New Delhi Belly 01/10 - 01/11

Crazy statue of Lord Hanuman at metro entrance.

New Delhi view from Moti Masjid Minaret.

Peter devours meat at Karim's.

Yes, the puddle is pee.

We arrived in New Delhi Monday morning and after checking in at our hotel immediately set out on exploring the city. Wow. New Delhi is huge. There is no way to see the whole city in 2 days. You probably need at least a week here if you want to hit up all the important points on the map. The monuments are enormous, the streets are jam packed with people and traffic, and the distances are far. We decided to make use of the brand new (2002) metro system and it was very nice...clean and modern. You have to go through security to get in just like at the airport. The cars are set up New York style to fit in as many people as possible and boy were there lots of people on the train. We took the train around 11 am, which is not a very high traffic time, and we were literally squished in the car. I was the only woman there as they have special woman only cars where most women seem to go. Those were not as packed. Getting in was daunting because a mass of people exits at about the same time as another mass of people enters and you can only hope that you will make it in, or out. Everyone pushes and shoves. But, I guess that is pretty typical of India. Usually, when you stand in line people stand super close to the point that you are pressed up against the person in front and in back of you....there is no such thing as personal space. And not everyone uses deodorant! Also, in line at the ATM everyone looks at your screen while you enter your information and get money.

So, our first day we visited Old Delhi and walked through walls of people on the street markets. It seemed like we walked for miles because it was so difficult to weave through the masses. We tried to visit the Fort, but it was closed and so we visited the Moti Masjid, which is the largest Mosque in India. We ate the best dinner we have had in our entire stay in India at Karim's. We had an entire tandoori chicken as well as a few kebabs and the best naan in the world. We tore into our dinner like meat deprived carnivores. We also tried to return to our hotel on the metro, but the masses during rush hour proved to be our breaking point. As we watched people attempt to contort their bodies in order to fit into the tiniest bit of space between arms, legs, and the closing doors, we decided to take a rickshaw back. I wish that I had taken a picture, but photography was “strictly” prohibited and I was not about to take any chances with law enforcement in Asia.

Unfortunately, though, that night the infamous Delhi Belly struck once again. This time it was nausea and vomiting. I spent most of the night in the bathroom and most of the next day sleeping. So, we did not get to explore any more in Delhi. We missed out on Connaught Place, the Lotus Temple, and Humayun's Tomb. My last dinner in India was a banana while Peter went back to Karim's for another meat and naan feast.

Today we boarded the plane for Bangkok. We had a great flight. Thai Airways is excellent. The plane was spacious and comfortable...probably the best flight I have been on. There was a whole bank of bathrooms in the back of the plane. Each seat had a TV with a ton of movie options. It was so pleasant. When we arrived in Bangkok the airport was spotless and the city seems to be deserted compared to Delhi.   

Udaipur 01/07 – 01/09

Peter admires the stonework at Jagdish Temple.

Jagdish Temple

A woman gives money to a Baba.  Baba's are religious gurus or priests.  They sit and think and take in the sun. 

Crazy mod stained glass at the City Palace.

View of Lake Pichola and hills beyond from the City Palace.

Room at the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Glass and Mirrors) inside City Palace.

Courtyard at the City Palace.

Me at the City Palace.

Rest stop on hike up to Monsoon Palace...destination can be seen in the distance.

View of Lake Pichola from Cable Car Summit.

Time for rest and taking in the views at the Moon Palace.

Some sights from our hike up to Moon Palace.

Udaipur street full of color, murals, and electric lines.

Indian style building.  If there is a tree in your way, you work around it.  We have seen this approach everywhere.

Udaipur street - visual chaos.

I was reckless and did not avoid photography.  I also climbed on it.

Sunset view from our hotel room.

Last meal in Udaipur

It was a long and bumpy bus ride to Udaipur but completely worth the trip. We arrived in the evening and found our hotel to be spotless and comfortable and the city cleaner and quieter than most Indian cities. Udaipur is located along a series of lakes in Rajasthan and surrounded by hills. It's a town full of palaces, one of which is located on Lake Pichola, now a fancy hotel. The antibiotics and fresh(er) Udaipur air turned out to be just what we needed.

