Pictures from my recent trip - Khajuraho, Varanasi and Amritsar

Some pictures from the recently visited destinations

Golden Temple and Wagah Border - Day7

Golden Temple

Benares - Day6 Day5

Benares

Temples of Khajuraho - Day4 Day3

Temples of Khajuraho

Day2 Day1

Backpacking to Amritsar [Day7]

5:15am New Delhi: reach the station and don't find myself wanting to halt here. Found that a train leaves for Amritsar on 30mins.

2:30pm Amritsar: the train has halted near the station. Police advise me to jump off and catch a rickshaw from the previous junction. Done. Reach near the golden temple and take up a room. The cab to Wagah border leaves in 15. Quick shower and am out. Evening saved.

5:15pm Wagah border: reaching here an hour before time is insufficient. The place is already packed. Stuffed like sardines again :|. Hey but look BSF providing special seats to VIPs and caucasians. So much for feeling special of who you are in your own country.
The show starts and the crowd erupts. Some 3-4k on the Indian side versus barely a few hundred on the other. Awesome atmosphere. Vande Mataram, Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Hindustan Zindabad. Rocking in the freakishly hot sun, worth it.

So looks like I have something to get done back in Mumbai. So my trip ends here. Will visit Jalianwala Baugh and the Golden Temple tomorrow and then head home. I wanted to go to Jammu and maybe even up to Srinagar, but that's not happening.

Hyderabad-Nagpur-Khajurao-Varanasi-(Delhi)-Amritsar-(Mumbai).
That's nearly 3000kms by road and rail to Amritsar. 5 states, 8 blog posts and too many temples visited. Phew!

So the days were longer, sleep incomplete and all the destinations absolutely unknown. What an awesome few days. Met some interesting people and have reenergized with these wonderful memories. While the body aches, it is still craving for more. Now that's the sign of leaves/vacations well spent.

Will post the pics when i get home.
Till the next time then... Bon voyage mes nouveaux amies. Au revoir.

Day6|Day5|Day4|Day3|Day2

Backpacking to... [Day 6]

Early morning Varanasi: An early morning wakeup call by the neighborhood monkeys show me towards a gorgeous dawn. The Ganges flowing steadily and swiftly right in front of my window while the temple bells start to fill the air up, seemingly in a rhythm of sorts. I head out to find some hot tea and breakfast. God how the fuck do I get out? School kids ahead.. Bingo! Make it out in 20 mins new record. I'd bet these kids could solve the Rubik cube in record num. of moves, blindfolded too. The cute part though is watching all the kiddos getting packed into various forms of transport heading to school. Reminds me of a pack of roses. Ssw some on their way back as well. Roses no more :(

Anyways knowing the stats on the actual pollution in the  river there was no way I could get myself to take a dip. But got blessed with some of it nonetheless.
Last minute shopping done.

Booked my tickets to the capital night.
Next stop, New Delhi.

Day5|
Day4|Day3|Day2

Shoutout Cleartrip.com: Hrush Bhatt had heard and responded to my initial experience with his company. If he is still actively scanning the web for feedback, and I hope he is, he owes the team that designed the mobile version of cleartrip.com a beer party. Awesome work man. Your team has done a fantastic job keeping in mind the form factor being worked for. A perfect example of how design when done right is just so pleasant for your end customer. Awesome. P.S. I love beer too ;)

Backpacking to... [Day 5]

Tatkal screws me over: 3AC middle berth need I say more? To make things worse I am next to the door and have no way to save my feet being knocked on by each and every person all through the night. After exactly 2 hours of sleep I spent the rest of the journey at the exit enjoying the gorgeous landscape. Fields lush green with crop thanks to a good monsoon. These Morning views just blow your mind.

Varanasi 12:00pm: delayed by 1.5hrs. Last minute change of plans and decide to go to a different guest house coz it seemed closer to the center of town. Am left at a junction from where I am told i have to walk. And now i know why. Welcome to Varanasi the city of lanes, bylanes and alleyways. Some deviously disguised as something similar to a house entrance. Barely enough space for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder but in true desi style bikes zoom around and cows stroll by while you hang on. 1Hr gone by and am still searching. While I did ask for directions all along I only now realize that I should've asked for them at every corner. Locals consider a couple of left or right turns a part of a "straight" road. 1.5Hrs later I reach the guesthouse. Exhausted but starving. Remember I was in a train and not having dinner is the best way to avoid the scary airy loo. 30Mins break and I plunge myself back into the labyrinth will all the determination to get some food. Maybe I'll have better luck following the cows out of here.

