Phew! I had been warned, bieng a female on my own, about the, erm, attitude regarding us in India, and to say I was a little nervous would be an understatement.  The other option, was to fly directly to Kathmandu, but I didn’t really want to do that, because I had heard about the journey overland through India and Nepal, and it sounded fantastic, so I thought Ah! It will be fine!

So I landed very late in New Delhi, and directed the taxi to the Main Bizarre, as usual, I got ripped off, (I still haven’t learnt to bargain properly!)

I woke up the next morning and went for a walk to see the new sights.  The people! Everywhere, the rubbish! Everywhere, the cows, everywhere! and of course, the looks – from everyone!

But, it was actually ok, I told my friend, who enjoys using a video camera – “if you come to india, not for one second, would you put your camera down!” my favourite way of spending the day was sat, drinking ‘chai’ and watching the street life.

On the second day, I felt brave enough to attempt to do a ‘walking tour’ (lonely plant, one of two) and it basically takes you down a road called the “chandi chowk” it has a couple of mosque’s to visit, and it takes you past a sweet shop that was founded in the 15th century.  The shop used to make sweets for the emporer, and even today, they still use the same recipee’s.  It also has some diversions that take you past streets full of gold and silver shops, silk shop, sari shops.  It’s interesting to see, but I liked it really because it is an ideal way to watch the way normal life goes on in India’s capitol.

For women, it is best to cover up your shoulders, not because you’ll encounter trouble if you don’t, but just because, it prevents people from looking as much.  Also, it’s best really not to make eye contact, if you do, just be brave and say hello and smile! They like that. It can be quite intimidating though.

I aslo did a few other excursion, to the Red Forte and to Connaught Place.

Shopping can be good in Delhi, items are generally quite cheap, but you may be able to find them cheaper in other areas of India – I’m not sure.  It is easy to find beds; I stayed in a dorm for 80 ruppees, very cheap. 

It also had a roof garden, and one night, I was watching the nightlife below, and a festival was on, there was a band coming down the main bizarre, playing loud music, and it wonderfull to see, because suddenly, all the indians started dancing – and I mean, dancing! Properly, moving all parts of their bodies, in big groups, even the women!  It was fantastic.  One of the band members suddenly looked up and saw me, watching, so he starts to wave, and then everybody looked up, and were waving and clapping! It was so funny.  It only lasted for ten minutes, but I’ll always remember it, they were so happy.

I liked the Indians, in my opinion they are intelligent, poorly educated, but intelligent, kind, genuine and funny.  This is not including the ‘cheating men” but you just have to be aware and keep your wits about you when buying tours or train tickets.  I always felt safe, and personally, I never experienced any sexual harrasement.

You’ll also meet a lot of hippies, who came to India in the 60’s and 70’s and who have basically just stayed there.  They are always interesting people, and willing to talk about their experiences and will tell you the most fascinating stories.

After New Delhi (I stayed for 1 week, but you really only need 3 or 4 days – it can get a bit too much after that) I went to a town called Varanasee.

The towns in India are not pretty, I would say they are ugly, the architecture is poor, they are dirty and overcrowded, but if you put in some effort, they are also wonderfull places to visit.

Varanasee is set on the River Gangees, and it is said to be one of the holiest places in India.  The Indians believe that if you bathe in this part of the Gangees, you avoid ‘MOSHKA’. Moshka is the process of re-incarnation, and depending on the goodness of your kalma, you will be re-incarnated as something worse, or better.  However, if you bathe here, you avoid this process and are automatically sent to heaven or you experience ‘nirvana’ without having to be re-born.

Along the river, are ‘gats’ which are temples, where people come to prey, and bathe.  The best way to experience this process is to get a sunrise tour that includes a one and a half-hour boat trip along the river, at sunrise.  It is wonderfull, you get to see all the people bathing in the river, and their belief is just astonishing – I mean they truly believe this.  There is this aura of calm, which does affect you when you watch them.  The river is lovely at this time of day, and afterwards, you can sit on the steps and drink ‘Chai’ and just feel really peacefull.

Also, it’s equally wonderfull to go at sunset and watch the same process.  You can buy a little floating basket (5 rupees) with a candle and flower, light the candle, walk down to river, make a wish and watch it float away.  You hear all the people in the gats singing and chanting and it is lovely.

There are 2 ‘burning’ gats, which is where the indians cremate bodies set along the river, you are not allowed to take photo’s of this, and it’s a bit strange to see. The Indians pay for the cremations depending on the amount of wood used to burn the body, and from the river you can see lots of smoke billowing out of these towers.

After the boat trip, you will be taken to see a series of temples: a monkey temple, full of people chanting and monkeys roaming around.  Then a modern Hindu temple and finally a Buddhist temple. 

I was lucky, because the guesthouse where I stayed (Old Yogi Lodge) was ran by a friendly Indian who took me under his wing and looked after me very well.  He took me round the town on the back of his Endfield motorbike, and we saw where all the silk and Sari’s are made, from dying the silk to watching them being woven.  It’s in the Muslim area of the town and interesting to see – they are very talented.

One day, I went to visit the Buddhist area of varanasee, and met a boy who took me and a friend on a tour to his home village.  The village people are really friendly, they’ll all come out to see who’s come to visit, and the sights are wonderfull – women working in the bright green rice paddies in bright pink sari’s, children in bright clothes with dye on them to stop infection or to make it easier to wash the dirt off them.  They are self-sufficient, they grow rice and vegetables to eat, keep animals to eat (apart from cows, they are sacred) and make sari’s to wear.  Things like this, are wonderfull to see, because they really give you a taste of rural life.

Also, at sunset, all the little children fly kite’s – I’m not sure why! I tried to find out, but to no avail, I think it’s just a hobby.  But just as the sun’s about to set, look up and you’ll see hundreds of kite’s up in the sky.

So I would definitely recommend visiting varansee – for as long as you want, I met one Itlaian who had stayed for 3 months!

After that, it was time to head for Nepal.

Claire