Well, it's been just over a week - enough time to begin to get an impression of this place and to actually do and see some things. This would have been posted yesterday, but as I posted on Facebook, there was a power cut in yesterday while I was in the middle of writing the post.
As the plane approached Delhi, I began to get pretty excited - it was cool anticipating landing somewhere completely new and unfamiliar - something I haven't done for a while. I got into the (unrepresentative) modern Delhi airport at about 4.30 am. I took a taxi into the backpackers' area of Pahar Ganj with some Israelis who were also on the flight, and we started looking for a guesthouse. At this time of the morning things were fairly peaceful, although just looking out of the windows of the taxi and walking around Main Bazaar, the main street in Pahar Ganj, I could see that things were very different from what I'm used to. I slept for a few hours on account of having essentially missed two nights sleep - one because of the flight, and the one before that because of pulling an all-nighter working on a paper due on the day I left Israel - and then set out into Delhi. This was when I experienced the full culture-shock and barrage on the senses that is Delhi, and seemingly also many other Indian cities. It is a cliche, but you are genuinely met with a chaotic scene full of noises, smells, colours, people trying to sell you things and all manner of insane driving, that is both exhilarating but also exhausting. I also made the rookie error of leaving my guesthouse which was on a side street off Main Bazaar, without noting either its name or exact location. Luckily I managed to retrace my steps back later.
As my first day in Delhi was a Monday, on which many sights are closed, I just walked around Delhi a bit, trying to acclimate, and also just look around and soak it all in. I also took the very nice and modern Delhi Metro (think London Underground, with air conditioning, and almost exclusively populated by Indian people) to the Lodi Gardens, a pretty nice park in Southish Delhi. On Tuesday I went around with a driver to many of the sights of Delhi. I saw the beautiful Bahai Lotus Temple, the historic Red Fort, and Jama Masjid - a beautiful mosque with a minaret that you can climb, from which there are great views of the city below. That night I rode the night-train to Jodhpur.
The night-train was a fun and interesting experience of itself, and I managed to make myself quite comfortable in my berth. I also highly enjoyed the Chai that a guy brings around in the morning, and gluttonously bought two.
I was in Jodhpur for about a day and a half altogether, and so far It has been the place that I have enjoyed the most out of the places I've been. I visited the fort there (Mehrangarh), of Batman fame (used for the outside shots of the prison in the third movie). The fort itself was very impressive and interesting, and they have a zip-line course consisting of six zip-lines of varying lengths which go back and forth between different parts of the fort and the surrounding area, over lakes and valleys, with views of the blue buildings of the old city, which was unbelievable. I'm a little scared of heights, but I went for it anyway because it looked like good fun, and indeed I wasn't disappointed. Later, it occurred to me that statistically speaking the zip-lines are probably far safer than simply traveling in any sort of vehicle on India's roads.
I took a bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur - geographically speaking not such a great distance, but the road infrastructure is poor, and the bus winds its way slowly through an endless stream of small Rajasthani villages. Despite the length of the bus ride, I actually enjoyed it immensely, the combination of looking out at the scenery and listening to good music was a perfect storm of creative stimulation, and a natural high.
Udaipur is a beautiful town on a lake; unfortunately it rained almost without pause for the entire two days for which I stayed there. Nevertheless It was still very nice, and the City Palace there was quite interesting from both historical and architectural perspectives. In the night before I left on the night-train to Jaipur, I saw a traditional Rajasthani puppet and dance show which was enjoyable enough and made me feel a bit cultural.
The train to Jaipur was a less comfortable ride, with somebody's loud snoring in a nearby berth preventing much sleep. When I arrived in Jaipur therefore, I slept for a few hours and then set out for the day. I didn't do much that day - just walked around the famous, pink, old city (although in reality it looks more orange) and took in the sights and smells. That evening I went to see a Bollywood movie in the (apparently) famous Raj Mandir cinema, an experience which I enjoyed a lot and will describe at greater length in a follow-up post.
Yesterday and today I have been seeing some of the various sights of Jaipur - yet more palaces, forts and museums - on the whole very interesting though, with the amber fort and the views from within being unmissable. Also worthy of note is the Royal Gaitor (I think that's what it's called) which is a royal tomb area. It is a quiet and tranquil place with fantastic tombs and surrounded by amazing scenery.
Traveling alone is tough, and Rajasthan is not so full of tourists at this time of the year because the season starts in October-November, after the monsoon, although there are still plenty of foreigners around. I have been hanging out with a few people I've met in different places along the way, but I've mostly been doing my own thing. It has actually been nice to have a bit of time and space to myself, but on the whole I'm looking forward to Nepal, which will hopefully be a more social part of the trip - it's more in season there, and there should be a lot of Israelis at the Chabad Rosh Hashana.
One thing that's weird is how symbols have the power to make an impression on you even when they are completely out of context. For example, it is a bit strange seeing the swastika everywhere - even though it is facing the other way (it is originally a Hindu symbol that was adopted and adapted by the Nazis). Similarly, you see Magen Davids (stars of David) in various places. I'm assuming that these are also somehow important in Hindu culture, and obviously completely unrelated to Judaism or Israel, but they still give a twinge of familiarity to the traveler far from home.
