Hannah’s Weblog

So…..Kim and I have been travelling for 5 long days now, and are (dare I say it) kind of in need of a holiday!!…..oh and a shower would be nice!

 From Pushkar (which thinking back leaves a strange taste in my mouth. The place was spectacularly beautiful, and as I said we loved the hippy vibe, but the cool funky hippy community started feeling a little  pretentious). I think we just became a little bored of so many travellers trying to out shine eachother in the ‘I’ve been traveling the longest, and I have the dirtiest dread locks’ competition! Enough said I think.

Where was I….oh yes, from Pushkar we took a night bus onto Agra, but not long before we boarded the dingy bus I came over all queezy and am now an expert in the famous ‘Dehli belly’……I had food poisioning, and it was horrid as we were set to be on the go for a few days…….Luckily I manged to sleep well, with Kim checking my temperature and making sure I was warm enough throughout the 12 hour journey.(she is soooo wonderful ) Arriving in Agra (home to the Taj Mahal) wasnt that pleasant either. I know I should be used to it by now, but the constant harrassment, filth and poverty that surrounds the train stations and bus stands is taking it toll. As soon as we step off the train or bus, and sometimes whilst we are still aboard, groups of men attatch themselves to us and follow at an uncomfortably close range. “hotel, hello, hello…..rickshaw mame, hello…hello……….very cheap mame, hello, you are beautiful, I have hotel as beautiful as you….hello hello…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Seriously.

Agra has only the Taj Mahal to offer it turns out, and in all fareness I can give it some slack as it is so incredibly beautiful! We were so excited to see it, that it took us 3 attempts to get through secrurity, first no bags…then no sketch books…then no lighter (david’s) Once in the complex, the Taj Mahal stood majestically against the somewhat grey sky. It looked like a painting, we stood and stared….”is it real?” I had to ask myself. Luckily we arrived nice and early so we beat the crowds and managed ro take some very cheesy Princess Diana style photos ( I will try and post them up soon) Very romantic, and calm if not a little overwhelming considering my dehli belly……

 We chilled out in Agra all day as the plan was to move on to Amritsar that night on the over night train…..this was pretty painful but we managed to find some little cafes that didnt seem to mind us relaxing and spreading out for hours…. Agra was actually the first place where I have seen a little bit of middle class living. It must have been an affluent area as the coffee shop that we hung out in was buzzing with cool young socialites doing lunch, bopping their heads to 50 cent, sky T.V and the smell of sizzling chocolate brownies… (Kim and I actually felt scruffy) but didnt let this bother us. India was still in the air however with homeless, barefoot children wandering past the glass window of the cafe, staring in…..yes everytime it breaks our hearts to see this combination of rich and poor living on top of eachother. We bought one little boy an ice cream and he just stared disappointingly at the other sweets and cakes on offer….it turns out we always want more.

Finally the evening came, and I began getting excited at the thought of being able to lie down. We waited and waited as the train was late. 1.30 am nearly an hour after expected our train arrived. As usual with Indian trains, it doesnt hang around long so there is always mayhem as everyone tries desperatly to find the right compartment. We finally find ours after reversing up and down (as they are so narrow) once at our beds we find someone is in David’s bed, we are advised to wake him so we do so…then the conductor arrives and asked for our ticket, I hand it over and continue to spread out my little blanket to make my bed. Suddenly the conductor starts shouting “Your ticket is NOT confirmed! You MUST get off now! You do NOT have CONFIRMATION! ” Kim and I scrammble over eachother trying to drag our bags out from under the seats, the conductor continues to shout and demand that we get off…… I am drowsy and inches away from sleep and am being forced off the train.  The nice man that we woke up tries to help as i desperately grab for my things….David and Kim are already on the platform…..Kim shouts “Han you have to jump” (the train is now moving!!!) I chuck my back pack and close my eyes……the conductor who has been chasing us off, now advises me to take it slowly “the train is moving, slowly SLOWLY!” I jump! We are stranded once again at the grim station. The hoards of touts have spotted us and like vulchers descend on us…..we are laughing histerically, we have to or else I would have cried. I seriously think if I hadnt of jumped the fat conductor would have pushed me!

From Agra, we finally (well actually we got on the wrong one first) get on a train to Amritsar. Another 10 hour journey 8am start arriving in Amritsar at around 11pm. We check into another grim hostel and try and get some sleep. Luckily Tuesday is a brighter day, we are feeling a little better but still un showered and under fed, but are all excited to see the Golden Temple and the India-Pakistan border ceremony. Amritsar is the Sikh’s holy City and the largest city in Punjab, it sits on the Indian Pakistani border high up in the north-west. The Sikh population there were very friendly and seemed more respectable and honourable than other places. Lots of smiles and surprisingly lots of blue and green eyes…….. The Golden Temple was beautiful and great to see so many people coming together united by religion. The beautiful sound of the holy song that is sung continuously and the hoards of welcoming people made our day! But the highlight of Amritsar was the ceremony at the border. 27 km West in a remote area of Attari 100’s of people everyday come to witness this theatrical high speed, high trouser wearing, high kicking soldier ceremony. Groups of school girls danced, Indian tourists waved their flags in pride and chanted to prove they are better than their Pakistani neighbours. I was pleasantly surprised with the humour of it all, it was light-hearted and everyone was having a wail of a time! The soldiers marched up and down towards the gate border, legs flung at a painfully high angle, back and forth. Meanwhile both sides try and out do eachother, it was so much fun and definitely lifted mine and Kim’s spirits! Trying to head back to our shared jeep we were again faced with the pestering little mites that were pleading us to buy cds, dvds and photos of the ceremony……They are adorable but very persistant! It was then that it dorned on us, or rather Kim had the fantastically cunning idea to give them a taste of their own medicine. We had a bag of popcorn that we had bought earlier, knowing that they would not want it, Kim continued to thrust it into the little bu**ers face… “popcorn!Popcorn…take take it take it! Very nice come on popcorn popcorn!” The little guy screwed up his face backed away and through his cheeky grin tried to say no, no, nooooooo!! It was soooo funny! Ha! That sure showed him! Later on, this technique failed to work, so kim picked the little boy up and physically carried him away! He laughed and laughed,oh….and came back!

So now, we are in Rishikesh, Rishikesh is like a breath of fresh air after the dirty, polluted cities we have been moving through lately. The air is clean, the view of the Himalayas is comforting and it feels nice. Kim and I took another overnight train from Amritsar to Hadiwar, then another bus here. Rishikesh is home to yoga and sits on the winding mouth of the river Ganges. We have found ourselves a lovely little guesthouse (with hot water) overlooking the river winding tightly around the misty mountains…It is beautiful.  We are going to Joshimath tomorrow with Will and James who should be meeting us shortly, we are going to try and sneek in 2 days skiing into our already hectic schedule, then back to Rishikesh for our yoga and meditation week. Man, we are going to need that!!

So much happening in so little time……Kim and I are exhausted, but are continuing to smile. Kim is a wonderful travelling companion and we are enjoying exploring all India has to offer. Right! Now for some dinner and that much needed shower!!!!!!!!