agra and delhi

Sorry we didn't have internet in Agra and then just lost steam once we got to Delhi because the clock was ticking.

The Taj Mahal was really cool to have saved for last. I'm glad we didn't do it right away. It felt like the reward for making it through the rest of the trip. Of course, it was beautiful and giant and there aren't really words to describe it. It was sort of a foggy day the day we were there, but it was still very cool.

That day we hired a driver to take us to the red fort and he wanted to take us to more places, but we just wanted to get back to Delhi because my dad had gotten us a room at the Marriott in Delhi. 
(red fort. or part of it. it's big)
The car back to Delhi was a little bit of an ordeal. Our driver agreed on a price and then it changed and then he pawned us off to this other car who wanted to charge us too much, so we ended up with this third guy who we assumed knew where we were going, but he didn't. Anyway it worked out. That guy was really nice. We stopped for dinner at what I want to call a truck stop but it was a really fresh roadside restaurant that served up some of the hottest (temperature-wise), most delicious food we ate. It was really good.

We arrived at the hotel around 11:30 and just enjoyed sleeping in a real bed. Took a really hot bath.

The next day we hopped on the Delhi metro and saw Qutab Minar which is a really big mosque and minaret. We also saw the government buildings and attempted to go shopping, but we were just exhausted by then.

(outside the government buildings in delhi)
Our flight was at 2:30am so we headed to the airport around 11. 30 hours of flying later, we were in Houston where my brother Matt picked us up (he was there for a job interview) and we drove 4 hours to make it back to Austin.

We spent the next day cleaning the house and unpacking JD's one million trinkets. He got on a very early flight to NM the next day, so I headed to Round Rock to hang out with the fam which has been nice.

There are 400 pictures on facebook. You can check out my albums here and here.

Good to be home! Headed to NH to visit gram and spanky on the 28th. 

Jaipur

(Written saturday night).

Well we just finished our day in Jaipur. I'm glad we decided to add it in at the last minute. It was definitely better than two more days in khujaraho. The day train was fun thanks to a car full of foreigners trading stories. They all left us in Agra as we continued on.

We hired a rickshaw driver for the day who took us to a jewelry shop and a textile factory in addition to the sights we actually wanted to see. Now I'm the proud owner of an aquamarine ring and two hand block printed scarves. They're all very pretty though.

We started off at the city's biggest minaret and headed to the city palace (we prefer udaipur's) and a pretty tomb. The architecture here is so intricate and beautiful. The tops of windows are all scalloped and often have lace-like cutouts and carvings. Most of the buildings we saw were made of sandstone or marble. It's amazing that more of the detailed designs haven't been washed away over time in monsoons.

Jaipur is called the pink city because a lot of the natural stone is pink, and the king of some time period built a pink palace because it was his wife's favorite color? Our understanding of the actual history is an interesting mix of rickshaw driver fun facts and a cursory look at the lonely planet. A lot of the road dividers have pink-painted patterns on them.

We had some delicious potato cake street food in the rickshaw parking lot for lunch and climbed up to the top of a fort overlooking the city. JD is sleeping, but he knows the names of the places we saw. It all blends together for me. Then we wound higher up into the hills to see the tiger palace. The rickshaw driver let me drive the rickshaw, with his hand on mine, while he told me he would want to marry me if I hadn't come with JD. Little creepy, but there aren't a whole lot of foreigners around and even fewer blondes so I've gotten used to a few random come ons. That palace was interesting because it was inhabited by a troupe (right?) of monkeys that let JD know when he was coming too close. There was also a very stinky room full of bats.

In the evening we haggled for beaded shoes. $7 in the first shop and $3 at the neighboring shop. One pair is blue, one red. Loooove them both.

Then we headed out in search of dinner and had an omelet on bread cooked in a wok for 50 cents (all prices for both of us), a couple of crispy pancakes with soup and mango pickle for 75 cents and some street tandoori chicken for $3.75 or so. There were lots of flies and lots of people in that restaurant. So far so good though.

