India - Bharatpur to Kolkata

Bharatpur - Kolkata

After leaving Jaipur we caught a local bus to Bharatpur which is famous for its Bird Park which is a world heritage site. After one night we then headed to Agra for the highlight of our trip.......seeing the Taj Mahal. The temperature in Agra was around 42oCand we were definitely struggling in the heat.

In the evening we walked to the river behind the Taj Mahal complex where we caught our first glimpse of it. We took a boat across the river and had an amazing view of the Taj Mahal with a full mirror image reflecting in the river water. The next day we were up early at 6am when the Taj Mahal opened and made our way the east gate where we paid Rs.750 (foreigner price, as locals only pay Rs.20!) and entered the walls into the Taj Mahal complex. The grounds were a long way from the rest of the country with litter bins every 20m and more surprisingly people were actually using them! We then headed through the main gate and saw the Taj Mahal from the front in all its magical splendor for the first time with it reflecting perfectly in the man made ponds leading up to it.

The building itself is much more awe inspiring than we had imagined even with our expectations being so high. The main thing that struck us about the building was how clean it was even though it was built in 1631 by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz. The Taj Mahal looks like it is only 10 years or so old! Needless to say we took loads of photo's and spent nearly three hours walking around the grounds and inside. On a stranger note we also saw a dog eating a dead guy in the river where we had been the night before (yes really.....although nothing really suprises us in India now!) We spent the rest of the day inside the hotel as the 43oC heat was too much to bare. That evening we took an overnight train to Varanasi on the banks of the Ganges.

Varanasi is a holy city where many Indians come to die so that they can be cremated on the banks of the Ganges. We took a walk along the many Ghats (steps leading down into the river) where people wash their clothes, themselves and swim in the holy waters of the Ganges. We also saw bodies being burned on the banks and ashes being scattered in to the river. The 'holy water' itself is disgusting with sewers running into it and really made us wonder why people would want to go in it....holy water or not!

In the evening we went for a sunset boat ride down the river to watch the locals on the ghats before taking part in a flower ceremonywhere we lit candles amongst petals before placing them in the water. It was an amazing experience seeing the locals on the ghats and the constant cremation but we were worried that the boat would dissolve in the water which 'boasts' 150 million particals of faecal matter per 100ml compared to the maximum of 500 particles per 100ml reccommended for bathing in! Although we got a shout from a local who said "jump in, you only live once!" which we all politely declined! While in Varanasi we also visited Sarnath 9km outside of the city which was the birth place of Bhuddism in India.

In the evening on day 20 of our trip we caught an overnight train to Kolkata, it was nice to be on a train with air conditioning after the 43oC heat of the last three days. While in Kolkata we visited the convent of Mother Teresa and her tomb which was interesting. That evening we had a farewell meal with the rest of group before going our separate ways the next morning. We stayed one further night in a hostel in Kolkata which was to be our most uncomfortable night in India so far as there was a massive power cut which meant the fans and air conditioning didn't work. Added to the humidity and 42oC heat in Kolkata (5oC above the average temperature at this time of year) we spent most of the night awake as it was like a sauna before taking a taxi to the airport at 3am before flying to Goa for a much needed rest via Mumbai.

Until next time,

Barney & Teresa x