In any case, I'm off to Agra in a couple of hours to see the legendary Taj Mahal, and then back to Delhi the next day, to sleep there for the night before my flight to Kathmandu.
As the plane approached Delhi, I began to get pretty excited - it was cool anticipating landing somewhere completely new and unfamiliar - something I haven't done for a while. I got into the (unrepresentative) modern Delhi airport at about 4.30 am. I took a taxi into the backpackers' area of Pahar Ganj with some Israelis who were also on the flight, and we started looking for a guesthouse. At this time of the morning things were fairly peaceful, although just looking out of the windows of the taxi and walking around Main Bazaar, the main street in Pahar Ganj, I could see that things were very different from what I'm used to. I slept for a few hours on account of having essentially missed two nights sleep - one because of the flight, and the one before that because of pulling an all-nighter working on a paper due on the day I left Israel - and then set out into Delhi. This was when I experienced the full culture-shock and barrage on the senses that is Delhi, and seemingly also many other Indian cities. It is a cliche, but you are genuinely met with a chaotic scene full of noises, smells, colours, people trying to sell you things and all manner of insane driving, that is both exhilarating but also exhausting. I also made the rookie error of leaving my guesthouse which was on a side street off Main Bazaar, without noting either its name or exact location. Luckily I managed to retrace my steps back later.
As my first day in Delhi was a Monday, on which many sights are closed, I just walked around Delhi a bit, trying to acclimate, and also just look around and soak it all in. I also took the very nice and modern Delhi Metro (think London Underground, with air conditioning, and almost exclusively populated by Indian people) to the Lodi Gardens, a pretty nice park in Southish Delhi. On Tuesday I went around with a driver to many of the sights of Delhi. I saw the beautiful Bahai Lotus Temple, the historic Red Fort, and Jama Masjid - a beautiful mosque with a minaret that you can climb, from which there are great views of the city below. That night I rode the night-train to Jodhpur.
The night-train was a fun and interesting experience of itself, and I managed to make myself quite comfortable in my berth. I also highly enjoyed the Chai that a guy brings around in the morning, and gluttonously bought two.
I was in Jodhpur for about a day and a half altogether, and so far It has been the place that I have enjoyed the most out of the places I've been. I visited the fort there (Mehrangarh), of Batman fame (used for the outside shots of the prison in the third movie). The fort itself was very impressive and interesting, and they have a zip-line course consisting of six zip-lines of varying lengths which go back and forth between different parts of the fort and the surrounding area, over lakes and valleys, with views of the blue buildings of the old city, which was unbelievable. I'm a little scared of heights, but I went for it anyway because it looked like good fun, and indeed I wasn't disappointed. Later, it occurred to me that statistically speaking the zip-lines are probably far safer than simply traveling in any sort of vehicle on India's roads.
I took a bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur - geographically speaking not such a great distance, but the road infrastructure is poor, and the bus winds its way slowly through an endless stream of small Rajasthani villages. Despite the length of the bus ride, I actually enjoyed it immensely, the combination of looking out at the scenery and listening to good music was a perfect storm of creative stimulation, and a natural high.
Udaipur is a beautiful town on a lake; unfortunately it rained almost without pause for the entire two days for which I stayed there. Nevertheless It was still very nice, and the City Palace there was quite interesting from both historical and architectural perspectives. In the night before I left on the night-train to Jaipur, I saw a traditional Rajasthani puppet and dance show which was enjoyable enough and made me feel a bit cultural.
The train to Jaipur was a less comfortable ride, with somebody's loud snoring in a nearby berth preventing much sleep. When I arrived in Jaipur therefore, I slept for a few hours and then set out for the day. I didn't do much that day - just walked around the famous, pink, old city (although in reality it looks more orange) and took in the sights and smells. That evening I went to see a Bollywood movie in the (apparently) famous Raj Mandir cinema, an experience which I enjoyed a lot and will describe at greater length in a follow-up post.
Yesterday and today I have been seeing some of the various sights of Jaipur - yet more palaces, forts and museums - on the whole very interesting though, with the amber fort and the views from within being unmissable. Also worthy of note is the Royal Gaitor (I think that's what it's called) which is a royal tomb area. It is a quiet and tranquil place with fantastic tombs and surrounded by amazing scenery.
Traveling alone is tough, and Rajasthan is not so full of tourists at this time of the year because the season starts in October-November, after the monsoon, although there are still plenty of foreigners around. I have been hanging out with a few people I've met in different places along the way, but I've mostly been doing my own thing. It has actually been nice to have a bit of time and space to myself, but on the whole I'm looking forward to Nepal, which will hopefully be a more social part of the trip - it's more in season there, and there should be a lot of Israelis at the Chabad Rosh Hashana.
One thing that's weird is how symbols have the power to make an impression on you even when they are completely out of context. For example, it is a bit strange seeing the swastika everywhere - even though it is facing the other way (it is originally a Hindu symbol that was adopted and adapted by the Nazis). Similarly, you see Magen Davids (stars of David) in various places. I'm assuming that these are also somehow important in Hindu culture, and obviously completely unrelated to Judaism or Israel, but they still give a twinge of familiarity to the traveler far from home.
In any case, I'm off to Agra in a couple of hours to see the legendary Taj Mahal, and then back to Delhi the next day, to sleep there for the night before my flight to Kathmandu.
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