Agra: When you think Taj Mahal you'd expect the surrounding city to be an expanse of white marble towers and paved raods and NO street side urinals and I'd loooove to say that's true. The good part about all that being the opposite is you get monkeys patrolling the outskirts of the World Wonder and fiercely mounting their mates if you should look too interested in them. Figures. Got some ace shots of the Taj from the river bank, from the rooftop restaurant, from the back streets...basically that's all our group found to do.
Marc and I rented two cycle rickshaws (one driver 18 the other about 80, appearing 200), both very kind to begin with and spoke some average english! Until....
"Ok one stop at shop. you look only, i get commission, ok?"
"Fine, just the one."
Meh. Why not, they could use the 10 rupees and we only had to circle an overstocked bazaar (selling chariot wheels made of sandstone) chased around by the two owners who had never before had a customer.
"You like to buy ashtray?"
"I don't smoke"
"Ok, you like to buy pipe?"
Jumped back on our cycles, whipped out of sunbrellas, straigthened out bowler hats and slapped our drivers into action. Mhmm, quite! Marc got a quick shave from a guy on the street, screamed out as they rubbed some ice block-cum-aftershave on his face.
"Ok, now one more shop" -driver
"What? No, no, no. We agreed that was it."
"But I make 10 rupees"/
"I'll give you 20."
Driver still pulls into shop. Lookie lookie? ...The twats. Cue to leave and walk back.
Taj was spectacular of course, sunrise dashing, and monkeys failed to ruin its charm by trying to pinch everybody's camera.
Varanassi, our second last stop, a 2500 year old city on the Ganges was up there with Udaipur for prettiest city award. Totally. Because of all the energy used to power the crematoriums and useless...sorry "in progress" sewage treatment plants, power cuts were pretty regular. Showers go cold, internet cuts while doing banking and toilet contents even came back..not sure if that was related.
Walked along all the ghats (religious staircases that drop into the river) and witnessed the two burning ghats. I had never seen a dead body until then when I sat looking at the woodpiles and one was lifted right over my head on its way to the funeral pyre. WTF! Right next to me some kids played cricket...
Recieved a very unconsentual guided tour of the ghat. Om, yes that was his name, came up to my shoulder in height (!!!) and walked me around to the crematorium where we saw a man that had just falledfallen off a building twenty minutes back being layered with magnolias and gasoline before being hurled into the flames. Wife bawled at his side, I could hardly watch, and as soon as he was placed in the fire she went back to her cleaning. :0
Did a sunset and sunrise boatride on the holy river and left a trail of floating candles, each a wish. Watched the ceremonies at the main ghats. A lot of swinging of incense, covering each other with powder and singing out of tune. Some pictures like you wouldnt imagine.
Holy as the river was, upon reading this stat we all were too afraid to even look at the river...let alone bathe. Did you know!!!??? that in 100ml of bathing water there should be no more that 500 faecal bacteria. The Ganges, well, in all its holiness contains more than 1.5 million per 100ml.
WAaaaaaa!
Dining 1.5 km away form the Ganges that night allowed us to drink a little of our fave Indian Rum and let Anant stop shaking.
"mhmm whiskey is riskey" -Anant
Had T-bone steaks (water buffalo cuz they aint holy), roast taters and boiled veg. Felt like a sunday dinna!
Did some yoga class, medidated and saw some dead bodies. I feel clensed!
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