More spicy adventures

We ended up booking flight tickets from Varanasi to Delhi yesterday. It was kind of cool. I’ve always wanted to buy a last minute ticket and hurry to the airport. It’s so spontaneous, and wild, like being in a film. "When's the next ticket to Delhi!?" And then: "Taxi! To the airport! Hurry!". Almost like: "Follow that car!" kind of cool. But not quite.

It’s ironic though, because I remember when we flew back from Darjeeling and were waiting for the bags, and not far from us stood people waiting for their bags, from Varanasi. And I remember thinking: ”Pffh! Why would anyone fly from Varanasi, when there are convenient night trains going between Delhi and Varanasi??”. Now I know.

Last night was very adventurous. Because of our spontaneous little change of plans, when we got to the hotel we usually stay at here in Delhi, they didn’t have any rooms available. I couldn’t believe it! A noisy hotel (fair enough, that just means it’s in a very good location, and it’s cheap too). I had never imagined a hotel being fully booked during off-peak season, but there you go.

Anyway. Stranded in Delhi, in the middle of the night, without anywhere to stay. I must say I wasn't too happy. Lots of things happened that I can't even be bothered to write about right now, but we finally got a place to stay, a very expensive room, totally not worth what they were asking for, but hey, we had a place to stay. We then went to a nearby 24h open fast food chain to have a way too late dinner consisting of sinful burgers and coke, because we just couldn't be assed after all the .. ehm.. excitement, if you will. Well I can tell you this much: after what we've been through, I don't think there's much I can't handle now.

This morning we checked out to go all the way from Connaught Place, beyond Paharganj and beyond the railway station with our big backpacks on our packs and the little ones on the front, like sumo wrestlers dressed in black. Running, on the busy streets of Delhi, with all that packing, in the heat, made me think that this is what it must feel like to be fat. I mean, really fat. Remind me to start working out when I get back, because I don't ever want to feel like that when running if I don't have any bags or backpacks.

Oh by the way, I've caught a cold. Fancy that. In the 35 degrees hot India. Hah.

Anyway, I'm just glad to have left Varanasi.
Tomorrow we're going to Amritsar. I'm looking forward to that actually. Even thought it means getting up way too early. Sleep is overrated anyway.

Varanasi

I don't get it. Why are people crazy about Varanasi? Why do they all come here and why do they end up strongly recommending it to everybody else? "You MUST go to Varanasi!", "No travelling around India is complete without a visit to Varanasi", and "I was travelling around India for 3 months and out of all places I visited, Varanasi is definitely my favourite".

I don't get it. I dislike Varanasi. A lot.

Yes, it's filthy, the riskshaw drivers are always all over us constantly following us, and all men very indiscreetly take photos of me everywhere I go. But they do that everywhere else too, so that's not it.

There is something very disturbing about Varanasi. I'm not sure what it is, I can't really put my finger on it. Is it the numbing smell that's a hundred times worse than anywhere else? Is it the devilishly narrow and empty alleys that send chills down your spine even when the heat is so intense that your clothes have formed an external layer of skin because you're sweating so much that 50% of all the water inside your body is actually now not on inside but on the outside of your skin? Is it the fact that all drivers insists on having their "brother" or "study-buddy" with them in the rickshaw and you spend 15 minutes saying you only want to go with the driver? Is it how half of the cycle-rickshaw drivers are kids below the age of 11? Or how all vendors on the street, regardless of what trash they are selling, want to sell you drugs? Or fools who with all seriousness want to convince you to take an hour long ride on an old, rusty boat, out on the Ganges river with a thunderstorm just seconds away? Or all potheads who claim they are pure and spiritual because they are vegetarians dressed in hippie clothes in India, and yet sit around (high as scyscrapers, I should add) and smoke cigarettes in restaurants?

And in addition to all this, there's nothing really to see here. A River. I've seen it now, thank you. So it leaves me here wondering why everyone likes Varanasi. If you ask me, there really isn't much to like here. And so, all I can do now is to read lousy books and wait until our train back to Delhi leaves tomorrow night.

Travelling in India

Travelling in India is quite an adventure, for better or for worse.. Yesterday we left Darjeeling to go back to Delhi. We got up early and went down to the bazaar in Darjeeling, where pooled jeeptaxis leave for Siliguri once the jeep is full, and it's not considered full when it really is, but when there are around 15 people in a jeep for 8-9, having some people hanging outside, standing on the flap. So we drove around Darjeeling for quite some time, yelling "SILIGURI" through the windows, to pick up more people. Needless to say, the journey was very uncomfortable, especially on those rocky, terrible things with holes they call roads. An 80ish km took 3 hours. But the view was as always fantastic.

In Siliguri we took a auto rickshaw to the airport in Bagdogra, where we flew to Guwahati in Assam, all the way on the other side of Bangladesh, before continuing to Delhi, again alongside the beautiful peaks of the Himalayas. It's so beautiful I wasn't sure whether the goosebumps were because of the AC or the view.

Back in Delhi we were supposed to take a prepaid taxi to the Railway Station (which is a 2 min walk to our hotel), but the car broke down in the middle of the motorway and we had to actually push it away from the motorway while trying to avoid getting hit by all the cars, mopeds and autos. After arguing with the driver for a while, we ended up taking an auto to the railway station.

Back at the hotel we just had time to take a well-needed shower before our Indian friends came to pick us up and took us out to a very modern and fancy restaurant where we stayed until late.

Tonight, our plan is to take a night train to Varanasi, so tomorrow we will wake up in Varanasi, and hopefully try some yoga.

By the way, I bought a beautiful, dark redish sari in Darjeeling. Now I'm looking for a tailor who can make the blouse for me. Today is Monday so most places are closed, but hopefully I'll find someone in Varanasi.

Oh and one more thing. In Darjeeling, one of the things we did was to go to the Happy Vally Tea Estate, as Darjeeling tea is quite famous in the world, and a personal favourite. After a tour inside the factory, we went to the little cafeteria where we were served the finest quality Darjeeling tea actually called, hang on to your hats now: Super Fine Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pick 01 (picko one). A lovely old Nepali woman explained everything, and told us it could be done in only 5 seconds, and that's why she's known as the 5 second lady.. We sat there for quite some time and she told us how she had moved to Darjeeling from Nepal to get married when she was 13, and told us all about Nepal and even the old legends from there. Afterwards we wrote in the guest book, so if you ever go there you can read what we wrote on the 5th of Sep 2008.