At the end of the night we wandered into the movie theater and saw the newest Bollywood movie. We've been hearing the theme song throughout the country, so it was fun to match it to the movie. I slept through maybe 1/3 of it but JD loved it. It was about a woman in a mob family who is engaged to this guy who keeps accidentally getting into jail for things like throwing a match over his shoulder that ends up landing in paint thinner and blowing up the jail. Every time she comes to pick him up when his time is up, he does something else and gets back in. Anyway this fake? police officer, the hero, falls in love with her and marries her. My fav part is how the major characters all have their own personal theme song so when they walk into a room, their song plays. For $3, it was a good way to spend 2 hours. JD would probably argue it's one of the best things we've done.

We're on a chair car train now to the Taj Mahal in Agra. We're passing through farming communities with big fields of yellow flowers that look like wild mustard, groups of tiny huts and big haystacks. I always wonder whose job it is to reshape cow patties into discs and lay them out to dry.

JD is sleeping and I'm reading a book we bought in the chennai airport about the history of Indian geography. JD and I usually read together but I've been sleeping a lot on trains so he's far ahead. It's very interesting though, especially the parts about places we've been.

Feels surreal right now, but we're excited to get to the taj. It doesn't feel like we should already be at our second to last day here. Tonight faj got us a room at the Marriott near Delhi and I'm thrilled for feather pillows and a hot bath. Spending the day in Delhi tomorrow before our 2am flight tomorrow night.

Change of plans

Updates: We did get our train tickets cancelled and rebooked! New plan: leave for Jaipur early tomorrow morning and train it all day long. Arrive at 10pm. Then spend Saturday there, leave for Agra early Sunday morning. Spend Sunday in Agra. We need to figure out how to get back to Delhi for our flight Tuesday at 2am.

We made fast friends with our rickshaw driver who invited us home to his sisters home for tea because his wife is out of town visiting family. Our chai was made with yak milk and we had to wait a bit while they milked the yak in the front yard. And it tasted EXACTLY like all of the other chai we've had which makes me think a) yak milk is fine and b) maybe we've had it with yak milk all along and had no idea? He also told jd no wife, no life and women need to have children to be happy. He's picking us up tomorrow morning to see this other group of temples before we get on the train at 9.

Pictures: Bananas flambé for dessert! And the home of our rickshaw drivers sister.

Varanasi

Varanasi was intense. One of the first things we did was walk along the ghats (steps at the water) and soon enough we came to the burning ghat where bodies are cremated. Families wrap the bodies in muslin and orange fabric, carry it through the winding back alleys and to the river where the body is dipped in the Ganges to be washed and then left on the steps to dry for an hour. After, the men in the family sit for three hours while the body burns. They throw large bones like the femur and hip bones into the river. Women aren't allowed because wives used to throw themselves on the fires and they said if you cry, the souls don't go to heaven.

It was really interesting. Boats full of women and tourists watched from the river as tens of families of men sat waiting.

At the same time, you constantly have people asking you for money or wanting to tell you stories and then get a donation or sell you little flowers to float down the river 'for good karma for your family.' Our favorite was this man who hopped on our boat, demanded we take one, light it and drop it in the river before he told us how much it was. Hawkers are serious there.

We had a nice time. Found the lonely planet recommended 'blue lassi' with giant lassis in clay pots. I had pomegranate, JD had guava. We went to Muslim town and the university area. Lots and lots of Hindu temples. We must be blessed for a lifetime or two by now.

Other than that, we had delicious dosas and samosas and things in the alleys. We went on a sunset and a sunrise boat ride. We met really nice Brits and a guy from the Czech Republic who jumped in the Ganges with JD.

Now we're in the tiny town of kujarajo which isn't much more than Kama sutra temples and a dusty little tourist trap. We're going to try to change our train ticket to get out earlier but we don't know yet. This definitely isn't a place you would choose to spend three days. But if we have to, we have to.

Today we looked at the western group of 'sexy temples' as we've been calling them and at one point we had a pack of like 16 boys following us. The attention here is insane. The man who took us to our hotel from the train station literally pops out every time we step foot outside. I lost my patience with him a little bit when I was hungry and he hasn't been as bad since. Crazy day.

First three photos from Varanasi, last three from khujaraho.

Calcutta follow up

Not a lot of time to post before the taxi comes to take us to the train station but we LOVED Calcutta. We walked everywhere, took a rickshaw to this big Jain temple, walked through markets, ate delicious street food. Took a fast taxi that honked all the way through a very populated market. That was a little scary.

On our way to Varanasi for 2 days

Calcutta

Well after train, plane, taxi, rickshaw, motorcycle, ferry, houseboat and bus, we've discovered why people lose it here: the airports.

