hello everyone,greetings from Agra. we made it here at 11 this morning, 6 hours late on our sleeper train (the wait at the station last night was not fun) and have felt so knackered, hassled and frazzled from the last few days (plus Kat has a stomach bug) that we checked into a 'midrange' hotel, a step up from our normal dirt cheap version. For fifteen quid you get a lovely bed, AC, hot shower (not that its needed) Tv and best of all, no hassle! Hardcore travellers we are not.
however we have had an amazing few days. Ive never been anywhere like here. While everything is dirty, smelling of cow shit, hot and full of people trying to get money out of you at every corner, I think its the novelty of it being different which makes it so fascinating. there is something new to watch or surprise you in every direction, whether it is cows wandering through the streets, monkeys swingin from buildings, or an amazing temple rising out of a dirty alleyway. We saw some amazing temples and forts in Delhi, and then headed to Varanasi, on the Ganges, their holy river. Again, for such a holy place, it was filthy! Sewers going into the river, rubbish lining the banks, and people bathing in the water and drinking it for their spiritual health! There are a couple of points along the river where bodies are cremated and the ashes thrown in the river... an amazing sight, though you her h0orrible stories about dead bodies just floating down the river as you go on a boat trip, either because their families cant afford to burn them ,or because they are holy enough already not to be burnt, just sunk, and they have bobbed up to the top again (such as priests, pregnant women and people who die of snake bites.)
We've had a couple of interesting train journeys too... the bunks are pretty comfortable, much better than buses, but people are noisy and keep turning the lights on all night, so yo0u dont get much sleep. the best bit about them is getting to talk to indian people who arent trying to get money out of you- the ones we've met who genuninly just want to talk (and its hard to tell at first) are so friendly and interested to meet white people- we've had about 5 groups of people take our photos, we are such a novelty! We are off to the Taj Mahal tomorrow, which should be lovely, if hot, and then up into the hills where it should be a bit cooler... shouldnt be complaining though, its about 35 degrees but apparently it was 51 a few weeks ago!
Anyway, hope everyone is well, and please write to me to tell me all the news! love Laura xxxx
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