passersby.

UDAIPUR

Udiapur, AKA “The City of Lakes” or the “Most Romantic City in India” was our resting spot for two days. Our hotel was up on a hill overlooking one of the seven lakes that surround the city. It was also the playground for a troop of monkeys!!

Udaipur is famous for its lake palaces. These were built by the royal family as places to go in the summer when the temperatures were really hot. Today they are 5 star hotels.

It was wedding season in India and weddings can happen any day of the week. Hindus believe in lucky (auspicious) wedding dates. These dates are chosen by using astrology. Priests are consulted by the couple to determine when the best (luckiest) time to get married is. As it turns out while we were Udaipur preparations were underway for the daughter of the richest man in India to be married. The pre-wedding celebrations were taking place in Udaipur with the wedding happening in Mumbai. BEYONCE performed a private concert at one of the pre-wedding parties…..Hillary Clinton was a guest!! While we toured the City Palace workers were setting up a huge platform for one of the parties. Here is a link to an article about the wedding; it’s quite unbelievable.

We also had a chance to visit the largest Hindu temple in the city the Jagdish Temple. It’s been in operation since the 1600’s. There are three stories of carved stone designs on the outside. While we were there it was worship time and we were able to see people praying and saying the mantras. No photos or video are allowed, but it’s something we will never forget.

One night we went to see a cultural show that demonstrated some of the local dances and rituals. It was loud, colourful and entertaining. But the highlight of the show was when a 72 year old women danced with pots on her head and kept adding more and more on and they never fell off!!

Our hotel had a great rooftop terrace overlooking a lot of the city.

PUSHKAR

Pushkar is is another city on a lake and is considered a very holy place for Hindus. It has the only Brahma (Hindu god of creation) temple in the world. Many Hindus make pilgrimages here to bathe in the waters of the lake and come to the temple. It’s also famous for its annual Camel Fair . We walked through the temple (no photos allowed) and saw a fire ceremony at the lake. The market here was pretty lively and colourful so it was fun to walk through.

JAIPUR

One of the great experiences we had in India came in Jaipur…..an Ayurvedic Massage.  Ayurvedic medicine is popular in India and massage is one aspect of it. Anup knew of a reputable clinic in Jaipur that specialized in these types of treatments and had trained professionals running and working in the practice. So, the four of us each had a massage. The massage aims to stimulate the lymphatic system. It has been said to help with pain relief, reduction of fatigue and improved immune system. We each had an hour long session using essential oils from head to toe. It got a thumbs up from all of us, but it was the girls first massage and they were unsure about being naked (disposable underwear and covered with towels). But, once the saw the older, professional ladies who would be working on them they relaxed.

I also had a Shirodhara massage. Basically, a stream of warm oil is released slowly and steadily on to your forehead for about 30 minutes. It was so relaxing….I fell asleep for a bit!

Jaipur is the bustling capital of Rajasthan. Like pretty much every other place we’ve been to in India, it has a lot of history. The older part of the city has many pink buildings, hence its nickname the “Pink City”.

Hawa Mahal AKA the Wind Palace was built to allow women of the royal family to watch public processions, parades etc. on the street below without being seen by the public. It has many small, carved windows on each side which also allowed a breeze to blow through to keep the ladies cool.

Amber Palace/Fort was the location of the capital until the 1700’s when it was moved to Jaipur. It’s a popular tourist attraction (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and one of things tourists usually do is ride an elephant up to the entrance. We’d read a lot about the treatment of the elephants and decided to walk up. Although doing this mean we had to get through the gauntlet of hawkers trying to sell us souvenirs and crafts. Let’s just say we were strong on the way on, not so strong on the way out. Anup’s advice to us was “always be in control”….we failed.

We went to the City Palace next. The city palace was built in the 1700’s when the capital was moved from the Amber Palace/Fort to Jaipur. A huge part of it is still a royal residence. By this time we were palaced out. Don’t get me wrong, all the palaces we saw were beautiful and the architecture is stunning but it had been a long day. The girls and I got hennas done in the courtyard, took a quick stroll through and called it a day!

Jaipur is known for semi precious stone work. We were able to visit a workshop to see craftsmen cutting and polishing stones and then went into the shop and had a lesson on the different types. Of course we were asked if we’d like to buy any, but we remained in control.

Jantar Mantar is a place near the City Palace that the king had built to nurture his love of science and astronomy. It has 19 astronomical instruments and the biggest sundial in the world (it’s accurate to within 2 seconds!!).

Oh, and here’s something strange that happened in Jaipur. For a few nights I had been hearing this weird scratching noise in my rooms. At several different hotels. The first time I heard it I thought there was a mouse or some other creature in our room. I was up half the night looking for it….found nothing. The next time, I thought the same thing….still nothing. It always happened at night and I seemed to be the only one who heard it. Before packing to leave Jaipur I emptied my bag and found a giant dung beetle!!  It had been scratching around trying to find a way out. The only place we’d been that had them was the desert in Jaisalmer. That’s over 800km away!! Anyway, I squished it and it was a relief knowing I wasn’t going crazy.

