India Part 3

Getting from Udaipur to Goa turned out to be a bloody mission. Because most of the trains were fully booked and we didn't want to go on waitlist, we had to try and find trains that had tourist quota tickets available (there are a couple of tickets held back for foreign tourists on certain trains). So in the end our journey took two days and involved a bus ride, two overnight trains, a brief sleep on a train platform while we waited for sunrise, and a 2km walk. After all that we were very happy to finally see the ocean again.

Views from the train to Goa

There are heaps of beaches to choose from along the Goan coastline, and we'd decided to stay at Palolem beach in South Goa. It's a nice sandy beach that curves around to form a relatively protected bay which is good for swimming, and there are palm trees lined all along behind the beach huts. There are no big resorts or really flashy places that ruin the look of the beach, and most of the beach-front accommodation is temporary huts that are broken down at the end of each season and erected again the following season. On recommendation from a couple we met in Jaipur, and Cliff and Joyce who also stayed there shortly before us, we ended up staying at Lira's. She's a lovely, friendly local woman who has 6 or 7 rooms she rents out and we got a great one - it was a permanent structure attached to the house, rather than one of the temporary huts on stilts, so it was sheltered from the sun which made it much cooler. We had our own bathroom and a couple of chairs outside on the porch which looked right out on the beach in front. And all for only AU$6.35 a night. What more could you ask for?

We spent three weeks on the beach getting quality chill out time, and we happily spent our days swimming, reading, finishing our stash of bhang cookies and eating some great food. The day we arrived was the end of Meat Free March, so we rewarded ourselves with a full English breakfast including baked beans and bacon. A month of being vegetarian was easy and not at all lacking in variety, but we also enjoyed being able to eat delicious pork products again. Lira really looked after us too, cooking us a couple of tasty meals and getting fruit and veges from the market for us at local prices. What a gem. When we reluctantly left Palolem at the end of April, it was getting towards the end of the season so a lot of huts were already being taken down. We could easily have stayed longer, but we still had a couple of weeks to check out some other places.

Our reward for a month of vegetarianism

From Goa it was a relatively easy journey inland to Hampi, a village among the ruins of the former capital of the Vijayanagar Empire. It's a very popular place to visit and it's visually impressive - the whole area is surrounded by millions of huge rocks and boulders piled in random hills and formations. Apparently this is all as a result of nature - wind, rain and erosion all working to expose these rocky outcrops. Whatever happened, it's a very unique and strangely beautiful landscape. We probably chose a bad time to visit Hampi as it was stinking fucking hot, with no escape from the constant and oppressive heat. But we didn't let it stop us from exploring the ruins of the ancient empire. Because they cover a huge area, you have to either hire scooters or pay someone to drive you around in a tuk-tuk. We chose the latter. Our guy drove us around for a couple of hours, taking us to all the free sites where we could walk around and check it out. It was pretty cool and he knew a fair bit about the area and it's history so he had some interesting facts to tell us along the way. 

Another day we hired scooters and rode around checking out the surrounding area. There's a big lake with warnings all around not to swim because of the crocodiles (just a scare tactic), and we rode miles in both directions, simply enjoying feeling a breeze on the scooters which was non-existent otherwise. Of course it did eventually get too hot so we had to have a break until the sun went down, but it is a great way to see the area. And cheap as shit too - less than AU$3 per scooter (plus petrol). 

Time to get the ducks back home 

Giving way to a wide load approaching

From Hampi we cut straight down the middle of the country to Mysore, a city known for its palaces, monuments, markets and friendly people. It's also apparently the second cleanest city in India. We only had a couple of days here, and just for something different we decided to visit the zoo, which is one of the oldest in the world. We don't actually like seeing animals caged in small enclosures, but there were heaps of different animals and birds we'd never seen before. It's a very popular place for locals to visit, and unfortunately for us there were a lot of fucktards there that day - either pushing their way to the front and fucking up our photos or throwing stones at animals to wake them up. For those particular dickheads Kurt gave them a taste of their own medicine by throwing stones back at them. See how you like that you twats.  

To our utter delight, Mysore had some pretty good street food which we were all over like a rash. Our favourites were manchurian, which is little bits of cauliflower coated in a kind of batter, fried and then tossed through a tasty sauce; an awesome salad of very thinly sliced veges in a slightly spicy dressing and topped with nuts and crispy crackers; and for something sweet a faluda (or falooda) really hit the spot. A faluda is a sweet ice-cream drink, with all sorts of goodies added to it - rose syrup, jelly, dried fruit and then topped off with a thick, creamy milk almost like condensed milk. The perfect way to round off a meal.

