Puja

This is a description of my three-month trip around India, by train, bus and motorcycle.

This map shows my route (bus and train in red and by motorcycle in blue).

Landing at Colcata International airport and the first night in a nearby hotel was not-so-gentle transition from the sterile environment of Singapore to madness of India.   After a visit to Mother Teresa’s tomb and a few other sights in Colcata, it was time to move on.

Mother Teresa's tomb

An overnight train ride brought me to Bodhgaya – the place where Buddha attained enlightenment.   The place is full of monks from all Buddhist countries, hippies, and casual tourists.  The place is both inspiring, deeply spiritual and brazen.   After a while, I just enjoyed watching westerners in the quest for a higher level of being.

Nirvana base camp

Torn between the cool shogun-looks and nirvana promise-landThey may be monks, but they don't believe in walking

Late for the evening meditation session

Tired from too much meditation (and booze/pot the night before)

Hard-core believers prostrating around the temple and covering mount so as not to accidentally inhale an insect and therefore kill it

Young monks addicted to internet chat

Dude, that pot was soooo goooooooood

From Bodhgaya it was a grueling 10 hour ride to Varanasi, all 120 km away.  When the driver told me it would take that long, I didn’t believe him.  Even now, I don’t know how he managed to kill all that time.  It was one of the most uncomfortable bus rides ever.  But Varansi was well worth all the trouble getting to it.  Centuries-old puja rituals are being performed by thousands of worshipers daily.  Elderly come here in hope of dying in this, the most sacred of all cities.  If they do, they get to be burned on the ghats of Ganges river.  This is Indian version of Christian rupture, in a way, being instantly beamed up to the heaven.

Bodies of lucky few who died in Varanasi waiting to be burnt

Floating, bloated, dead body in Ganges with worshipers and tourists oblivious to it - at least the crow is feasting

Observatory in Varanasi

India is all about spirituality, traditions and religions.  Near Varanasi is a place where Buddha delivered his first sermon after achieving enlightenment.   Ashoka was a great king and conquerer.  After one particularly bloody victory and seeing the destructive results of his wars, he converted to Buddhism.  He played a big role in Buddhism spreading around the world.

Buddha delivered his first sermon here

One of Ashoka pillars

Human lawn mower

Interceptor - ready for high-speed chase

No shortage of holy men in Varansi

After an unavoidable diarrhea in Varanasi and another overnight train ride, I was visiting temples of Khajuraho.  It is famous for its sexually explicit carvings.  Very interesting way to get in touch the God.

Khajuraho temple carvings

More of the same

Another six hour bus (covering barely 60 miles) brought me to Orcha.  The bus ride was a full-on ethnic experience with goats onboard.

Fellow goat-passenger on the bus to Orcha

Orcha

Inner courtyard of one of the Palaces in Orcha

These towers were used for air conditioning

Powder colors

Street musicians

Another beautiful palace in Datia

When they say "public" toilets, they really mean it

There is a stiff competition for the most overloaded truck

After a relatively painless ride in a rented car, I was in Gwailor.  I visited the famous palace and had to have a drink with tuk-tuk drivers (who were already high).

Sikh temple in Gwailor

Gwailor palace

A two hour train ride from Gwailor got me to Agra.  I hassled a little looking for a  hotel, but eventually found a nice pad very close to Taj Mahal.

Massive Agra fort is in the shadow of world-famous Taj Mahal

There is a great view of Taj Mahal from Agra fort

Roof-top restaurant in my hotel

Early morning at Taj Mahal

Crowds at Taj Mahal

"Been there, done that" shot

Trains are very comfortable way of getting around India.  It took me 2-3 hours to ride from Agra to New Delhi.

Tuk-tuk drivers having fun

After exploring tourist sights of New Delhi, I took a train to Jaipur.  It was during the celebrations of Holi, so I had to join in the fun.

We all participated in the Holi festival

Everybody enjoys having painted faces

Time to take a shower

This building has so many windows so that women from the harem could buy stuff from street vendors without their faces being revealed

Snake charmers at Amber fort

Raja's palace in Jaipur

Even elephant's asses are painted for Holi

A short bus ride from Jaipur got me to Pushkar, the site of world-famous camel market in November.  Other times of the year it’s a hangout for western pot-heads.

East meets west

It's not ancient Rome, it's just Pushkar

This is the biggest earing I've ever seen

This dude is wearing gaiters!

The monkey was just as amused by the crazy westerners as I was

After Pushkar, I took an overnight train to Mumbai.  It was a very comfortable ride on clean beds and typically in good company.

India gate, Mumbai

Things you can buy on streets of Mumbai - phones, headlights and dildos!

High Court, Mumbai

After roaming around Mumbai for a day, I took a two-day train to Chennai.  My friend’s friend was going to help me buy a Royal Enfield there.  Chennai was the most humid place I’ve experienced anywhere.  Even at night, at the beach, there was no break from the heat, not a breath of wind.

My host family in Chennai

From Chennai, I took a flight to Andaman islands.  They are closer to Thailand, but there are no international flights.  So the only way to visit them is from India.  They are as remote as it gets.  There are locals who are not aware of the “civilization” as we know it (TV, radio, etc).

On deserted beaches of Andaman islands

For the whole day, I was the only person at this beach

Diving in Andamans is first class

Dirt riding in Andamans

India's most beautiful beach

Last day in Andamans

Crowded suburban train from the airport to Chennai

My first day or riding took me from Chennai to Mamallapuram, a stone carving town by the ocean.  Next stop was Pondichery and Auroville.  Pondichery was a former French colony and Auloville is a Utopia town near it.

