Varanasi to Agra

We are on such a fast pace sometimes I forget where we are. we have spent as many nights on trains or busses as we have in a hotel. Out of our first 5 days we spent over 40hrs traveling. This is what we wanted to do though so it is working out. We want to maximize our time in Nepal is the reason we are going so fast.

Our trip to Agra was yet another interesting experience. We were lucky again to have good bunk mates. It was three travelers from Japan. We ended up meeting up with them for an evening in Agra. This trip was scheduled for 14hrs, but lasted about 19. That is not so bad it's actually expected. What made this journey a downer was the locals who sat next to us. They seemed to think it was party time. They were up all night yelling laughing playing music and sitting on the edge of our seats. I am not sure if it was a cultural difference or what, but I was pissed. Eventually we fell asleep through it all, but it gave me a bad taste for some of the locals.

Once we arrived to Agra everything was great. We arrived to out hotel will ease. From the roof top restaruant you could see the Taj Majal. It was so awesome to see it in person. I have seen so many pictures...but to be there in person. I couldn't believe how big it was. It was so massive you could see it from so far away.

We arrived on Friday and the Taj is closed on Fridays. We decided to the head to Agra Fort which was pretty awesome. The best part was when an angry monkey started chasing everybody. He was huge and for some reason pissed and security guard had to come chase him off with a stick. The picture is of some random guys that just wanted to take pictures with us. He came up to ask and he was a little shy so I just put my arm around him put on a big smile.

Though the Taj was closed on Friday we could go to the back side and get some up close pictures from across the river. This is where we met our Japanese friends. One of them actually went to university in Reno. She offered to take us around

when we visit Japan hopefully next year. The three of us took our fire poi and practiced out in the field behind the Taj. It was a surreal feeling doing some poi and gazing at the Taj Mahal.

The next day we woke up before sunrise to hopefully be one of the first ones in. We were not the first but we were early enough to get some good pics without too many people in the frame. It really was a great feeling walking around the Taj Mahal. I couldn't believe that I was actually there considering a month ago I was in Austin, Tx.

Varanasi

Varanasi is a crazy place. It is super spiritual. It is the home of the famous Ganges with all the Ghats. The river is so polluted it is considered septic. With this being said it is a sight to see thousands of people everyday going and bathing and washing their clothes at the rivers banks. I actually saw people drink the water. It is sacred to the Hindu. Varanasi is said to be the closest place on earth to Nirvana. So with the combination of the Ganges and the location of Varanasi, many many Hindus travel thousands of miles to come die here.

The banks of the Ganges works as a crematorium 24 hours a day. The initial flame was lit over 3 thousand years ago and has never been lost. You can sit there and just watch body after body being burned. There is special ceremony for each family depending how who is there. Children 10 and under can not be burned because they are too Innocent. The are tied to weight and taken to the middle of the Ganges and sent to the bottom. It was an indescribable experience seeing all this before my eyes. After hearing all this we put together that the old man on the train most likely was on his way here to live his last few days. It was a weird feeling once we realized that.

The city its self was unique. The streets were too narrow for a car. You couldn't walk 30 feet with out running into a cow or a goat. On either side of you were buildings about 40-50 feet high. It was like one huge maze. The streets are dirty with cow poo, dead animals and trash. So much trash everywhere. They don't have any type of waste management here in India and you can definitely tell. I honestly don't think I will see another place like this one. It was great to see and experience, but I don't think I am going to miss Varanasi.

The Train Journey

I have heard many stories about the trains here in India. Even the agent who sold us our tickets said "you have not been to India till you ride the train." He was right. We got to the station where I was glad to find that my ATM card did work. I guess it was just a small bank the first time. The station was a mad house people everywhere. It took us a bit to find our train and all, but not too bad.



We board the train and we are super lucky to have a super cool couple sharing our seats. Moni and Monica they were from Israel. They have been in India for about a year. They had lots of info to share with us. Anyway our train was from 2p.m. to 8a.m. then next morning...about 18hours. Well we didn't get to Varanasi till 12 in the afternoon. It ended up being about 23 hours or so. The funny thing was that it was all that bad. There were periods of time where the train stopped in the middle of no where for hours at a time for no reason, but we just went with it.

A few things on the train could have gone a little better but nothing was too bad. There was an old old man I mean at least 100 sitting close to us. He was moaning the whole trip. It sounded like he was dying...it was really sad. I will come back to him in my next post. Also I was a little bothered by the way that the Indian men stare at women (western women). Time after time men would come up and sit across from Monica and just stare at her. I mean 2ft away and staring with out looking away. Several times Moni and Monica both had to yell at the men and make them leave. Those are really the only things that I would have changed on the train journey. The rest was a good experience.