Our intentions of taking it easy, though, did not last. Our first day we visited the main temple in town. Jagdish Temple is an extraordinary structure composed of intricately carved stone and built by Maharana Singh in 1651. Although we were not allowed to photograph the interior of the temple, here unlike in other Hindu temples we were allowed inside. There was a great deal of commotion as people lined up to pray to Vishnu whose image was portrayed at the main altar. There was an elderly woman sitting on the floor selling small chunks of rice and a man in front of the altar dispensing water. People ate the rice, drank the water and then ran their hands over their heads with the water. There was also a flame on the altar. People would capture the flame or smoke and then run their hand over their heads with this as well. I am not sure what any of this meant and there was quite a bit of chaos inside. Afterwards, we visited the City Palace. This was a spectacular complex located along Lake Pichola, composed of a series of palaces interlinked by a labyrinth of narrow passageways. Apparently it was specially planned this way to avoid surprise attacks by invaders. Each palace has its own particular style, one is made up of glass and mirrors another of pearls and intricate mosaics. We spent a good portion of the afternoon weaving through the passageways between palaces.

The next day we had “nature day.” We began by taking a cable car ride up to the top of one of Udaipur's hills and then hiking down. We ran into a very scary playground for children with rusty monkey bars, steep slides made of stone and others of poker hot metal breaking your fall at the end with jagged bits of rock. We then decided to hike all the way up to the “Monsoon Palace,” built to watch monsoon clouds and located in a wildlife preserve. We did not see any wildlife here, but we did see an elephant walking in the street on the way to the preserve. It took us a good 2 hours to hike up to the top. We were the only hikers there. The palace itself is not worth much of a visit, but the views from the top and the feeling of accomplishment were awesome.

As I post, we are on an overnight train to Delhi. Train and bus connections from Udaipur to Jaisalmer (next stop on our itinerary) turned out to be overly difficult. Plus we are pretty much ready to move on from India. There are only so many dosas one can eat and masala tea one can drink. The next leg of the trip was going to be Nepal. But, due to weather conditions, we are going to opt out. It's probably best not to hike in fog and sleep in freezing mountain teahouses. We will just have to add Nepal to the “to do list” for next year. Sometimes life can be really hard like that and one cannot have everything one wants. Sigh. So, next stop Delhi and then we are off to Bangkok.

Jodhpur 01/04 – 01/06

View of the "Blue City" from above.

Peter relaxes on the hotel rooftop.

Colors and chaos at the bazaar.

Nightime Fort view from rooftop restaurant.

Palace inside the Fort.

Rajasthani shoes for sale.  I, of course, had to get a pair.

The infamous Omelette Shop where all travelers converge to eat delicious omelette sandwiches.

The "Blue City" at street level.

Courtyard within the hotel.

Indian hospital with conveniently located pharmacy right next door.

Funny turban man at the bazaar.

"Blue City" side street.

Monkeys and turbans at the Fort.

The following morning we checked out of “Heaven” amongst much ado. “Where are you going, you are leaving? Why? I give you better room, just look...no stay, just look!” We didn't care to see the other rooms although I am sure they were just as good as all the reviews said they were. We felt like we were tricked into staying there. We also didn't appreciate the third degree interrogation at checkout. The lady sounded just like the touts that pester us everywhere we go. ”Just look, no buy!”

We went in search of different accommodation and found many rooms available. The competition must be cutthroat. We ended up in an old “haveli”, a Rajasthani mansion turned into a guesthouse. It was full of murals, stained glass, and mosaics. Quite beautiful. A quiet oasis away from all the beeping and dust. It even had a rooftop terrace with a view of the Fort...the main attraction in Jodhpur. And here we rested for the next two days. We didn't do too much sightseeing in Jodhpur. We visited the main market square and the bazaars. We also visited the Fort which was very impressive and looked like something out of Tomb Raider. We were both feeling tired and sick and decided it was time to go see a doctor. We couldn't find any travel clinics so our only choice was to visit an Indian hospital. But we were assured by our hotel that the doctor knew how to speak English and was the doctor for the Taj (the swanky, super expensive hotel that only the extremely rich can afford). So we went.

The Indian hospital was a small, communist style building. We had to pay up front for the visit, 200 INR (~$4.50). Inside the doctor's office there was a desk with some chairs in front of it, a few chairs next to the desk (waiting area), and an examination table screened with a curtain. We waited in the waiting area while the doctor examined someone behind the curtain and then spoke with a woman at his desk. Then as I was examined and interviewed, people waited in the waiting area for their turn. I guess there is no doctor – patient confidentiality. Anyway, turns out we probably have upper respiratory infections. Apparently many travelers catch colds due to the new environment which can then very easily develop into bacterial infections due to all the dust and grime in the air. This is why our colds just wouldn't go away. We got some antibiotics and this morning I woke up feeling much better. As I write, we are on our way to Udaipur. We are on a bus and the roads are horribly bumpy and the driver is a maniac! Its like riding a roller coaster. Once this is posted, though, you will know that we have arrived safely and have not been thrown out the window of the bus.

