Well I've been pissing out my arse (excuse me!) for the last few days here in Amritsar. I've felt like doing, and therefore done, not much except reading, sleeping and of course sitting, lots of sitting. But i'm feeling a bit churpier today, so after constaint howlings and beatings from Simon ;-) I've been 'inspired' to fill you in on some of the more rememerable adventures we've had on our way here.
Kolkata
Simon is in the process on writing a song about India that at one point jingles "Fifteen people nearly died in my Sudder Street taxi ride". Barely an exaggeration it tells of the need for speed and sheer joy in overtaking our taxi driver had whilst excorting us from the airport to the main tourist strip in Kolkata. What an introduction to the country - and you thought Bangkok tuk tuks were bad!
Hardly the hot, hassel filled hell hole it was made out to be, we actually found this sprawling town of 4 million quite managable and were quickly befriended by 3 young Indian men, one of which (named Hasim) invited to show us around town to which we gleefully (and perhaps naively) accepted.
The Victorian Monument - notable less for it's elaborate Victorian architechure and more for the snogging couples hidden away in it's gardens the Victorian Monument is definitely the place to go to make out Hasim told us. As dating, let alone kissing is generally frowned upon in India (or simply not allowed) young pre-weds get creative and take to the bush with their partners for a bit of kissing, fondling and even some handy work apparently - we were quite shocked (read delighted). So instead of admiring the British self-flattery monument we took to couple spotting - a most humourous pasttime.
Kalighat - said by some to be where Kolkata got it's name, this temple for the goddess Kali, the destructive side of the consort of Shiva's (one of the three Hindu head honchos) is famous for it's dayly goat sacrifices and scams. The later we partaked in. I was asked to come inside a small open-aired temple to throw flowers over a statue of a diety. Each flower was a request for good luck to my family, then friends etc. I then received the red bit of cotton (rakhi) around my wrist which is often given in Hindu worship - to take to the Ganga river is meant to be pretty damn good for ya. For this I was asked to pay 1200 rupees for rice for the pilgrims that frequent there (scam!). Luckily I only had about a hundred in my pocket so gave them that. Simon was next and went through the same ritual after which he was presured to give the same amount - they even told him that I had pay the full amount. Simon got off with with paying them 300, but we were distgusted later on when we exchanged notes and found out about the trickery. We wont be going there again in a hurry.
Mother Teresa's home for the terminaly ill - had a much better vibe about it and has many foreigners doing volunteering work there. There was a real sense of peace about the place even though there were people in agony there. Simon gave a donation and I vowed to myself to do some volunteering work sometime.
The big bodhi tree - situated in the botanical gardens is a tree with the largest conopy in the world (i think that's right). It was HUGE! Must have been around 200 metres wide. "But how it that possible?" I hear you ask. Well the bodhi tree has the ability to grow verticle branches into the ground from it's horizontal ones, which form roots giving the illusion of there being multiple trees. But no, apparently there's just one. Wicked.
Marriage - during our travels Hasim filled us in on the marriage situation here as well. Hasim, being from a poor family has to wait (along with his older brother) for his sister to get married before he can. Perhaps because of this his sister is now about to be married at the tender age of sixteen. She has only meet her fiance once, and even then the two have not spoken. For the wedding to occur Hasim's family must give a huge dowery to the groom's wealthier family, this is their expression of how much their daughter means to them. Things that they would never buy for themselves in their lifetime such a big colour TVs, a large english-style bed, jewellery, whiteware and even vehicles must be given. This will certainly be their family's biggest ever expense. I only hope they get something decent back when Hasim and his brother are married. But perhaps they will, perhaps that's the way it all works out.
The bag men - This kindly father and son duo (view photo here) made us waterproof lockable sacks to keep our bags in when on train or in dodgy doormitaries. The old guy also makes tents for his other son's adventures in the Himilaya.
Howrah train station - don't ask me why, but Indian's always arrive very early for their train rides and huge numbers of them are often to be found lying around waiting on the station floor (view photo here). I imagine it's because they're not able to afford accommodation at their transit points, but when I find out I'll let you know.
Grant and Simon's Travel Journal
Saturday, July 26, 2003
Posted by Grant, 5:56 AM | 
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Reply to this postORCHA
Oh bugger, I had almost finished this update when we had a nice little blackout (sorry, I mean "load sharing"), so here goes again......
We were actually in Orcha nearly two weeks ago, so this is a bit out of sequence. It was just before Agra.
Orcha itself is a pretty small village, only a few streets really, although the main market and guest house area are pretty lively until the small hours of the morning. Thats not nightlife lively by the way, India is rarely like that, just people lively.
