Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

We have been travelling and finding our way around haphazardly I think. Agra and the Taj Mahal was easy - we had a tour guide then and the hotel was only a few minutes away from the site. And unlike the modern temple in DElhi where we took an hour through security to get in, the security here was simple - just a frisk and a promise not to bring anything on the list of banned objects.

The Taj Mahal was a marvellous site - we arrived in the very early morning with the sun not yet up and the mist from the Yamuna River creating mysterious light everywhere. We waited for the sun before heading in to explore it in detail. The building is a beauty, although how it survives the smog is beyond me. Right now one cannot drive closer than about five minutes away from whence we are whisked to the entrance by electric vehicles - but how that can prevent the smog from all the nearby vehicles, the everpresent smoky fires and heaven knows what else that causes the thick smoggy air is beyond me.

We didn't get the full package either - there was no water in the reflecting pools - under repair, so our photos don't have that unique effect. Not to worry, it was still a great visit. We spent about an hour and a half at the site, marvelling at the marble inlaid with semiprecious stones, taking photos, enjoying the light as the sun slowly rose turning the tomb golden for awhile and then that pearlescent white which marble can have. Lovely. The two temples on either side of the Taj in REd Sandstone and marble are perfect complements to the perfection of the tomb.

The Taj was our last stop on our official tour - lots of sad good byes as we bid adieu to our travel companions - the two of us and two others were heading back to Delhi while the rest of the group continued on to Varanasi. We were getting to Varanasi on our own.

We have one really good pointer from our tour - when you want to know where to stand for the poorly marked train cars, hire a porter. For 50 rupees a bag he will carry them, (on his head), and then put you exactly where you want to be. It worked in Agra where we had help but it also worked in Delhi when we took our first train ride with no help from anyone else. In Delhi, the porter put us under a sign saying B1 even though there was a sign for A1 (our car number) much further up the platform. And the train stopped with A1 right in front of us.

On our trip to Delhi, we had sit up seats, and were two hours late arriving - we got to bed about 1:30 pm after the trip to our hotel from the train station. The trip to Varanasi was only an hour late, but was overnight so we had a sleeper car. We had booked the side berths, up and down, but there were lots of empty places so Geordie got us moved to two lowers side by side with no other companions - except the vermin.

I saw my first cockroaches when I went to get rid of some garbage - they had colonized the sink area, and while we were sitting in our side seats a few more made their presence known. Then a huge one went by scurrying under the curtain - I was awed by its size. Then another, and another and I finally realized that the huge buggers weren't cockroaches, they were mice. You can imagine how much fun it was thinking about whether they could climb and where we would put our shoes when we went to sleep. Luckily there was a nice pouch which was a perfect storage spot and since it was up where we were sleeping, it felt safer. I don't know if any creatures climbed over me in the night but I slept the night through.


In Varanasi we were met by someone from our Guesthouse. A good thing since I can't imagine how we would have found it otherwise. Seems the best way to find anything is to walk along the ghats which are the steps along the holy Ganges where people bathe. The good thing about them is that there's little hassling - a huge contrast to the life in the cities we have been in.

Yesterday we decided to brave the alleys to see if we could find a place called the Bread of Life Cafe. We walked through the narrow spaces, and the kids heading to school in their uniforms and past hundreds of soldiers in Khaki carrying rifles slung over their shoulders. Not modern rifles either - could these be single shot?

We made it to a main street where there was so much traffic it was exhausting being there and after about an hour of walking we decided to give up and go back to the ghats. There we walked and finally rested near a place where some men were having a bath in the river. Note to self, do not swim here - I can't imagine what might be in it, but the locals even drink it - it's holy after all.) We also got to see how the men wear their underwear - they have most unusual underwear which wraps around, ties, then a flap is pulled through the legs tucked in at the front then back betoween the legs and tucked in back. Simple and effective.

After lounging for another half hour we decided to climb back up and look for the restaurant again. We got to the main drag and walked and walked but saw nothing. Finally we decided we would get a cycle rickshaw driver to take us there. Hah! He took us the wrong way and when we got back to near where we had started that morning we paid him off and went to ask at a book store. There we were told it was at least a 20 minute walk back.

This time we hired an auto rickshaw which dropped us at the door - probably about 10 meters from where we had come out earlier, and turned the wrong way. Then after our lunch, we headed back to the ghat - which took less than two minutes and put us right at the spot where we had started our last foray to find the place. Now, can we ever find it again?

We are off to Bodhgaya in a couple of days but tomorrow we may go off to Sarnath where we will see one of Buddhism's most important sites. More later, I'm sure. Now my fingers are tired.