{"id":3066,"date":"2016-07-07T17:03:22","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T17:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2016-07-07T17:04:46","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T17:04:46","slug":"border-to-border-part-5-north-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.apogeephoto.com\/border-to-border-part-5-north-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Border to Border: Part 5 – North India"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continue your photo travel tour with Joan Ubide, while he’s on his photographic discovery of India.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCopyright 2008 Joan Ubide<\/p>\n

SINGER, VARANASI, 1\/80 F\/2 (EV-0.33) ISO 250 50MM<\/strong><\/p>\n

North India is a great country–full of contrasts… and cows. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In Gorakpur, I took a train to Varanasi, one of the most amazing cities I\u2019ve 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<\/p>\n

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 <\/em>(bread rubbed with tomato, a Catalan specialty).<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCopyright 2008 Joan Ubide<\/p>\n

PRIDE TIME, VARANASI, 1\/180 F\/13 ISO 125 70MM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Varanasi is shocking for all those who arrive fresh from their \u201ccivilized\u201d countries of origin. However, sometimes I feel India as a whole and Varanasi in particular–including the people who live there–are more civilized than many other places with clean streets and nice-smelling but neurotic people who worry only about trifles. Here people accept things as they are and don\u2019t obsess about other people\u2019s lives. Moreover, I could walk up and down with my camera in Varanasi without having it stolen, which is what probably would have happened in many occidental countries.<\/p>\n

Varanasi is surrealistic, as is nearly all the country. It\u2019s a trouble-free and somewhat chaotic mix of men, women, bohemians, monkeys, dogs, rats, rickshaws<\/em>, tuc-tucs (taxis), and hundreds of cows that turn the streets into mine fields. It\u2019s also amazing. After several days of adapting to the new environment, I found it captivating\u2014as did several other people whom I was lucky enough to meet.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCopyright 2008 Joan Ubide<\/p>\n

VARANASI, 1\/80 F\/6.3 (EV+0.67) ISO 200 12MM<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCopyright 2008 Joan Ubide<\/p>\n

DOGS IN VARANASI, 1\/125 F\/5 ISO 100 50MM<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCopyright 2008 Joan Ubide<\/p>\n

SHAVING, VARANASI, 1\/640 F\/6.3 ISO 100 50MM<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nCopyright 2008 Joan Ubide<\/p>\n

VARANASI at 04:30 AM, 0,3S F\/4 ISO 250 12MM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Varanasi is not a place you can visit in one or two days. You must stay there, become familiar with the people drinking chai<\/em> in the street, visit hidden spots, and participate in their rituals. This is how you will truly know Varanasi and can say you\u2019ve been to India. Nevertheless, if you\u2019re the fussy type, you\u2019d better not go to India…or do go and change your attitude.<\/p>\n

What does \u201csurrealistic\u201d mean in Varanasi? In one day during one of my trips to pay three rupees to have a chai<\/em> in a street stall, I saw all of the following:<\/p>\n