Kathmandu

Leaving Delhi I was faced with a daunting journey ahead of me: at least 24 hours of travel to reach Kathmandu overland. The trip ended up going fairly smoothly even though it took far longer than I had hoped for. So about 36 hours after leaving Delhi I was in Kathmandu and had found myself a hotel. Now it was time to sleep properly.

Getting up later that day I ventured outside for my first real taste of Kathmandu and proceeded to spend the rest of the day wandering around the tourist area of Tamel and the surrounding areas. Getting my first taste of Tamel I was extremely disappointed as the few streets that composed the Tamel area were EXTREMELY touristy. It was impossible to walk down the road without countless people offering treks, rafting, souvenirs and even hash. Needless to say the afternoon of my first day in Kathmandu was a huge disappointment.

The next morning I awoke and was determined to get out of the Tamel area as fast as possible and to try to stay away for the majority of the day. Thankfully I had heard that the Nepali games were occurring at the national stadium which wasn't too far away so I decided to head down in that direction while also checking out some sights along the way. The main sight I was interested in seeing along the way was Durbar Square which is just an ancient square in Kathmandu that contains several temples and palaces. Many of the temples contain stairs leading up their pyramid shaped bases and provide a nice location to just sit and watch all of the activity happening in the area. One of the palaces is even home to the Kumari which is a living goddess, a young girl lives here from the time she is born until she gets her first period. After that a new Kumari is chosen and has to live in the palace. Other than that particular palace none of them appear too special but are all quite beautiful to just look at.

After visiting Durbar Square I made my way to the national stadium and got to watch some of the countries favorite sporting events live. I started off watching half of a soccer match although one of the teams was clearly much better than the other so it didn't provide too much entertainment so I headed out to see some other events. The highlight of the afternoon probably had to be a volleyball game that I watched as the crowd was absolutely packed and really getting into it. The game was between a local Kathmandu team and one from out of town so everybody was cheering for the local team. When the game ended with a questionable call from the refs in favor of the visiting team the crowd got a little restless and the riot police were even called in. Time for me to make my exit. The volleyball match was the highlight of my time there but I also got to watch a little martial arts, some boxing and also some weird game that I had no idea what it was other than one guy had to get by a group of others (no other way to explain it). While hanging out at the games I also befriended a local cricket star and he invited over to his place the following evening for dinner and a party which I happily agreed to.

My third day in Kathmandu I headed up to the monkey temple (the real name is Swayambhu) which sits on a hill to the east of Tamel, a nice 20 minute walk away. The place at the top is one of the most famous Buddhist temples in Nepal and as a result it was packed with foreigners and locals alike. I was a little disappointed in it though because even though it was great to see and even allowed great views of the surrounding areas of Kathmandu (also several monkeys were present) the top of the hill was packed with lots of people trying to sell Buddhist trinkets and souvenirs, not something that I find to impressive at a religious site. After visiting the monkey temple I went to meet my new found local friend and to hang out with him for the remainder of the day. The party that we attended turned out to be just a large family gathering for dinner. So I got to meet most of the members of his family along with having some excellent home cooked Nepali food, and man do they ever eat a lot. I arrived at about 3pm and over the course of the next 4 or 5 hours I don't think I've ever eaten as much food in my life. The family dinner seemed to be consist of 3-4 meals instead of the normal one, and these were full meals not just small courses. That night was some of the best eating I did throughout my entire visit in Nepal and I couldn't thank the host family enough.

The following day I spent the time organizing everything that I needed for my trek around Annapurna. However the most important thing that I needed to get was a permit to allow me into the Annapurna Conservation Area, but since it was a Saturday all the government offices were closed (as I found out). So I had to settle by getting all my gear ready and waiting until first thing the next morning to get my permit.

