Sundarbans>Mumbai>Caves>Mumbai

After Varanasi we took a 16 hour night train to Kolkata.  We wanted to see more of the north and see some wilderness. Fortunately the train was only an hour late, increasing to three hours late by the end. We made friends with the family we sat near and played with the kids. I slept most of the way but it was a long and bumpy journey for Darwyn. Straight from the Kolkata station we dropped our bags at the safari office, and since we arrived late we had to take public transit to the Sundarban mangrove jungle! It took a very long time to get there. We took a taxi, another train, a bus, a ferry, the bumpiest and most painful flatbed motorcycle/rickshaw ride (seriously, I wondered if I would get internal bleeding from this ride!!), another ferry, and then walked to the village. We had been traveling for about 24 hours nonstop at this point!! 

We finally arrived in a little ecovillage, which was quite new and not very authentic, but still quaint and quiet. We had dinner and met the other tour guests who had already gone on a bird watching tour. They had brought in a local traditional band that sang some songs in Hindi. They had great voices and from the laughter from some of the other guests it seemed hilarious! One song was lamenting the modernization of India. The song complained that the men could no longer tell which women were married because they did not have the red mark on their forehead or wear marriage bangles anymore. It was a fun and silly song! 

We had the quietest, best sleep of our lives in the ecovillage and got up at 5:30am to start the boat tour. The tour was lovely! Everyone's goal was to see a tiger, which is very rare. Instead we saw kingfishers, spotted deer, a lizard, 2 crocodiles, and some other birds. An we saw two honey bee colonies in the trees!! I spotted the second one by myself, I'm now considering becoming a safari guide with my eagle eyes. The tour operators were three young brothers who were very friendly and we got along with them well. We made friends with a lovely German couple too. It was very nice to spend the day looking at trees and water and getting meals served on the boat. Paradise! 

In the evening we made our way back to Kolkata. We had trouble finding a hotel that wasn't really dirty and expensive. The first one was double what we normally pay, and when I went to see the room it smelled like cigarette smoke and a cockroach crawled up the wall when I opened the bathroom door. Ha! Yeah right!! We eventually found an ok place to sleep for 4 hours before going to the airport for Mumbai. 

Sundarban sunrise on the boat

Tiger tracks on the shore!!  

What a hunk

Mud skipper. So tiny. So adorable!! 

Monkeys.... They jumped on our boat as we pulled into the shore and I shrieked. I don't like monkeys....

Spotted deer at the watch tower watering hole

A woman carrying a HUGE bundle of straw. Incredible! 

Next up was Aurangabad as a base to see the Ajanta and Ellora caves. We had another epic journey to get there!! Our driver took a wrong turn at some point. When it was dark we stopped to ask for directions and discovered the car was leaking diesel because a pipe was loose. Our driver was obviously panicking to find the main road so he started driving really fast and he didn't understand that he needed to turn his high beams off when passing another car/truck or they would blind him. When we were blinded he would keep driving anyway and swerve off the road. It was ridiculous! We asked him to drive more safely and it was a bit better after that. What a crazy ride! At this point we declared that all possible modes of transportation had issues and some were just more expensive than others, like hiring a car. Oh well, we made it in one piece in the end... And ee did see a beautiful owl as it swooped over the road in front of us! And we got to see some tiny villages and some nice countryside on the way. 

We ate at a veg restaurant that was cheap, delicious, and had amazing service! They even brought out finger bowls after the meal, Darwyn's indicator of good service! They only addressed Darwyn, which we've encountered many times, which was frustrating to me but probably respectful for them. When I went to the washroom they asked Darwyn to pose for photos with them (3 times!), and then when I returned they asked for more photos. It was a riot, we made faces in all the photos and they loved it!  

The next morning we went to the Ajanta Caves. They were incredible!!! There are almost 30 caves in a horseshoe shape around some waterfalls above a river that cut out the horseshoe-shaped canyon. The caves were full of Buddhist carvings and intricately carved pillars, all surrounded by simple rooms for monks. The caves were made around the 6th-7th century. They were carved out, then plastered with a cow dung rock mixture, then topped with plaster. They were painted with mineral paints from the surrounding area. I found malachite and small geodes all around! There were people selling gems and I found some of those on the ground too. I was in heaven. 

