India - The North

JG: We flew into Delhi and our hotel arranged to pick us up for a fee. On the drive there (again - ridiculous traffic of six lanes of vehicles jammed into four) the landscape changed from sprawling suburb that is South Delhi, to the bedlam that is Old Delhi, where we were staying. We checked in and left for dinner, onto a street full of rickshaws, scooters, bicycles, cars, cows, and a deluge of people. Crossing the street itself was an adventure. Walking down side streets, it seemed as if we were the only outsiders in the whole city - at one point, we had one guy on a motorbike warn "you might not want to go much further than this, you know, not so safe". So we stuck to the main drag and got pizza, of all things, for dinner.

We toured the city over the next couple of days, visiting the massive Red Fort (home to Mughal dynasty of a few hundred years ago); Indira Gandhi museum; Qutb Minar (temple and tallest minaret in India dating back to mid-late Middle Ages); the nondenominational Lotus Temple; and the India Gate WWI memorial. We even got a chance to get together with some friends of friends for dinner (never having met them before), which made for a great time but also informative to get locals' perspectives. Most of the remaining time was spent just walking the streets, which couldn't have been more different than just about anywhere we've visited. It is relentless in its operation - we encountered our fair share of peddling ("Rickshaw? City Tour? Souvenir? Good price, good price.") and dodged traffic for three days straight days, so we were looking forward to moving on. 

On to Jaipur - the Pink City - which was a breath of fresh air. The first planned city in India, it wasn't a lot less turbulent than Delhi, but it seemed to be geared towards tourists a bit more. We visited the City Palace museum, the Hawa Mahal palace, the monkey temple (hundreds of monkeys just...roaming around), and the Amber Fort (home to the Rajput rulers before moving to Jaipur). Based in part to the nicest hotel we'd stayed in for weeks, we loved the city and had a great few days.

Train ride to Agra, which was an unimpressive city but with a friendly guest house and the Taj Mahal, which was one of the greatest individual sites I've ever seen. The history of its construction, built in the 17th century - entirely in white marble and precious gems - over 22 years by the Emperor for his wife who died giving birth to their 14th child, makes it that much more impressive.

SS: I have been so nervous to roam northern India. We have heard so many stories and tales that although I have my reluctance, I am fascinated by the chaos. We hired a driver for our day of sightseeing, as Delhi is a very spread out city with numerous green patches and monuments sprinkled throughout. It seemed the closer to the center, the more chaotic it got. Our street, slightly outside of the old town center, was like living in old Las Vegas wannabe bizarro world. Seemingly nice hotels lined the street with massive neon signs flickering throughout (see first 3 photos). Admittedly, we didn't spend too much time in the old area - a small taste of it while visiting the Red Fort was enough for us to understand the dynamic.

Regrettably (completely ripped off), I booked train tickets through our hotel to avoid the mass chaos of buying them at train station, which is a beast of its own. Trains are the main source of transportation with 20 million users a day. The stations are sketchy, dirty, confusing and swamped with people both standing and sleeping waiting to commute. Most trains are either delayed or hardly arrive on time - 23 hour delay being the worst we saw. 

The cars are divided into ladies only, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seat assigned classes followed by general seating cars. 1st or 2nd is my first preference but nearly impossible to get as they book out weeks in advace so we settled for 3rd a few times. General seating is that photo you see with people hanging out the doors and windows squeezing in to get a spot! When traveling on an overnight journey, it is not only common practice for foreigners, but locals too, to lock your luggage to the train with a chain (which we did). Cockroaches and rats are not uncommon to encounter but to our good fortune we never experienced this! 

Jaipur is full of grand forts, stunning palaces and temples. To take in a view of the city, we headed up to monkey temple and with a pocket full of peanuts the hundreds of free roaming monkeys kept us entertained till the sun set into the haze. We stayed at an excellent guesthouse and met a solo traveling girl from Germany that was near her wit's end. India is not the safest or most comfortable place for a solo woman, or even two young women, to travel. The warnings are everywhere and the stories are endless; even my sticking to Johnny's arm like glue isn't enough of a deterrent. 

The Taj Mahal has been noted as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and it certainly lives up to that reputation. It is stunning! The entire building is constructed perfectly symmetrical of pure marble and adorned with 28 different precious and semi-precious stones including sapphires, emeralds, jade, jasper and crystals. With serenity throughout the entire grounds, this place is truly a must-see one of a kind. 

Unfortunately, Agra itself doesn't have much else to offer, so it was a quick in and out then off to Varanasi, a city that even our Lonely Planet says 'brace yourself'! It is acclaimed to be one the holiest, dirtiest and yet magical places in India....