Auroville assembly hall

From Pondichery, it was a long, hot ride to Madurai.

Nothing quenches thirst like fresh coconut

Madurai is the home to one of the most famous Hindu temples.

Madurai temple

Madurai is very close to the southernmost tip of Indian subcontinent.  So I rode there – Kanyakumari.

My bike and proud drivers of yet another overloaded truck

Island just off the southernmost point of India

Southernmost point of the Indian subcontinent

From Kanyakumari, it was all north along busy Indian highways, for thousands of kilometers.

One can find anything on Indian roads, from dogs to elephants

I took an overnight boat tour of the Kerala’s backwaters.  It was pricey, but well worth the money.  I needed a break from battling Indian traffic.

Boat tour

Down there, everything happens on waterways

Food boat delivers pre-cooked food to communities by the water

There ain't road to the church, you better have a boat

After the boat tour, I continued on to Kochin.  It was a pleasant town with rich history.  The highlight of any visit there should be Katakali opera (reminiscent of Beijing opera).

Katakali dancer

From Kochin, it was a long ride up the high mountains to the hill station of Munnar.  Once high up, the weather was chilly.  I rode through tea and coffee plantations.  The pace of life is certainly different there, much more quiet and laid back.

Freshly overturned truck

Danny came from Austria to travel around India - on foot ! These were all his possessions .

After Munnar, I had to drop down to lowlands and climb again to another hill station of Ootay.

Lost in tea plantations

There was a spontaneous party on a street of Ootay

This female Ray Charles lady was dirty dancing with guys 1/4 her age

Sugar daddy cafe in Ootay

From Ootay, it was a long ride down the mountains to Mysore.  There is a beautiful maharaja’s palace in town.

Mysore palace

Mysore flower market

From Mysore, I rode to Hassan.  There are some temples with intricate carvings on all walls around them.  They say that the whole story of Mahayana is carved out.

Ladies admiring carvings

Hassan temples

On the way to the coast, I stopped by the highest waterfall in India.

Highest waterfall in India

It was a few days of riding to get to Goa and visit various beaches along the province.  It was at the end of the tourist season and many places were closed.

A beach in southern Goa

From Goa, it was a long, long ride to Mumbai.  I wasn’t looking forward to battling Mumbai traffic on a motorcycle, but I had to.  I decided to take a train from Mumbai to Alahabad.

Back to Mumbai, on a motorcycle this time

From Alahabad, I rode towards Udaipur.  It was significantly hotter than a month earlier.

Family ride

They were fine with jeep going 100+ kmph

All trucks have passenger space on the top

Because back of the truck is overflowing with people

Udaipur is famous for it’s palace in the center of a lake.  The palace is a fancy hotel nowadays.  Udaipur is full of very comfortable, cheap hotels all of them featuring roof-top restaurants and lounging areas.

Lake palace at dusk

Morning coffee at the rooftop restaurant of my hotel

Overflowing bus

It was the hottest day or riding from Udaipur to Jodhpur.  I was getting seriously dehydrated along the way.

Camel enjoying newly paved road

Rajastani man

Jodhpur features one of the most impressive citadels anywhere, perched high on a hill above the city.

My traditional room in JodhpurJodhpur's citadel of the Sun

Another roof-top restaurant in Jodhpur

Due to intense heat, I decided to ride a train to near Armitsar – capital of Sikhs.

Golden temple of Armitsar

Then it was a day ride to Dharmsala, the place where Dalai Lama lives.

Dalai Lama had a meeting in hotel next to mine

From Dharamsala, I rode towards Manali.  I decided to take a side tour to Kasol valley.  It was full of Israeli youngsters, many of them riding Enfields.  It was certainly one of the nicest valleys I had seen on the trip.

Traditional Himalayan style house

Mountains surrounding Kasol valley

Villages high above Kasol are cut of from the rest of the world for 5-6 months a year. They need a lot of weed to survive winters

Deep up Kasol valley

Back on the main road to Manali, I decided to go up to a 5000m pass.  Unfortunately, due to snow, it was closed for motorcycles.

This is as high as they would let me go on a bike

Glaciers along the road were still melting and creating rivers flowing along the road

Next, it was Shimla, one of the most famous hill stations from colonial times.

Train to Shimla

Overbuilt hills around Shimla

Tudor style houses along the main Shimla street

Shimla is very touristy and finding accommodation proved to be a problem.  So I booked a hotel near a temple 200 km away.  The temple is set on steep hills, high above a rugged valley.

Sarahan temple

Sarahan

I decided to head back to the lowlands for another pilgrimage site – Yamanotri.  The road starts at the back side of another hill-station town.

Human taxis carrying people up steep trails to Yamanotri

I visited holy cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar on the way back to New Delhi.  There are thousands and thousands of westerners and Indian worshipers.

Purification along Ganges in Haridwar

Evening prayer in Haridwar

Back in New Delhi, I had Enfield packed and shipped back to Chennai.  Shipping the bike without a passenger proved to be a huge hassle.  I guess the guy wanted some bribe.  After 8 hours of hassling with him, his shift changed and the new worker helped me in 5 minutes what the first guy wouldn’t do in hours.

Enfield getting ready for the train ride to Chennai

India can be trying at times.  It will test traveler’s senses (all of them), patience and digestive tract.  But it is certainly the most rewarding destination I’ve ever visited.  I’m looking forward to my next trip there.