Jaipur 01/02 – 01/03

Ornate Mirror at the City Palace,

Here I am at Galta with the tank beyond.

Looking out to the tank.

We arrived in Jaipur early in the morning and checked in to a very clean and pleasant hotel...hot water AND heat this time. We sure are getting spoiled. It was still an Indian budget hotel, so of course there were annoyances like outlets not working and the tv being locked into one channel while black bars floated on the screen. But, we really can't complain about those kinds of details when basic necessities are provided and there are people sleeping outside under thin blankets, roaming around without shoes, and making little bonfires of garbage on the street for warmth. These are very typical sights in India.

We were both tired and in a daze while visiting Jaipur. At this point, we had both suffered from diarrhea and were both already in the throes of our second cold. We have both been sick with one thing or another for the last two weeks. But, of course, we carried on....roaming the streets of the “Pink City”. We visited the bazaars, the City Palace, and a strange park full of astronomical and astrological instruments called Jantar Mantar. That was pretty cool. Overall, though, the Pink City was just ok. It wasn't really Pink, it was kind of salmon colored. And, it was mostly just full of shops. The main excitement of the day was when we found a restaurant with butter chicken. We haven't eaten meat for weeks.

The next day we visited “Monkey Palace”, also known as Galta, which contains several ancient temples squeezed into a rocky ravine. There is a freshwater spring that keeps the tank full there as well and is where people as well as monkeys bathe. We accessed this area by climbing over a hill at the end of the Pink City. We passed many, many monkeys on the way there. It was a bit of a hike, but very pleasant, beautiful scenery, and great views of the city. Afterwards, we went to visit Nahargarth Fort perched atop the hills surrounding the city. This one was not even close to being as spectacular as the one in Agra....there was really nothing there except for a really awesome wall and more beautiful city views We wandered around a bit looking for the main path to the fort and then once we found it we embarked on another, even bigger hike.

We boarded our train to Jodhpur after an early dinner of Kachori and a panicky search for our train. There was no indication at the station of which platform our train would arrive on...or even any acknowledgement that our train existed. But, by some miracle it was there. When we arrived at Jodhpur I was immediately approached by two rickshaw-wallahs as I stepped off the train. “Where are you going? Where are you going?” they repeated over and over as they circled me like flies. I just stared at them with wide eyes and shook my head slowly until the repetitious phrase slowed and they started shuffling away. Ahah! That is the key. Just look and act crazy and they will be confused and tire eventually.

This is the way to Galta....inviting no?

Descent down to the tank and temples after a long hike uphill.

"Pink City" rooftop view from the walk to the fort.

Cool fort wall.

As we left the platform, we noticed that there was someone waiting to pick us up from the guesthouse we had booked. Having the fancy internet stick, all the recent bad experiences with hotels, being sick and just needing a comfortable place to relax for a few days and recover, we researched well and chose a place with the best reviews on tripadvisor - 98% thumbs up from 60 reviews. You would think that this one would be a winner for sure. Also, now this pickup that we didn't expect? We must have done good. Nope. The rickshaw brought us to the guesthouse called “Heaven” where we were told that all the rooms were booked but that they have another room in another house somewhere and we could get a better room the next day. This after Peter called to confirm from the train and we were told that yes they have several different rooms available. We were taken through a maze of dark alleyways, a good five minute walk from “Heaven” to another guesthouse. The room was tiny at best...only fit one double bed, no sheets, no bathroom. But, again, arriving in a new city late at night what could we do? Start calling around for other hotels? Walk the streets hoping to find something better? We had, after all, just come from the train station where small barefoot children were sleeping on the ground in the chilly night. Yes, we would take the room and sleep on the cardboard-like beds. We were lucky to be sleeping indoors anyway and at least it seemed clean. I wondered if they would mind if I made a little bonfire out of the garbage in my bag to keep us warm. Silly me, of course it would be fine. Anything goes in India, after all.

