Delhi, Agra and Varanasiiiiiiiiiiii

My turn! Am not feeling quite so negative as Graham was (he is now betterererrrrr, phew!) - although I do feel like India hasn't been especially kind to us over the last 2 weeks and we're looking forward to a new chapter in Nepal. I'm entering my 6th day of bum wees :-( but have finally given into antibiotics so hopefully will be on the mend. Graham had it worse than me though (I think it was a bit like man flu....!).


On our way back from the best ski trip in the world we went to the holy city of Haridwar on the Ganges and watched the evening prayers and rituals. We found ourselves sat in amongst thousands of pilgrims chanting and waving our hands in the air with this fella....



And we were splashed with the holywater - which also happens to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world, ideal!


... but after a dose of religous culture we retired to our hotel room for a DVD and burger and chips - sooo nice and easily justified because I was still recovering from being ill in the mountains.


Took a train back to Delhi the next day. Feel like you see the real India at train stations - there are all walks of life from city people on their way back to Delhi to the hundreds of homeless sleeping on every patch of land. Travelled through rural india which is always a depressing sight - lots of mud huts and shanty towns at the side of the tracks and so much rubbish everywhere. It sometimes feels like this country is beyond help, there are just so many people living below the poverty line.



Spent a few days in Delhi in the old town but the hawkers, scammers, traffic, cows, noise, spitting and pissing in the street and fumes started to get us down. The north of India is so much more conservative than the south and especially at night the streets are men only - Delhi in particular feels quite threatening for a woman and I started hiding myself under a shawl to avoid the constant stares (Graham is constantly on his guard watching men around me and the way they oggle at me is getting to him). We retreated to new delhi in the evenings to a few bars and got our western fix in McDonalds so that we were ready to face the rest of India. Did cultural stuff during the day times including Ghandi museum and memorial, Red Fort and Parliament museum.


Travelled through Delhi mostly by cycle-rickshaw but the poor chaps struggled with two fatties so G had to keep getting out to push...



Took morning train to Agra on Sunday. Stayed in a super cheap (4 pounds) and suitably minging guest house - its only saving grace was that it had views of the Taj Mahal from our window. The Taj is as big and impressive as I thought it would be.... however, we didn't appreciate it for long because we were struck down with iiiillness (as per Grahams graphic previous blog entry!!). Managed to muster enough energy to go and see it but it was hard work being away from the loo. But we did get the classic Taj photo...!



Took overnight train to Varanasi (still ill - travelling on trains when ill is aaaaaverage - repeated trips during the night to train loo was not much fun!). We have been in Varanasi for 4 days recovering and mostly hiding from the mayhem of India. Been relaxing by pool and eating a lot of junk western food (3 McDonalds so far for me - its the only food I can trust, but worried I may be supersizing myself!).


Varanasi is super holy Hindu pilgrimage town where people come to die to liberate themselves from the cycle of birth and death. Every morning and night 60,000 people go to the ganges to perform rituals. Here is a Ganges factoid - the river is one of the most polluted in the world; safe bathing water should have no more than 500 foecal bacteria per 100ml, in the Ganges it is 1,500,000. It turns the stomach when you see people brushing their teeth in it...


It was the Hindu festival of God of Shiva yesterday so lots of processions with elephants, camels and kids with freaky face paints (rubbish pictures as camera died mid procession)


The ghats...

Went to the main burning ghat which is the most auspicious place in India to be cremated. We had a morbid curiosity but regretted visiting - seeing the bodies in the pyres is a sight I will remember for a long time (and the smell of burning was not pleasant - especially when our stomachs were already feeling tender!). They bathe the bodies in the water first before cremating them on the bank of the river. If people can't afford a cermation they tie rocks to the body and throw it in. Its really no suprise that the water is so polluted.

So, thats us! Off to Kathmandu tomorrow then into the mountains for trekking and reeeeeeeeeeally looking forward to clean mountain air! Graham is super excited about mountain biking, canyoning, whitewater rafting and paragliding (Matt, thanks for the tip off about the yak attack mountain bike event... I guess am signed up to a few days of looking at bikes, brilliant!)... I really think I may struggle to get Graham back to India.

By the way, our India phone number is 0091 9717654752 (although not sure if it will work in Nepal!).

Hope all well in old blighty, stay in touch with your news on schmemail. Love Jo x