The best part of the caves for me was finding ourselves in an empty second floor of a cave and discovering it had hauntingly beautiful echoey acoustics. We sang some chords and listened to the harmonizing echoes for a long time. I can only imagine how beautiful the prayers and chants would have sounded with many monks in there! I would definitely recommend this over the Taj Mahal. It was amazing. 

For dinner, we tried to find a recommended restaurant called Tandoor. We asked 4 tuk tuk drivers if they knew where it was, all returned blank stares. After an unsuccessful enquiry with the 5th driver I blurted out "Tandooooorrrr" in an exaggerated Indian accent and rolled "R" and he suddenly knew what we were talking about. What a riot!! 

The next day we saw the Ellora caves. They were also nice but not as extensive as Ajanta. But Ellora did have one huge and intricately carved area that would have required the excavation of tons of rock. It was beautiful, and there were so many beehives on the cliff faces! The only downside to this day was that people were asking to take our pictures and blatantly taking our photos without asking the whole day. It was very rude and made us uncomfortable. It was like we were part of the attraction there. It was so strange. I took one photo with a nice family from Assam. The mom talked to me for a while and it was really nice. This day tired us out from all the paparazzi! 

Continuing the whirlwind tour, that night we took a sleeper bus to Mumbai, which took about 9 hours. Sleeper buses are the best!! For about $10 CAD, you get a bed (!) to yourself on a bus with curtains. Our original bus was cancelled and we had to wait 2 hours, but the bus ride was worth it. I definitely want to travel like this always!! We rolled around a lot but for the most part it was very comfortable. I want these busses in Canada!! 

We made it to Mumbai in the early morning and rested a bit and did some walking around the streets before our 2am flight to Sri Lanka. 

Some pearls from Darwyn: 
Quote A: On deciding what to do with our day: " Thing to do in Mumbai: Painfully crane your neck around to look at old dirty architecture." Obviously we were not going to see the old colonial sites in much detail that day. 

Quote B: "OMG there's a store with four floors with ONLY shirts! We're definitely going there." So as you can guess we went shopping instead of looking at old dirty architecture all day.

And with our luck our 2am flight was delayed 2 hours to Sri Lanka. The journey of delays continues!!!

Most of the caves consisted of a large cavern with supporting pillars and a buddha carving in the centre. The room was surrounded by monks' quarters. All carved out of a single piece of rock: the cliff! 

Cave layout

Here you can see the pillars supporting the main large room and the buddha in the centre in its little alcove. 

Gorgeous carvings. 

Ajanta is known for its paintings, although many of them are worn away. 

Some of our favourite caves had GIANT central statues and huge ribbed ceilings. 

More ceiling mandalas...

Paintings

Pretty pillars

Dar and Buddha

A cave in progress. It was very interesting to see how they started off! What a lot of work!! 

Most of the caves had terrific outside sculptures. 

So intricate!! 

Sleeping Buddha. If his toes are straight he's asleep, if one is over the other one he is in Nirvana. 

View from the lookout point we hiked up to. I found all the mini geodes up here!! 

Ellora caves. 

Beehives all over the caves!! 

Spot the beehive in the corner! 

Many of the caves were not maintained much, so that let some cute bats roost there! 

One bat was on the floor. Probably close to death, but we got to have a close look at it. 

A tiiiiiiny bee we found in Mumbai

Varanasi II

What a whirlwind! We've covered a lot of ground and seen some big sights recently. We are definitely tired and ready for some beach time! 

We finished up our time in Varanasi with two sunrise boat tours. The sun never came out but it was still beautiful. We got to see people's morning routines along the river: bathing, yoga, and laundry. One man was very happy and had a contagious laugh that was spreading to us and all those around. What a great way to start the day! The mornings were the calmest time of day, even though it was quite busy. 

