India & Nepal 2008 - 2009

We had an early morning getting up and finding the bus to Taj - no easy feat but once we did we were feeling pretty good about our journey (we were on the official New Delhi Tourism Tour). About two hours into our bus trip where we had to sit in our assigned seats though there were only 6 people on the tour and 18 seats...it seems that when strict regulation can be imposed on tourists it will be; we arrived at breakfast.

At first there was nothing set out and we thought that once again we had been fooled but we did indeed get some breakfast (20 minutest to eat and go).

Around noon a guide magically appeared on our bus and whisked us off to Taj Mahal where we had one hour to take in the magic (even though the tour office said we would have 4hours) we were hurried through the major sights with little comprehendable (it is in the urban dictionary and fits great with the situation) explanation. We did snap the obligatory pictures and of course got the coveted shot in front (not the lady Di one the other one). We read some where...LP...that only 400 people were let in at a time but I think it is closer to 4000.

After Taj Mahal we visted Agra fort - an impressive fort similar to the red fort in Delhi but bigger. You don't really want to be the architect which built the "other" building in Agra now do you? We had 30 minutes to soak up this place and buy another snow globe if we wanted and then it was lunch time.

Lunch was okay - a mass tourist stop but nonetheless tasty. We had 40 minutes this time to eat, digest, and get back on the bus on our way to visit Akbar's Mausoleum. BUT first we had to stop by a handy craft shop. We were pretty surprise about this since we were on the OFFICIAL New Delhi Tourism Tour we thought there would be none of this business but of course there was. We decided that we would go change our money across the street instead of visiting and Hans even managed to haggle a better rate on the tax! However as we were crossing the street back to the bus it was driving away and we had to run and bang on the side to get it to stop... was this really an official tour....

A few minutes later our guide suddenly disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared earlier in the day - however he insured us in 20 km we would see Akbar's tomb.
About an hour latter this Indian guy sitting next to us went to the front of the bus and chatted to the bus drive and then came back to tell us that we were not going to Akbar's tomb we were on our way back to Delhi. WHAT? We confronted him when the bus stopped for evening tea at the same place that we had breakfast and the bus driver said he knew nothing he thought the guide had taken us there... WHAT? He was driving the bus you would think he realized he didn't stop at one of the sights... RIGHT?

When we arrived back at the tourist office four of us decided to complain (it was a little UN mission with an Indian, American, Aussie, and some Dutch guy ). The office told us we would have to write and official complaint and then see what came out of it. We decided to write one complaint and then all sign it we requested 1/3 of the ticket cost back since we didn't see one sight. (When we requested a copy of the complaint form of course suddenly the copier didn't work anymore! For representing their country as official tourism representatives they were nothing but a sorry bunch of criminals just like so many other people we had encountered during our trip)

We are pretty sure we will never receive an email concerning our complaint but we are deeply disappointed to see corruption at every level with in India even all the way from the touts telling you something is closed or really dirty to the official Delhi Tourism Tour screwing people over...

Let's get out of Delhi!

We read and heard stories about what it was like to land in Delhi and the overwhelming feeling that the city brings out - we felt quite the opposite we felt like woo we are back. We arrived late on Thursday evening after some hassle at the Varanasi airport and Allyson's bag (stickers and stamps are a must have even if you did not know that they are). We sorted out a fairly decent guest house with a round bed - but before you start thinking 70's skin flick you must also picture paint peeling off the walls, mold, and an overall layer of grim so it wasn't the love shack you were picturing!

We went to the official New Delhi tourism office to book a trip to Agra (Taj Mahal) we decided taking the train would be too risky since there were serious delays due to fog and we didn't want to be stuck some where). The next day we would be visiting Taj Mahal (because it is closed on Fridays... though apparently not for cleaning).

We relaxed on Friday and had a super indulgent dinner at TGI Fridays - we were stuffed and nearly had to roll ourselves home after all the food, but we had to keep a good pace because Delhi at night isn't overly safe.

The next morning we packed up and then headed back to the banks of the Ganges. It had rained over night turning the streets muddy and the air humid.

We made our way back to where we stopped yesterday and guess what we ran into one of the touts from the day before...and of course he remembered us. It did not take as long to shake him off since Hans implied the "LEAVE US ALONE!!! AND STOP FOLLOWING US!!!" tactic, it sounds mean but unfortunately is necessary.

As we walked toward the famous Manikarnika Ghat - the favored place for Hindus to be cremated. There are bodies ceremoniously covered literally pouring into this holy Ghat we saw at least 10 arrive while we were watching. Photos are not allowed but it seemed that for the right price a tout would turn a blind eye. Out of respect we did not shoot any photos or video however. We watched as the bodies were cleansed in the Ganges, while others burned on the pyers, and finally as the final flames burned out. Watching cremation like this is witnessing life returning to nature and truly makes you realize where we are going to all end up one day.

