India Part 1

January 29th, 2013 - 
Happy New Year to all and i hope you had a great holiday season.....i was in india for my holiday break, so this particular update and the next one (india part 2) will be a bit longer than normal, because it was really hard to choose which pictures i would show and which i wouldn't...it probably has something to do with my friend lisa and i taking over 1800 pictures combined.....what a trip....

Part one will be the first half of our trip; Delhi (or New Delhi), Varanasi, where the Ganges River is located, Khajuraho and Agra, where the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort are located.....the second part will contain pictures from Jaipur, Bikaner, Pushkar, Udaipur, Goa and Mumbai.....

Overall it really was an incredible trip....but india is definitely a place of the most amazing and the most awful things in the world....if you think of every adjective and adverb you have ever used in your life, i think at some point they all applied to what was happening on our trip....it was incredible, overwhelming, dirty, obnoxious, crowded, spectacular, spiritual, crazy, ridiculous, intense, powerful, etc....i don't think i blinked as much as normal, because i really wanted to take it all in....its definitely a place i would recommend, but only for those who are seasoned travelers or want to experience the most intense time of their life.....it really is an incredible place, both positive and negative....some folks have asked if i would go back...and the answer is yes, but probably to the southern part of india where supposedly it is not as intense as the northern section.....while we were there we experienced protests due to a gang-rape that occurred right before we arrived, and we experienced the coldest winter in forty years...and we were not really prepared for that.....but it truly was an amazing trip and luckily neither lisa, nor myself got delhi belly at any point of the trip....which i attest to the awesome travel operator and crew we had for this trip...and if you are planning a trip to india, you really should ask this crew for help....simply amazing!   On with the pictures......

our first stop on this trip was to delhi (also known as new delhi - as they are one and the same, although the city is divided into different sections - new and old)....we stayed in a very interesting hotel....and while we were out wandering around the hotel we got to see some interesting things that became quite normal concerning india....the first thing i learned is that you can have a store anywhere....even in a tree as you can see from the picture above....yes, it was a normal street, with normal stores....but this business person felt a tree would help them sell their product better...it certainly got our attention.....
 

the hotel we stayed at, as i stated above was interesting....weird noises from the bathroom door as it opened in closed, making it feel like you were in a haunted house, very loud patrons who seemed to be coming into your room to have a conversation with you, towels and sheets that were not the cleanest we had ever seen....but my personal favorite thing that happened here was "yoga on the kitchen floor"....yep....the kitchen floor....so here i am with some hot sauce in a pose of some sort....it was crazy....there was no where else to do yoga at the place...bedroom - too small...terrace - too cold....so where did we end up...the kitchen floor....chalk one up for india....simply perfect!

while in old delhi we took a rickshaw pedaled by the guy on the right....the guy on the left pedaled our guide through old delhi....now old delhi is crowded, dirty, crazy busy, not paved very well, and very tight quarters....this guy was great....and so was his english....we turned a few heads with all of our laughing.....and it was amazing how well we got through....
 

one of the places we stopped along the tour through old delhi was this building that has been converted into a whole sale spice market....as you can see - four layers of people living and selling and cooking and working in one huge space...on the left you can see folks sleeping on a balcony....yep, on the concrete floor with just a blanket....and it was about 4 degrees C (35 F) out while they were sleeping....down in the center you can see bags of the spices and over to the right someone's laundry....people are packed in everywhere....and i mean everywhere...people are living on the street under tarps....families....people are living in battered buildings....people are living in their stores that are super tiny....they are everywhere....
 

we also made it a point to stop at the resting place for Gandhi (rajghat)....this is where some of his ashes are kept in delhi....most of them were sent to the ganges river....the holiest of rivers for hindus and where all of them want their ashes to end up at....this spot in delhi where some of his are, is a solemn place that is peaceful and respected...and heads of state from all over the world have visited it.....i am sure based on many things that were happening in the country while we were there, if Gandhi was still alive, he would be disappointed with many things about his country and would be protesting....while we were in delhi there were huge protests concerning a gang-rape that occurred on a bus, where the woman died....unfortunately different political and religious leaders came out and said it was the woman's fault it had happened at all....both lisa and i had a hard time with this opinion....and it was just one thing that showed us that there is still work to be done concerning women's rights in india....there has been much progress....but there still needs to be more....

i am having problems again with the uploading of pictures.....so this picture below is of lisa and i on the rickshaw again....it was a cute one and had to be shared....also, the guy on the left side is our guide rumi....he was cool and knew a lot about his town and shared it quite well....
 

the pictures both above and below this writing are from one of the different religious sites we visited while in delhi....this was a sikh temple that we visited....sikhs believe in one god for all people and that in order to be faithful you live the life of a householder and earn an honest living and avoid worldly temptations and sins...the symbol you see over the huge cooking pot is called a khandra and stands for divine knowledge....one of the coolest aspects of sikhs in my opinion is that they are required to do altruistic work.....so if you go to a sikh temple anywhere in the world, you should be able to get a meal...no matter who you are or what you believe in....we actually went to the kitchen associated with this temple....and you can see the size of the pots they use to cook up food in the picture above....to give you an idea of size, the diameter of the pot was about as big as my arm span....pretty cool....and in the picture below you can see them setting up for the next meal they will be serving in this temple....the members of the temple prep the food, cook the food and serve the food...and really you can come from anywhere to get a hot meal....and this kitchen runs 24 hours a day...this is truly some altruistic service....and what an operation....definitely a cool religion to check out, if only for the volunteerism they ask their members to do.....if only all religions did this....we were really impressed with the sikhs....