My last day in Kathmandu I quickly got my permit as soon as the offices were open then boarded a micro bus (15 passenger van that had at least 20 people in it) to Besi Sahar. I arrived in Besi Sahar in the evening and quickly met up with a couple of British guys (Jaques and Ryan) and agreed to start the trek with them the next morning. This was great news as it meant that I wouldn't have to do any trekking on my own at the start. Over the course of the next 3 weeks I became great friends with them but I'll tell you more about that in my next entry about the trek.







One of the competitors in a martial arts event during the Nepali games.










On my walk to the Monkey Temple I crossed a river that ran through town and was extremely saddened to see the amount of garbage in it. Kathmandu had to be one of the dirtiest and most polluted cities I visited (although some in India are right up there too) as the surrounding mountains traps all the smog in.










Some yak butter milk candles lit at the monkey temple.













Ladies lighting smaller butter milk candles at the monkey temple.












A row of prayer wheels at the monkey temple.

Updated

Alright so I've finally managed to upload the pictures for the Bhopal update and you can find them at the bottom of the post. Additionally I added a new paragraph or two so feel free to read it again if you already have, if not then enjoy it for the first time.

Agra

So I departed Bhopal to head up to Agra and see the famous Taj Mahal, by far India's most famous building. Everyone I talked to said that Agra was full of touts and that I should try and spend as little time as possible there to just see the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. As a result most people visit Agra as a day trip from Delhi, but I decided to spend two days there so that I could see the Taj Mahal at sunrise and also allow myself lots of time to see the other sights in Agra.

I arrived in Agra at 9pm and quickly found a hotel room where I spent a short night as I woke up the following morning at 5am to visit the Taj Mahal for sunrise. Arriving at the entrance gate into the Taj Mahal just before 6am I went through the thorough security process into the grounds for the Taj. My first view of the Taj Mahal in real life was amazing, it was visible through the central gateway we had to walk through and it looked beautiful. Even better than it does in the pictures. As I got closer I noticed that the building is HUGE. It always looks fairly small I thought from all the photos but that's because they are just taken from a ways away, once I got up close to the actual building it towered over me. After taking the typical photo that everyone gets at the Taj I walked up to and into it to see the tombs (the actual tombs are in the basement where the public can't go but there are fake ones that the public can see). As I walked around the building I was just amazed at the amount of work that had gone into building it: the entire building was symmetrical as all four sides were identical (you could rotate the building 90 degrees and nobody would notice any change) and all of the inlaid gemstones in the white marble that depicted different patterns and flower designs were all perfect (and also symmetrical). The sheer amount of work that must have gone into building it was mind boggling. After walking around the Taj Mahal itself I toured around the mosque next to it (and the fake mosque on the other side) and the gardens surrounding the entire complex. The entire grounds and buildings in it were absolutely beautiful and it was definitely worth the 750 rupee entrance fee. The only disappointing thing about my visit to the Taj Mahal was that the fountains were empty with signs that said they were closed for cleaning, I found this hard to believe as I saw no evidence of cleaning so I think they may have been closed due to a water shortage problem.

Visiting the Taj Mahal at sunrise was, in my opinion, the best time to visit as the sun slowly rose over the complex walls illuminating the buildings and the garden providing great light for photos. Also the heat of the day hadn't hit yet so it was cool enough to walk around outside and the sky hadn't hazed up so they were as blue as they would get when I was there.

After leaving the Taj Mahal I returned to hotel where I rested for the rest of the morning and sat at the rooftop restaurant just watching the Taj Mahal. That day I didn't do too much else, electing to leave the fort and other sights for the next day.

The following day I got up and checked out Agra Fort in the morning. The fort did seem pretty impressive although half of it was closed off to tourists as it was being used by the army. The part that we were able to walk through was very beautiful though. There weren't very many rooms that we could enter but there lots of perfectly maintained gardens the fort and the views out over the city and river towards the Taj Mahal were phenomenal. Having said that there were a couple of buildings like mosques, gateways and open rooms that were very exquisite and clearly made for royalty.