We found a lovely little store with beautiful brass jewelry with semiprecious stones and stunningly intricate macrame jewelry. The shop is owned by a French woman and staffed by two lovely young girls. We asked if they would teach us to macrame but they weren't allowed, but they showed us a shop nearby that would teach us for a small fee. What a haven it turned out to be! There was a young man named Rohid who spoke great English, Japanese, and Korean. He attracted all the tourists! People would hang out and macrame all day and drink chai and be merry. He had a street dog as a pet inside who he had saved from being hit by a car. We met a Japanese couple who were making very intricate pieces. They had been traveling the world for 3 years and were buying semiprecious stones all over (like us!) This little shop was a great place to hang out, drink chai, be creative, and share travel stories away from the craziness of the streets. It was especially nice to have a retreat when the streets turned to mud/poo. What a joy! 

Another place that won our hearts (and stomachs) was Dosa Cafe. They made delicious dosas and the owner/server was so friendly, and his wife made the magical dosas. We went here 3 or 4 times! There is also a cow that goes to the restaurant every morning and eats a dosa. It climbs up the steps and sticks its head in the door. It's been getting breakfast there for two years!!


So now to get some important late night thoughts written down: 
In sum, Varanasi has been my favourite place in the north so far. However it was a place of many contrasts. Incredible spirituality but tons of heckling. Beautiful temples and flowers but horribly dirty streets. Incredible affluence but saddening poverty. The list goes on. Just when we were the most irritated by an aggressive salesperson we would experience the wonderful hospitality of another. 

At times, the harassment was very frustrating. But these people are just trying to make a living in a way that has worked for them countless times with other tourists. The aggressive and sometimes downright rude behaviour, lies, and rip-offs would get tiring, but we have to remember that we are traveling in their country, which my ancestors (and others) took over and really screwed up for a long time. They impressed their ways of life aggressively and violently on India, plundered and exploited it, and then left. I'm not an expert on the history of India by any means, but I can understand why such a tumultuous past can lead to problems now. (And even the corruption is pretty transparent here, it probably happens just as much in the West too when you look up high enough in the system.) 

Ok, stream of consciousness/rant commencing: 

Aside from the direct history of European conquest in India (and the world in general), this trip has also made me reflect on the globalization of Western ways in a broader sense. Westerners have made up capitalism, and have made themselves the winners. Everywhere else now has to strive to be successful and conform to Western ideals. I think any culture could have made up the system, but with the timing it just worked out to be the West, and on an industrial scale. But it makes me sad that Europeans went around dominating diverse cultures all over the world trying to make them their own. Trying to make them all the same. Imagine what a diverse world we could be living in right now otherwise! (Imagine all the diverse food!!) Imagine all the horrible pollution and climate warming and suffering we could could have avoided if capitalism and consumerism and big houses and multiple care cars and TVs were not the ideal for everyone! Certainly there have been many benefits, particularly in medicine, that has ended suffering. But there have been many costs from exploiting other countries to produce the luxuries we enjoy in the West. I don't have a solution for this problem, except to realize that in the West we are incredibly lucky and we should learn to live with a lot less. I'm not sure if we could reach an acceptable global standard of living with the current population, but I think the first step is to try to reduce the negative impact we have on the rest of the world's people and environment by BUYING LESS and being happy with LESS STUFF. (This is so hard to do since our whole lives we have been told that buying things is good and will make us happy!) Buying less means less needless resource and fossil fuel extraction, fewer workers exposed to dangerous conditions and manufacturing chemicals, less stuff that ultimately ends up as garbage polluting our earth. Let's build economies on something more sustainable so that we can continue to live! Buying less has been my mantra for a while now (especially for environmental reasons), and while traveling I am reminded of its importance again in other ways.

I guess this is why we travel: to gain a new perspective on the world (see how other people are doing things) that makes us reexamine why or how we do things. So many people suffer and live with less because they have to. I want to learn to live with less so other people don't have to so much. Maybe this will even out the playing field a little more and make our planet a better place to live in!

Last flower light on the river

Sunrise

xoxo

Morning routines

List of Places to Stay, Do, and Eat in India

We've come across some really amazing places in India so far, and we want to remember them so we can recommend them to our friends! Here is the start of the list, we will add to it as our trip goes on...

Mumbai

Stay

-At Mani S.S.' house. We found him through trip air bnb. His place is not the closest to the airport, but he has a big bungalow in a pretty quiet neighbourhood. But the best part is Mani himself! He is so friendly and helpful, and a joy to talk to!