Fresh and slightly spicy salad

Cauliflower manchurian

Refreshing faluda

Masala dhosa

By this point we only had a few days left in India, so we headed across to Pondicherry (now Puducherry), which is on the east coast. It was the largest French colony in India and it still retains quite a heavy French influence in the old quarter, with Mediterranean style houses and a lot of bakeries. It's a very pretty city, so although it was stinking hot here as well, it was a nice place to walk around. Especially along the waterfront, which at night is packed with thousands of people taking a constitutional in the relative cool of the evening. We had a nice place to stay, which had a communal kitchen and huge dining table, so we happily spent our final days in India wandering the streets and eating good food - cheap mangoes (one kilo for AU$1) to eat and make into smoothies and deliciously fresh baguettes we bought to make sandwiches. Sometimes it's the simple things like being able to make our own meals that we miss while on the road. So this was a great way to end our time in India. 

And with that our 3 months were up, so it was off to Chennai to get our 1am flight to Sri Lanka. India still remains Kurt's favourite country to backpack in, as it's just so full of excitement and input for the senses. It's a bit of a love/hate relationship for me so I was ready for a change, but we're definitely not done with India just yet.

India Part 2

Rishikesh is quite a small city in the northern state of Uttarakhand located in the foothills of the Himalayas, and it became famous when the Beatles visited an ashram there in 1968. The main tourist areas are actually north of the city itself along the banks of the River Ganges. We chose to stay in Lakshman Jhula, which is reached by crossing over a suspension bridge which spans the mighty Ganges flowing below. We found a cheap room (AU$7.30 per night)with a view overlooking the Ganges, so we were set for some serious relaxation.

Rishikesh is known as the World Capital of Yoga, so a lot of travellers come to stay at ashrams for yoga and meditation retreats. It's also considered by Hindus to be a holy city and is vegetarian by law, and alcohol is also prohibited. This didn't bother us at all as we'd already started Meat Free March (going vegetarian for a month - piss easy in India), but I'm sure some people arrive not knowing this and are in for a rude shock. We weren't drawn to Rishikesh for yoga or meditation though, rather to just chill out in a beautiful place and enjoy the more relaxed pace of life for a week. Which is exactly what we did. Aside from taking walks and enjoying a very refreshing dip in the icy cold (and surprisingly clean) waters of the holy Ganges, we just chilled out and ate some great food. 

From Rishikesh we headed north-west to Amritsar, which is in the state of Punjab. It's the spiritual and cultural centre for the Sikh religion, and is home to the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib). Believe it or not, this important Sikh shrine attracts more visitors than the Taj Mahal - over 100,000 people every day. To get the best of both worlds, we visited the shrine during the day and again at night. During the day we lined up with thousands of others to enter the main golden building where a group of men were sitting inside singing and chanting. Afterwards we went to join thousands more for a free lunch, in one of the largest free kitchens in the world. It's an extremely well-oiled machine and the food is simple but surprisingly good. Returning at night was a completely different experience, with the whole complex lit up and the reflection of the golden temple shimmering in the surrounding water. As far as religious places go, this one was quite stunning.

Amritsar is only 28km from the Pakistani border, so the other main tourist attraction that draws hordes of visitors is the spectacular border closing ceremony which takes place every evening. Upon arrival at the border there were already masses of people waiting to pass through a security check and eagerly awaiting the gates to open, after which, tourists are herded into a separate seating area of the grandstand. In the lead-up to the ceremony the Indian crowd was a hive of noise and passion, and there was actually an emcee who was further amping up the crowd by repeatedly chanting "Hindustan!". Children and young women also warmed up the cheering crowds by running a relay style race with Indian flags. The Pakistani side was nearly empty in comparison, and if there was any chanting on their side it was more than drowned out by the lively Indians. Despite the animosity between these two countries, the atmosphere at the ceremony is really relaxed and festive. Announced by trumpets, the impressively tall border guards in their flamboyant headdresses waste no time in thrilling the crowd with their well-timed and emphatic marching. Taking it in turns, pairs of guards dramatically march up to the border gates with a unique high kicking style, slamming their feet down after each step. We couldn't see the Pakistani side clearly, but I assume a similar thing was happening with their guards. After the flags were slowly lowered in unison, the border gates were thrown open and the flags carried away to safety, ready to be raised in the morning. It was such an impressive show, not only of the well-trained guards, but of Indian national pride. Definitely an experience not to be missed.

After this quick trip to Amritsar we had to make tracks to Jaipur, the capital city of Rajasthan and known as the Pink City of India. It was here we were meeting back up with Cliff and Joyce to celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colours. Holi is an ancient Hindu festival to celebrate the triumph of 'good' over 'bad', but it's most known for the brightly coloured powders everyone throws and rubs on each other's faces. In preparation for this we stocked up on a variety of coloured powders, and bought some cheap white tops to get stained with festival colours. Tourists are usually warned that Holi can be a bit hectic, particularly for females, as it's prime opportunity for groping and perhaps inappropriate behaviour from local men. But when we took to the streets it wasn't nearly the experience we expected. For starters, the streets weren't all filled with people celebrating as we thought it would be, rather there were just a few areas where people were gathered in colourful celebration. After checking out one area we headed to where we were told of a big party, which ended up being mainly for foreigners. Still, it was a pretty cool day and we ended it covered head to toe in a delightful mish-mash of colours. 