Agra 12/31 - 01/01

The next morning we searched for better accommodation nearby, but everything looked pretty horrible. So, we stayed at the same hotel but upgraded to a nicer, more fragrant “deluxe” room. It wasn't too bad considering that the entire shanty town smelled like a sewer. We even had a trickle of slightly warm water from the shower. We really were living it up. Only the best to ring in the New Year! Peter wasn't feeling so good that morning (the traveller's disease finally got him), so after we settled in I left him to rest and went to explore Agra Fort which was quite spectacular. It's a huge fort with very well preserved palaces inside, views of the Taj Mahal in the distance, and an alligator moat (currently green slime, no alligators).

In the evening we went up to the rooftop restaurant of our hotel for their New Years Eve Party, met a couple from Australia and another from Germany. We exchanged travel recommendations and had some beer. But, our party didn't last long. Peter was feeling even worse by then so we went back to the room where I watched as he laid in bed with violent chills and a high fever. I thought we would have to go to the hospital, but the chills subsided quickly and by morning the fever was gone. So since Peter was able to walk without pooping or puking, we finally went to visit the Taj Mahal...the sole reason for which we had come to Agra in the first place. Taj Mahal is huge! I didn't expect it to be so big. From a distance it looks like something out of Star Wars and from up close...yeah it still looks like something out of Star Wars. It's just so massive and white. Set up high with the only backdrop being sky, it has a very magical surreal quality. The detail is amazing as well....all the pietra dura and marble work is beautiful. You can feel the blood and sweat that went into constructing this massive shrine.

Shanty town where we stayed right outside of the Taj.

Inside one of the palaces of Agra Fort.

New Year's Eve (Chicago Time)

Long lines to enter Taj Mahal.

More long lines.

Those little dots on top of the base are people.

The moat at the Fort.

We were supposed to leave Agra that evening, but because our train was 5 hours late again, it would mean that we wouldn't leave until midnight, arriving in Jaipur at 4 am. Unacceptable. We were too tired and Peter was too sick for that. We opted to stay another night and take an early morning train instead. This one originated in Agra, so there was a good chance for it to be on time. But, we really needed to change hotels so that we could finally wash. So, for the rest of the day we searched for better accommodation and we found a nice, clean hotel with hot water away from the craziness of the Taj. We also went back to the Fort (I didn't want Peter to miss out on that) and walked around like celebrities. People stared at us, whispered, and there were at least three occasions where we were asked to take pictures. Very strange. When we were in the South, people didn't seem quite so shocked by us, but since arriving in the north we seem to cause quite a stir wherever we go. I would think that somewhere like Agra, where there are many tourists, people would be used to them. But, I guess not. The requests for photos all seem to occur when Peter is around though. When I am by myself people leave me alone....except for young men who stare at me and snicker and follow me around.

Early the next morning we arrived at the train station in the dark. There were a group of commuters, all men, wrapped in blankets in the waiting area. When they saw us, the came out in awe, encircled us and proceeded to stare and smile. One man asked Peter if I was his wife. I was very creeped out. But they were harmless, just curious, and we boarded the train finally making it out of Agra.

Varanasi to Agra - 12/30

I woke up early in the morning and hooked up with some very nice Japanese tourists from our hotel for the famous Ganges boat ride during sunrise. Peter was grumpy because the monkeys kept him up during the night. Apparently they were throwing chairs and slapping each other. I didn't sleep through the night either as there were bells ringing for at least an hour during the night.

We made a mad dash through Varanasi traffic to the train station only to learn upon arrival that our train was delayed by several hours. No matter. We had our precious internet stick, so we spent our time at the train station booking more trains, hotels, and making plans. I love the magic internet stick.

This is how we sleep on the train.

Stinky Room.

Our train turned out to be over 5 hours late arriving in Agra. It was midnight by then and I absolutely hate arriving that late at the train station. It's scary and all the rickshaw men and taxi drivers flock to us like hungry wolves to raw meat. They always quote us a price we know is way more than what it should be. But this time what could we do? It was late and there was a dense fog in the air. You could barely see ten feet in front of you. Also, our hotel was not within walking distance. In addition to all this, there was a creepy young guy following me in very close proximity, staring at me like I was some alien. Very creepy indeed. We managed to find a fairly nice taxi driver who didn't rip us off too bad and made our way to the shanty town right outside the Taj Mahal. Our room was a nightmare. We have been staying in budget hotels which I am fine with, but this place was horrible. Thanks a lot Lonely Planet! The bed took up the size of the entire room, the attached toilet barely had enough room for you to use the actual toilet AND the toilet emitted a horrible sewer smell. It was disgusting. The sheets looked dirty so we slept in our sleeping bags after washing in the trickle of ice cold water that came out of the sink. It was not a very pleasant night.