 

from delhi we flew to varanasi....a very important place for hindus and buddhists....the picture above is related to the buddhists...it was taken at sarnath....sarnath is the spot where buddha preached his first semron....he also founded his monk order here for his followers....the stone "building" you see above is the dhamekh stupa...and this stupa marks the spot where buddha gave his sermon....its huge....close to 44 meters high (15 feet)...usually a stupa holds a relic of buddha or the ashes of some important buddhist monk....and this one has writing from the 6th-7th century saying that buddha spoke here....sarnath is a very sacred and peaceful spot and we were lucky enough to be here for christmas day :)
 

the picture above was also taken at sarnath, which was crazy to me....here in this very religious spot for buddhism i could find a current version of the periodic table....a perfect combination of science and religion in my eyes...i know, i know...always the science geek!  the man holding the poster with me was a crazy driver....his name was bablu...and boy did he piss people off....in india, many drive with their hand continually on their horns....and in this case he never let go....at one point we needed to tell him we were very angry with his driving just so he would lay off the horn and quit making the other drivers and pedestrians angry....

for the picture above we are still in varanasi...but this time visiting the mother india temple....also known as the bharat mata temple....it is the only temple in india to hold a relief map of india and not gods and goddesses....it was created to honor the "mother" india, is made from marble and is an exact replica of the country to scale.....the to scale part the aspect that most impressed me....from this angle you are standing below the southern most point of india...and if you look to its right, you can see the country i am headed to on my next break....sri lanka....woot!
 

the most amazing thing about varanasi and the reason most people and pilgrims go there is for the ganges river...the holiest river in india for people of the hindu religion....it was an amazing place to people watch and see just how much this spot means to people.....every night there is a ceremony called the Aarti, where brahmin (priests) bless the people and the waters for the evening....the picture above is the ceremony we got to watch...there is much in the way of burning candles and turning to face the four cardinal directions....they also use conch shells to make horn noises and marigolds (which you see throughout india)....also this is a ceremony to praise shiva the destroyer....he is the one god all hindus pray to, so he will not destroy them, their way of life and their families....its amazing how much he truly is honored throughout the country as a whole that we visited....the ceremony was awesome, once we figured out what we were doing there....our driver spoke very little english and there was a lot of confusioin for this stop....but it was incredible....
 

the next morning at sunrise we were on the ganges river in a small boat....one of the reasons hindus make a pilgrimage here is to be cremated and have their ashes put into the holy waters....they also come for ablutions, daily bathing, washing of clothes, washing of hair, brushing their teeth....its holy water and gets used for everything to help clean the soul and be holy.....in the shot above, we are floating by one the main ghats where they burn bodies....the two fires in the middle and to the left, are actual burning bodies...the fire on the right, is the burning of the stretchers used to carry the bodies....if you look to the far right, you can see a body being prepped to be burned covered by a red cloth.....this entire process is amazing to me....men of a family can only come to this spot with the body, as women might cry and that cannot happen as it will stop the soul from leaving, but women can be burned here too....these ghats work 24 hours a day....and the building in the back left with the balconies is actually a hospice run by the brahmin (priests) of this ghat...they go out into varanasi, the town, everyday and find people who have come there to die, so they have some comfort before they pass....a brahmin comes onto your boat and explains the entire process and asks if you want to donate to the burning of people who come without money to pay for the necessary wood....they also let you know that anyone is welcome to burn their body at the ghat...no matter what race or religion or gender....i never knew that....maybe this needs to be my final resting place....who knows....i LOVED the ganges and the experience i had there....its overwhelming and crowded...but there is no smell, due to the wood these use to burn the bodies....the ganges has a definite spirituality about the place you can just feel....i can understand why this is such a holy place....
 

the picture above is my last from the ganges....these three women were lighting candles and placing them and flowers into the ganges or just along the edge of the river....everyone located here along the river and on the river does this....so at night you can see points of light floating down the river....its just stunning.....one of the things i love about this shot is that the women are dressed in saris (sar-ees).....and this is the everyday dress in india....so colorful and elegant....it was amazing to see women working everywhere....households, in construction, cooking, doing laundry....always wearing these colorful outfits.....i think it helps keep spirits up when they fall for the women of india....as they are such beautiful pieces of clothing.....

