29/9 - Varanasi

Hi all,
We are here at Varanasi- one of the holiest cities in India and one of the toughest as well. It is like the "beauty and the beast" here, from one hand the crap on the streets, the filth in the Ganga river, the hassling from the locals can make one to run away very fast without looking back, but on the other hand the beauty, the interest of seeing the life along the holly river, makes this visit very impressive.



Every tourist here find it hard to understand and realized the deferred routine of life here, while walking along the Ghats (steps which goes into the water) you can see burning bodies, running sewer into the river, people who brash their teeth, drink the water, take a bath, wash their cloth all in the same spot in a radius of no more than 30 meters.
the burning bodies was not an easy sight, you can actually see how different part of the body get burned. Still, it didn't bother other kids to play cricket at the same field.



Usually people say that Varanasi is like a shrinked India with all its advantages and disadvantages, we are very happy for having the chance to visit this unique city, although it was very rough exploration.



our next destination is going to be Darjeeling, which is located in the north east part of India, it is a Hill station and it's suppose to be very different from our current location.
the ride is going to take 18 hours by train.

To view Varanasi Slide show, click here
To view Varanasi Photo Album, click here

Chag Sukkot Sameach,
miss you all,
Efrat & Yoni

24/9 - Agra

Hi all,

After 2 hours on a 1st class train (we have even being served with a breakfast), we arrived to one of the most touristic places in India - Taj Mahal.
what can we say about this place that haven't been said before ? probably nothing ...
the place was built as a monument for love, in 1648 the emperor - "Shae Jahan" decided to build this magnificent building for his dead wife, it took him almost 20 years to accomplish this project, during that time there were 20,000 people who worked very hard to do so.

not happy end 1: the emperor decided to chop off the master architecture's hands so he won't be able to copy his master piece in the future.
not happy end 2: this emperor was eventually arrested by his own son and was locked out in a fort which has a view to the great monument.

not much more to tell, the photos will tell it all about this very impressive place.

The Great Taj Mahal:






To view Agra Slide show, click here
To view Agra Photo Album, click here
To view Taj Mahal Video Clip, click here
To view Agra Fort Video Clip, click here

today in the evening we have a train to Varanasi, Efrat's first night train, good luck with that !

Have fun,
Efrat & Yoni

22/9 - Delhi (again)

Well, the good news I met Efrat here in Delhi and we are traveling together, the bad news she came here a little bit sick, she sleeps most of the day and trying to get here health back, so we decided to take things easily these days.
it's funny, usually travelers come to India and get sick, she did it the other way around.

We visited some tourists attractions here in the city, Efrat: "It was very interseting to see and explore the life of the locals, the culture, the food, the sights with its beuty and filth and one pack. it is much easier to travel with someone who already knows how to deal with the huslers, otherwise it would be more diffucult for me".

India Gate:


To view Delhi Slide show, click here
To view Delhi Photo Album, click here
To view Delhi - Jama Masajid Video Clip, click here

tomorrow we are going to have one hell of a day, we have a train to catch at 6:15 in the morning, we are going to see the great Taj Mahal (for the ignorants among us - it is one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world) in a city called Agra, we are suppose to arrive at around 9:00 A.M and going to spend there a few hours, we have a train tickets at the same day - 21:00 P.M for a night ride to our next destination - Varnasi. yes indeed, it is going to be a day and a half !

wish us luck.
Have fun,
Efrat & Yoni.

16/9 - Bhagsu

Bhagsu village will definitely be on my mind for a long long time, I can't believe I spent here more than a week, how the time flies ...
The journey from Delhi to here was not that easy as I thought it would be, departing at 16:00 and arriving the next morning at 7:45. it could have been easier if I had some sleep during the ride.
Bhagsu Village is approximately 2000 meters above sea level, so during nights it can get quite cold out here, but the scenery here is overwhelming indeed, as part of the Himalaya range, you get to see here lots of green forests covered sometime by white clouds, it rains here every single day, amazingly at the same time - 15:30, for about 2 hours.
the view from my balcony at my hotel room is magnificent, I couldn't picked a better place to stay, usually I find myself sitting on one of the chairs on my balcony and wondering away with my thoughts. To see what am I talking about, click here

A view from Bhagsu


on the 11th I celebrated with other 500 Israeli travelers the new year in "Beit Chabad", the night was OK, as I expected - thrilling atmosphere, crappy food.