As we left Jaipur we had one last stop to make, Galta Ji, the famous Monkey Temple. To be honest, it wasn’t one of the cleanest/nicest temples we visited. But, it was built in the crevice of a canyon and was quite colourful and there were monkeys everywhere. So, if you ask the kids, they’d probably say this was a more interesting temple. Most of the monkeys were at the entrance where they have a better chance of being fed by people (and there is a huge pile of garbage to rummage through). Also, inside there is a place where people can donate money to feed the cows that are living at the temple.

RANTHAMBORE

Leaving behind the city we headed for rural India. Ranthambore National Park is the largest park in northern India and is one of the last places to see Bengal tigers in the wild. The Maharajas used to hunt tigers here back in the day, but tigers and other animals have been protected her since 1955.

The park is set up into several zones for safaris and only so many vehicles are allowed in per zone. People are only allowed to enter the area with a guide in a vehicle. A person could just walk in, it’s not like there are fences keeping people out, but no one goes in because it’s dangerous. Cows or goats that wander in are often killed and eaten by the tigers.

We were picked up at our hotel and taken for an afternoon safari in a jeep that could hold 6 people. We were with a couple from Germany who were very nice and the man told cheesy jokes that the girls loved. As we entered the park we met another jeep exiting. The guide told our guide that they had seen a male tiger earlier. So, we set out to see if we could spot him. Park rangers had seen a kill that the tier had made the day before, so our guide figured either the tiger would be near that or heading to a watering hole to drink. Normally the safari would have taken us all through the zone we were in, but because we knew the tiger was in this one area, we stayed there and waited. And waited, and waited. We drove the route where the kill was, and then watering hole. No luck. Just as we were making a last round of the trail our guide spotted the tiger in the bushes near the road (we have no idea how he saw it because we were all looking in the same spot and saw nothing). Our guide said “He’s waiting. He wants to come out.” We were too close, so the driver pulled up about 10 metres and waited. Sure enough we heard the bushes rustling and out came the tiger on to the road…..where he proceed to take a huge dump. He knew we were there, he looked in our direction, but he did not care. He sauntered down the road a bit and then crossed to the other side and disappeared into the long grass. We raced to the watering hole because the guide said he was either going to drink or he was going to find a place to sleep. He never showed up at the watering hole so we headed back (along with every other jeep in the area that had heard there was a sighting) to where we had seen him enter the grass. It turns out he had laid down in the grass and was getting comfortable before having a sleep. We caught glimpses of him rolling around with his paws in the air, bit that was it. We cleared out so the other groups could try and have a look.

We were elated. What luck we’ve had on our journey seeing wildlife. We talked to so many people who had been on 3 or 4 outings and had seen nothing. We saw a Bengal tiger, in the wild, on our first and only safari!!

After the thrill of seeing the tiger the only thing that could top it for the girls was the Taj Mahal. On our way there we stopped in Abhaneri to see something Mark was looking forward to (it’s also a famous historical spot in Rajasthan), the Chand Baroi step well. Once you see a step well it’s easy to understand how they work. I’ll let the photos do the explaining.

AGRA

On our way into Agra we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri an abandoned city that was the capital of this area at one point, but the capital was relocated to Agra due to lack of water supply. What was neat about this palace was that there was Christian, Ialamic and Hindu architecture because Emperor Akbar had three wives (one of each religion). Akbar was the grandfather of the guy who built the Taj Mahal. The tour guide we had was great and had a fun time taking interesting photos with the girls.

The main mission in Agra, of course, was the Taj Mahal (click here for some little known facts about it. Every tour guide must read these because they all tell the same stories or whoever wrote this article interviewed a tour guide). We were determined to see it at sunrise even though Anup told us that it would be foggy until about 8:30am. We thought maybe we’d get lucky. We were up before the sun and walked to the entrance about a kilometre down the street from our hotel. We were blessed with this view:

So, we waited…..

Then we decided to walk a little closer.

It was still only around 7:30am, so we decided to go up and into the building to take a closer look. Seeing it in photos is one thing, but in person the place is massive. The workmanship and detail are unfathomable. No wonder it took about 20 years to finish.

We all got our own iconic picture and someone took another family pic for us too!

We had a 12 hour train ride to Varanasi ahead of us that night, so we headed back to our hotel for breakfast and a nap. I felt like I was done with Agra. I mean how do you top the Taj Mahal right? But, we had a few hours of sightseeing ahead of us and I’m glad we decided to go. The Agra fort is neat, but the view of the Taj Mahal from there is awesome and we visited the sight where there were plans to build another Taj Mahal out of black marble (the same guy wanted to do it, but his father said no, so he locked his father up until he died 7 years later). The excavation was done and some of the foundation, but it never got any further than that. We went to the site as many people do for another view of the Taj. It’s directly across the river and maybe has a better view and no crowds!!

