Varanasi, India

I think Varanasi was the most unique and bizarre places I visited during my entire year in Southeast Asia. It wasn’t like anything I have ever seen before. Shelby described it in a very interesting way, “It’s like farm meets jewels meets dump”. As soon as we got there, we saw cows, cows, and more cows. Along with the cows, there were stray dogs, goats, cats, roosters, you name it! All these cows and stray animals roaming the streets made the roads absolute chaos. Every form of transportation covered the streets – Tuk-Tuks, cow carriages, cars, buses, motor bikes, bicycles. I still do not know how we managed to leave without a scratch. The ‘jewels’ stand for the absolutely beautiful saris the women would wear and the spectacular temples we visited. And the ‘dump’ represents the piles and piles of garbage that covered the roads and every crevice of the city. Shelbs in Varanasi Typical We had read in the Lonely Planet that our guesthouse was hard to find, but it definitely didn’t prepare us in the slightest for the maze we were about to endure. All the guesthouses were in alleyways that were filled with garbage, cow poop, beggars, motorbikes, shops, food, colourful market stores, oh and of course the cows made an appearance. It really was just a mix of everything. Once we took a few wrong turns and jumped over a bunch of cows, we finally found the guesthouse we were looking for. The guesthouse only cost us $2 a night!!! This included a private room, a double bed and our very own washroom! Not too shabby. There was also an adorable rooftop patio restaurant, where we ended up spending a lot of our time during the unbearably hot days. The meals cost $3 on average. Just one of the many shops that were way too overwhelming One of our new friends from the market...sweet shirt The first thing we did was explore the riverside, known as the famous Holy Ganges River. This is the river where the ashes from cremated bodies are dumped. That doesn’t seem to stop the locals from bathing and swimming in the water though. The locals treated the river as if it were a beach, which was absolutely shocking since the water appeared to be extremely polluted. Also, I don’t think I would want to swim in the same water as a bunch of cremated bodies. Yikes. Shelby being blessed in the Ghat We made sure to watch the burning of one of the bodies at a Ghats along the riverside. (We weren’t allowed to take pictures) The family carried the dead body out on a stretcher after covering the body in scented oils and golden cloth. It was fascinating! There were then other locals scavenging through the waters to find any jewelry that had been on the body and had been dumped into the water with the ashes. While other locals would just casually be taking a bath a few meters away from the ceremonies. The logs used in the burning of the bodies Casual... At night time, we decided to take a boat trip out on the Ganges River to watch the sunset. The Varanasi skyline was beautiful in such a strange way. All you could see is warn down buildings, decaying lands, temple tops, Ghats, and locals jumping in the water. Every night they put on a ceremony to bless the Holy waters. The famous ritual is to light a lotus flower on fire and send it out into the water to bless all the bodies. This fills the water with light, making the view spectacular. It was way harder than it looked Varanasi skyline Shelby and her lotus flower The next few days, we beat the heat by staying in tight, shady alleyways and markets. The shopping was so cheap! Purses, shirts, jewelry, scarves, and anything else you can imagine for no more than $2! Too bad I barely had room to fit any extra purchases in my luggage, or I would have bought everything! The last place I would have wanted my flipflops to break, thank goodness I could buy another pair for $3 On the last day, Shelby and I decided to try the famous Blue Lassi. Lassi is a traditional yogurt-based drink that is very popular throughout India! I got the chocolate-coconut-banana flavor, and it was one the best things I tried on the trip. Mid-day, we were off to the train station. We got a nice air-conditioned night train back to New Delhi, which was our last stop before heading back to Singapore. Varanasi is definitely a city I will never forget for its very unique way of life. Gotta love night trains! Goodnight Varanasi

Agra, India

Entering Agra, I was shocked at how poor the city is. With an attraction as popular as the Taj Mahal, you would think that the city would be all dolled up for the thousands of tourists that visit each year. That is not the case at all. From New Delhi to Jaipur to Agra, the cities became more and more impoverished. We quickly found a hostel and then headed right to the Taj Mahal. It cost about 15 dollars for the entrance fee, the temple slippers and a water bottle. We got to skip the massive line up as we headed to the ‘Foreigners special ticket’ line. Thinking that the Taj Mahal would be filled of mostly foreign tourists, that was certainly not the case. Shelby and I ended up being two of only a handful of foreign tourists in the whole place. It seemed at times that we were more of an attraction to people than the Taj Mahal itself!!