Bhagso is located a few KM away from Mcleod Ganj - the formal resident of the Dalai Lama, obviously I paid him a visit, and more obvious he wasn't there to meet me, so I got to see his very humble house (from outside of course). later on I visited the National Tibetan Library and the Museum right next to it. I even tried to teach myself Tibetan fonts.

more than that, I decided to expand my horizon and to take 2 courses:
1. Indian Cooking Class
I am definitely going to cook some Indian food when I get back home, unless Efrat will surprise me and learn how to make other stuff other than veg. salad and over-burned omelet (Ohh... I'm going to be sorry for that later, big time).
2. Knitting Class
As funny as it sounds, I decided to overcome the great embarrassment and to knit, actually I'm getting reasonably good at it, already made a cellular phone holder out of wool, and the sky is the limit.

To view Bhagso & Mcleod Ganj Slide show, click here
To view Bhagso & Mcleod Ganj Photo Album, click here
To view Bhagso Video Clip, click here

there are so many other things to see and do here, unfortunately I don't have much time, soon I'm going to see Efrat in Delhi, very soon.

Tibetans gang in front of the waterfall


Have Fun,
Yoni.

10/9 - Delhi

well, I arrived to Delhi yesterday in the morning after a long ride in a sleeper bus.
it is very hot and sticky here, the backpacker street is very busy, and there are full Israelis hanging out. I decided to take the same room I had taken 7.5 years ago, while I was here on my first journey, the room was OK, but there were so many mosquitoes in it. Damn. I've got bitten in all parts of my body... (well, almost all of the parts).

Today I have a ride to Dharamsala, which is in the north part of the state, it's about 14 hours ride and I booked a sleeper bus, that should be interesting ....
Planing to celebrate "Rosh Hashana" (for the non Jews - Israeli New Year) over there.

I have nothing much to tell other than I wish to get the hell out of here fast. the humidity here is about 60% and the temp can reach up to 38 deg. during noon.

Village kids in a corn field:


see you in cold chilled Dharamsala,
Yoni.

7/9 - Pushkar

Oh.. It's fun here in Pushkar, such a mellow place, with all the tourist services you ever wanted. Lucky me, it's not the high season here in Rajastan area so there is not much traffic on the streets, you can easily find an accommodation, everything here is so cheap and comfortable, it is good that I picked this place to be sick at (I caught a little bit of a cold at Mount Abu).

Yesterday I rented a motorcycle and went to explore the country side here, there were so many interesting things I've seen, met the local farmers while they were taking care of their crofts, most of them invited me to there small and humble home, served me an Indian Chai (Tea). they were very interested to hear about my life in Israel, since it is very different of what they know about.

Other than that, there is not much to do around here, most of the backpackers come here to relax, kind of taking a vacation from the long journey.
The truth is I have not much stuff to tell since I'm not doing anything beside resting, getting my good health back and updating my blog, by the way, since I found here a very reasonable Internet connection, I uploaded many new photos and rearranged my photo album, check it out. Also I uploaded some new movies to my YouTube library, have a look.

To view Pushkar Slideshow, click here
To view Pushkar Photo Album, click here

A normal sight in Pushkar


Tomorrow I plan to leave this wonderful place and head to the Capital city - Delhi, I'm gonna have a 10 hours journey in a sleepers bus. that should be interesting.

See you in Delhi with more stories and pictures.
Have fun,
Yoni

2/9 - Mount Abu

Hi All,

Well, Mount Abu is not quite as I expected, I came here to look for a peace and mellow place but all I could find is a crowded city with million Indian tourists. it is definitely not recommended to come here between 1st to 6th of September, there is a kind of holiday around this area and many of the locals here takes their time off and go for vacation in the hill-stations, Mount Abu is one of them. this is of course effect the prices and hotels, it is impossible to find here reasonable cheap rooms during this time, and the atmosphere is definitely damaged.

I'm a bit sick now, caught a cold somehow, so I take things easily.

Today I did something I like to call: "getting lost", I took a local taxi to one of the villages near by and "got lost", didn't quite know where to go and how long is it going to take, to either way I found it interesting - I went. eventually I found myself among loads of locals in places I can't believe foreigners had stayed before, this is some kind of experience I like the most.

I already booked a train ticket for tomorrow morning, I can't stay here much longer, maybe I will find my tranquil place at my next destination - Pushkar (6 hours journey).

Can you believe she is Indian ?


Have fun,
Yoni