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.