Varanasi, Agra, Delhi

This is a pretty short post but once again we are further in our travels than in our writing. We are currently in McLeod Ganj home of the Dalai Lama enjoying another little bit of Tibetan culture to make up for our lost trip to Tibet.

So here it is the first little taste of India. More to come soon; I promise!

Varanasi

After a less than fantastic night’s sleep at the border town of Bhairahawa we were up early and across the border in the rain for another long bone shaking bus ride to the Indian city of Varanasi.  The only word to describe Varanasi is overwhelming.  One of the oldest cities in the world and one of the holiest cities in India, Varanasi assaults all your senses.

Sitting alongside the Ganges River the city is a pilgrimage site for Hindus who come to bathe in the river’s sacred water; thus it is teeming with people all heading along the narrow streets towards or away from the river.  Also considered an auspicious place to die, the river is lined with cremation sites where bodies are openly burned.

Certainly an intense way to start our adventure in India: our time in Varanasi was spent exploring the narrow streets of the old city.  The streets are messy, noisy, and crowded.  Cows defecate everywhere and munch on rubbish left behind by an uncaring public.  But people walk on through.  Pilgrims wear orange and walk with painted faces and flower baskets full of holy (Ganges) water.   Others clap gongs and other noise-making devices in some—as of yet—unidentified rhythm.

After a very rattly overnight train trip we arrived in Agra.

Agra

People pretty much come to Agra for one thing: to visit the Taj Mahal.

It’s hard to know what to write about the Taj Mahal.  Everything has been written before and everyone has seen the photos.  It is an exceedingly beautiful building.  But somehow I was not a blown away as many previous visitors were.  I found it a bit lifeless (apart from all the tourists); unlike many other places we have visited it doesn’t breathe spirituality it’s not alive with worship and meaning.   It sits surrounded by its gracious gardens somehow apart from the scruffy city surrounding it.

 And there you go. I may be the only person in history to go to the Taj Mahal and write a less than stellar review.

Delhi

Everything we had heard suggested Delhi would be a pretty intense experience: mayhem.  However we actually found it not as bad as we expected...obviously we are now seasoned travellers whom nothing fazes!  We stayed just one day in Delhi.  But, being a Monday, none of the major sights we open so we spent the day wandering the streets of Old Delhi taking in the sights and smells of the spice and cloth markets, nibbling on street snacks, and generally taking it all in.

******

Coming up next Manali and Mcleod Ganj with a detour to the emergency room

Love to all

xxxx