India Journal

31 Jan. 2010

Delhi

Chandni Chowk, Red Fort

We arrived on a exceptionally beautifull morrning. The red sun just rosen above the horizon welcomed us in India. The taxivalas a bit confused (because they were waiting for us the previous day) took our cases rushed through the huge airport surroundings to the car. The driver, naitive Punjabi explained with details the difficulties and advantages of his life in Delhi. After refreshening at the hotel Ajanta (Pahar Ganj) we set out for a first glance at the city.

1 Feb. 2010

Mughal's Delhi

Humayun tomb, Purana Quila

We rented rickshaw that day. Rickshaw driver took us through the main streets alone, full of various vehicles, people, and dust. Wrapped in dupattas and armed with a camera we shot pictures as crazy. We were becoming a center of attention, as two sahib women in the rickshaw.

2 Feb. 2010

Modern Delhi

India Gate, Lotus Temple, Bengali Market

That day we decided to visit New Delhi. This time we rented a car with a driver, Vishnu, a young boy from Nepal. Very nice and helpful. First he took us to the Laxmi Narayan Temple - Indian temple, which, although people there think that it is very old, was built in the 30-years of the 20 century. As in all the temples in India you have to take off your shoes here. We also were told to leave the camera in a locker, hence no pictures from there. The temple impressed us with its cleanness, but nothing special besides. The idols do not show any extraordinary capacity of an artist that produced them, on the other hand there are interesting murals depicting the Indian mythology
in various styles and explained with quotes in Sanskrit.

3 Feb. 2010

Indian Railways

Traveling from Delhi to Jaisalmer

That day I had a crisis. I was afraid that something can go wrong or something... because of that I had a stomachache. To improve my mood mom dragged me down (we had a room on the 3rd floor) to a small shop at our hotel. It turned out that the shop was pretty well stocked and the mother finally was able to buy a few shirts for herself, so that she did not look quite like a tourist. She also bought a dress for myself, of course. At once I have improved ... This time golden, made of silk, Punjabi style, created a sensation in the coming days. After shopping we had to still finish packing, and then set out to the station, which proved to be quite far away.

4 Feb. 2010

Fabulous Jaisalmer

The first lazy day - getting to know people from "our street"

Like I mentioned in the previous post, Arvind - the boss of the Desert Boys hotel, where we booked a room was waiting for us at the train station in Jaisalmer.
It turned out that there were two tourists besides us, that have arrived and all could not be located in the rickshaw, which was ordered by Arvind. Then Arvind told mom has to go in a rickshaw, and that I follow him. Having no idea of his intentions, I was trying to catch up with him. You have to know that Indians walk very quickly and a tourist has to literally run after them to keep pace with them. So I caught up with Arvind and... he sits on a motorbike and invits me to sit behind him. Indian landscape looks incredibly while driving on a motorcycle, especially that my driver did not show any mercy and was speeding through the dusty roads, and then up, up, into the fort along the winding streets, jumping on the "sleeping policemen" and a drainage or sewerage ditches. It was super!!!!!

5 Feb. 2010

Royal Jaisalmer

Awful lot of sightseeing at its best

In the morning after breakfast, first we decided to see the Jain temples of Jaisalmer, very famous for its magnificent decorations. It was already quite late for that, past 11:00, and these temples are open only till noon. There is a whole complex consisting of 7 small temples in the fort. There is a lot to write about Jainism... It is a religion founded more or less at the same time as Buddhism. Its followers are characterized by the fact that do not eat meat at all and they do not eat also any vegetables that grow underground, that is, potatoes and onions and stuff like that is a "no-no"! Janis must fulfill 5 rules, or laws, which consist of not not collecting a tax, not lying, not eating meat, etc. I don't remember everything. All this was explained to us by a very nice guide, who led us through all the temples. These buildings are characterized by fanciful, and very rich decoration, a pure "horror vacui" (fear of empty space). Wonderful and very complicated floral braids cover columns and cornices. From the corners some fancifully twisted characters stick out in the dance or in a passionate embrace. Temples during the ceremony are soaked with milk and water, so that they as if swim in them. In the interior there is a statue of the prophet, because Janis worship 27 prophets, the last of whom is Lord Mahavira (lived in the time of the Buddha).

6 Feb. 2010

Camel Safari

Thar desert and its people

When I ate breakfast in the morning, I had a thought, that our safari would not take place todayi, because of a thick fog that settled over the entire region. I was afraid that we would see nothing but the noses of our camels. But it turned out that the morning fog gave way quickly, and at 13:30 we set out on our adventurous trip. Morning before leaving we decided to have a short walk through Jaisalmer. We were invited on the way to a store where a young boy named Al Pacino praised his "salvar camizes" and invited us to come next day.

7 Feb. 2010

Sunday in Jaisalmer

Speeding from desert to church!

After watching the sunrise and still sleepy desert we waited for a moment, until our snoring companions wake up. It turned out, that it was late, and we wanted to be in church at 9:00 in Jaisalmer (80 km away). Soda after he just woke up, quickly took off, he called on us, and with a great speed we drove in the jeep. We were on time, obviously, we were even ahead of time.