45 Mibs and am onto a road. Halved my time, yaay;! Tried out the bhojan at keshariya. Was nice but a local vendor's lassi rocked. Kullar lassi with thick dollop of malaai and topped with kesar, pista and badam shavings. Just what the doc ordered.

Bad news: the river had risen pretty high. The evening poojas which are said to be a sight will happen on the temple balcony instead of the steps, those are completely under water. So no morning boat ride on the Ganga either. Sucks.

Day4|Day3|Day2

Backpacking to... [Day 4]

Exploring Khajuraho: Heard atleast 5 different languages at the breakfast table already. Note to self: update resume with this super specialty skill set.

So the temples out here are spread out in the southern, eastern and western zones. Other than the western zone the rest are in ruins. Pillaged not by thousands of years of existence but by a few recent decades of greed. Not as much by the mugals and british but by many who worship the deities these magnificent structures house. Luckily the western temples are saved by the ASI and now recognized as a world heritage site. The beauty of these temples is just jaw dropping. Will post the pictures up pretty soon and then you will get it. Note to self#2: somehow mask the fact that I've concentrated too many bytes on the apsaras.

Explored Mediterrano, the recommended Italian joint and was thoroughly dialsappointed. What did not let me down though was the sound and light show at the western temples late last evening. I would've loved it even better if they weren't blasting off the audio on the speakers. ASI should go modern with wireless headphones.

This morning I spent a good 5 hours exploring these western temples. Knowing a bit of the storyline and using the audio guide was a good call. Totally vote for it. Rs100 for English and 60 for Hindi. Or pay for Hindi and play with the device a bit to find out how to have it play the English track :) Hey saving for beer ain't a crime!

Tatkal rocks. Got the second last seat on the train to Varanasi for tonight. Ganga we meet at last.

Next stop Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Day3
Day2

Backpacking to... [Day 3]

The train ride was awesome. I was back in a long distance train after a really long time. And not much has changed. The toilets were still as "airy" as before and the berths couldn't accommodate the taller me. The food  though has seriously deteriorated. And boy does the thing shake. I never realized it shook sideways as much as it did.

Reached Jhansi at 2.50, spot on time and luckily found a friendly rickshaw driver who guided me to the bus stop across town. The first bus to Khajuraho is supposedly at 5am but a bus was heading to Chatrapur, some 60kms from Khajuraho, right as I got there so I jumped in. Packed to the brim there was just one butt cheek's worth of space left and I parked mine. Did I mention smoking was allowed on this bus? And boy did all the uncles light them up. So early morning beedies and second hand smoke on the ride. Survived somehow and reached Chatrapur at 6am. Had some tea and got on the 7am bus to Khajuraho.

8:15am Khajuraho. The place is a small village town dotted with a lot of hotels. Headed to Jain temples road to pick a room. The place was blistering hot even this early in the morning so I just walked into the Lonely Planet's pick and took the first room offered.
First order of business... Cold shower.

On my way here I found out that there are trains to Varanasi but on alternate nights, of course not tonite. So I am at Khajuraho for the next couple of days. The sursundaris have my undivided attention.

Backpacking to... [Day 2]

Arrived at Nagpur pretty early in the morning and after recharging the batteries I headed out to explore the city. But it looks like Sunday is taken pretty seriously out here. The place was pretty dull other than a few Anna Hazare supporters.

So back to the planning board. After a little bit of digging I decide to pursue a route into MP. One of the options that stands out is Khajurao. An ancient site of temple ruins, more famously known for the erotic sculptures than the deitys themselves.

Buses seem to be out of the question. Train station. All trains full. Get a waiting list ticket and hope for the best. Till then hop around and gorge on some lunch.  One hour before the departure time I find out that the ticket is confirmed to Jhansi.

Next stop Khajurao, M.P.

Backpacking to...

With a couple of weeks of vacations overdue and my brains certifiably fried after reviews I found myself wondering how best to spend my precious days of freedom. So I decided to go back to what I have been missing.... Backpacking...wagabond style!!

Here are the rules of the game.
1. No advance bookings for travel or lodging
Exceptions the tickets to the first destination.
2. Travel as much as possible by road/train.
Flights are the last option or on the final leg.
3. Leave as much travel as possible for the night. Yeah wayside sceneries are lost but well.
4. Be true to myself and keep things basic/frugal/cheap without getting stingy :)
5. There is no planned destination.
6. SURVIVE

Lets see how and where this goes. If nothing else i can always delete this post and run back home ;)

First stop Nagpur.