Friday, December 30, 2011

Holy Allahabad

My next aim was Allahabad. It took me something like 5 hours to reach Allahabad by bus. In Allahabad they host each twelve years the Kumbh Mela – a religious mass event with more than 100 million people. They all come to take a bath at the confluence of Yamuna, Ganga and the mystic Saraswati. All six years a smaller Mela takes place, and then there are around 70 million pilgrims in Allahabad. And every year in January, there is the "normal" annual Mela.
Well, now you should think, that Allahabad a very holy place, at least around the river…

Sangam, Allahabad
Sangam, Allahabad
The first day in Allahabad was one of those not to get out of bed at all. Everything started in the railway station. Here I wanted to inquire for trains to Varanasi. The responsible counter was not taken, at least not by a person. Instead of a person a gigantic mouse (rat?) sat in the middle on the table. So, basically, I peered in and the beast looked out. After a few minutes the responsible lady came in, swept the mouse off the table and said only "No train to Varanasi". Of course, this was pure nonsense; there are 10 or more trains every day to Varanasi. Again just someone, who does not want to do his job.  Especially not with tourists asking stupid questions. Unfortunately, Allahabad is not on the tourist track, so signs are only posted in Hindi.
But, at least, there are always people to help you out. Anyway, it turned out a lot better for me to take the bus instead of the train.
During this whole action I found out, that my mobile phone does not work anymore. In India, it is not allowed for foreigners to buy an Indian simcard. Why it is like this – no idea…. However, in case, the phone company finds out, that a foreigner has a sim, they just cut you off. Great, so I had to buy a new simcard. As Indians seem to love paperwork, this easily takes 2.5 hours.. At least, I was in the right shop with nice employees and a boss who really worked on my case. Also later on, I went back to this shop once in a while for a cup of coffee.
But the day of the days was not finished yet. Around noon, I went to Sangam. This is the holy place with the confluence of two real rivers Ganga and Yamuna and the mystic river Saraswati. Somehow, I expected something spiritual and pleasant. Well, you should not have too high expectations in India. First of all, Sangam area was under construction, maybe preparing for the small Mela in January. Everything was full of dust. Then there were many small shops – and the vendors were extremely tiresome. Then, there was a whole bunch of beggars following me on each step I did, pulled on my sweater or trousers. This can really drive even the friendliest tourist crazy.

Sangam, Allahabad
Okay, so I decided to get away from all that by taking a boat ride to the confluence of both rivers. It is a big mistake to believe that this was an escape out of the madness. At the confluence, there are these priests waiting for clients to organize a puja on their boats. Then they ask for an awful lot of money (which they did not get for sure).
Close to Sangam there is a subterranean temple. Well – the temple was great, with a lot of divinities in it, unfortunately, also at every statue some priests, asking for huge donations.
Well, the only way to escape all this was leaving the whole area. On the way back to the street, a motorcyclist came very close from the right, so I had to move fast to the left. Well, this action, the big water buffalo to my left did not like at all. He lashed out his horn and hit my left arm – the result: a 10-centimetre-long blue spot which hurts like hell.
What a day. Remains only going to bed and not going out anymore.
Well, but also Allahabad has some good sides. The next day was much better. First, I visited the house of the family Nehru. They are building now a very nice and good museum (which is a scarce in India). They had some photos and personal objects of Nehru family, e.g., the first electric toaster of the family.
Allahabad
The Allahabad museum is even bigger. Here there is everything from pottery from pre-Christian times to sculptures from the most different epochs up to stuffed animals, miniature paintings and modern paintings.
At the other end of the town, there are some nice Mogul tombs. There are 4 of them, all looking different, set in a nice shady park. Well, Allahabad has its nice sides as well. So, the day before was just one of those really bad days you face once a while. When you have the feeling that you could kill every single Indian right on the spot.
One more word about my hotel in Allahabad – an extremely old tatty building with electric wires, which explained why all the frequent power cuts in town. In former times, these were the camel stables. During colonial times, there was a rich Indian aristocrat, who refused to stay in a fancy English hotel. So, he decided to build one for Indians.
And obviously, there were not many changes done on this building in the last 200 years or so….