After visiting the Agra Fort I made my way over to Itimad-Ud-Daulah, a tomb that has been nicknamed the baby taj. This tomb was built before the Taj Mahal for Mizra Ghiyas Beg and isn't quite as spectacular as the more famous Taj Mahal it certainly is an amazing building. When looking at it there are several features common to the Taj Mahal and it's thought that some of the design for the Taj Mahal was taken from it.

Finally I went around the back side of the Taj Mahal across the river from it for one final view before leaving Agra. Although you could get up close to Taj for some great views (it was only about 30 meters away across the river) I thought it wasn't anywhere near nice as the front view. The river level was pretty low which showed some garbage on the banks and the kids playing there never stopped asking me for money so I couldn't enjoy it very much. However the Taj Mahal is still so beautiful that it was still worth the trip over there.

Finally I headed out of Agra that night to return to Delhi where I picked up the remainder of my luggage and started the long journey to Kathmandu, Nepal. So again I'll skip talking about visiting Delhi as I plan to spend a week there after Nepal and truly do some sight seeing then, but look for my next post about the land of the great Himalayas.







Standing in front of the Taj Mahal and taking the required picture that everyone takes.











A view of the Taj Mahal through one of the archways on the mosque located to the side.











The mosque located to the side of the Taj Mahal. On the other side is an identical building that is believed to have been used to house the workers while they were constructing the Taj.










A view of one of the courtyard gardens in the Agra Fort.













The entrance to the Agra Fort.











Looking at the Itimad-Ud-Daulah, or the baby taj. Notice the rough similarities in their design.










A final view of the Taj Mahal from the backside across the river.

Bhopal

Well I managed to survive my 17 day journey into the Himalayas. The trek around Annapurna was absolutely awesome and I was rewarded with several days of crystal clear views of the surrounding 7000 plus meter peaks! But I will tell more stories about my trek around Annapurna in a couple of updates as I still need to catch up on my earlier excursions first.

After leaving Jodhpur I took a bus to get to Delhi and meet up with my friend Karan. Upon reaching Delhi I met up with my friend and proceeded to spend the next day and a half relaxing with him and seeing a few sights before heading down to Bhopal with him.

Arriving in Bhopal I was treated to complete luxury staying with my friend and his family, and in addition it was nice to be in a home environment again after being on the road for nearly 7 months. Needless to say I took advantage of the situation and spent lots of time just relaxing in his home and garden while getting to enjoy the company of his family.

While in Bhopal I did see a few sights around the city although they mainly consisted of Karan driving me around the city and pointing out different sights or just wandering around markets to see the normal Bhopal city life. I found this quite interesting though as Karan would take me to areas that he hung out in as a kid and I got to see areas of Bhopal that tourists probably rarely get a chance to visit. Having Karan along with me also allowed me to eat some of the best food I've had so far on the trip as not only the food at his home was amazing but he knew all of the best restaurants around Bhopal and we went to several of them to eat some truly delicious local food.

While in Bhopal I did visit one tourist destination which was the museum of man. This museum was extremely well done as it started out by going through the history of earth and the evolution of humans. This was only the start of the museum though as it then continued on by discussing the various ethnic groups of India and how the religion, way of life, living conditions and festivals differed in around the country. The museum went into tons of detail for each group and it seemed to just keep on going, after spending a several hours wandering through it (time well spent) I headed back outside where there were small sample houses setup that were also quite interesting.

I also took a day trip out to nearby Sanchi where the Mauryan emperor Ashoka embraced Buddhism in 262 BC. As a result several stupas, temples, and monasteries were built on top of a large hill here and are some of the oldest Buddhist structures in India. Since they are so old most of the monasteries and temples are little more than ruins scattered around the hilltop usually with just the foundation remaining. Most of the stupas are quite well preserved though and the center most one contains four beautifully carved archways around the four cardinal entrances. In addition to the historic buildings here they are surrounded by a well kept garden that was pleasent to just sit and relax in if it was a little too hot.