After observing the cremation process we headed further north and collected some water from the Ganges ourselves. Hans once had it in mind to have a dunk in the Ganges himself - however after seeing what is dumped, washed, floating in the river he had some reservations and decided to just fill a bottle up for our collection.

Our time in Varnasi was coming toward an end so we decided to make our way back to the hotel - this proved to be a difficult and intimidating task. We had to wade through more then 3 cm of feces - literally it was every where. Because of the earlier rain it made it impossible to distinguish between the mud and the feces. Both Hans and I would say that we are tough and stuff like this doesn't bother us but toward the end were completely disgusted to see people walking with no shoes and living in this filth, animals wondering free or kept inside the house and not cleaned up after. Hygiene does not exist in this mess and for the sake of those living in this filth someday it will. (Normally I would feel bad about people living in these circumstances, but here people just don't care, so it's their own fault)

Once we made it through the shit we found ourselves face to face with an angry mob AKA a parade for a holiday that day. Young men were carrying knives (with blades up to 30 cm long) and sword and shouting at the top of there lungs. The saw us and started to come towards us yelling and wielding knives and swards when luckily and older man pushed them to keep going. At this point we jumped into the first auto rickshaw we saw and got the hell out of there!

Varanasi does not compare to anywhere we have ever been or anything that we have ever seen. We woke up on Wednesday to another layer of thick fog (apparently this is common in Northern India during the winter but LP missed that - we still love them though). Although I am convinced it is a mixture of 25% fog and 75% heavy air pollution.

We gave up on doing a morning boat ride and decided to sort our train tickets before we processed with visiting the mighty Ganges. We walked to the train station only to find out that starting the previous day through the 31st of January our train to Agra was cancelled and a different one may be running during the day... with patience wearing thin we decided to flash pack it and take a flight back to delhi and visit Agra from there, this proved to be a great decision and left us "relaxed" and ready to visit mama Ganges.

There are more touts in Varanasi then in any other city but luckily we are quite clever and were able that surmise that the Ganges was not closed that day and that we did not actually have to get on a boat, however our auto rickshaw (like a tuk-tuk) did get his way and make us visit a silk maker! Having said that it is almost impossible to get a moment of peace walking down the ghats that snake their way down to the Ganges, everyone is selling something (only looking no buying - is the phrase of choice), offering boat rides, swearing at you if you refuse to give a holy man money... the hassle of all of this really takes the pleasure of the experience out and replaces it with a "have you seen enough do you have enough photos yet" feeling.

We did finally manage to shake off a few touts and meander the banks of the Ganges, watching ritual bathing, normal bathing, children playing cricket and flying kites, and negotiate goats and cows. We had great timing and after our afternoon tea found a place to watch the ganga aarti ceremony which includes puja ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja), fire dance, and most importantly lots and lots of bell ringing. Throughout the ceremony loads of various men approached Hans to give him an head and neck massage (which i had to violently refuse since i wasn't interested in first of all another rip-off and secondly a new skin disorder or oder disease which might lead to loss of a limb) and to sell me post cards, flowers, paint my hand etc. (this last one ended in shouting at an 8-year-old to "piss-off")

The ceremony itself had a life and (morning)breath of it's own and you can feel the energy in the crowd - an impressive way to end the day.

After a two hour delay in Kathmandu, 3 security check points, and then one last one before we boarded the plane we finally arrived in Varanasi only to be greeted with the most impressive airport chaos that anyone has ever see.

(the next part all takes place in a 30x30 m room with about 250 people plus luggage crawling over each other)

We arrived in the early evening and had to complete immigration forms, except we were not given them on the plane and it seemed that the Indian immigration didn't want to hand them out. After some shouting and a lot of pushing and shoving we managed to get our hands on these forms and scribble down the information needed. Then like salmon swimming upstream we had to go back to the front to get them stamped and then back through the metal detector and then collect our luggage. We thought that the worst of the chaos was over when we climbed into the luggage (pig) pen - literally. There was one small belt which brought the luggage through but with most of the plane still trying to complete the forms baggage was just stacking up every where. Crawling over the luggage and trying to spot our backpacks proved to be quite an achievement. Once we reached level " proceed to next security step/ next stamp required" there was some serious pushing and shoving. The Indian security requested one at a time (which for anyone who has spend more then 5 minutes in India knows does not exist).

Once we wiggled our way through this last check point we were off to find the pre-paid taxi stand and sort our a place to stay. The taxi driver was "a few spices short of a curry" or a total serial killer, but the fact that we are still alive eliminates the latter. We only had squeeling tires twice during this ride so it wasn't too bad. Then he had the nerve to follow us into the hotel to ask for a commission but he was luckily ignored. We checked into our room and it was actually kind of nice in there. (until we tried to take a nice warm shower and the brown foam came out....)