TR: India, or what the hell just happend? (lots of pics)

[Poz]

Well as reported earlier we went to India... we are out now. We did a loop from Delhi-Jaipur-Pushkar-Udaipur-Agra-Varanasi and now we are in Kathmandu.

All I have to say right now about India was that it was a full on experience, much more than I was expecting to be honest. I honestly found the filth in the streets to be unbeleivable, when we first arrived to Delhi our first thought was "what the hell is going on here?!" Oh ya, and I was almost shanked by a bull twice on our first night in Delhi-- got to love how the cows just chill on city streets.

In retrospect right now, we are glad we went to India and we did see some of the major attactions, however I do wish we had gone elsewhere in the country. Our best experiences were in the smaller areas and meeting people in the little villages. I have heard the south is awesome as is areas in the north closer to Kashmir-- something to do later!

Delhi:


Jaipur:
Scene from the largest sun dial in the world, it is accurate to 2 seconds


At the same observatory as above, but this one tracked the sun and plaed the astrological sign of the year on it. This whole observatory was pretty awesome considering it was made in the 1600s.


Obligatory snake charmer shot:


City Palace, Jairpur:




The Amber Fort, just outside of Jaipur. This was a highlight of india. Just a massive fort with huge walls surrounding it and the surrounding mountains. The panoramic really doesn't do it justice unless it is zoomed in a lot.


We did a camel trek in Pushkar. We stopped for a rest and this kid came up to play music for us. It was pretty hypnotic music, then he played Frere Jacque.

Temple in Udaipur.


I love ths shot. In Udaipur we went to a local market, I busted out the camera ad it was a free for all with the kids. This one is money because you an see the one girl get creamed as they all fight to be in the shot.

I'm a bad person



Udaipur at sunset. This city got an eerily pink glow at night, it was surreal.




The Taj:




Ceiling of a mosque beside the Taj:


And finally, a sinlge picture frmo the single most dirty place I have ever been... Varanasi. It was a helluva experience seeing bodies burnign by the river, seeing a dead body in the alley beside our hotel, more cows and their dung, and meeting a guy from Toronto that I figure came to India in the 60s, awoke from his acid trip sometime in the 80s and hasn't been home since. From what it soudns like, that actually was his story.



After a 24 hour straight land journey we got to Kathmandu last week and have fallen in love with the place. In comparison to India it is clean, the people super friendly, and in the Thamel area (the traveller ghetto) it is basically one giant MEC full of knock-off stuff. We just got back from a 2 day rafting trip.

We are here for a month volunteering and then doing the Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary in October.