my last shot from varanasi is the one above....this is a picture of street side vendor of food....he cooks and lives here and was preparing for the days sales....in this small space he lives his life....amazing what one can do when that is all one has....and this is a step up from the vendors who only have the street to work on....
 

from varanasi we flew to khajuraho.....this is a very small town of only 5000, where you can find the temples dedicated to the god shiva and his wife parvati....i have not included any close-up shots here....but its is amazing all of the stonework they covered on these temples....as you can see from the people on the steps, the temples are rather large, and being restored....plus, every inch of them is covered in sculpture....its amazing.....the sculptures on the temples are quite erotic....and were created to celebrate love, marriage and procreation of the two gods that united and married....
 

this was the first day on the trip where we could actually remove some of our many layers of clothing....as until we got here we were in some pretty cold weather...but as you can see from the blue sky, we had a pretty spectacular day to be out wandering through temples....even though the temples were amazing, i wouldn't suggest the sound and light show....definitely a laughable affair :) it was great to be in such a small, and uncrowded town....but i do think khajuraho is getting ready for tourists...and is kind of like siem reap seven years ago....just about to be discovered by the hordes of tourists...i think we timed it just perfectly!

from khajuraho we drove to catch a train four hours away to take us to agra...where the taj mahal was waiting for us....along the way we some amazing sights...one of them being this portable temple....being pulled by a bull.... i loved the colors and the turbans of the hindu men....and the loud speaker was probably saying something about coming out a praying for the day....it was cool thing to see along the road....

one of the first things we asked to do when we got to agra was to go to a local market.....we saw some amazing things...but i think my most favorite thing was the local street-side dentist (Dr. Koup this is for YOU!)....many indians cannot afford to go to "real" practicing dentists and pay their fees....so there are many who have set up shop (sometimes after they retire), to do work for the poor at a considerably lower price....one of the dentists we saw had these bridges available for sale....just sitting on the side of the road.....crazy i tell you!
 

Agra is not only famous for the taj mahal....but also for the agra fort....in the shot above i am standing at the front entrance of the agra fort, made red from red sandstone....this building and the taj mahal and many of the forts you will see in the next update, were built by the mughal emperors....the agra fort was built as a place for the mughals to rule india while the capital was in agra....the capital did not stay here though and was moved back to delhi after being in agra for a short time....this fort is HUGE and intricately carved and has a lovely view of the taj mahal.....it was amazing to see how modern the facilities were inside with running water, fountains and heating/cooling methods using the walls...the fort is also extraordinarily beautiful.....
 

which is a perfect lead up to the most perfectly symmetrical and stunning building...the taj mahal....for those who do not know...this building is really a tomb to honor an emperors wife who died....this was a wife he married for love and she died giving birth to their 14th child....yep....14!!!! the emperor's workmen took 22 years to build this perfect structure to honor his dead wife, and in the time it was being built the emperor almost bankrupted the country and his family....it really is an incredible and amazing and beautiful building and it leaves you speechless....the craftsmen who built it were extremely dedicated to this building and many spent their entire working lives making sure it really was perfectly symmetrical in all aspects....in this particular picture, the fountains are not on....and what's really cool about the fountains is that they work using gravity....and are only on at specific times of each day, with none of those times repeating daily....we got lucky and saw them working when we first arrived....but i love this shot for the reflection alone....

one of the amazing things about this building is all of the optical illusions it creates....from the appearance of it getting smaller as you get closer - hence why you can take this type of shot....to the writing on the outer walls looking like it is the same size the whole way up, no matter where you stand looking at it....it really is an stupendous work of art....
 

this last shot is one where the fountains were working and just needed to be included....really, this is a wonder of the world...and if you can, you really should get here....simple incredible!!!!!
 

this second to last shot from part 1 in india was from our xmas fiesta in varanasi...we actually had some fire swingers at our hotel do a show for us....the last part of their act was something i had not seen before, where they were just using cinders of charcoal that started glowing and shooting off sparks as they swung them due to the addition of oxygen....it gave this really cool image of the circles and sparks...that i loved...we ended up talking to the guy who ran the show and found out he was an international teacher in varanasi and had learned fire swinging from his grandfather....it was cool addition to an interesting christmas dinner....
 

this last shot is another interesting thing from our xmas dinner....a very creepy santa...it was a little indian man, with a scary plastic mask on who played the role of santa....a bit freaky if you ask me, but the perfect way to wish you all a belated happy holidays and all the best in 2013!!!!

so there it finally is....india part 1....again, i am sorry it took some time to get this out, but we are having real internet issues in china....and they are trying to block all outside sites and influence again....so trying to get information out is as difficult as trying to get information in....very frustrating....anyway...i hope you enjoyed india part 1...i had an amazing trip and hope to have part 2 out soon.....if you have any questions or want the tour operator's name and email...let me know...he rocked and made our trip unforgettable.....more coming soon and i hope everyone is well :)

have a fab day :)

dani