8 Feb. 2010

Farewell Jaisalmer

Farewells and Sandstorm

We packed our suitcases all morning and slowly were preparing to leave. Later we went to an ATM. There was a quque of people. Waiting there for our turn, we get to know some musicians who drive around Europe, singing and playing traditional Indian music. Just before our departure I managed to take a lot of photos of the Desert Boys who were showing off and playing together in front of the hotel.

9 Feb. 2010

Pink Jaipur

First explorations of the city - Hava Mahal, Palace Maharvala, Jahala Mantar

We arrived in Jaipur very early, around 5 am. Our hotel room was not ready yet and we were instructed to locate the hotel lobby for a time being. We have stayed in Dera Rawatsar hotel near the bus station in a residential area but very close to the center. The hotel is very luxurious, almost royal. Lobby took our breath away, in spite of a slight disappointment that we did not have the room yet. After a few hours that I spent on writing this blog, we were invited for breakfast, and then invited in our room. The room was located on the ground floor, next to the restaurant. Consisted of a small hall with armchairs and a table and the main room with a great Indian-style bed. Everywhere there were the typical jaipurian decorations in the form of images of elephants (on the bed covers, blankets, even on the stucco decoration of the cornices). In the hall on the wall was painted with green parrots. The whole decoration of the room emanated with a royal, soothing mood.

10 Feb. 2010

On the hills of Jaipur

The doctor sent by the insurance company, Amber Fort - a Bollywood movie, the temple monkeys Galtaji, shopping

Mom had a terrible cough in the past few days. She had had pain in the throat since the camel safari, so I decided to see how our insurance company works. I called an emergency number and asked them to sent a doctor. This was even yesterday, but only now something started to happen, and eventually a doctor came to see mom.
He treated the mom's illness very seriously and gave her a lot of medicines and said it is allergy to dust and dirt, very common among tourists.

11 Feb. 2010

Park Ranthambore

Hunting for tigers

In the morning we set out for Park Ranthambore where we wanted to see tigers. It turned out that the park is quite far away. Going there by taxi took us a good few hours. When we arrived, we went still to a restaurant, where
we hastily ate something, then we hurried to be on time for safari. Unfortunately drew the worst road - No. 1 The best roads are those near the lake, because during the dry period the tigers usually go there.

12 Feb. 2010

The last day in Jaipur

Royal Gaitor - cenotaph of maharanis and maharajahs of Jaipur, a walk through the bazaars,
the first night of Shah Rukh's new film - "My name is Khan"

For the last day we planned to visit the cenotaphs of maharajahs and maharanis of Jaipur. It took a while before our rickshaw-driver (this time we took a new driver - not that from the previous day) to understand what we meant. In the end he took us to the maharanis' cenotaphs - these are funerary monuments in honor of the wives of maharajahs. Here their cremations were held. The last took place just about 3 weeks before our arrival. The Queen was reportedly over 90 years old.

13 Feb. 2010

Agra

First Impressions

Early in the morning we left from Jaipur to Agra by train. As usual, the train arrived late, but not much, because only an hour. This time, since we traveled by day, we could admire the scenery during the journey, but "admire" is not the right word. The area by the tracks, especially in the cities, is terribly dirty.

14 Feb. 2010

Fatehpur Sikri - neglected city of Akhbar

Shocking state of monuments, an evening walk through the streets of Agra

Today we went to see Fatehpur Sikri, the city built by Akbar in gratitude for the birth of his successor. The famous Sheik Salim Cisti foretold the emperor the birth of his three sons. Akbar began to build a town near Sikri, the place where the saint lived, and planned it as a cultural center of the empire (Fatehpur - means City of Victory). After 14 years the town was abandoned for political reasons and shortage of water. The city consists of buildings of the palace and the Grand Mosque, where the tomb of Sheik Saleem Cisti is placed in the courtyard.

15 Feb. 2010

Taj Mahal

Photo sessions with Taj in the background, the Agra Fort

Today we woke up at about 6 am, we wanted to see Taj Mahal at sunrise. Yesterday we agreed with a rickshaw-driver to come to fetch us. Today I put on the sari which I bought in Jaipur (a rajastan-style sari the end of which you put through the right shoulder). In the morning I was a little cold ... we waited and waited and nobody came. So we returned to the hotel, ate breakfast and ordered another rickshaw. We reached Taj after sunrise, but still pretty early to watch his excellent figure slowly emerging from the morning mists.

16 Feb. 2010

Sikandar

Akhbar's Mausoleum in Sikandra, sudden illness of my mom, our travel to Bhopal in the first class of Indian railways

The last day in Agra we decided to devote to the tomb of Akbar, which is located on the outskirts of Agra. Perfectly symmetrical layout of the garden and the tomb strikes with its grandiosity. You can easily feel the greatness and dignity of the ruler who built the tomb.

