I can’t say that I like Delhi. It’s exhausting. I’m ready to go home.
Something positive: the Metro works. In 2 years it should go out to the airport too (they are expanding the system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games here).
While food is expensive here (and a 12.5% VAT on top), rooms are cheap for a capital city – I snagged a small budget room for Rs250/$6.25 for today (from 8:00 to 22:00, where checkout is normally at 12:00).
I can get a taxi to the airport tonight for Rs200/$5 (1 hour!).
The (Pakistani) Wagah-Attari (India) border crossing, 30km west of Amritsar (and the only border crossing between the 2 countries), was both amusing in a farcical way and scary in a “Zieg Heil” kind of way. A little too patriotic.
And with guards’ walks that could have been out of a Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch!
Border ceremony photos: Indian border guards lined up; at the border gate (with Pakistani women’s stand in background); with an Indian border guard afterwards
Arrived in Amritsar late yesterday afternoon after a 5 hour bus ride from Chandigarh.
The Golden Temple complex is impressive (some liken it to the Taj Mahal in grandeur, but since I didn’t see the latter up close, I can’t comment). The walkway around the sacred pond is all marble with inlaid patterns.
Plus the little touches are nice: no fee to keep shoes (and no tip allowed!), and free simple meals (donation accepted) in the Langar, or community kitchen.
Off to the Pakistan border ceremony now…
Photos: Golden Temple at sunset; what time is it? (clocktower at the Golden Temple complex)
Top 5 reasons why the train is better than the bus:
It’s hard to believe I’m flying home tomorrow night already! (after my night train to Delhi, and a day, but not night, in Delhi)
More text to come…
Note my time was limited, and there were several sights I didn’t see that I should have.
The big highlight was getting to meet some locals from one of my online clubs…
See also my previous Mumbai entry including the Gateway of India photo.
(sorry, power outage kept it short; now at my next stop, there is no USB port and the Internet is slow)
Surprisingly the 6-hour day train from Jodhpur to Bikaner was on time (within 3 minutes, which is as “on time” as can be).
Through scrubby desert from one desert town to another. Hot and dusty.
The 1-day, 1-night camel safari was very good – Rs1300/$32.50 (inc. food/water/tent) with www.camelman.com
I don’t think I could have handled a second day on the camel (bruises!). Dinner under the stars, campfire with live music, excellent food!
More details later when I do the “highlights” entry…
Photos: me on a camel; Nicole on a camel, plus the camel cart in background; musicians by campfire (note the accordion-like instrument on the left)
While I’m glad I went, the rat temple was a little disappointing because I was expecting hundreds if not thousands of rats – more like 100 if that.
It’s a 40 minute bus ride (Rs10/$0.25 on private bus; Rs15/$0.38 on gov’t bus) south of Bikaner.
It’s supposed to be good luck to see a white rat (we didn’t) but a Belgian couple at the guest house did – it was more of a whitish-brown colour, not lab-rat white.
Also, a rat running over your foot is good luck too, which also didn’t happen – though a few rats came up and sniffed my sock!
Tip: bring socks you can throw away (e.g. those free socks on the trans-oceanic flights), since the floor of the temple is filthy with rat and pigeon turds.
Photos: Front of Rat Temple; rats drinking milk inside
Red carrots in the market in Bikaner (all over India, really; they are a little sweeter than back home):
Visited the fort which sits on a 130m/400ft rock outcropping above the blue-painted city.
The entrance fee (Rs250/$6.25) includes a great electronic audio guide which has just the right amount of info!
Very interesting, and well worth the visit!
Not much else to see here; the marketplace is so-so.
There is a living maharaja’s palace visible on a hill opposite the fort (i.e. south of the city), and the grounds/outer building are supposed to be nice, but I didn’t feel like trucking over there.
Interesting note: travellers coming from North India say Jodhpur is the cleanest city so far; we travellers coming from South India think Jodhpur is the dirtiest city so far! Yes, I like South India more!