We had an insane day yesterday/today.

The highlights:
Morning swim in the ocean.
Wood fired pizza and sandwich with homemade bread and mayo.
Oldest church in India.
Oldest synagogue in India (on the first day of Hanukkah, no less).
Found out we got to the airport 4 hours before our flight (tricky military time screwing us up. It said 9pm and I'm so used to 19:00 I thought we flew at 7 when our flight was at 9).
Very angry boyfriend.
JD tried to get a beer in the international terminal and security wouldn't let him back in without a major inquisition and talking to 5 different people.
Getting a hotel for our 12am-4am layover in Chennai.
Taxi told us there were non-AC rooms available before we went to hotel.
There were not.
Paying $26 for 3.5 hours of sleep and a shower. Totally worth it.
JD got them to bring him a beer. It was warm, and 'Commando' brand with a guy with a machine gun on the front, see picture.
Waking up our wake up call.
Taxi driver fell asleep while driving, nearly ran us into cement wall on way to terminal.
Jumped the security queue in order to very barely make the plane.
Security wouldn't give me a stamp for my carry on so I had to run back and plead with this woman.
JD was stuck in security until 3 min before the flight.
After flight, security guy wouldn't let us off the plane until we showed him our boarding passes for a sixth time.
Prepaid taxi stand in Calcutta quotes us 210r initially, then 320 when we come back after a quick coffee.

I mean. We were exasperated. But Calcutta is nice. Busy, loud, but it feels good. We had some delicious street food: fried dough with meat curry stew, grilled bread with fried egg on the side and onion and peppers, cardamom chai. Baskin Robbins.

Now we're at what seems to be a very popular hidden English hotel called Fairlawn Hotel, and every table is full of English people drinking tea, complete with embroidered tea cozies. We paid a whopping $5 for Internet, far and away the most yet, and we've somehow convinced them to hold our bags for the next 5 hours while we wander before our train tonight.

Kerala days 2 and 3

(Written Saturday.)

Yesterday was another long day of lounging on the houseboat. It was cool and beautiful and restful, but I'm glad to be back on land. The delicious food we ate on night 1 was more or less the same lunch and same dinner we had the next day. No more coconut!

Today we took the most quintessentially Indian bus to kochi. We literally waited an hour or more to find a bus with enough space for us and our bags. There was a big crowd and every time a bus would come, every few minutes, a very few people would get off before 15-20 crammed on through the in and out doors. Finally we just jammed ourselves on and I stood for over an hour of the 2 hour journey, crammed up against fellow sweaty travelers.

After that we took refuge in this chain we keep seeing, Cafe Coffee Day. We had a coffee, strawberry shake and a chicken tikka masala sandwich. The air conditioning was the very best part, but my shake was good. Kind of nesquickish.

This afternoon we jumped on a ten cent ferry to a little island where we checked in to a beach hotel with our own little building and AC. It's an extra $20 for AC and all worth it. It is so swampy.

We spent the evening playing in waves. There were zero foreigners swimming on the beach so me in my black bikini was causing quite a stir. I counted six grown men taking pictures. Teenagers yelled 'what's your good name' across the water and little kids came to ask where we were from. When I walked a few feet across the shore in my bathing suit, men and women gave me the 'tss tss' sound they give dogs to shoo them. Some were smiling, some noticeably displeased.

JD made a spiral-shaped sand castle that I decorated with tiny white shells and then he turned in to the center of attention. Everyone who walked by took a picture and asked what it was. Sandcastles aren't big on this beach I guess.

Fresh orange and watermelon juice tonight with ice cream before bed. Flying to chennai tomorrow and then we have a layover from 11 pm to 5am (how fun will that be?!) before we arrive in Calcutta and then on to Varanasi where bodies are burned in the Ganges.

Kerala day 1

Kerala has been a bit of a mixed bag. Our trip here was really good. We met two Americans on their honeymoon, Joe and Kira, and ended up sleeping in the same train compartment. They already had plans but it would have been fun to keep going with them. They were really relaxed and fun. Northern Californians.

We got to alleppey, I had a chocolate milkshake that just made me sooo happy in such a hot place, and we had lunch in a small cafe. Everyone around us was eating huge plates of rice with soup mixed in and chutneys, turning it over and over in their hand before a quick swoop into their mouths. JD and I had noodles and 'alleppey chicken' that took foreeeever to come out because no one ever orders anything but the special. They had maybe 20 premade plates of it ready to go out stacked up on the counter.

