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Border to Border:
Part 5 - North India
by Joan Ubide
Continue your photo travel tour with Joan Ubide, while he's on his photographic discovery of India.
North India is a great country--full of contrasts... and cows. It’s a real wonder, a mystical and spiritual country--sometimes hard, sometimes tiresome, but--without a doubt--unique. I started my route in India in Gorakpur where I arrived by bus from the border of Nepal. I traveled in the packed bus suffering for my backpack, which was on the roof of the vehicle where new passengers were accommodated.
In Gorakpur, I took a train to Varanasi, one of the most amazing cities I’ve ever seen, something really special for those with a camera as a travel companion. In Varanasi, I was lucky enough to meet a guy who turned out to be from my country. We took a night train at Gorakpur station and, for 1.5 Euro a day, I spent a couple of weeks in a house with a family and a group of Catalan people who had traveled to India to learn how to play the sitar, a typical Indian instrument. The house was filled with music, plus a Serrano ham and pa amb tomaca (bread rubbed with tomato, a Catalan specialty).
Varanasi is surrealistic, as is nearly all the country. It’s a trouble-free and somewhat chaotic mix of men, women, bohemians, monkeys, dogs, rats, rickshaws, tuc-tucs (taxis), and hundreds of cows that turn the streets into mine fields. It’s also amazing. After several days of adapting to the new environment, I found it captivating—as did several other people whom I was lucky enough to meet.
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Varanasi is not a place you can visit in one or two days. You must stay there, become familiar with the people drinking chai in the street, visit hidden spots, and participate in their rituals. This is how you will truly know Varanasi and can say you’ve been to India. Nevertheless, if you’re the fussy type, you’d better not go to India...or do go and change your attitude.
What does “surrealistic” mean in Varanasi? In one day during one of my trips to pay three rupees to have a chai in a street stall, I saw all of the following:
And all this in only a few minutes. I looked at the man who was preparing my chai, and we smiled at each other as if I were telling him “Wow!” And he said, “That’s the way it is around here. Welcome to India!”
Around the temple in Agra, you can see how Indians became famous for pestering tourists. They go on and on with the same questions, all seeking a few rupees. In Agra, you can easily loathe India, but you get used to it. There’s no way out of it. When you get off a bus or a train, you have fifty people offering you a taxi and a hotel. It’s a horribly stressing situation. The best you can do is look down and walk fast while saying, “No, thanks.” Once you’re out of the chaos, you can start to negotiate for a taxi, because surely one of the fifty representatives will be more tenacious than the rest and follow you for several minutes. A big mistake is to stop in front of the group and say, “Taxi?” Who is going to get the client?
After a couple of days in Agra (more than enough) I headed to Orchaa, a small village South of Agra--very advisable. There are lots of temples there, and it’s very quiet. There’s only a main street, and the rest is open field. Next, from Agra, I took a train for thirty-five never-ending hours, to spend a few days by the sea. In Goa, I enjoyed rest, Carnival pictures, and I was off to Delhi.
Another common scam occurs when you arrive in Delhi by plane. The taxi driver will take you to a travel agency, on the pretext that you have to confirm your hotel before going there. The call is a fake, and they’ll try to sell you another package. If that should happen, be firm. If necessary, shout, and they will smile and say, “Okay, okay,” as if nothing is amiss.
From
Delhi, I took a train to the north to Haridwar (110 rupees seated), from
Haridwar to Rishikesh (train: 5 rupees, although you can get there by
tuc-tuc for 35 rupees). In Rishikesh, it’s advisable to stay in Lashman
Jaula, a yoga Mecca. In this area, the sunrise and sunset ceremonies in
the Ganges are worth seeing. The ceremonies are amazing, but hard if you
see them in Haridwar, since that’s where the poorest people gather. During the sunrise ritual, beggars and sick people approach you to ask
for a few rupees, and you can’t do anything to help them.
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I recommend going from Pushkar to Podhpur riding a camel (five days, 40 Euros). Rajasthan and the travel by camel between Pushkar and Jodpur were the best times I had in all of India. There you can find truly great people and share your time with them. They have a rural way of life, living in little houses, most of them made of mud and straw. When they see you arrive, all the family comes out to greet you. They want you to stop and visit their home, to have chai with them –a chai as simple as milking the goat or cow and there you are. Chai-chai is ready! Again, those who have less are those who give you more. I recommend this experience, if you have the time for it. However, you have to know that you sleep in the open country, and everyday you eat more or less the same fare. Plus, your kidneys will be absolutely battered by the end of the trip. (The price is around 4,000 rupees for two people for five days of travel.)
Finally, I would like to mention a few negative aspects of India. Besides the poverty and sick people living badly in the street, I must say that if you are a woman and traveling alone, you will feel observed and harassed in many places. My advice is to wear local clothes, use a headscarf, and totally ignore those who harass you. If they’re really a bore, yell at them to leave you alone. They’ll laugh and go, "Okay, okay.” Another thing I loathe about this beautiful country is their fooling-about with prices. It’s all about bargaining, but you get used to it.
CONTINE with the article: Travel Facts & Tips, North India Map and more photos...
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