After leaving Delhi I went to see the Taj Mahal. As often happens with things that are too
hyped you get disappointed when you finally see them and that was what I
expected with the Taj. In some ways I
was disappointed but not really due to a lack of magnificence of the buildings,
mainly due to the immense crowds that were there. I had gone on a Friday and that is a free day
for Indian monuments so it was horrendously overcrowded. I think to really get a feel for the Taj you
need to see it in more peace (Indian tourists are very loud as a rule and
constantly asking to be photographed with you).
At this stage India was really beginning to get unbearably
hot and I felt the need to escape the heat for a while. My options were the Himalayas on the Indian
side or Nepal. I decided to opt for the
new country and culture. It was the best
move I’d made in a while. I loved
Nepal. I had gone with the intention to
only spend a week, 10 days at the most and ended up there for three weeks. Unfortunately I had come at the wrong time of
the year for trekking and rafting as the monsoon had already started but that
didn’t matter. It can be a reason to go
back (not that I need one).
I split my time between Katmandu and Pokhara with a stop at
the Royal Chitwan National Park in between.
Chitwan was unbearably hot and humid but worth every minute as I got to
see a tiger there! We only briefly saw
it but the excitement was still there.
We also got to ride elephants and see rhinos up close from the elephant
so that was really cool.
In Katmandu I think I mostly enjoyed the coolness and
getting a dose of western food and company.
After my time in India I felt in need of that! I was there when they were celebrating
Buddha’s birthday so we followed the monks up to the main Buddhist stupa to
celebrate that. In
Pokhara I just spent lazy days on a boat on the lake and
taking day hikes. I met so many people
returning from treks and it sounded like an amazing experience but that will
just have to wait for another time.
After Nepal I had to return to India to catch my flight to
Singapore. I decided to stop in
Varanasi, which was a great place, but unbearably hot. It was an average of 48 degrees Celsius! We’d get up at 4.30am to get out onto the
Ganges on a boat and watch the sun rise.
By 8.30am it was too hot to do much (and so we didn’t do much!). We did brave the sun occasionally and visited
Benares University and some nearby Buddhist monuments. I’d like to return to Varanasi one day - at a
better time of year.
I was flying out of Mumbai so on the way I stopped in Wardha
which is where Gandhi’s last ashram is located.
It was from there that he negotiated much of India’s independence. There are several affiliated ashrams there
which were interesting to see and the one I stayed at was one devoted to
helping leprosy sufferers. It was really
interesting to learn more about the disease, what can be done about it now and
how people are dealing with it. I only
spent a few days there but they were some of my most relaxing and informative
days.
So, after three and a half months in India and Nepal it was
time to leave. I had gone through many
sentiments about India - from loving it to hating it - and I guess, though I
was ready to leave, I was also sad to leave.
I wonder if I’ll be back…
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