Hello peeps, I am not very good with blogging hehe whoopsie but now I'm in Thailand and I have some time to share my amazing India experience. Trying to keep it short, which I'm not very good at, but here we go:
DELHI 11-13 January
I already posted about Delhi, so all you need to know right now is that I enjoyed it though I didn't understand or know anything about India when we were there. I thought it was quite messy and dirty and the traffic made me a little stressed. If I could've done one thing differently it would be reading about the city before arriving. I found Delhi ok, but didn't feel a connection.
JAIPUR 13-15 January
After 4 hours by bus, we arrived in Jaipur, which has the nick name "Pink City" because of all its buildings with a terra cotta colour (was supposed to be pink) in the Land of the Kings, Rajasthan. The first day we viewed the sunset and the organized chaos (traffic) from a roof top. There was a kite festival going on as well where the kids went crazy and the sky was filled with kites. I had my first Lassi here and it was amazing! We went to see PK, a Bollywood movie, at the cinema, and then we had a couple of drinks with some other Norwegian backpackers. The next day we visited Amber Fort then Hanna, Nanna and I got ourselves traditional Indian attire (sarees) which we wore to our dinner where we watched a muppet show and some dancers. We got to join them on "stage" and it was weird and fun.
TORDI SAGAR 15-16 January
After 4 hours by bus we arrived in Tordi Sagar which was a small village with 5K habitants. We stayed at the only guest house with two other groups of backpackers. When we first arrived we had an orientation walk where we got to see some of the people who lived there. I got to try to make a pot for Lassi (yoghurt shake) in clay the old fashioned way, but I dropped it and it sucked. Aura told me it was ok to take a walk alone, and so I did. I passed the girls' school as they were done and they all ran over to me, touching my hair and skin. One girl, Ashna invited me to see her family's property and it was amazing how welcoming and warm they were without knowing English. I had to run back to the hotel, and 10 kids were running with me and it was a complete feelgood moment. Our group went on a camel cart ride to a sand dune which we climed and watched the sunset from while having masala tea. After that we had a bonfire with the other backpackers and got henna tattoos from one of the local girls.
AGRA 16-18 January
The 16th we were on the bus for freaking 10 hours to get to Agra, the city of Taj Mahal. When we got there we were exhaused but HAPPIIII because wifi wohoo so we just had dinner that night and went to bed. The 17th we went to Red Fort, then Baby Taj which is hmm kinda obviously a tiny Taj Mahal. After that we went to the hotel and changed to our Indian outfits because we wanted to look good for the 3000 pics we were about to take in front of Taj Mahal. It was so great and majestic, and seeing it live was like diving in to a postcard. We stayed for 3 or 4 hours, and I'm pretty sure we weren't left alone for 5 minutes without someone asking for a picture with us haha. It's fun but really weird. Like people are seriously handing over their babies for us to hold for a picture.
ALIPURA 18-20 January
We left like 7am to take the train to Orchha but it was delayed, like all trains in India. Ever. From there we took a bus to Alipura, to a 300 years old castle which was the only guest house in town. I was freaked out becaus it was dark and old and scary, and there were lots of tiny doors leading to creepy rooms but we slept really well. We went to see some old religious temples, which were covered in Kama Sutra figures. That was weird. At night I felt sick for the first time, but luckily it passed quickly. We went for an orientation walk on the 20th and got to visit a girls' school.
ORCHHA 20-21 January
We went to Orchha after the orientation walk in Alipura, where we stayed at a nice resort in tents. The tents were big and had a regular bathroom and AC so they were pretty legit. In the evening we walked around town and joined a prayer (?) at the hindu temple. The whole town blacked out for a while, which also happened in Tordi btw and it's pretty common in India. On the 21 we took a guided tour through the Jhansi Fort, and then we went to a cooking class! Nanna and I walked around town for a bit and got some more henna done, which was so much better then the one in Tordi.
NIGHT TRAIN 21-22
We got to the train station in Orchha around 10pm to take the night train to Varanasi. It was delayed by a couple of hours but I was sitting next to a girl my age named Gurumeet and we talked and played games and tought eachother about our countries. We got on the train around 01:00 and luckily it wasnt too dirty tho I'm pretty sure I got bitten by some bedbugs or something. We were on the train for 16 hours, and my "bed" was between a lady who was talking A LOT in her sleep and a guy snoring like crazy. We got a little crazy for a minute and did some squats (damn Ebba, you work out?) but except from that we were pretty much sitting in the same position.
VARANASI 22-24 January
Had some dinner when we first came to Varanasi, and just hung out with the group a little. Varanasi is a holy city with the river Ganges running through it. We got up really early for a boat ride during sunrise where we also saw many people doing morning rituals/cleansing in the river. Cremations were also happening, which was a weird experience but you couldn't really see that much. Then we slept for a minute before seeing silk production, which was interesting but honestly not that exciting. Later, we watched the sunset and some weird fire show befor dinner. Then sleep sleep sleep again and a little partying at night. The day after we could do whatever so Hanna, Nanna and I grabbed a tuktuk to go to Blue Lassi (which is pretty much mandatory to visit while in Varanasi), and had the best Lassis ever with banana, coconut and pomegranate. We went back to the hotel but I was really craving another one so I went back alone. It was actually the best feeling just listening to music really loud in the back of the tuktuk while watching the Varanasi life. We took a plane back to Delhi.
DELHI 24-25 January
We arrived kinda late in Delhi the 24th and had a "goodbye-dinner" at a nice restaurant with the group. We had made a song for our tour guide to Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, and it was pretty good I must say. Some of us had a little party after that. It's crazy how fast I got know some of these people even wih completely different background, age and perspective. Travelling with strangers for two weeks straight really does something to you. I know I'll miss them, but hopefully I'll see some of the, in not too long. Hanna, Nanna and I left the 25th in the morning for Thailand.
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