Anyway then we did what the book told us not to do: got in a taxi, picked up the drivers friend and were taken to his houseboat. So we're in alleppey because they have these awesome houseboats and you hire one for a day of two and they have a staff that drives you and cooks for you. Our plan was to get to the dock to negotiate with all of the drivers at once. But that didn't happen. We were left dealing with this guy who JD hated because he kicked a puppy out of our way. It kind of spoiled the afternoon. Anyway we negotiated and set sail in the evening.

It's been great though. Our crew stopped and we bought some freshwater prawns from a little shack. They made us a feast for dinner of chicken and four or five dishes with coconut in everything served on pretty cut glass plates.

Our boat has a living room with a couch and two matching chairs in front and a glass dining room table behind it. The wall has a pretty blue painting. Our room has a big bed, funny green wallpaper with raindrops on it, AC from 9pm to 6pm and a bathroom with a shower.

We switched drivers overnight and now we have a man who speaks English which is nice. He's letting jd drive the boat now. Feels good to be able to communicate and not just mime with the crew. Last night we had a little scare when we thought there was no dinner. We tried to ask but didn't get anywhere.

Cruising along the canals today. It's beautiful and fun to see the different houseboats around us. The biggest have 20 rooms or so and look like floating apartment complexes. They all have kind of thatched looking roofs and real windows. Different boats have one or two stories and various lounge combos. I like ours. Even though its really warm and swampy like Florida, the breeze feels good.

Palolem day 3

Well we're a little bit bummed to leave palolem but we've heard Kerala is also beautiful and not to be missed so we're packing up and heading further south. I'm wondering how hot it'll be since palolem is pretty toasty in the 90s or so. We brought all kinds of cold weather clothing but I've bought a few cotton tops for the beach.

Yesterday we lounged again all day and this time had grilled tuna BBQ on the beach. Very delicious. $8 for the two of us. JD has been drinking kings beer which is local Goan beer. I've stuck mostly to banana lassis. They also have lime soda which is fresh like juice with sprite mixed in and you can get it sweet or salted. I tried salted once but we prefer sweet. Locals giggle when I order sweet. Maybe only kids get it?

And we've eaten our weight in garlic naan. It's so cheap and filling and just delicious. And it's flakier than naan at home.

Last night we had a whole lot of fun chatting with three Brits. Two brothers and one other man. They're all from the Bristol area and had fun ribbing each other about town rivalries that went completely over our heads. One of the brothers works in programming and the other is a forklift operator at a brewery. The forklift one, forget his name, had a good chunk of his ear missing and he told us it had been bitten off by a lesbian on crutches apparently. Can't make that stuff up.

I explained what Facebook was to the third man, who's 55 and on vacation for 2 weeks. He told us about this brutish guy who has been conning people out of money at our cocohut complex and to stay clear of him. He said Brits are all about being gentlemen so he's embarrassed the guy is doing that.

Lunch and then we're on the move!

Palolem

When people tell you India is crazy and overwhelming and you're insane for going, they don't know about palolem. Its in the far south part of Goa. It feels just like koh tao, Thailand. It's relaxed.

We're on a crescent shaped beach, lined with restaurants with 50 cent butter naan, $3 main dishes of tikka masala or tandoori something or Chinese style stir fry or burgers or Italian. For breakfast we had fried eggs, toast, stir fried potatoes with spices and garlic and green pepper, tea. All for less than $4.

JD wants to note that there are beautiful girls everywhere. Unlike north Goa where we were yesterday, there are lots of families from Britain with small children here. North Goa was all Russians. There are a bunch here too though. Blonde. Super tan. Kind of odd hair cuts. What is it with europeans and mullets? I wonder how these people get so tan. It's like they're professional sunbathers the way their skin is so deep brown.

Today we swam out to a rock, lounged on the beach and had a grilled shark on the beach for dinner. JD hadn't stopped talking about it since we discovered BBQ on the beach just after we had already eaten last night. It was sooo yummy. We picked out a small one. They keep all kinds of fish on ice and you choose yours and they grill it with all sorts of spices.

