The Taj

A long train ride, 2 hours of sleep and the most expensive rikshaw ride we've taken later ... we arrived in Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal at 3 pm. Our itinerary was a short one, with only the one night to spend and having to wake at 4 am again the next day to catch our train to Varanasi. As mentioned, we hadn't planned on visiting Agra, and this combined with the the lack of sleep, our lack of 'sightseeing' personalities and the price of admission to the Taj (our daily budget) we had decided to bunker down in a guest house (which all have views of the Taj) and get a free Taj experience with a bottle of beer, head to bed early and move on.

Two bottles of beer later, we realized that we could never face our families with the truth of negating the Taj, and decided to go for it. By this time, the gates were closing within 20 minutes - we had to take a rishshw to an ATM (we hadnt planned on this train ride, so we had minimal money with us for the overnight train we were originally planning on taking) and reached the gates with minutes to spare.and you know what? we arrived just as the soft light of sunset was enveloping the white masterpiece of the 8th wonder of the world - and we were immediately grateful for our decision. The universe has its ways, doesnt it?

 The Taj is worth the hype, the entry fee and the milling of thousands of people on the grounds. We spent the remainder of the day walking around the beautifully manicured gardens, attempting to take photos with digital camera my parents bought for me 6 years ago, and soaking in the atmosphere.
(we will post pictures when our memory card is full, all at once)

When the day was done, we returned to our guest house to enjoy the BEST FOOD WE HAVE HAD IN INDIA while enjoying a continued view of the Taj. Another 4 am start, and we were on our way to Varanasi.

We are now in Varanasi after experiencing a most uplitfing train ride (in a berth with 6 english speaking Indian chaps) and will post again when our experience here is complete.

Makar Sankranti - Kite Festival

The grande finale of the kite festival in Bundi - well worth the wait and the tears shed.

We spent the day floating from house to house (as described from before all have flat, terrace style roofs) drinking copious amounts of good things, eating copious amounts of good fried things, and attempting to fly kites but essentially destroying copious amounts of kites. :)

The festival is based around the religious practice for Nandi, who is the cow that carries/is the vehicle for Lord Shiva. Sunrise is met with prayers (as usual) and the morning (early) is spent preparing food for the day and feeding the plethora of roaming cows with fresh greens and food scraps. After the morning warms up (8 ish) the festivities begin.

If one was to walk through the alleyways of Bundi on this day, besides the blaring music, you would think that it was a ghost town. Shops are closed, and there is not a person in sight (they are all on their roofs!). Every single man, woman and child is flying kites, listening to traditional music and enjoying the company of eachother. From the roof top terrace, you ca see people for miles - a massive, elevated block party!

After spending the majority of the day with different familes, we were whisked away by one of the many people we had become friends with to an epic countryside adventure..... because the shops were closed for the day, our shop owner friend had the entire day off (his last one was last makar sakranti!) and wanted to spend the day doing something fun, with us! What an honor! The three of us spent the afternoon roaming the countryside squished on a scooter, visiting temples and lakes. Our last stop was an ancient 'resort' nestled on Bundi lake, where Kipling and royalty visited in its hayday. It was a beautiful place that was closed for the holy day, but our trusty friend had served the caretaker many times in his shop - and we were granted  private access! We were a small group of three, free to wander around normally locked rooms and sanctioned grounds. What an honor!

The day ended with an array of fireworks, more drinks and many laughs. The goal of finding a home a way from home was completed - and left us with our first travel experience of not wanting to leave the new people and places that find their way into our hearts.

Many tears and chais later, we retired to bed at 1 oclock in the morning to have 2 fitful hours of sleep before rising at 3 to catch our transportation - the beginning of the long journey to varanasi. Due to the epic circuit of the India Rail and the millions of people using it for transport each day, our goal of 'direct' to varanasi was not reached, and we had to reroute through Agra. The hyped  city of the Taj Mahal, we had never planned a trip here...... but the universe has its ways.








Bundi - our  blue home away from home.




A view of the kite festival, with the beautiful palace in the background.

The "Bundi Incident"

We have been experiencing the definition of true relaxed lifestyle - although a tad bit of a cold one at night (hot in the day, reaallly cold in the night)

We travelled from Okmareshwar to a town (100,000 pop) of Bundi. Bundi is a town set around a huge palace, and the old part of the city is built within the fort walls. Outside the past Christmas holiday travellers, there are a fewer number of tourists here - but enough that it is comfortable for socializing. There arent any big stores, all food comes from the market, which houses local food/dairy/vegetables and grain shops (rice/dal) with some 'corner store' type places that sell smokes, chewing tobacco, hand rolled cigarettes, chocolate bars, chips (munchie food) and white bread (from the next big town)....

We will have been here for a total of almost 1 month the day of the international kite festival on January 14. We have been staying with of a 4 - family housing unit (called a Haveli, a large, decorated house with a little inner courtyard/garden) whom we have fallen in love with. We play cards all day with the kids (who we were able to have fun with on christmas and new years) and alternate between being out and about with days of complete nothingness.  The house/haveli (as all of the homes here) have a roof top terrace (where our room is situated) and the entire village and surrounding areas come to Bundi to fly kites, thousands over 12 hours. The families practice every day, and we are excited to be here to spend the day with them and 'party' at night. (by party we drink orange pop, listen to really loud Hindi music and dance. and its aweeesome)

We attempted to go to Pushkar last week for a few days to grab some supplies/see the town (larger, more touristy area that is apparently beautiful. we can enjoy the place and we are still looking for coffee options and have been told we can find it here!) but we were blocked due to the Gujarat protests that have blocked traffic and trains in the state we are in (the debate is between the state we are in and theirs). The protest itself is safe/non violent, more a workers strike (which includes busses/toll workers/train stations) so we spent five hours on a bus, and 45 minutes away from our destination we were turned around and had to spent the same 5 hours back. Did you read the post about bus seats and the pain illicited into the bottom region from them? yes. returned on said bus.

So, we are still in Bundi and have just planned to do another attempt to Pushkar this week and return just before the kite festival (we are having to backtrack to go East as planned, so we will return here befoer heading East). We are safe, relatively healthy (Amaris just finished major antiobitoic treatment for the "Aurangabad Episodes", and today is trevor's first day out of the hostel room in 4 days ( now dubbed the "Bundi Incident".

We will report back after our visit to Pushkar! We are collecting great photos (although few and far between) and will post them to appropriate sections when we get them all uploaded together!

lots of love, stay safe in the snow out there.