Monday, December 26, 2011

Chitrakut - or little Varanasi

From Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh it is still quite difficult to go to the next state Uttar Pradesh. There is a train, which arrives in Chitrakut at the ridiculous time at 3.30 in the morning. In that case, you could only hope for bad fog to arrive there later. There is one direct bus, which stops about 20 km before you get to Chitrakut or there is the super bumpy road to Satna, which is in even worse condition than it was 16 years ago and then change for another bus to Chitrakut.  Altogether not really fancy options.  I chose the bad road with changing buses as this seemed to me the most practical way. It worked out very well. In Satna, I was able to jump in another bus immediately – very full, but no waiting time. It is just not possible to have everything.


Chitrakut
Chitrakut
Chitrakut is a very small place, but for Hindu pilgrims it is very important. Here, God Rama stayed 11 years during his exile. There is a few Ghats (bath places) directly at the river. The second day was a very auspicious day for taking a bath, as it was new moon. So, many people came especially for this day to Chitrakut. Usually, this place receives not so many visitors, but that day, it was very different. This was just great for taking photos.   Particularly as the people did not have any problems with being photographed. It was simply great to watch the people doing their rituals. Those, who knew some words of English, were happy to explain the rituals. 
My hostel was direct in the Ghats and had a gigantic terrace. Unfortunately, the hotel had frequent power cuts, so basically from 07.30 to 17.00 o'clock and also after 21.00 o'clock there was no power. Well, people go to bed early here. The only important thing was being at the hotel around 5pm, as there was power in the hotel, and there was the chance of getting a bucket of hot water for a shower.
Kamadgiri Hill

Kamadgiri Hill
On my last day in Chitrakut, I went to holy mountain Kamadgiri. Also there, everything was about god Rama. Around the whole mountain, there is a 5 kilometer circuit. As the mountain is very holy, people go around it bare foot…. Not so funny. Here, there are many monkeys, cows and goats, with all their leftovers on the paths. One must pay really attention, where to step…. Moreover, there are sometimes extremely rough stones or slimy ones because somebody has washed his cow, his motorcycle or the ground in front of his shop. Around the mountain, there are many beggars, preachers and holy men (Sadhus). Here are many beggars, but they do not beg excessively like at other places, but the people receive 1 or 2 Rupees from the pilgrims. (66 Rupees are one Euro). Here, taking photos was no problem – where else do you get a photo of a friendly Sadhu for just 2 Rupees? In Varanasi, they are rather unfriendly and then ask for 100 Rupees….
In the evening, I did a nice trip by the boat, about two kilometers up the river to the glass temple. This temple comes with two universities as well as a museum, all that was brought up to life by a blind guru. One is a normal university, the other one especially for disabled persons. Well, the museum was also especially around the God Rama.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Temples and more temples

Finally, after 1 year, 7 months and 11 days it was definitely time to leave Germany for another trip. No, not Africa this time, but India. This is actually also nothing really new as this is the 7th time travelling through India.
I have planned for the north, more exactly said from Delhi to Calcutta. In parts I have been travelling here before – on my very first India trip. At that time, 16 years ago, I had sworn that India will never ever see me again. A perjury, undoubtedly. 11 years I stood with my opinion, and then I was persuaded to try again – that time South India. And, here we go – I really liked it a lot. Some more trips followed, to central India, Kerala, then again a try with Rajasthan, which was fine also. Then to the Himalayans, to the source of the sacred river Ganga.


Ghandi Smriti, Delhi
Basically it was just logical to do now this trip from Delhi to Calcutta again – and see, whether this part is really that bad, especially Varanasi, which I hated 16 years back. This is something still to find out in a couple of days.
Anyway, I left Germany, 13th of December. A layover of 9 hours in Dubai might be bad for some people. I liked it. At least it is long enough to go into town. They have a metro system now from the airport all the way into town. And Dubai is definitely not a place to be bored. There are so many things to see…
Three more hours in the plane and I was in India. To be on the safe side I had pre-booked a hotel including transfer. And it was as I expected – for sure no one waited outside the airport with a sign with my name on it….
What to do? Well, I asked the next intelligent looking person for help. He turned out to be a staff from a big, expensive hotel. There to pick up people. Anyway, he called Ivory Palace, where they had to look for the reservation. Great! Anyway, reservation was there, transfer not.
Great, this was a good start… Well, so my new friend put me in a taxi and told the driver where to take me. He also told him not to charge me, but the hotel…

