October 25-31, 2022. After celebrating Diwali, we drove to Jaipur to continue the celebration. The city was painted pink when Queen Victoria visited back in 1876. It looked so nice that a law was passed to require all building be painted pink.
A highlight of Jaipur was attending a Bollywood movie at Raj Mandir. It’s huge movie theater. We saw the opening day showing of Ram Setu. It was an experience. The audience participates by cheering or jeering throughout the movie.
Next it was onto Agra, the town of the Taj Mahal. Again, we visited during the holidays so it was extremely crowded. Thankfully our wonderful guide got us around the lines and into the complex quickly. All throughout our tours we were treated so well. An interesting part was that the Indians seemed more interested in taking pictures with us than the Taj Mahal. We got good at saying “no photos” since one photo led to a photo with each family member plus group shots.
Agra Fort was almost more impressive than the Taj Mahal. It was a palace as well as a military fort. The summer palace was completely covered in white marble carved into beautiful designs or inlayed with colorful stones. It was unexpectedly gorgeous and had a wonderful view of the Taj Mahal.
The adventure really continued with an overnight train to Varanasi. We road in an AC 2nd Class Sleeper carriage. If I return to India, I would book a first class carriage. 🙂 We were very squished since for some reason there were more people than beds. Thankfully, the train arrived early but it was a hot and cramped experience.
Varanasi was a very interesting city. It’s regarded as a very holy city and Hindus cremated there get a fast track to paradise. This makes the air quality really bad as cremations happen around the clock on the banks of the Ganges. I enjoyed wandering the back alleys and seeing the ceremonies on the Ghats. The city was just recovering from flooding so many Ghats were covered with mud from the river. The Ganges river looks so polluted but people still bathe and wash clothes in there for good luck and blessings.
Varanasi was my favorite city in India. Our amazing guide was from Varanasi so that probably helped. We took sunrise and sunset boat rides on the Ganges, visited many temples, ate vegetarian food, rode tuk tuks around, visited a silk factory, and participated in a yoga class. It was a great mix of spiritual yet active.
A highlight was visiting artisanal workshops in each town. We got to try block printing and carpet weaving. We visited a silk shop and learned how to distinguish between real silk and wool and fakes. Everything was so well made and beautiful. It’s times like this when I wish I had a house to furnish!
I chose to travel with Intrepid again and in India my guide was especially priceless. “G” ferried us through the streets full of traffic, took care of tipping, suggested food options that wouldn’t make us sick (I did not get sick the entire time I was in India!!), showed us a mix of local and tourist sites, all while being a cheerful and nice person. The tour was two weeks and took us from Delhi, India to Kathmandu, Nepal. Only four people were on the tour so it felt more like a family trip than a group tour. The small size made the chaotic streets a lot easier to conquer.
I’d been really nervous to visit India. I’d heard it was chaotic, dirty, crowded, dangerous, polluted, and full of poverty. Yes, it is all of that but it is also beautiful, colorful, and full of kindness. Artisans were so proud to show us their work, the family in Tordi welcomed us into their home on a holiday, and the guides delighted in showing off the beauty of their country. India is unlike anywhere else I have traveled and that is a wonderful thing. I do hope that someday they will come up with a better solution for disposing of their trash instead of just burning it on the side of the road!
Special thanks to Gouraang, Laura, Jessica and Jesse for some of the pictures 🙂
Elizabeth’s Adventures 