After spending a couple of days relaxing in Bhopal with my friend and his family I decided it was time to move on as I would be returning to visit them again after my trip to Nepal. So I boarded the train for Agra to finally see the Taj Mahal, probably the most famous building in all of India. So look forward for my next update about Agra which will hopefully be coming real soon.





One of the gateways in front of the entrance to the main stupa.













Standing in front of the main stupa.














A view of the nice gardens surrounding the stupas and ruins of the monasteries and temples.

Leaving for a Trek

To all my faithful readers I'm putting up a short note here to let you know that I'm about to depart on a three week trek in Nepal (where I've just arrived). As a result there won't be any new updates for about three weeks. When I return I'll catch you all up including my time spent in Bhopal (I left Delhi for Bhopal almost immediately), Agra, my short visit in Kathmandu and my trekking experience. Hope you can all wait the three weeks to hear about my adventures again.

Also I apologize for being a little behind.

Jodhpur

Leaving Udaipur I made my way further Northwest to the city Jodhpur, which is nicknamed the blue city. Arriving in the city I quickly found a guesthouse and proceeded to explore the city since I didn't have very much time there. For the rest of the afternoon I just wandered through the narrow streets and market around the clock tower all the while gazing up at the huge fort towering above the city. The Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur is a huge structure built upon the a cliff face that overlooks the entire city, and it certainly looked indestructible. Wandering around the city I also got to confirm that it truly is a blue city as at least half of all the buildings within the city are painted blue. The were originally painted blue to indicate which caste the owners belonged to (Brahmins I believe but I could be wrong), today only the houses in the old city must keep this tradition while in the new city any house can be painted blue, and many are.

The following day was my only real day in Jodhpur as I was leaving that night to meet up with Karan, my friend, in Delhi. So I started off the day by making my way up the hill to Mehrangarh Fort. Once inside the fort I toured around it with the aid of an audio guide (definitely the best audio guide I've had so far), getting a chance to see most of the buildings and courts inside the fort as well as some smaller museum exhibits. The fort was really spectacular as all of the interior buildings were intricately designed and surrounded by several courts. Additionally the design of the fort walls themselves are really impressive as they are on average 20 meters high and sit on the very edge of a cliff, it's an extraordinary feat that they still look stable and nothing is falling apart. Inside the museum parts of the fort are several exhibits containing artwork, palanquins (the chairs people are carried in), and lots of clothing and furniture. All of it expertly explained by the audio guide. After leaving Mehrangarh Fort I visited the Jaswant Thada which is a stunning white marble memorial for Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. The building is exremely beautiful being carved out of thin sheets of white marble it just seems to glow in the sun light.

After touring around the Fort and the Jaswant Thada I had a little bit of time left in Jodhpur which I spent wandering around the market again. After another short visit to the market I boarded a bus to Delhi to meet up with Karan and enjoy some of his hospitality.





A view of the imposing Mehrangarh Fort from slightly above it. You can see the towering walls located almost exactly on the cliff face here, but they are even more impressive from the other side while looking up at the fort.








A view of the "blue city" looking out from a window in the fort. To see over half a city entirely blue was really fascinating.









A man sitting with a Hukka and explaining that locals would smoke flavoured tobacco from it while the drank opium (didn't smoke it).








A view of the beautiful Jaswant Thada.










A stall selling many different coloured turbans in the market near the clock tower.

Udaipur

After leaving Aurangabad and Amhedabad I made my way to Udaipur. I was pretty excited about heading to Udaipur as it would be my first destination in Rajistan, a state that is supposed to be beautiful, and there are some beautiful old palaces there. Upon arriving in Udaipur I quickly found a nice guesthouse that had some nice views of the lake on the roof and proceeded to fall asleep. I was dead tired after spending the past 2 nights traveling on night buses and not getting much sleep either night. That afternoon I just wandered around the streets of Udaipur to get a bearing for the place and to see what there was. In other words I didn't get up to anything very exciting.