17 Feb. 2010

Bhopal - the city of lakes

Resting place on a magnificent lake, Ash Wednesday

When we reached the hotel, I breathed a sigh of relief, because I was tired with traveling and with the chaos of Indian cities. Hotel Ranjit's Lakeview is located just above a big lake, away from crowded streets and dust. We received a very nice little room, the best we got to this date. This hotel is designed for Indian businessmen, foreign tourists are almost totally absent. Perhaps that's why the standard of this hotel is much higher than that of the tourist hotels.

18 Feb. 2010

Bhopal

Bhimbetka Caves, and temple in Bhojpur, boating on the lake

Around Bhopal, there are many places worth seeing. Among them are relics of every historical period. Bhimbetka caves contain prehistoric paintings, while on the way to them, one will notice a massive block of a medieval Hindu temple in Bhojpur. The temple was built in honor of Siva and inside there is the largest Siva Linga in India, made of one stone. The vault and the portal are decorated with mysterious-looking sculptures (largely thanks to the gradual decomposition). In front of the temple, the puja is celebrated.

19 Feb. 2010

Another busy day in Bhopal

Sanci, Udajkiri caves, pillar in Khambaba

Another archaeological site near Bhopal is Sanchi. Here are the oldest Buddhist stupas, which date back to Emperor Ashoka in the third century BC. They are virtually the oldest monuments of Indian art, not counting those of prehistoric times.

20 Feb. 2010

Sightseeing in Bhopal

Shaukat Mahal, forgotten Taj Mahal of Bhopal, modern New Market

Today we went sightseeing in Bhopal. First we went to a new market, which surprised us a kind of order and modernity in comparison to other markets in other cities. We have done a little shopping here, among others we bought a mosquito-mashine. We were surprised with the diversity of Indian vegetables and fruit In the stalls.

21 Feb. 2010

To Khajuraho by car

Indian roads

We decided to go to Khajuraho by car. We had already a lot of experience with trains,but there is no direct train-connection to Khajuraho. You'd have to go first to Jansi, and then to travel by bus. So does most of the tourists, but we did not want to suffer that much and so we had chosen a bit more expensive but more convenient way to travel.

22 Feb. 2010

Khajuraho

The Temples, boys from the streets, the evening performance, and other adventures...

In the morning we went to watch the famous temples at Khajuraho. We started from the Eastern Group. The sun was scorching, but inside the temples was cold. Alas, they are most interesting from the outside. The scenes from the Kamasutra are overrated and not numerous at all. Much more interesting are studies of women who are presented in every aspect of daily life: dancing, bathing, combing, caring for a child. The portraits are very realistic and show great attention to detail. Sculptures of the temples seem to praise and proclaim the beauty of women, both the physical and spiritual.

23 Feb. 2010

Journey to Varanasi

Satna, confused rikshaw drivers and a very slowly train

Early in the morning we took a taxi to Satn
a, the nearest town with a train station and a train connection to Varanasi. The hotel advised us to leave at 7:00 a.m., despite the fact that the train was to leave at about.noon. We were told that there are traffic jams on the roads and therefore it can take long time to reach Satna. But contrary to those warnings, we were in Satna well before the time and did not know what to do. There is nothing interesting to do at a train stations. Hence we left our luggage at a luggage office and we went looking for some restaurant to get something to eat and kill time.

24 Feb. 2010

First day in Varanasi

First night and the search for a new hotel, my illness and healing:)

After almost no sleep at night I wanted to find a new hotel. I felt that I would not like to eat in the hotel restaurant, so we went to look for another place. I found a hotel, Pallavi International, which at the pictures online looked promising. There we went for a breakfast. I was somewhat surprised that I was served the Indian tea in a tea-kettle and not just in a small cup. In any event, we satisfied our hanger and I felt a little better, not for long, as it had become apparent later. Then we had seen the rooms, a little too ordinary for their price, so before a final decision we decided to see other hotels.

25 Feb. 2010

Different faces of Varanasi

In a boat on Ganges and painting

That day I felt better, but still very weak. We were resting in the restaurant, which turned out to be very good.

26 Feb. 2010

The last day in Varanasi

The University and the shops with the famous benarasi sarees

Today we decided to visit the university. Benares Hindu University is a very famous university. When I was searching for a place to study Indian art history, it was here that I found the biggest and most interesting range of perspectives. Here, one could learn Hindi language and the Indian dance.

27 Feb. 2010

The flight to Delhi

Farewell to Varanasi, Kingfisher Airlines, and soothing hotel Shanti Home in Delhi

Morning we spent packing, and later having still half an hour or so, we went hastily to do some very last shopping. I felt tears in my eyes.

28 Feb. 2010

Return

Flight to Helsinki and from Helsinki to Warsaw, last adventures and luxury Marriott Hotel in Warsaw.

My dreamt of month in India comes to an end. I can not believe already the whole month is almost over. I do not want to leave. I felt completely in love with India. And in addition, today is the Holi festival, and no one has thrown colors on me :(

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