It's been nice to unwind and read and just hang out with minimal tourist onslaught. We bought a few things today. I found the same printed sarongs I bought in Thailand and they are the best things. Worth all of the space they'll take up in my bag.

Fun facts: So far we've eaten about half the snacks (we brought literally 50 granola bars and maybe 30 packages of fruit snacks which are such a life saver when I get cranky with hunger and exhaustion.)

We've used 3/4 of a roll of toilet paper and like 6 or 7 packs of wet wipes. I need to google how you're supposed to use the hose and bucket. Lots of unanswered questions there. And if you've been with me since Taiwan you'll be pleased to hear I was actually kind of happy to see the squat toilet again for the first time. I don't really want to say fond memories? But makes me happy to be back in Asia. (The first time I saw one when I first got to Taiwan, I burst into tears. Weird combo of jet lag and general culture shock I think.)

Beer on the beach and then bed.

Goa

I'm sitting on a beachfront restaurant porch beside a shoulder-length haired hipster with an ironic mustache and neon Nike running shorts and his dreadlocked girlfriend, looking out at a family, decked out in tourist trap clothing, straw hats and oversized nikons hanging around their necks, being shown the beach by an Indian man dressed in ironed white pants and a white polo shirt, while the resident 3 legged beach dog hobbles by them.

Meanwhile I'm drinking fresh orange juice after a delicious banana pancake and reading a really wonderful travel book about India written by a sarcastic Australian woman who explains the idiosyncrasies of India perfectly. Waiting for JD to wake up so we can eat real breakfast since I only found 90 rupees in my early morning search around our hut, trying not to wake him up.

Half way wrap up

In reading through previous posts I realize how much time I've spent talking about getting to places and not that much about what we do when we're there.

Delhi really was all about planning for future travel but the second time, we did see quite a bit. We went to a very strange giant sundial and the India gate, which would remind you of the arc d'triumph a bit. I got hoodwinked by this young girl who started drawing henna designs on my hand before I had a chance to say no. Our driver was horrified at how much I paid her relative to what we were paying him, so JD more than made up for the difference.

In rishikesh, cows dominated the tiny lanes of the alleys and men in orange robes asked for rupees. The streets were lined with vendors selling their wares: powder bindi guy, things made out of wood, papadum cooked over charcoal, pashminas and genie pants. Restaurants clung to the hillside on either side of the river and there was a footbridge on either end that frequently had motorbikes, people, cows and monkeys all jockeying to get across. Our favorite was the man who was ever-present in our hotel, serving us chai and bruschetta.

Udaipur was another water-lined city, but the lake was big and open. The shops all felt a little bit the same and the guys trying to sell you stuff would always lure you with a hello, I just want to show you my shop, you don't have to buy. Lots of suit shops, tiny handmade paintings, leather goods and rooftop terraces all showing octopussy nightly. Cows and dogs there didn't seem as loved as rishikesh. We saw lots of them eating trash. Now instead of bargaining for a few hundred rupees (55r = $1), you were aiming for half of the original price.

Mumbai was big and felt European once we settled in the banking district. We hung out in a park for an hour while the sun went down and ate at one of India's staple 'all veg' restaurants. They all have pizza, Chinese food, veg burgers and a selection of Indian staples, mostly centered around paneer.

People have all been extremely kind to us. JD can make friends with anyone. After 10 min they all tell us to call them if we need anything and to let us know when we're back. Like Taiwan, when you're lost or looking for something, more than half the time, someone just walks you there or asks lots of strangers on the street for help. My strategy is to look for modern looking women or guys with a smartphone.

Food-wise, we started off timid but have been pretty trusting since. When my stomach was upset I survived on toast and scrambled eggs, but we've had a fair bit of street food and train food. My fav is the spicy mango pickle.. which is oddly exaaactly like the kind you get at Indian grocery stores at home. Today on the train we had fried bananas, veg and chicken briyani which is just rice. And JD samples the chai everywhere we go. My fav was still in rishikesh. It's gotten much less sweet lately. Although the kind we had on the train today tasted like marshmallow.

Anyway it's been fun, stressful at times. The fact that JD and I have no way to communicate when we aren't in sight of each other makes me feel panicky sometimes. But overall we've loved it. Everyone we meet is very fascinated that we work in politics and have been overjoyed to talk about Obama. We both get lots of stares. It's been fun. Half way done and lots left to do.