The rest of the time we were in Jaipur both of us had a dodgy tummy and felt pretty shit, so we weren't up for any sightseeing. But during our wanderings on Holi we did see the Hawa Mahal, an elaborate five storey red sandstone building with hundreds of windows. It was built so royal ladies could see what was going on in the street below without being seen themselves. There is a shit-tonne of other stuff to see in Jaipur, but we needed to take it easy and recover for a few days. Then we were ready to go all the way west to Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer, known as the Golden City, lies in the heart of the Thar Desert separating it from Pakistan, and is dominated by a grand fort made of golden sandstone. You can easily spot the fort from miles away, and it looks like a massive sandcastle rising out of the desert. Inside the fort (which is still inhabited) along the twisting lanes are shops, restaurants and hotels as well as a royal palace. It's quite a magical place to stay, especially sitting at a roof-top restaurant  with amazing views out over the surrounding desert. We also stayed the first night outside the fort, with equally impressive views of the fort which is lit up at night.

The main reason people go to Jaisalmer is for a camel safari into the desert. We opted for just an overnight safari, thinking too much more would be way too painful on our asses. Luckily we'd found another government bhang shop just outside the fort, so we re-stocked our supplies of tasty cookies just in time for the safari. After driving for about 30 minutes we came to the starting point and were introduced to our camels - mine was named Simon. Climbing up onto our camels, laden with supplies and bedding for our two days, we headed off into the desert. Because we were sitting on all the blankets I thought it was actually quite comfortable (this feeling might have been aided by the bhang cookies we just ate) and there was nothing to worry about  - a feeling which wouldn't last too long. Most of the first day was spent riding through pretty flat desert, stopping to walk around a local village and shelter under a tree to escape the heat over lunch. It wasn't until the sun was going down and we were almost done for the day that we finally reached the rolling sand dunes. We dismounted our camels, rather stiff and sore, and roamed up and down the dunes watching the sun set. After a camp dinner we took our blankets and chose a spot in the dunes to sleep for the night - you can't get many more beautiful settings than sleeping under the stars in the desert. The next day after some more painful riding, we finished the safari and were back in town at about lunchtime. It was a new experience for both of us, one which we enjoyed, but we definitely didn't need any longer in the saddle.

Our next stop in Rajasthan was Jodhpur, nicknamed the Blue City because of all the houses around the fort painted bright blue. There are a few things to check out in Jodhpur, the main one being the imposing Mehrangarh Fort which towers on a hill 150m above the city. With only two nights in the city this is the only thing we visited, but we're glad we did. The walk up the hill to the fort is a scorcher, but it gives you a perfect view of the incredibly thick walls surrounding it. Because of it's hilltop location and well constructed walls, it's no wonder this fort was never conquered. Walking around inside we took advantage of the free audio guide which was very informative, regaling us with all sorts of interesting facts. Once we'd finished the tour we walked out to a small temple on the edge of the fort and were rewarded with amazing views of the blue city spread out below. 

One other thing of note in Jodhpur was a lassi we tried from a very popular and well-known place located in the wall of the gate by the clock tower in the old city. Unlike the naturally chunky curd lassi's in Varanasi, this one was an even thicker, smooth, cardamom flavoured version. A little strange and surprising at first taste, but by the end of the glass I wanted more. If I had to choose though, I'd still say the Blue Lassi ones in Varanasi are the best.

The final stop on our tour of Rajasthan was Udaipur, which has several nicknames such as  the White City or the Venice of the East. We were advised to stay across Lake Pichola where it's quieter and cheaper, so after the usual wandering around we found ourselves a bright and clean room with a view out over the lake. Aside from palaces, temples and the usual interesting streets to walk around, Udaipur is made famous by the Bond movie Octopussy, which featured the landmark Lake Palace Hotel which seems to float in Lake Pichola. Still cashing in on this fame, most hotels near the lake continue to show this movie. Every single night.

The view of Lake Palace Hotel from our room

Rather than visit all the palaces and temples in Udaipur, which would get pretty old pretty quick, we chose to get a local bus a couple of hours out of town to see Chittorgarh Fort - the largest fort in India. We had pretty high expectations for this place to blow us away, but to be honest, we were pretty disappointed. Maybe because it covers an enormous 692 acres and is best explored in a car, we could only walk around a tiny section of it. There are a few well preserved and pretty cool structures remaining, but a lot of it is just a pile of rubble in a wide open area of land. Fairly uninspiring really. So after a couple of hours walking around in the ridiculous heat we'd had enough and headed back to Udaipur. I wouldn't say it was a complete waste of time, but I also wouldn't recommend it unless you were willing to fork out for a tuk-tuk driver for the day.

That rounded out our trip through Rajasthan and by this point we were more than ready to head to Goa for some quality time on the beach - it had been far, far too long.