Many apologies for such a delay in updating my blog.
Computers in India are far and few between and finding an internet café with
both electricity and internet has proven to be quite difficult. Because of the
delay, I will try and describe the last few weeks concisely as to not take up
too much of your time. The last time I was able to sit down and share my
travels I was in Indonesia and let me tell you, so much has happened since
then. After leaving Indonesia, I traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and spent
nine days there by myself before my friend Nicola came to join me to travel
onto Mumbai, India. Whilst in Kuala Lumpur, I did a lot of touring. I saw the
Petronas Twin Towers, Petronas Science Center and Aquarium, China Town, Little
India, Chow Kit Night Market, and a few other spots. However, the highlight of
my trip to Kuala Lumpur was seeing the Batu Caves which are a series of natural
caves that has been turned into a Hindu Temple Complex and it is the largest
Hindu pilgrimage site in the world outside of India. You must climb hundreds of
steps to get to the top and the view from there is breathtaking. I really
enjoyed my time in Kuala Lumpur and I even squeezed in a trip to the Cathedral
there for Ash Wednesday mass which I thoroughly enjoyed as being in a Church is
so comforting when you are far away from home. The food in Kuala Lumpur was amazing
and the mix of Indian, Chinese, and Malay people and food led to a very
interesting and delicious stay in KL!
Now I will try and summarize the last month in India,
breaking it up into segments.
India, Part One: Mumbai, Jaipur, New Delhi.
Arriving in Mumbai was something I had dreamed of and
planned for so long, that when it actually happened, it felt so surreal. I
finally understood the saying that India is an overload on the senses as I
immediately took in millions of smells, sights, and sounds during that first
taxi ride to the hostel from the airport. After settling in at the airport,
Nicola and I made our way to the train station where we toured around for a bit
and ended up at Juhu Beach which was a lovely place to spend an evening and we
even watched some Hari Krishna’s celebrate as they prepared for Holi, a holiday
that I will explain later on. We spent a
few days in Mumbai, getting ourselves comfortable with public transportation and
visiting the India Gate, Taj Hotel, Ghandi’s Home, and a number of other spots
before taking the train to Jaipur, Rajasthan. The train ride was almost 24
hours but we got ‘Sleeper Class’ tickets so we were at least able to lie down
and attempt to sleep with all of the noise and bustle going on around us. We
arrived in Jaipur and found that the hostel we had booked was actually a Villa
and it was a gorgeous colonial home with gardens in the back where we had our
meals. On our first day in Jaipur, we hired a rickshaw driver who took us
around to see the Amber Fort, Water Palace, and even managed to talk us into
going into a textile shop where we did indeed end up buying a few things. I bought two blankets, one was brown with
elephants and mirrors and the other one was white with silk string elephants
and I decided to FedEx them home to avoid carrying them across the globe and I’m
happy to say that they arrived in San Diego safely where my parents are
enjoying them! I met a few fellow travelers
in Jaipur and we arranged to meet them for the next morning to go to the
Elephant Festival. The Elephant Festival was an amazing event. It is a parade
where elephants are adorned with mirrors, paints, and whatever other
accessories their owners see fit before they are judged on their overall
attractiveness. It certainly felt like some kind of elephant drag show to be
quite honest. After that, there were a few different events like ‘tug-o-war’ before
they started throwing around flowers and colored powders and by the end of the
day we were all multi-colored and happy. It was a wonderful celebration and the
combination of loud music, vibrant colors, and floral scents made me feel like
I was experiencing a true Indian celebration. That same night, Nicola and I
took an overnight bus to New Delhi where we checked into a hostel in the wee
hours in anticipation of her sister Joanne meeting us the next day, which would
be Holi. Holi is essentially the day that marks the start of Spring, as well as
the triumph of good over evil, and it is celebrated by people throwing both
liquid and powdered dyes on each other in good fun. Our gang from the hostel
all went around town together and we had a great day of color bombing each other
and taking photos with the locals. Joanne made it to India from Ireland without
any problems and she got into the swing of Holi right away. The next day we
just tooled around New Delhi and starting planning our trip east to Varanasi
and Agra…
India, Part Two: Varanasi, Agra, New Delhi, Amritsar, and
Chandigarh
From New Delhi, we took another overnight train to Varanasi
and because we arrived at four in the morning and the town was still sleeping,
we couldn’t find any proper accommodations and it took a lot of driving around
in the rickshaw until we could find somewhere reasonable to sleep. After a
quick nap, we took off into town and headed straight for the Ganges. We paid
for a small boat to take us out and around the Ganges and it just so happened
that there was a cremation happening so as we passed the cremation site, we
were able to see a funeral in process but I definitely saw and smelt things at
that spot that I don’t care to describe or endure again. After touring around
the Ganges and attending another ceremony at one of the main stations, we had
some dinner and a few hours later I got an extreme case of vomiting and Delhi
Belly that I never hope to experience again. Luckily, that was my only time
getting extremely sick and I consider myself lucky to get off that easily as so
many others have found themselves much sicker here. After our trip to Varanasi,
we headed to Agra and were so excited to see the Taj Mahal. It was so
incredible to see in person and we spent an entire day there taking in the building
that we had seen in so many pictures and videos over the years. The Taj is an
amazing site and I am so pleased to have seen it. We also made a trip out to
Agra Fort but it was only a quick one as we decided to catch a bus out of Agra so
that we could return to Delhi and prepare for our journey to the north.
