With M.C feeling a little better we pushed on to the Holy City of Pushkar….upon arrival it was clear the kids needed a break so we stayed at the hotel/pool while Marie-Christine went to see the holy lake. It was a nice break and the kids needed up in photos with some selfie-obsessed Indian lady. Good times.
Author: Doug
Jaipur – The Pink City
Health improving we moved on to the capital of Rajasthan – Jaipur – the Pink city. We learned quickly that ‘pur’ Means city and the first part is the name of the dude who founded the city, in this case Jai Singh. In 1876 the Prince of Wales (later Edward VI) visited and the city was painted pink. Why? I do t know. The Main Street of the old city is still super pink. Did I say ‘health improving’? By lunch M.C. was in a bad way and returned to the hotel. Delhi- belly was taking over with the oldies. The …
Agra
We decided to get a driver and leave Delhi to see the beautiful state of Rajasthan but the first stop was Agra in Uttar Pradesh state. Agra is most famous for the Taj Mahal one of the new seven wonders of the modern world. On this trip alone we might see three or four of these – https://www.travelchannel.com/interests/outdoors-and-adventure/articles/new-seven-wonders-of-the-world Agra It seems every Indian city has a fort but in Agra the most famous structures are the Taj Mahal and the ‘baby’ Taj Mahal. We checked out the baby first, the fort then the back of the Taj Mahal as it …
Delhi by tuk tuk
As we are on a budget, and nothing says excitement more than Delhi streets in a tuk tuk, we decided to see some sights in 2 tuk tuks! For anyone who says th traffic and driving in their city is terrible and scary….No! Even Vietnam pales in comparison, and yet tuk tuks are everywhere, jamming themselves between trucks, cars, bicycles and other tuk tuks. On our first morning in Delhi I met Ravi the tuk tuk driver. He asked where we were going and we were off to the Uzbek embassy by Uber. An hour later he randomly showed up …
Delhi
A night or two before flying to Delhi from Kathmandu I read a few blogs about India, it’s scams and in particular the Delhi airport. We had spent over 8 hours collectively working out the e-visa and had a vertitable shit show upon leaving Nepal where they stopped us for not getting ‘stamped in’ when we walked across the Tibet- Nepal border. We barely made the plane for a USD$2 fine for each of us! I was not looking forward to the Delhi experience!
Upon arrival almost everything about Delhi surprised us! Smooth sailing at the airport including the e-visa ( the customs guys were awesome!), and our hostel pick up ( secret password – big mango!). The drive to our hostel was pretty easy and the route was lush with trees and beautiful temples (the Laxmi Narayan in particular). The only thing missing was head wobbles. We knew the backpack area was a little grim but as we wandered down the back alley all we could smell was urine and rubbish accompanied by constant shouts and honking horns. It’s true -India is an assault on all the senses….it took me a day to realise that the wall at the corner was a place for guys to pee…..
Just a bit behind and to Kaia’s left was the pee wall. Note the excellent wiring – power outages were regular. A right turn at the end of this alley it got much darker and there was our hostel…
Paharganj By Night
That night M.C. And I ventured out to the main bazaar of Paharganj. This neighbourhood is the cheap cheap backpacker area and all the neon signs are for cheap hotels. This area is intense at all hours.
Paharganj by Day
One afternoon while everyone was chilling I set out to explore the rest of the Paharganj area. Tons more cheap hotels and more little shops selling the same stuff. Also the everpresent smell of urine, cooking and garbage. Accompanied by flies…always flies. Without the family I still got looks but none approached me to ask where I was from. Perhaps I looked enough the part to get away with maybe being local….
It was gritttier – saw a dog get hit by a motorcycle, a legless man begging in the middle of a 6 lane road, cows everywhere and lots of garbage. Poverty abounded.
Last Few Days In Kathmandu
The last few days in Kathmandu were spent catching up with our friend Woody Plus we had to take in the iconic sights: the Swayambunath Stupa and of course the old Freak Street area. Freak street was part of the old hippie trail of the 60s and 70s, mostly shut down in the late 70s and 80s by US intervention (as usual)…. we picked up lots of light clothes for India and warmer climates…. The stupa is probably the best known landmark in Kathmandu, as despite being templed-out, the girls survived. The views of the city …
Chitiwan National Park
After the mountainous Pokhara it was on to hot Chitiwan National Park to see elephants and hopefully Asian PygmyRhinos! We got to the park and it was hot. Damn hot. After lunch we had several hours to kill before a bush walk so I joined the little two in some pool time. There I met a guy from Montreal and a woman from Portland, Or – she is a specialist elephant vet! They have an NGO called Stand Up 4 Elephants https://www.su4e.org For the next few hours I found out about the plight of Nepali …
Beautiful Pokhara
Beautiful Pokhara is Nepal’s second city but first city of activities. Rafting, paragliding, zip lining, hiking, kayaking etc are all based in Pokhara. There are some beat sites to see but the crowning glory is the surrounding Annapurna Range including the well named Annapurna 1, Annapurna 2, Annapurna 3….you get the picture. It’s a multinational backpacker haven with lots of cheap accommodation and banana pancakes! Activity wise, we saw the sights, walked the town a lot and ate yummy curries. The brave females all went paragliding while I sat at the pool and bravely drank beer. Though it was the …
Kathmandu
Up until now things have been pretty busy and programmed, so Kathmandu was planned to be R &R. Staying in my friend Woodys 2 bedroom apartment ( while he was away in Denmark) afforded us the opportunity to do lots of nothing, catch up on the blog and just rest. Woody and I have had numerous adventures together in such far flung places as Mocambique, Madagascar, South Africa and a few Burning Man experiences to name a few…. we are so lucky to use his apartment. As my daughter said – “ This place is lit” It was also …
Gyirong to Kathmandu
The drive from the Gyirong border post to Kathmandu was a horrible experience. The Tibetan side was great but the Nepali side….. This year has had tons of monsoon rains and the road has washed out numerous times. Many have died this year. For those who have driven with me – I am a notoriously bad passenger and I hate heights. A bad combo. We were told the drive was 6-7 hours and it took 12+. Four hours were spent watching a bulldozer and two front end loaders rebuild a road that just had a landslide. Real …