The following morning I headed out to visit the city palace which is a huge building located right on the bank of the lake in the city. The palace is beautiful and to look at it one would never have guessed that each new ruler who lived in the building added a new addition. The building looks as if it was built all at once and designed that way, not adding little bits over several centuries. Most of the area inside the palace has been turned into a a fairly interesting museum containing lots of articles from Mughal empires over the past few centuries. The displays include everything from artwork to an armory to information about past leaders and about Rajistan in general. Other than the articles in the museum just even wandering through the old palace was pretty fascinating. That evening I took in a performance of traditional Rajistan dancing. The dancing was quite fabulous but the most impressive part was the extremely colourful clothing that the dancers wore and the music that was played by a few guys was extremely good. Definitely a worthwhile performance to see.

The following day I took a tour out to the surrounding country side for a few hours in the afternoon and saw another lake (Udaipur has 4 large lakes in the area), some small villages, the monsoon palace and Shilpgram. The lake, called Tiger lake, wasn't anything spectacular however it was loads cleaner and better looking than the lake in middle of Udaipur which the city palace is built upon. Additionally the small villages weren't anything special after I have seen several similar villages over the past few months but it was still worthwhile touring around them and mainly seeing the people walking to the communal water pumps to gather their water. These small villages had on running water and as a result they desperately depended on streams and water underground, as a result during times of drought (like just before the monsoon) getting enough water in the village is pretty tough and everybody has to be extremely careful to not waste it. After touring some villages I visited Shilpgram which is a small museum type setup showing the types of huts that people in small villages used to live in. The museum is entirely open air and you walk from area to area with each one setup like a different tribe so the huts are all different, but so are their schools and temples which are sometimes shown here too. The only downside about Shilpgram was that it was very touristy and so everywhere there were stalls selling crafts with their owners trying to get you to come buy something. Finally I went to monsoon palace which is built on top of the highest hill in the area and a great place for sunset. That is about the only worthwhile reason for coming here though as the palace isn't very big and the interior is almost empty except for a few posters talking about the local environment.

My final day in Udaipur was spent again wandering through some of the back streets, looking at the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir (another palace built on an island on the lake) and visiting Jagdish temple. I didn't actually visit either of the two palaces built on the lake as one is a hotel that doesn't allow non guests to visit and the other required taking an hour long boat ride around the very uninviting lake to get to.

After spending a few days at Udaipur I boarded a bus heading to Jodhpur to visit the famous fort located there. So my time in Udaipur was finished. I was quite disappointed in Udaipur as it sounded like an absolutely beautiful place filled with places located around a lake. However, the water level in the lake was very low and the lake was filled with garbage and algae so it didn't look very appealing. Also to top it off there were hundreds of small shops selling paintings and other souvenirs so all of the touts that were constantly trying to get you to visit their store were a bit overwhelming and not peaceful or relaxing at all. I was glad to head out of there and get to Jodhpur after the few days I spent there.

As an additional note a large portion of the James Bond movie Octopussy was filmed here and you can see the monsoon palace (the interior of the palace in the movie looks nothing like the interior in real life), lake palace and some city scenes in the movie.




A view of the Lake Palace from the roof of my hotel. This is the one that's been turned into a fancy hotel and non guests aren't allowed to visit.









A view of the city palace from across the lake.












The golden sun design, the symbol of the Mughal empire. This exhibit is located in the museum within the city palace.








A scene of the dance performance that I saw with a peacock, the bird of India, being depicted by the lady on the right.











Another scene from the dance performance. Here the lady is balancing lots of ceramic pots on her head while still being able to dance to the music, it was very impressive.













Some ladies doing their laundry in one of the smaller ponds located around the city.











Some ladies who were helping with the restoration work on the Monsoon Palace. They would carry the waste material away in buckets on their head and dump it over the cliff.