Photos: Fort viewed from city; part of fort up close; blue city viewed from fort; clock tower in marketplace
I met up here with Nicole from Quebec (she had met up here recently with her daughter, who is travelling separately in India, for a wedding; her daughter got sick enough to go to the hospital but recovered); she’ll be going to Bikaner for the camel safari and nearby famous rat temple with me.
Well, my 12-hour night train was 4 hours late this morning, so I didn’t arrive in time for sunrise (one of the better, less crowded times to see the Taj Majal).
More importantly, as a group of Korean women on the train (who gave me some of their dinner last night, as they had too much food) pointed out, it’s “off” today. i.e. Closed. On a Friday! Oops, I missed that. In fact, I didn’t think to check it after my scare about Ellora and Ajanta caves being closed (the latter on Mon, the former on Tue – luckily I visited them the right way, or they would have both been closed on me!)
Oh well. I can’t say I was that incredibly keen to visit the Taj Majal (a World Heritage site) – it seemed like I “had” to. It does indeed look just like in the postcards (which is what a few travellers told me. Though to really appreciate it you have to see the intricate marble work up close.
Tip: Don’t expect the train to arrive on time. Very rare. Especially if you are counting on a pre-sunset arrival to view sunset somewhere special!
Tip: Double-check opening and closing times and days for major monuments or things you absolutely want to see, to avoid only being here when closed!
So I visited the Red Fort (also a World Heritage site), which was OK – two of the more interesting bits I wanted to see there were closed for renovations.
It’s one of the finest Mughal forts in India, from the 17th C. All red sandstone and white marble:
I did have a great view of the Taj Majal from the rooftop Shanti Lodge resto at lunchtime (in the Taj Ganj district immediately south of the Taj Mahal).
But I can’t get any closer to it, as I leave on a night train again tonight, for Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
In the photo with me in it, the structure on the left is the (main) south gate to the Taj Majal compound.
I did a brief 40 minute stop here on the way back to the train station. It’s about 10km east/inland of Panaji (Panjim) along the Mandavi River.
There are a half dozen large churches and cathedrals here (yet another World Heritage site!), with the main ones clustered on some treed parks.
Photos: the Basilica of Bom Jesus (which has the tomb and remains of St Francis Xavier); its richly gilded altar
Each beach in Goa has its own character; the two I went to were very different, but neither one was picture postcard perfect (supposedly Agonda beach in south Goa comes closest, while still being quiet).
Highlights (or rather points of interest) of my 2 nights in Benaulim beach (technically I might have been in Serabatim beach, which is in between Benaulim and Colva beaches):
Photos: my hotel and resto Coco Huts; barefoot on a shaded beach lounge chair (free); view north from my hotel resto; little crab that digs itself into the sand at edge of surf (even on my hand, it would dig into the little pile of sand and tickle my hand); fishing boat and family on the beach
My (24 hour ride) train arrived at 1:30 (am), over 6 hours late (i.e. 30 hours long). They gave my room away, so I weaseled a cot with fresh sheets in the staff room (they sleep on mats in the lobby) for free (I tipped him this morning), and was able to use the common shower/toilet (for some of the rooms) this morning, since I had been in the same clothes for 48 hours! I got up at 5:30 for boat tour on river, but weather is poor (foggy) so it was a little disappointing. And cold. Well, 19°C with fog/haze and wind and no sun felt mighty cold without a real sweater on! I was told the weather was quite unusual and it had been nice in the morning all week (plus, it didn’t get sunny until mid-afternoon!) I’m leaving Varanasi for Agra in a few hours – a 12 hour night train! Unfortunately this means I will miss the Shiva festival tonight (and tomorrow night), but I didn’t know about that. Tip: don’t schedule just one day in a town if it is important, esp. if you want sunshine for good photos! Too much travel, will cut Jaisalmer out of that itinerary…
Update: I did watch some cremations at Manikarnika Ghat, the main one with continual cremations (24 hours a day, a good dozen at once). More on that when I do the highlights. Inhaling that smoke didn’t help my lungs any (I started coughing again on the long train ride coming here).