Bahai Temple, Delhi
Just, that this driver had no clue of the area Karol Bagh I wanted to go to… It took us a long time, but then, with asking around 30 people in the area, there it was – Ivory Palace hotel. Actually easy to find, as it is painted red, but my taxi driver did not speak any English, so I could not tell him…
Ivory Palace hotel is far from winning a beauty contest, but for Delhi it is okay. More or less clean, impolite staff, not really working toilets, but at least hot water! So, actually a good start for an India trip. Welcome back to good old India.  Although it is my fourth time in Delhi, I still do not like this big city. Too many people, everywhere dirt, the absolute chaos on the street, a quiet hotel room is the dream of all sleepless tourists in this town. In addition to all that, you have crazy rickshaw drivers, dishonest shop owners and travel agents, and quite a few people, who like to send people on purpose in the wrong direction….

Orchha
But, well, I was prepared from earlier visits.
Places of interest of Delhi are widespread around town. So, there were still quite some things left for my fourths visit. First, I headed to India gate, which was built in memory of the fallen Indian soldiers of the First World War. Nearby is the government quarter and the place at which Gandhi was shot down. Now, this place houses a good museum.
Orchha
Quite far outside, but absolutely worth seeing, is Bahai temple. He has the shape of a lotus flower. Thousands of school children were at the same place visiting the same temple. And, for sure, all of them wanted to know, where I come from, my name, interesting things like my father’s name and the like. Also, whether I liked India. For sure, this was not only asked by one student and the others listened to the answer, no, each of them asked his question and wanted to have an answer….
One day in Delhi is more than enough. So, I was really glad to escape from the madness by a 5 hours train journey. My next destination was Orchha – a small place with 8000 habitants – perfect! Moreover, a great fort, a lot of temples, tombs and nice local people! This was the right place to relax and to get used to India again. Even the hotel was just great – with a view towards the fort directly from my bed. What else someone would want?
After three days in Orchha I went by an extremely slow train to Khajuraho. In winter, north India receives a lot of fog and therefor trains must go more slowly. This also makes sense – nevertheless, at least, unlit objects stand once again on the rails, cows, for example. Or a put down cart…. Or someone is walking on the track…
This can take a bad end, if the train driver realizes things like that too late. Then better going slow…

Khajuraho
In Khajuraho, I have been already, but this was 16 years ago. At that time Khajuraho was a small village, there was a handful of rustic lodgings, 2 or 3 restaurants and a small bicycle repair shop, which also rented out bicycles. Well, today the whole thing is a little bit different – there are lodgings of all categories from 2 euros up to something like 300. A restaurant in the tree-house? Why not, we are in Khajuraho. And for sure, now, one can rent bikes everywhere.
Khajuraho
The great temples of Khajuraho remained the same. There are 22 of them, and most of them with a fantastic range of erotic sculptures. Each time you see something else… Quite artistic looking positions of couples or even more people, an elephant looking shy towards a couple or a woman in the wet sari….
For sure, you are not alone in such a world cultural heritage, but it is a big complex, so it never looked like a horde of people in there.
Most famous is the western temple group, but there are also temples outside of town. Basically, the whole area is dotted with temples. And still, the best way to see them is by bicycle. Past green fields and by small villages. Like that, India is just great!
Veeru, hotel manager in Khajuraho
Moreover, as also my hotel was good – clean, hot showers, a terrace, nice employees and friendly manager. What does one want more?
So, my next stop will be in another small place called Chitrakut. About this place I will tell you more in the next posting.

By the way, in case, you plan a trip to northern India in December, do not forget to bring a good warm sleeping bag, some warm underwear, gloves and at least two sweaters… This is not a joke, at night, it has something like 5 degrees. But there is no heating and people sit outside...