Summer Travels Part 2

Amritsar:
We took an 8 hour train from Delhi to Amritsar which we spent playing with numerous Indian children. Indians on public transport seem to always hand us their babies! I really liked Amritsar. It wasn't too hectic and the people seemed really friendly. Also the food was delicious, although I can now understand why Punjab is the most obese state in India! The Golden Temple was really beautiful, both during the day and at night. In the evening we had a free meal in the temple canteen and I have never seen such efficient service in my life! Afterwards we helped wash up the thousands of plates in massive troughs which was good fun. We also went to watch a ceremony at the Pakistan Border which was incredible! It was basically a display of marching guards and shouting, and people got very patriotic! Amritsar is also where a huge massacre took place when India was fighting for independence (the one shown in the Gandhi movie) so we went to the memorial for that which was very interesting. Overall, Amritsar was another of my favourite places!

Macleod Ganj:
This was our first destination up in the mountains, and it was so nice to get a break from the heat! This is where the Dalai Lama lived in exile from Tibet and there were so many Tibetan people living there, it almost felt like we had left India! We were unbelievably lucky to discover that the Dalai Lama was actually going to be giving a talk while we were there. It was one of the most incredible experiences I've had in India! Over 2000 people arrived at his temple to meet him and hear him speak. It's hard to explain what it was like, but it was just incredible listening to him talk! He spoke about religion in India and how amazing it is that all these different religions can live together peacefully (for the most part). He made fun of all the western tourists with crazy hair and multiple piercings! He was just fantastic. Definitely one of the highlights of my holiday. During our other days in Macleod Ganj we went on some nice walks and ate lots of Tibetan momos. On one of our walks we saw a scorpion on the road, but before I could take a picture it got flattened by a motorbike.

Manali:
After a terrifying, overnight bus journey through the mountains we arrived in Manali. We stayed in a really nice guest house which was run by a lovely Indian family, where we met a really nice English couple who told us lots of stories about their crazy travel experiences! Manali was really beautiful! Right up in the Himalayas, we were just surrounded by snow topped mountain. We went paragliding, which was an incredible experience but not nearly as scary as I thought it would be! We went for lovely walks, did yoga classes, and Ellie and Tati did rock climbing! We ended up staying for six days, which was longer than planned but we just didn't want to leave!

Rishikesh: 
Rishikesh is another place on the bank of the Ganges, but much further north than Varanasi so the water in the river is a lot cleaner! I was ill for our first two days there but thankfully I recovered in time for our day of white water rafting. What an amazing day! We travelled 40km down the river on our raft accompanied by two safety kayaks, which took us about 6 hours, including a stop for lunch. It was so much fun going over the huge rapids and jumping out and floating down the slower bits. I think we actually spent more time in the river than we did in the raft! It was such a great day, and we were all completely exhausted by the end!

Summer Travels Part 1

So this morning I returned to Hyderabad following 10 weeks spent travelling around north India! I had the most incredible time with my friends Ellie, Tati and Martha and I have seen some truly amazing places. I am going to try and cover each place briefly because we've done so much I couldn't possibly include everything!

Varanasi: 
The first place we travelled to was the holy city of Varanasi. Based along the bank of the river Ganges, the city attract pilgrims from all over India as people come here to die so that they can be cremated beside the holy river. Varanasi was crowded, claustrophobic, dirty and smelly, but also one of my favourite places I've been in India! The atmosphere was incredible. We took an early morning boat trip along the river which was really beautiful, and it was amazing to see all of the people out so early to bathe in the water. Watching the burning ghats was quite surreal. It was so strange being able to watch bodies being burnt to ashes on the fires! It felt quite intrusive. Varanasi is definitely not for the faint hearted, but for us it was such a great start to the holiday!

Khajuraho:
After Varanasi we moved on to Khajuraho, home to the Kama Sutra temples. It wasn't one of my favourite places, but the statues were fun to explore and we had a very amusing guide to show us around! We also spent an afternoon driving around the countryside on scooters which was nice. Unfortunately I broke my shoe dancing in a field.

Agra:
Of course everyone who comes to India has to go to Agra to see the famous Taj Mahal. And I have to say, it really is amazing! When you're there, it's hard to believe you're standing beside one of the seven wonders of the world. Luckily we went really early in the morning so there weren't too many people there and it wasn't too hot! We spent the rest of the day getting a tour of Agra and seeing the other sights. Unfortunately our Agra experience was slightly ruined by the owner of our guest house drunkenly telling us to leave because 'women are dishonest and have no respect'. What a charmer!

Jaipur:
Next we went to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, and the capital of all shopping! On the first day we planned to see the sights but unfortunately didn't make it that far because we got dragged into the jewellery shops! When we did eventually see them, they were really beautiful! Lots of gorgeous buildings all made out of a yellowish stone and looking very desert-like. It was a really nice city but I felt quite threatened there and after getting groped in a market I just felt quite uncomfortable. That's the first time I've felt like that in India! It was a shame because every other aspect of Jaipur was great!

Delhi:
Our stay in Delhi ended up being very luxurious because Ellie has friends in high places so we ended up staying in the Dutch Embassy! We had a very relaxing six days eating delicious food, swimming in the pool, watching movies and occasionally leaving the house to see the Delhi sights. We also spent a day in a shopping mall trying on clothes which was fun after 8 months of wearing baggy Indian outfits! I can't thank Mr and Mrs Bensamer enough for their generosity; our six days with them definitely re-energised us for the rest of our trip!

I'm going to take a break now because the internet is very slow and is driving me slightly mad. I'll upload more soon though!