Elephanta Island

March 17 - It takes an hour and a half to reach Elephanta Island by boat. It is an island located in Mumbai harbour and is known for its carved caves, which are full of sculptures dedicated to Shiva.

Photos of Elephanta Island

Happy Holi

March 14 - And to celebrate, butter chicken.

For those who know the significance of my butter chicken reference, it will be surprising for you to learn that in the two and a half weeks that I have been here, today was the first time that I was able to order it. I have had butter paneer several times, but not chicken. According to one of the women who was on tour, there was a case of avian flu in India recently. Several restaurants are no longer serving chicken, but there is no consensus. The restaurant in our hotel in Jodhpur served chicken, but not the local restaurant we went to one day for lunch. The restaurant in our hotel in Varanasi did not serve chicken, but we had some on the Jet Airways flight to Delhi from Varanasi.

Well, as you can see, there wasn't a second train ride. Jaz and I flew from Varanasi to Delhi yesterday and from Delhi to Udaipur today. I think one of the 33 million Hindu gods must have been watching over us because this drastically impacted our holiday. Not only did flying relieve us of further train trauma, but we were actually able to tour Udaipur today since all of India will be shut down tomorrow for a religious festival. If we had stuck to our original train and driving plan, we would have arrived too late to see the sights.

The celebration of Holi started tonight — the Hindu spring festival. On the first day, a bonfire is lit at night to signify burning Holika (a demon in Hindu mythology). On the second day, known as Dhulandi, people go around into the afternoon throwing colours at each other. At dinner we watched (and heard) the various bonfires being lit throughout the city, which were accompanied by fireworks. Tomorrow we have been told to stay in the hotel until about 7pm for safety reasons. The coloured powders that will be thrown around could potentially be toxic for us North Americans not used to them and there is also the issue of being foreigners in a large crowd during a large celebration.

Udaipur is the Venice of India. There are three lakes that surround the city, along with lovely mountains. This very clean city has a population of half a million people and is known for their handmade paper and leather-bound books, and artwork. We visited the City Palace, the largest palace in the state of Rajasthan. The four sections that make up the palace overlook Lake Pichola (man-made). We also saw the fountain park, which was used one month a year by the maharaja to escape the palace, and the Jagdish Temple (hard to describe the amazing carvings, so hopefully my pictures will do it justice).

Our hotel room also overlooks Lake Pichola and we can hear the women beating the clothes on the rocks accross the lake and the birds are continually flying by, including pigeons cooing outside our window. Tomorrow, in our confinement, we will be repacking the suitcases in an effort to consolidate all of our purchases into bags that can easily be checked for our flight home in three days.

Udaipur was a great choice for the end of the trip because it is so relaxing and peaceful. The city is clean and we haven't encountered any beggars (so far).

Photos of Udaipur

Varanasi

March 13 - Varanasi is an interesting city, but not a place you need to spend more than one day. Situated on the Ganges, it is one of the holiest places in India because this is where Hindus come to bathe, a ritual that washes away their sins if done during sunrise. The riverbank is accessed through streets called ghats, which all end in steps into the Ganges and are designated for a particular region of the country or a specific religion (i.e., there is a ghat for those people travelling from Jaipur). We had our sunrise boat ride on the Ganges and then walked around the old part of the city. There is high security in the city because on March 7 there were two bombings — one at a temple and the other at the train station. We also travelled to Sarnath, which holds great significance to Bhuddhists. Sarnath was the location of the third important event the life of Buddha — the preaching of the first sermon and where he laid the foundation of the order of monks. There is a great archaeological museum here.

Photos of Varanasi

Photos of Sarnath

Jaz and I were supposed to take a 17-hour train ride and 8-hour car ride to our next destination, Udaipur, but that was cancelled (see above re: journey to Varanasi).

The trip to Varanasi

After three good days in Delhi, Jaz and I experienced our first trauma. The group that we were travelling with all went home from Delhi and we started our week on our own by taking the train to Varanasi. We thought that a train ride would be a nice way to see the countryside and mix a bit with the general population. We should not have signed up for a 12-hour ride. It started with cockroaches in our cabin and ended with a five and a half hour delay. We left Delhi at 8am and arrived in Varanasi at 1:45am (as opposed to 8:10pm). What made the situation worse was that there were no announcements telling us that the train was delayed or even what stop we were arriving at. Luckily the taxi we had hired through the tour company was still waiting for us when we arrived.

The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets

March 10 - The most interesting museum that we visited in Delhi (and India for that matter) was the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets. This very small museum was actually extremely interesting and informative. We were given a tour by the museum's Vice President and then got a tour of Sulabh's products by one of their engineers. The Sulabh International Social Service Organisation is a non-profit organization in India that is obviously involved in sanitation and has built public lavatories throughout India. They are an institution in India to the point where, as we say that we are going to the crapper (named after Thomas Crapper who invented toilets as we know them), in India they say they are going to the Sulabh. Here's the thing that I learned that will be the most useful. Hold out your hand and using a pointy object (like a pen), dot the surface of your hand in a counter clockwise circle starting from just below your middle fingers. This will eliminate the need to go to the bathroom, if you feel the urge. Going in in a clockwise direction will solve constipation.