Local celebs

New friends

One of the funniest pictures of the whole trip After being stopped by numerous Indian families and locals to take picures with them, we were finally able to enjoy the beauty of the Taj Mahal. It is exactly how it looks in pictures except in real life! It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I was actually there. We walked through the gates and their it was – a big, white marble mausoleum, shimmering in the sunlight. To add to its beauty, there is beautiful greenery, gardens and fountains surrounding it. Also, there is a water aisle leading up to the mausoleum, which displays the Taj Mahal’s reflection.

We had to wear slippers to go onto the actual Taj. The entire structure is pure marble, with two tombs on the inside. The whole temple was built by a early emperor in memory of his third wife. (He sure must of loved her quite a bit!!) But thanks to him, this beautiful masterpiece was created.

The temple slippers

The next morning, we went to see the sunrise on the opposite side of the Taj Mahal. Although we were further away then the day before, it was still spectacular.

Agra sunrise!

The rest of the day we did the remaining attractions in the city, including the Agra Fort and the Baby Taj. Shelby and I continued to be a main event at each attraction we went to, making many local friends along the way!

At the Agra Fort, taking in the beautiful view

Traditional jumping photo

Me and my new boyfriend

Me and the Baby Taj

More friends...

"We need to put our hands like this, this picture is for a postcard." haha

Local children extremely happy to see us!

Jaipur, India

Jaipur was about a five hour drive from New Delhi. As soon as we arrived, we were amazed. There were painted elephants walking alongside our car as we entered Jaipur, also known as the “Pink City”. I didn’t think it was possible, but Jaipur was even less developed than New Delhi. All the buildings were warn down and rustic looking. It looked as if they started building a house and then would just give up half way through. There wasn’t a single street light or sign in sight. When we first got there, Mr. Singh dropped us off at the market. The markets were probably the best ones I have been to since being in Asia. Each store was so colourful and full, it was overwhelming. Fabrics, scarves, table matts, saris, bangles, earrings, turbans, purses, temple pants…anything you can imagine. Each item was available in every colour of the rainbow. The salespeople were aggressive like we were expecting, but almost in a fun and friendly way (so friendly we got asked to go for beers and disco multiple times…but declined politely). At night, Shelby, Mr. Singh and I sat on the rooftop patio and watched the sky light up with fireworks in every directions. According to Mr. Singh, just a typical night in Jaipur with at least 50 wedding celebrations going on at once.

Just some fun market times

Black out? The next morning, we were off to Amber Fort. It almost looks like The Great Wall of China in the way it outlines the mountains. The wall was built at the entrance to the city for protection. It was absolutely beautiful as it consisted of painted patterns, silver mosaics, mirrors, gardens and endless entrance ways and doors. It was quite easy to get lost in the fort with the excessive amount of secret passage ways and doors at every turn.

Next up we visited Jantar Mantar, various Hindu temples, and the Monkey Temple. Jantar Mantar is a collection of architectural astronomical instruments built by a late King. These instruments were used for measuring time, predicting eclipses, tracking stars' location as the earth orbits around the sun and determining the celestial altitudes. The whole place had quite a weird feel with the odd shaped structures, which made it even more fascinating.

Jantar Mantar

Casual camel ride

The Monkey Temple was a lookout point of Jaipur. The view was spectacular! At the top, we got blessed by a family that was actually living in the temple. The lady that lived there then painted henna on Shelby and my hands, which ended up lasting for the rest of the trip!

Monkeys always making an appearance

Loving our new hands We made sure to get to bed early with our big day to Agra to see the Taj Mahal!