india
north central - varanasi, khajuraho, agra
After a 22 hour train ride from Amristar in Punjab, I arrived at the Hindu holy city of Varanasi (Benares). The holy river Ganges flows through the city. It's a maze of tiny alleyways and shady characters. Lonely Planet says that unofficially 2-3 travellers go missing here every 3 or 4 months and that this is due in part to an underground criminal element who prowl the streets. For me, it was one of the most in-your-face Indian experiences I ever had, I was threated death and dismemberment on more than one occasion, offered heroin, hashish and prostitutes by relentless touts who followed me through the dim alleyways. Most guesthouses in the old city lock their doors at 10pm because outside it's a dangerous place. One Japanese tourist went missing while I was there.
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Varanasi
(Above) One of the many ghats (pronounced "guts", docks that line the Ganges River) where people bathe and wash their clothes amid corpses, rotting body parts and human feces. The Ganges is one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth. Several sewage treatment plants have now sprung up to deal with this but they use so much electricity that Varanasi suffers many long power cuts every night.
(Above) A busy street in Varanasi.
(Above) I took a sunrise boat-trip on the river. Morning is when the ghats are the busiest because the temperature still hasn't reached the near-scorching proportions of 42+ celsius. People were out excersising and doing the washing for the day. (Above, left) Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god. (Left) Waiting for a boat as the sun rose, 5am.
I saw this foreigner swimming in the river! That takes some guts, all I did was dip my feet in it.
My friend Glyn in the boat. I was supposed to meet him in Varanasi, but didn't know where or when exactly. I just happened to find him wandering aimlessly on the banks of the river at 6am. He hopped aboard and we were off. (Yes, I know he looks like a bum, but that's what happens when you don't shave or get a haircut for 4 months!)
(Left) Manikarnika Ghat, one of two 'burning' ghats on the Ganges, where bodies are cremated 24 hours a day. Whatever isn't burnt after three hours is thrown into the river along with the rest of the ashes. This is why there are corpses floating in the river. Our boat rower almost hit one as we went along, jut floating along, bloated and being eaten by crows! The river is said to flow from the hair of Lord Shiva, in which he trapped the uncontrollable Mother Ganga. The river is an auspicious place to be laid to rest. Many Hindus come from all over the world to die and be cremated here.
Water buffalo graze on the bank of the Ganges.
The main ghat, of the over 100, that line the river.
Khajuraho
Khajuraho, loacted in the heart of central India, was once a massive city, featuring a total of 85 enormous, intricately carved temples, of which only 22 survive today. They were all built between 950 and 1050 AD. The temples are unique because they are all adorned with erotic carvings. There are two theories to explain all the sex, 1) they were carved because of a desire to express the emptiness of human desires through human passions or 2) they were carved as tutelage for young Brahmin boys, basically, to learn how to pleasure their wives.
One amusing carving featuring 'a man and his horse' while an embarassed girls covers her face in the background.
Some of the erotic carvings adorning the rooves of a temple.
Glyn, practicing some of the moves he learned.
(Above and right) Some carvings from inside a temple.
The largest of the temples.
A side panel of one temple showing more carvings.
Me, in front of one of the temples.
On our way to Agra! Glyn and I were in good spirits on the bus after seeing all the erotica, and Glyn, having just crashed a bicycle rickshaw into a metal fence.
Agra
Yes, home to the world-famous testament to love, the Taj Mahal. Agra, just a couple of hours train ride from Delhi, is definitely a must-see for many tourists in India. Glyn and I arrived at around 3am after a confusing train and bus journey from Khajuraho. On our way to the guesthouse, wandering the streets in the early morning, Glyn was almost attacked by dog, but managed to beat it away with his pack. We stayed in a fairly decent place with a beautiful biew of the city and the Taj in the distance.
The front gate of the Taj Mahal, carefully inlaid in pietra dura with semi-precious stones and made of majestic white marble.
The photo everyone takes showing the reflection of the Taj in the pool.
The Taj Mahal at sunrise.
(Above) Glyn taking his rickshaw driver for a ride (not the one he lost control of and crashed into a metal fence). (Left) Mailmanning in front of the Taj Mahal. It was built after 22 years of construction and completed in 1648 on the banks of the Yamuna River, as a mausoleum for the late wife of Mughal Emporer Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal. He now lies interred with her below the first floor. It was his intention to complete a second Taj across the river, made of black marble and connected to the other by a bridge of silver, but died before realizing it. Shah Jahan was said to have chopped of the hands of all the artisans who worked on the building after it was completed, so that it would never be duplicated without his consent.
(Above) A man watering plants in the gardens of the Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan's son held him prisoner for the seven years before his death, in a sucessful bid to claim power.
(Above) The entrance gateway to the Taj Mahal.
(Above) The entrance gateway to the red sandstone Agra Fort.
(Above) The entrance to the ancient city of Fatehpur Sikri. It was deserted  less than 16 years after its founding in 1571, due to chronic water shortages, and is now remarkably well-preserved.
(Above) The central mosque of Fatehpur Sikri.
A gateway within the mosque.
The Panch Mahal, or 5-tiered palace, of Fatehpur Sikri.
A central pillar and four protruding pathways where the Emporer would stand in the centre, surrounded by four of his advisors to debate on different topics with people below.
A gorgeous stone lattice window (carved of a single piece of marble) in the mosque of Fatehpur Sikri.
Two Muslim men outside the entrance to a mausoleum in the mosque.
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