Jaipur

Stay

-Atithi Guest House. This place is such an oasis!! It's well priced, has very friendly staff, and has a yummy rooftop for hanging out and eating. There is also a computer you can use here. Rs 1100 for a double room with a private bathroom with hot water! This place saved us after staying at a horribly nasty hostel. Cannot recommend it enough!
-Hotel Arya Niwas. This place is definitely on the expensive side, but if you are looking to treat yourself for a night or two it's great. It was actually pretty noisy in the rooms we had, but the courtyard where you can eat DELICIOUS food is pretty worth it. Great staff for the most part too.

Do

-Shopping in the Old City (Pink City). This is the place for gemstones and silver. And beautiful leather shoes!
-City Palace. Has a super cool weapons museum with intricately carved and decorated weapons. I didn't think I would like it but I did.
-Anokhi. This is a rich person clothing store for India, but way cheaper than anything you can get in Canada. Most clothes are organic, and I think the factory is very ethical and on an organic farm. We went around to the "cheaper" and "better" similar clothing stores nearby, but this one was the best by far.
-We bought semiprecious stones from Dolphin Gems at a trade show, but they also have a shop somewhere which we didn't go to. We bought lots of stones from another place called Deekawar Exports. They will also set your stones in silver for cheap.

Eat

-Parantha House. This was the first place we went and the Thalis were amaaaaazzzing!!!!

Agra

Stay

-Tourist Rest House. Anywhere else will be too expensive and make your life miserable. This is the only place who was nice and helpful to us really. Hotel Sheela Inn was weird. We thought Hotel Alpine would be nice because it was expensive. It was horrible and the staff were idiots who tried to charge us for towels and an extra blanket. The bell boy was an idiot too who did nothing for us but complained when we didn't give him enough tip. Tourist Rest House is a calm oasis, with a big tree in the courtyard, beautiful clean rooms, and so quiet. Amazing manager/owner. Soooo helpful.
-Pro Tip: Try not to stay a single night in Agra. Do a day trip from Delhi to see the Taj. The baby Taj and the Agra Fort are pretty cool, but that's about it.

Eat

-Sheroes Hangout. This place is kind of near the train station. It is a fundraiser for a charity that helps acid burn victims (all women). It's by donation. The food is awesome and the server was a bit overbearing and excited but her intentions were good. We spent a long time here using wifi and getting to know some of the women who were working there. It's a great place to support and we left with full hearts. There is much giggling, happiness, and even some dancing. if you need to lift your spirits during a train delay go here for sure!!
-Suriya Hotel (I think it was called) in an alley off the main road had the best view of the Taj, the best food, and a beautiful rooftop full of plants.
-Pro Tip: All the other food in Agra is not good. Maybe try not to eat at all while you are there if possible except for at Sheroes.

Do

-See the Taj, but go early in the morning to beat the insane crowds! Before 10am would be ideal, hopefully the fog will have burned off by then if there was any. If you have to stay a night in Agra, skip the Taj completely. It's neat but not really worth the trouble in my opinion.
-If you need a tuk tuk, call Sabir at 098-97-624160. He was SO nice to us. Fair prices, insider info on refund train tickets and how we can get them. You can trust him. Associated with Tourist Rest House. All other drivers we had ripped us off or took us to shops where they would get commission. Only call Sabir, ever.

Varanasi

Stay

-Shiva Kashi Guest House. AMAZING manager. So helpful and friendly and a pleasure to be around. We got a double room with a shared bathroom, which saved us money. No hot water, but great location. So worth it.