The bus dropped us off at the turn off to Orcha, about 13km away, so we had to arrange a ride from there. The taxi we found was the king of auto rickshaws, a huge rusty car sized three wheeler which the driver had to start by repeatably turning a crank, kind of like one of those old bi-planes.
The main attraction in Orcha is the old ruined fort and temple. We have definitely seen a few old temples and forts by now, but this was perhaps the most memorable. It was in the process of being restored, although much of the beauty of the place was the timescape effect the old ruined parts had. The fort is massive, definitely a few kilometres long, and you can climb all the way up to the battlements and towers, which presents you with a panoramic view of the surrounding jungle. Scattering the landscape in all directions are more old temples and ruins, some just protruding from the treetops.
As you explore further from the main fort itself, old dirt roads wind through the trees and you come across seemingly endless further ruins (and cows of course, cows are everywhere in India, even in the ruins at Orcha, cows cows cows).
We even found some stairs descending into darkness, and followed them a little way, only to find they came to an abrupt drop. It seemed man made though, so who knows what was down their (more cows probably).
The other major building there was a masive old temple. You could climb through tiny dark passages that made their way up into the various stories of the temple, sometimes popping out in small dwarf like balconies several stories high. You could also get to the roof, which had incredible views like the ones from the top fort towers. I'm sure a temple like this in New Zealand would have bars and locked gates all over it to prevent you accidentally popping out of a small tunnel and falling a few stories, as the place didn't seem the safest of buildings, but the fact that you could access anywhere really added to the fun of it.
There wasn't really anything else of note in Orcha. We played more Canasta until we decided it might ruin our friendship, it can be most frustrating losing that stupid game to say the least!. We love it though (mostly...).
It is perhaps the capital of flies in India though, eating outside here is only for those with strong stomachs. I would say I'd have one land directly on my nose at least a few times a day (law of averages).
I don't really want to leave Orcha on the topic of flies though, as it was an incredible place, and a must see for anyone who finds themselves in this area of India in my books.
Until next time then, bye.
Oh bugger, I had almost finished this update when we had a nice little blackout (sorry, I mean "load sharing"), so here goes again......
We were actually in Orcha nearly two weeks ago, so this is a bit out of sequence. It was just before Agra.
Orcha itself is a pretty small village, only a few streets really, although the main market and guest house area are pretty lively until the small hours of the morning. Thats not nightlife lively by the way, India is rarely like that, just people lively.
The bus dropped us off at the turn off to Orcha, about 13km away, so we had to arrange a ride from there. The taxi we found was the king of auto rickshaws, a huge rusty car sized three wheeler which the driver had to start by repeatably turning a crank, kind of like one of those old bi-planes.
The main attraction in Orcha is the old ruined fort and temple. We have definitely seen a few old temples and forts by now, but this was perhaps the most memorable. It was in the process of being restored, although much of the beauty of the place was the timescape effect the old ruined parts had. The fort is massive, definitely a few kilometres long, and you can climb all the way up to the battlements and towers, which presents you with a panoramic view of the surrounding jungle. Scattering the landscape in all directions are more old temples and ruins, some just protruding from the treetops.
As you explore further from the main fort itself, old dirt roads wind through the trees and you come across seemingly endless further ruins (and cows of course, cows are everywhere in India, even in the ruins at Orcha, cows cows cows).
We even found some stairs descending into darkness, and followed them a little way, only to find they came to an abrupt drop. It seemed man made though, so who knows what was down their (more cows probably).
The other major building there was a masive old temple. You could climb through tiny dark passages that made their way up into the various stories of the temple, sometimes popping out in small dwarf like balconies several stories high. You could also get to the roof, which had incredible views like the ones from the top fort towers. I'm sure a temple like this in New Zealand would have bars and locked gates all over it to prevent you accidentally popping out of a small tunnel and falling a few stories, as the place didn't seem the safest of buildings, but the fact that you could access anywhere really added to the fun of it.
There wasn't really anything else of note in Orcha. We played more Canasta until we decided it might ruin our friendship, it can be most frustrating losing that stupid game to say the least!. We love it though (mostly...).
It is perhaps the capital of flies in India though, eating outside here is only for those with strong stomachs. I would say I'd have one land directly on my nose at least a few times a day (law of averages).
I don't really want to leave Orcha on the topic of flies though, as it was an incredible place, and a must see for anyone who finds themselves in this area of India in my books.
Until next time then, bye.
Posted by Simon, 3:21 AM | Reply to this post
Reply to this postTuesday, July 22, 2003
DELHI
Finally at Delhi!. It feels like a landmark, as it kind of indicates we're nearing the end of our India travels.
Delhi was a surprise to me. It's actually quite spacious, with lots of greenery, and doesn't seem anywhere near as crowded as cities like Kolkata or Varanasi. It does have a city feel to it as well, as Kolkata almost had a "big town" feel instead, even though Kolkata is in fact the most populous Indian city.
