I went to go see Phoonk II, a Hindi horror movie. I hadn’t seen Phoonk I, and I hadn’t seen a trailer about it or even knew what it was about. I get scared easily in movies so I don’t watch scary movies but I felt like I had to see a Hindi horror movie, at least just once.
I’ve always wanted to go to Jaipur, even before I knew I was going to India. Also known as the “Pink City”, Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan. It’s well known for its shopping and as a good place to consult astrologers. Luckily I got to do both!
Jaipur was the last place we were going to visit, and by that time, I was pretty exhausted. We had difficulty finding a hostel to stay at but we happen to stumble upon a cute little hostel, and I can’t remember it’s name. I had to share one bed with Caroline and Abby, plus there was no AC so it was really hot. We didn’t mind because it was so cheap and we were too tired to search for another place.
Our rickshaw driver convinced us to hire him as a tour guide for Jaipur. Turns out he was a rotten tour guide and tried to scam money off of us at any opportunity he got. At least he didn’t ruin the city for me.
After visiting Agra we headed back to New Delhi for one day. We went to well known Khan Market. We took it easy since we were preparing for our next trip. Later that day we took an auto rickshaw to the train station. The problem was that there are three train station in Delhi and we couldn’t figure out which one we were supposed to go to, and non of the locals seem to know either. We had only a few minuets till our train left so we randomly chose one train station and I was sent into to verify whether we were at the right one. It turns out it was, so we ran to the platform and barely caught our train. My friend had booked a 3 tier sleeper class car with no a/c. It turns out that it was the most disgusting train car I’ve ever stepped into. That painful ride was 8 hours long but I was really looking forward to Jaisalmer.
Jaisalmer is a town in Rajasthan and located in the middle of the Thar desert. It’s known for it’s fort and it’s camel treks. The market place area is a series of crooked alleys that you can get easily lost in.
Agra
We took an uncomfortable train to Agra for a day. The whole trip was pretty awful and the mood was just not right. The day was very hot and when I got off the train I was not in the mood to haggle with auto rickshaw drivers. I was feeling off and I was getting some bad vibes.
All of that was erased when I saw the Taj Mahal. The second I walked through the huge main gate entrance, I was in complete shock. My eyes teared and I felt like 13 year old girl who had just met her favorite boy band. I finally comprehended why it is so amazing. It looks like a palace but it isn’t, it’s a mausoleum, a tomb for Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. I could have sat in the gardens and stared that the Taj the whole afternoon.
I was in such a good mood, I didn’t mind all the people who claimed they were tourist guide and would bother us so that we would need their service. I also didn’t mind the long wait to get inside, the line wrapped around the Taj Mahal. I even got some of those cheesy touristy photos taken while I was there from one of those roaming photographers.
After visiting the Taj Mahal we went to the Agra Fort. I was so tired I didn’t explore much of the fort. It was extensive and had many rooms, it was more like a maze.
We arrived in New Delhi around noon on Thursday. We were tired from our long train ride and I had very little sleep during those 22 hours. We weren’t sure of where we were when we arrived. From a friend, we heard about a small area where backpackers go to called Pahar Ganj. We didn’t have reservations anywhere so we hopped into an auto rickshaw and headed to Pahar Ganj.
I spent the last few days backpacking through northern India. I went along with two classmates, Caroline and Abby. It was an interesting trip and it had its up and downs. So much happened so I can’t possibly fit it into one post. I’ll break up the trip into pieces and I’ll post a new part of the trip over the next few days.
kikuidee asked: take/post more fotos please. I get inspired by seeing them sometimes.
i’m glad to hear that my photos inspire you. thanks for the suggestions, i will make sure to post more.
This past weekend I was invited to stay with my friend Rashmi’s house with her family. She is in my political theory class and has already taught me a lot about Indian culture and politics. This weekend she took me to several historical sites around Hyderabad and I had an intensive history lesson of Hyderabad. I went to so many cool places in one weekend, I felt like I went on a trip, but I really just stayed in the city.
I took my first train down to the state of Karnataka to visit Hampi. It was the capital of Vijayanagara which was a huge empire of the Telugu princes in southern India. This empire flourished from 1300’s to 1500’s and was a major trading place. It was destroyed and plundered by the northern Sultans and it was left in ruins. Most of the temples were destroyed except for a few. The main temple is the Shiva temple and it wasn’t destroyed because they saw similarities between Shiva and their god Allah. I went to Hampi to visit the Shiva temple.
Holi, also known as the Festival of Colors, is a holiday celebrated at the last full moon at the end of Winter. Usually people throw colored powder and water at each other and if you are unlucky, you might also get an egg or tomato thrown in too. I had my first Holi celebration today and it was a ton of fun! I looked like a monster by the time I was finished playing but it was worth it.