Kolkata

The next day was short and sweet. We booked our tickets out of Kolkata the day we got there. We just didn't have any plans on what to do there so we decided to head on to Varanasi on day 2.
So far India is close to what I expected. It is really dirty and lots of poverty. There are always people trying to get you to go on tours with them and this and that. Once you get past that it is an insane experience. Just the way the city works and how everyone is doing their own thing, but it works. I swear there is no traffic laws what so ever. There on one-way roads that switch directions at certain times of the day. It is just a crazy crazy experience.
One thing we wanted to do was to go see Victioria's Memorial. This was just a short taxi ride away. It was awesome. It really caught us by surprise. It was so big I have never seen anything like it. I don't know what to expect from the Taj Mahal. After a few hours walking around there we headed to the bus station, and that was an experience.

India!!!

We got back to BKK with no problems at all. It was probably the easiest trip back from the south we have had. We just spent our last day there getting packed up and ready to head out. I ended up taking my main pack, but with much less stuff in it. One of our friends is looking after some things while we are gone.
I don't think it has really set in yet that we are in India. So far everything has gone pretty smooth. Coming in to the country immigration grilled me for a little while because I have lost so much weight since I took my passport photo. After talking with them and showing some other pictures they let me through. Waiting for our luggage it was a little funny because my bag was absolute last bag out, but it did come. Next when we came out of the airport a taxi driver came up to us and we arranged a ride with him. About 30 sec after that another driver came up and tried to grab us and make us come with him. It was hilarious. They started yelling and pushing each other then he just walked away.

We got to our hotel fine. We just picked a random hotel out of LP and had the taxi drop us off there. Checking in consisted of walking up to the makeshift desk and waking up the man at the front from his mid afternoon nap. Him walking us ten feet to our two rooms, then he returned right back to sleep. We didn't check in pay or anything lol.

After getting settled in we went for a walk and a bite to eat. I went to the ATM and it wouldn't accept my new card, I hope it works tomorrow?? We walked around town for a bit, then went for dinner. Our first meal was great, so I am excited about that. We hop on a train to Varanasi tomorrow and there we will spend a few days hanging out seeing the Ganges.

Last day in Ko Tao

Out last day Ko Tao was a great one. We spent almost the entire day practicing our newest hobby. No it's not as a Thai chef. Though that is another skill that we have picked up, it is secondary to fire poi. The three of us are going to start doing fire dancing shows. We to go around to different countries and put on fire shows. Matt is learning the fire stick and Mike and I are both learning fire poi (swinging chains).

After a day of practice and playing with Nong Plow ( PToks baby). We started the celebration of Gai Dee's birthday. We all gathered just outside the restaurant and cooked up a Thai style BBQ. It was great. There was all of our friends from Sea Shell and the three of us. The food was great and everyone was in such a great mode. The night could not have been any better. The only downside was that we had to wake up early the next day to catch the boat back to the mainland, but that was minor.

Prepareing for India

I know it has been a really long time since I last updated this, but oh well. I am going to try and do a better job from now on.

I went home for two weeks to Johns wedding which was a blast, then got right back on a plane back to BKK. I couldn't believe how fast that two weeks went, but it was a great time even though it was short. I can't believe how much of a little person Marin is now. She can run, talk, cry, scream, and a probably pound for pound the strongest pincher of all time lol.

As soon as I got back to BKK I met up with Matt and Mike, then we headed down south for Ko Tao. Probably our favorite place in Thailand. We are really excited because it is our friend Gai Dee's Birthday on the 6th, which is actually today. We are planning on going to a karaoke bar, should be good times. We have been here for about a week a half just hanging out not doing a whole lot. We did go on a boat trip around the island with some snorkeling and that was fun. Yesterday we took cooking class with Pleau and that was awesome. I am basically a professional Thai chef now.

Early tomorrow we hop on a boat back to BKK so we can get ready for out flight to India. We head to Calcutta on the 9th. It is going to be a great adventure there. We really don't have any plans. I still don't know if I am taking my pack with me. I am thinking about leaving it here in Ko Tao and just taking a smaller pack on the trip. We are going to be doing lot of trekking and traveling, so I don't want a huge pack. We are going to be meeting up with one of my friends from high school somewhere in India at some point. He is in Africa right now and flies to India on the 17th. It should be pretty cool to meet up with a friend from back home in such a random place.