Our train was scheduled to leave Agra for Varanasi at 8pm. The train station was like nothing we’ve ever scene. There were people, animals and cargo everywhere. Anup dropped us off and made sure we knew where to go. There was a waiting room (a tiny closet of a room) that had other foreigners in it off of the 2nd class waiting room. Everyone else just laid and sat on the floor of the station for the trains. There were several mice keeping us company while we waited for the train. Ours left 5 hours late plus was delayed another 8 hours. So our overnight 12 hour train ride turned into 20 hours. We had a berth to ourselves with a curtain for privacy. But anything more than 15 hours is too much, the bathrooms were atrocious. As we were preparing to exit the train Mark saw a huge rat run down the hallway.

VARANASI

Varanasi is set on the banks of the Ganges River and is considered the spiritual capital of India. This is one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities, and one of the holiest in Hinduism. Pilgrims come to the ghats lining the Ganges to wash away sins in the sacred waters or to cremate their loved ones. If a Hindu dies and is cremated here they can reach moksha (the end of reincarnation and on to enlightenment).

If you want to see the realities of life and death Varanasi is the place to go. We walked along the ghats (steps leading to the river) and saw people bathing, swimmings, doing laundry and brushing their teeth in the river. While a little further along we saw families carrying their loved ones who has passed away to the river to prepare to have them cremated. We saw all stages of the cremation process during our walks. Our guide said to us “Burning is learning. Cremation is education.” It’s hard to describe how it feels to see this. It’s raw and intense. I’m not writer, this is a travel diary. So, if you’d like to know more about the process, written by a professional, read this National Geographic article. It was a great read to prepare for the visit and really captures the essence of this part of Varanasi.

Every night there is a prayer ceremony (Ganga Aarti) on the banks of the river using lamps lit with fire. People give offerings to the Ganges in the form of candles lit on banana leaves with flowers. We took in this loud and colourful ceremony before heading to bed. We had an early wake up to take a sunrise boat ride on the river.

The boat ride gave us a chance to see the bustle of the ghats in the morning in as the city woke up. There were still cremations happening (the go on 24/7) and people coming to wash and pray at the river. The river itself is very dirty. We saw some dead, bloated cows floating passed and sometimes bodies aren’t completely burned and get put in. Also, there has been an issue with sewage being piped directly into the river for years. It’s the 5th most polluted river in the world and is classified not safe to use for agriculture, let alone human consumption or bathing.

The next day Grace was feeling sick. I was a convinced it was because she accidentally got splashed by water from the Ganges, maybe she got some in her mouth? Ack!! I probably overreacted. We spent the day resting and preparing for our trip to Doha and Thailand and mentally preparing for our train ride to Delhi.

The Varanasi train station was a dream. Very clean and modern and the train we were on was much newer and cleaner than the last one. The only downfall was that we didn’t have a berth all together. The girls had a bunk alone across from me (I was sharing with an older lady. Mark was in a bunk above someone a halfway down the car and he was sick….. again. He had a fever, chills and a headache…..he said it was the worst night of his life. Direct quote “I was dying and sleeping in a coffin, a cigar tube.” Luckily the diarrhea didn’t start until later. The bathrooms were no better than the last train. We left on time and there were no delays, in India that’s no small feat.

We were so happy to be reunited with Anup at the train station the next morning. It was like meeting up with an old friend. He wanted to hear all about Varanasi and we wanted to hear all about what he had been up to. Because Mark was sick he didn’t feel like doing much, he actually spent the whole day in bed. Anup remembered that we wanted to a Bollywood movie, so while we had breakfast and a rest at our hotel, he checked out what movies were on and picked up tickets for the girls and I. I was expecting him to just drop us off and pick us up when it was over, but he actually came to the movie with us! Kedarnath was completely in Hindi (no subtitles), but Anup gave us a bit of background and translated a little if it was a confusing or an integral part of the movie. We were able to follow along with the story and we all cried really hard at the end (ye, it was sad). We throughly enjoyed ourselves and it was a really memorable experience. P.S the theatre was luxurious and the snacks were soooo good. Click here to watch the movie trailer.

The next day we headed for the airport and our Christmas holiday in Qatar. We met a cool family in the Delhi airport who were headed for Sri Lanka. They were on holiday from teaching in Kazakstan. If we had visited with them any longer Mark and I may have started filling out job applications to teach overseas……But, with Christmas fast approaching and family on my mind there was no way I could picture being away for another year.

India was behind us and the sights and sounds of her have left a lasting imprint. No other country will ever phase us. India, you win again.