Delhi

March 10 - Unlike Mumbai, Delhi is a wonderful metropolis to spend as little or as much time as you can spare. Our first day in Delhi started in the old city where we visited Jama Masjid — the largest mosque in India. Not only is it a beautiful place of worship, with a large courtyard and pigeons that swoop around every few minutes, but it also has a view of the Red Fort, another Mughal fort. That was followed by a cycle-rickshaw ride through the very narrow streets of the bazaar. We also stopped by the site of Gandhi's cremation. Our tour guide warned us that if we were to take a photo of ourselves at the cremation site that it would cause us extreme sadness and she would refuse to take a picture of us because we were her friends. Our final stop on that first day was the Bahai Temple, which is shaped like a lotus flower. It was built by the same person who built the Opera House in Sydney and it is a house of worship designed so that anyone can come to pray or meditate according to their own religion.

We also saw rain for the first time in Delhi. According to CNN and the locals we talk to, it is abnormal for India to have rain at this time of the year.

Other sites in Delhi included the India Gate — a memorial to Indian soldiers who fought abroad and in certain domestic wars. It was raining that morning, so we couldn't take a paddle boat ride along the small lake beside the memorial. We had lunch one day at the Imperial Hotel, which has been the home base for several of the parties that have ruled over the country over the years. It was also a nice meal!

Photos of Delhi

Transportation in India

March 6 - The other thing that you quickly get accustomed to in India is the driving. Lane demarcations are merely suggestions. There are cars, buses, tuk tuks, bicycles, cows and people all using the same road. No one signals and it really is a matter of edging out the other person to get ahead. At the beginning I was surprised that I didn't see many accidents, but like the people who live here, I have become accustomed to it.

Rupees

March 6 - Today was pretty boring as we drove from Agra to Delhi, so I thought I would share the following with you all. The currency in India (rupee) is like using Monopoly money because you are constantly paying with $100 and $500 bills. The exchange rate is about 34 rupees to the Canadian dollar. To put this in perspective, a 300 ml bottle of Coke typically costs 30 rupees and a pair of leather sandals will be 500 rupees.

Photos of Agra

March 6 - Agra is famous because it is the city that hosts the Taj Mahal. The Agra Fort is worth its own visit and has a history strongly linked to the Taj. Shah Jahan, the man who built the Taj, was imprisoned in the fort by his son and spent the last of his days in Muasamman Burj, a tower with a marble balcony with an excellent view of the Taj Mahal.

Photos of Agra Fort

The Taj Mahal

March 6 - One of the main draws to the tour Jaz and I signed up for was a stop to the Taj Mahal. It was simply one of those things that you add to your "must do before I die" lists. However, I have to admit that nothing prepared me for the emotions that I felt being there. I had my first glimpse of it in the morning when visiting the Agra Fort and it wasn't until sunset that I actually saw the monument up close. For those of you who don't know the history, it was constructed between 1631 and 1653 and was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his favourite wife, Arjumand Banu Begum, who died during childbirth (her 14th child) at the age of 39. Many people refer to is as the greatest monument built for love. It was purposely built to have the blue sky as its background, and as you move around the grounds you realize that it is like looking at a postcard.

Photos of the Taj Mahal

Indian wildlife

March 3 - One of the great things about travelling in the country is the presence of animals everywhere. For those of you who live in Ontario, imagine driving on Highway 11 and having to stop or swerve around cows or water buffalos on the streets, or having herds of goats running along the side of your vehicle. In Jaipur there were monkeys soaking up the sun on the apartment rooftops.

The Blue City - Jaipur

March 3 - For the past two days we were in Jaipur, which I believe was the best stop so far. I think that all good days start with an elephant ride, which took us up to the Amber Fort. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the city and the fort. After lunch we headed to Jantar Mantar, an amazing observatory in the middle of the city. In addition to the incredible amount that I learned that day, it was also a great shopping day. Although we were warned about the markets being a bit sketchy for tourists, we ended up shopping the same way that the Indian people living in the city do (as much as two white people could). There are no Walmarts here, but rows upon rows of shops that specialize in one area (e.g., textiles, hardware, decorations, paper products).

Photos of Jaipur

Jodhpur

March 1 - Our next stop was Jodhpur, which I consider a rural oasis after being in Mumbai. We visited the Mehrangarh Fort and dined in the hotel adjascent to the current Maharaja's home. Unfortunately he was unable to join us.

Photos of Jodhpur

First impressions of India (Mumbai)

February 27 - Jaz and I landed in Mumbai at 3am on a Sunday morning. We woke up the next day of in the most humid and noisy city that I have ever been to. We joined up with the tour the next day. What a difference between a weekend and weekday in Mumbai. The city has a population of 18.5 million people. When we walked around on the Sunday afternoon, it was pretty calm; people playing cricket in the park, tourists at the Gateway to India and there were a few people in the shops. Monday morning was a completely different story. We saw the difference immediately of the 12 million people who commute to and within the city on a weekday. Crossing the road took minutes and the traffic was incredible. I was very glad that we only spent a day and half there, although we do have to return for another day and a half before we fly home.

While we were in Mumbai, we visited the Gateway to India — a colonial marker conceived after the visit of King George V in 1911. For those who have been to Paris, it is similar to the Arc de Triomphe and now serves as a hangout for people living in the city.

Other highlights included Mani Bhawan (where Ghandi lived and worked) and the Hanging Gardens (a public garden that sits on top of the city's largest water reservoir).

Photos of Mumbai

How I got there

For those of you who do not already know how I ended up in India, here is the quick synopsis. A year and a half ago, my mother (Jaz) and I decided to take advantage of a tour being offered by a woman that Jaz had travelled with before. For two weeks we would be on a guided tour and for the last week we would travel on our own. On the itinerary includes stops in Mumbai (Bombay), Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra, Delhi, Varanasi and Udaipur. Here is our story ...