Eat

Oh my goodness, eating is so fun in Varanasi. So many yummy places!! In no particular order...
-Blue Lassi. Really yummy lassis and you can watch funeral processions walk by right next to you, which is an experience.
-Baba Lassi. Definitely rivalling or exceeding Blue Lassi. So yummy and a friendly owner.
-Dosa Cafe. YUM! We are eating here every day now!! They invented chocolate idli and serves sweet dosas too, but his savoury are out of this world!
-Open Hand Cafe. Beyond the Assi Ghat is a Western Oasis. Apparently the coffee is awesome but we just got dirty chais. Food was nice too. They have a shop with fair trade clothes, textiles/housewares, jewelry etc. All the proceeds go to their charity.
-Brown Bread Bakery. Make sure you go to the authentic one on the rooftop about 5 flights up. A bit pricy, and the coffee wasn't good, but the food and bread is delicious! There is a fake one right across the street/alley.
-Shiva Cafe and German Bakery. We went here for breakfast and had great service and a nice breakfast. Darwyn didn't like it as much as I did but the potatoes, eggs, and croissant were yummy.
-The restaurant you can see into from sitting in Baba Lassi. Don't remember the name of this one, but it's cheap, has a friendly owner who used to have Jimi Hendrix hair, and has yummy food.

-Aum Cafe. Loved this place! Good coffee and all vegan food made with love. There was some kind of alleged scam that made this place get bumped off of booking.com recently, which booking.com would not tell the owner about. That was strange but we had an amazing eggless omelette here! Such good vibes!

Do

-A boat ride on the Ganga. A 1 or 1.5 hour ride should cost Rs 100 per person.
-Learn to make macrame jewelry at a tiny shop that the Zindagi girls can take you to (see below). A super nice hangout spot if it's rainy or you need a break from navigating the streets and hecklers.
-Zindagi Creations/Association. A lovely, non-pushy jewelry store that promotes women empowerment and child education. Two young girls were working there when we went who were just so lovely and made the macrame stuff. They also have a lot of brass jewelry and some semiprecious stones. We loved it here! It is owned by a french lady.

Pro Tip: Don't let anyone take you into a shop, creepily massage your hand, sneakily lead you on a tour of the burning ghats, explain things to you, or do anything else for you that seems like it could be a favour from a stranger. They will probably ask for money. If you need directions, ask shopkeepers or people on the street who are not trying to help you, and don't linger long or let them lead you to a place. There are obviously exceptions to this rule and it sucks to not trust people, but you can avoid awkward situations this way if you are on your toes.

Varanasi

Varanasi is amazing! It is the holiest of cities in India, and many pilgrims come here to bathe in the River Ganges. Unfortunately the river is horribly polluted, but that does not stop people from bathing, washing clothes, and fishing in it. All the garbage, human, cow, and dog excrement, soaps, cremation ashes, human remains, etc. get washed down or thrown into the river.

There are many ghats along the river. Two are burning ghats, where hundreds of people are cremated every day. Bodies covered in cloth are carried to the river on bamboo stretchers. Wood is brought in by boat, which makes the burning expensive. Only men are permitted at the cremations because women and girls will cry, which means the soul is unhappy. Pregnant women and people killed by snakes etc. are not cremated; they are sunk to the bottom of the river. Legend has it that a very holy tribe comes down from the mountains once a year and eats the bodies at the bottom of the river.

I don't think I've ever seen a dead body before. Eleven bodies were carried by us when we got lassis in the Old City. We were only there for half an hour tops!

We took a boat along the Ganga to see the ghats on New Years Eve. A boat came up beside us and we bought some candles on flowers in little leaf bowls and sent them off on the river with our best new years wishes for friends and family. What a beautiful end to the year!

There are so many batches of puppies all over the streets. They are adorable but it is sad to see them eating garbage and people being mean to them. We fed a mama some leftover toast. And we made friends with a very polite dog tonight. He was blonde and medium-sized, and he came when I called him and would put his paw gently on the side of my shoe for pets. And he rubbed his head slowly on my shoe to scratch it. I scratched him with a match stick I found because he was pretty dirty. And then he went on his way. I loved him.

The River Ganga

Holy street dog

We went for a boat tour with our new Australian friend Josh

The burning ghats. It is disrespectful to take a picture from too close. 

My marigold candle

Make your New Years wishes! 

Our wishes sent out to Mother Ganga 

A particularly photogenic blonde water buffalo

Puppy friends

Puppy nest. Another batch we saw was born at 3am on NYE! So tiny! 

The streets by our guest house

Apis florea, I think. Our honey bee's tiny cousin!

Indian dirty chais. So nice. 

The best lassi in Varanasi (according to Lonely Planet). We got papaya coconut and pistachio saffron.