We made our way from the train station to Paharganj ( a busy suburb in Delhi), which appeared to be the most popular budget hotel area. We noticed (with a big smile!) that there were lot's of woman out!
Throughout most of India, the woman seem to hide somewhere, and you almost never see them. They rarely work in any industry that deals with the public, at least as far as we've experienced, and are rarely seen anywhere in public.
When the auto rickshaw arrived at Paharganj, we were equally amazed at the number of backpackers around, probably more foreigners than we'd seen in all India thus far, all busy doing this or that on the one main Paharganj street.
We didn't really get up to that much to speak of in Delhi, but just enjoyed relaxing and eating, stocked up on good books to read, catching up on emails, and played Canasta and scrabble with other backpackers. There's a place in Delhi called the Habitat Centre, which drew our attention a few times, as there was a Asian film festival playing there. We saw a couple of films, which would never make it past Indian censorship under normal circumstances, and exhibition on Kashmir (which seemed a bit one sided to me). Another day was spent visiting the Dehli Museum of Modern Art (we were rather a cultured lot in Delhi weren't we.....), and eating at this fantastic market where there were stalls from every state in India selling their own mix of local food. Unfortunately, you get full after one meal, or I could have stayed there all day.
Delhi is also the first time we've seen McDonalds, but I missed getting a chance to go in. It would have been interesting to see what was on the menu, as the place would never survive a day if they served any beef, and most Indians are completely vegetarian anyway, McDonalds?
There's not really much else to say about Delhi, it's the most western city I've seen in India by a long shot, and has all the benefits of a pretty decent large city. We definitely enjoyed our stay. It still has lot's of cows everywhere, just milling around, shitting and sleeping in the middle of busy highways if they so feel like it, which never ceases amusing me. We did see a couple of Indians have a scrap in a restarrant, lots of scuffling and slamming into things, no punches. The manager then cheekishly advised us it was just a playfight...
We left yesterday, and find ourselves now in Amritsar, which has the legendry Golden temple in it. We've been looking forward to getting here for some time, so we'll let you know how it all goes.
Keep having fun!
Finally at Delhi!. It feels like a landmark, as it kind of indicates we're nearing the end of our India travels.
Delhi was a surprise to me. It's actually quite spacious, with lots of greenery, and doesn't seem anywhere near as crowded as cities like Kolkata or Varanasi. It does have a city feel to it as well, as Kolkata almost had a "big town" feel instead, even though Kolkata is in fact the most populous Indian city.
We made our way from the train station to Paharganj ( a busy suburb in Delhi), which appeared to be the most popular budget hotel area. We noticed (with a big smile!) that there were lot's of woman out!
Throughout most of India, the woman seem to hide somewhere, and you almost never see them. They rarely work in any industry that deals with the public, at least as far as we've experienced, and are rarely seen anywhere in public.
When the auto rickshaw arrived at Paharganj, we were equally amazed at the number of backpackers around, probably more foreigners than we'd seen in all India thus far, all busy doing this or that on the one main Paharganj street.
We didn't really get up to that much to speak of in Delhi, but just enjoyed relaxing and eating, stocked up on good books to read, catching up on emails, and played Canasta and scrabble with other backpackers. There's a place in Delhi called the Habitat Centre, which drew our attention a few times, as there was a Asian film festival playing there. We saw a couple of films, which would never make it past Indian censorship under normal circumstances, and exhibition on Kashmir (which seemed a bit one sided to me). Another day was spent visiting the Dehli Museum of Modern Art (we were rather a cultured lot in Delhi weren't we.....), and eating at this fantastic market where there were stalls from every state in India selling their own mix of local food. Unfortunately, you get full after one meal, or I could have stayed there all day.
Delhi is also the first time we've seen McDonalds, but I missed getting a chance to go in. It would have been interesting to see what was on the menu, as the place would never survive a day if they served any beef, and most Indians are completely vegetarian anyway, McDonalds?
There's not really much else to say about Delhi, it's the most western city I've seen in India by a long shot, and has all the benefits of a pretty decent large city. We definitely enjoyed our stay. It still has lot's of cows everywhere, just milling around, shitting and sleeping in the middle of busy highways if they so feel like it, which never ceases amusing me. We did see a couple of Indians have a scrap in a restarrant, lots of scuffling and slamming into things, no punches. The manager then cheekishly advised us it was just a playfight...
We left yesterday, and find ourselves now in Amritsar, which has the legendry Golden temple in it. We've been looking forward to getting here for some time, so we'll let you know how it all goes.
Keep having fun!
Posted by Simon, 7:57 PM | Reply to this post
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