While In Delhi, I managed to meet up with an Indian friend
of mine that I had met in Korea and he showed us around. We even ended up at a
Korean Culture and Food Festival in Delhi where we found ourselves taking a
Korean cooking class in the middle of India – who would have guessed that that would
happen?! After Delhi, we took yet
another train up to Amritsar to see the epicenter of the Sikh religion, and
that is the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple has attached accommodation so we
were able to sleep and eat just across the street from the temple for only a
small donation. The Golden Temple is literally made of gold and to see it surrounded
by the holy pond is a majestic site and you can’t help but feel humbled by this
beautiful structure that has survived such volatile attacks from opposing
religious groups. The Sikh people are extremely peaceful and we spent our time there
simply reflecting and meditating to the soundtrack of chants that was
constantly going in the background. While in Amritsar, we took a day trip out
to the Pakistani border and attending a ceremony where both India and Pakistan
lower their flags and give each other a peaceful salute at sunset. It was great
to see such a passive and diplomatic exchange between to the two countries and
I’m happy that they can have such an event every day in this part of the world.
After Amritsar, we went to Chandigarh, which is unlike any other city in India.
It was rebuilt in recent decades and was segmented into sectors, so the town is
very organized and geometrical compared to the rest of the country. The city
overall seemed to be very aware of recycling and keeping clean, which is in
stark contrast to the rest of India where you’ll see people chucking their
rubbish all over the streets, fields, and waterways. Chandigarh is a very modern and clean city
and I definitely recommend it as a stopover, if only to see the Rock Garden,
where a man has taken old garbage and turned it into a mystical land full of people,
creatures, and formations. It is a real fantasy land and it is made up entirely
of rubbish. After a few days in Chandigarh, we headed to Delhi for the third
and final time, in preparation of heading south…
India, Part Three: Goa, Kerala (Cochin, Alleppey, Amritapuri
Ashram)
From New Delhi, we decided to catch an inexpensive flight to
Goa (on the Western Coast) as we felt that we had endured enough overnight
trains and busses for the time being. We arrived in Goa in no time and headed
to our lodgings at Anjuna Beach. Because of a glitch in the system, the owners
of our hostel said that they couldn’t host us in their dorms but that they
could give us a rooftop apartment with a balcony and kitchen if we didn’t mind.
Hah! We were over the moon! We finally struck hostel gold and we were able to
get these amazing digs for only $5 a night per person. We absolutely loved
Anjuna Beach and spent our days laying on the beach, renting scooters, and
exploring Old Goa and the Catholic Churches that were remnants of the Portuguese
that had come in so many years ago for spices. Goa is an amazing and beautiful
place and I highly recommend that anyone who comes to India to backpack treat
themselves to a few days here as it is inexpensive but absolutely lovely! Once we finally were able to drag ourselves
away from the utopia of Anjuna Beach, we took yet another long train down to
Cochin in the state of Kerala. From there, we took a bus to Alleppey where we
arranged to do a houseboat tour of the Keralan backwaters for a few days. The
houseboat tour was so relaxing and we felt like queens as they served us fine
meals and tea around the clock. Because we had a large boat to ourselves (for
$75/person), we were able to just soak up the sun, read, explore, and drink at
our leisure. It was just as relaxing and lovely as Goa but again, we couldn’t
afford to stay on the boat forever, so we left the houseboat and grabbed a
water boat down to the Amritapuri Ashram, where we are currently staying. The ashram is a holy Hindu complex where people
come to study and develop their faith. This one is open to the public, so the
girls and I are able to stay here despite the fact that we are not Hindu for a
nominal fee of 200 rupees a night, which is around $5. The guru here, Amma,
preaches the middle way within Hinduism and she believes in selfless service to
others and lots of devotion and meditation. I don’t plan on going Hindu anytime
soon, but it’s nice to stay in such a peaceful place where we are free to
attend meditations, devotions, yoga classes, and receive darshan (blessings) as
we please. We’ll probably stick around here for another few days before
continuing on south to the very tip of India.
Well, that wraps up the last six weeks and I hope to be able
to update more frequently in the future. The last month in India has changed my
way of thinking so much and I look forward to the coming weeks that I have remaining
here. Nicola’s sister Joanne has just left us here at the Ashram to make her
way back up to Delhi and onwards to home in Ireland, so it’s just the two of us
again. Thank you to everyone for reading this and I hope you enjoy the photos
that I am uploading as well. Namaste!
