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India

November 2019 - January 2020
Kaya and Ruby on our first adventure through India. Follow our adventures here! Read more
  • 29footprints
  • 4countries
  • 66days
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  • 11.8kkilometers
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  • India
    Day 1

    Getting ready

    November 13, 2019 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Getting packed and ready. Last bits and bobs to be collected. Whoop!

  • India
    2
    Day 2

    Waiting for the first flight

    November 14, 2019 in the Netherlands ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Woooho we are so excited to start our trip ❤️

  • India
    Day 2

    First stop

    November 14, 2019 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    We survived the first flight! 1 hour 20 minutes. Only 22 hours more to go. Gross sandwich check, free beer check.
    Kaya has left me to have a cigarette in the camel lounge already. He quite smoking 3 hours ago. Going well.

    Zurich is very fancy, the airport had a metro to bring us to the gate and didn't have a driver. Futuristic but expensive.    Read more

  • India
    Day 3

    Oman

    November 15, 2019 in Oman ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Flying to Oman was nice. We are pretty tired though. Would recommend Oman air as a airline. Can't believe this was only six hours though and we still have five hours to go. Half sleeping and then experiencing the sun coming up was OK.

    Had a good giggle about the names of places we passed though.    Read more

  • India
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    Day 6

    Bara Imambara

    November 18, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    By far the highlight of Lucknow (also the only touristy thing we did) was the beautiful mosque by the name of Bara Imambara. Just wauw.

    Not much to say about it just that it was so beautiful and breathtaking. The architure inside as well as outside was stunning (I am a real lover of detail) but the garden around it just finished it off. I'm not sure about the exact history but we did have a short tour through the adjoining labrynth. This had the first cc TV ever made probably- without any technology! The way the towering maze was put together included a pool of reflective water placed so smartly you could be standing somewhere completely away in the dark tunnel and keep an eye on the entry port. So if intruders came you could shoot them before they ever knew what was coming. Absolutely genius architecture and engeniering, I was so impressed.

    Amusing to us was also being part of the attraction as we got stopped countless times (literally I can't recount) to have our picture taken with people. Up until this point we haven't seen ANY other white people, not one, so we think that's why. Still strange to have everyone treating you like a celebrity just because of your skin colour. Not complaining though, we smiled happily for all the pictures and chatted with them here and there. Though the language barrier has been a bit of a struggle. Lucknow is a less popular tourist destination so we've found most people don't speak English.    Read more

  • India
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    Day 7

    Lucknow

    November 19, 2019 in India ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Our first part of the trip has now come to an end as we head on our way to Varanasi. It took us a while to recover from the initial journey which took about 25 hours. So the first day or two we were sleeping a lot, unable to force ourselves just then to adjust from jetlag. Trying to get a simcard here was harder than expected so our first adventure failed but we did have a cool walk through town.

    It's strange having to be on guard for scammers all the time but we do find that generally people are nice. Lucknow has interesting variations of architure with recently built slum-like housing mixed with post colonial British architecture. Its all quite dirty from the smog and I don't even want to know what my lungs have been through.

    Fun seeing monkeys on top of buildings everywhere even in the busy highstreet.

    Food highlight was definitely the "melt-in-your-mouth" kebabs at Tunday Kebabi. Lucknow is famous for these kebabs and we found the best of the best. The place was super crowded and busy and we got stared at a lot (we get that everywhere though) but it was totally worth it. The kebabs are slowly marinated with papaya seeds or something so they do literally melt in your mouth 10/10. Left very happy and full for only 5€.

    Which brings me to the next part which is how cheap everything is! Happy days.    Read more

  • India
    Day 8

    A better place

    November 20, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We've been in varanasi for a day now and we like it so much more here! Our first hotel was a bit nerve inducing with no English being spoken and half getting scammed. Also the bathroom there ventilated into ours and the people next door smoked and so our room was filled with smoke.

    None the less after an eight hour car ride we made it to Varanasi! Instantly the hostel staff were so so so so much more friendly and welcoming. Felt right at home.

    In the shared room we met a lovely Irish couple (praise ❤️) who had been traveling the world for 11 months already. They had so many good tips and made us feel so much better about everything, we could ask them for good tips too.

    Then we went to look at the river Ganges (our hostel is right next to it) and saw what we think was a floating dead body. Yum!

    Now we're in a private room because we figured we'd have some luxury. The place has a roof terrace with a lovely view but we now also have a little balcony. Win-win-win.

    Finally got sim cards today so we're more mobile. We really like varanasi because everyone is nice to us here and greets us instead of just staring. Also it's such a spiritual place where they are so respectful of the animals as well as people. Happy!    Read more

  • India
    Day 9

    Spiritual day of learning

    November 21, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Today was an emotional rollercoaster.
    After breakfast and planning our next stop we decided to go and visit a temple.

    On our way we got blessed by a holy man (hence the red on our forehead). Let's hope it comes true. Then as we were nearly at the temple we were warned again by a local to not take pictures of the body burning ceremony we were seemingly also nearing.

    Here in varanasi they believe that they will go to heaven if they are burnt by the river after cleansing it first in the ganges and have their ashes strewn in the river. The bodies burn for 24 hours a day, so they basically have bodies burning here all the time. Only if a someone is bit by a snake or if they die of a fever they don't get burnt, instead they have a rock tied to their legs and are dropped into the river. Only the rope comes untied and so the bodies come back up (hence the body we saw on the first night)

    We got shown around the burning site and told how that morning there had been a fight between locals and Americans because the Americans were filming the ritual. Unlike what it may sound like, these burnings are real ceremonies and the families are in sever pain so obviously they don't want people to be taking pictures. We don't understand why you would want a picture anyway. It was quite intense getting so close to the burning bodies and being close to death but now that it's settled I am happy that we saw it. The most interesting is that next to the burning site there is a large house where people are just waiting to die. For the different castes they have different story's and also different heights of burning the bodies.

    So that was that- I did feel a bit weird after but both of us were "happy" that we did it.

    In the evening we saw a more joyful ceremony which also happens everyday which was the praising and thanking of the river. We took a boat out and had a lovely trip down the river till we got to see the ceremony from the water. It was astounding how many people showed up and that's what you see in the videos too. Super cool, both of us got to do a wish while lighting a candle and think we're both feeling more spiritual now. I thanked the river for giving all this hope and joy to the people here, it is quite astounding.

    To top it off we had a nice meal of noodles and Indian fried rice with a side order of French fries. Interesting choices hahaha.    Read more

  • India
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    Day 18

    Nicer than Lucknow and parks!

    November 30, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We are currently waiting for our next bus journey of a mere 8 hours (sigh) to get to Agra. Allahabad aka Prayagraj was a decent stop in our journey. We came here originally just as an overstop but it has been nice. Of course not as nice as Varanasi but that is going to be hard to beat.

    One really nice thing are the parks here, on our first day we were going to go to a museum but wandered into the adjoining Park for 5 rupees (0,0625 €). It was huge and was filled with students studying in the grass. Really cool and nice to finally get some fresh and clean air again after all this pollution.

    Second day we went to the second most popular attraction which were these 4 tombs in another huge park. This was really nice although we have gotten a bit sick of contant selfie requests. Especially here it was really bad. We don't even know how many times we were asked but it has tired quickly and we had to say "no" a few times just to be begged for one anyway. So a bit annoying when you are just trying to walk around and wonder at the attraction too. Made us realise we're not cut out for fame lol. Didn't ruin the day though by any means. Was really nice and some guy did take a lovely picture of us which I have attached.

    There's also a Christian church here as well as loads of temples as well as it being a muslim town. Pretty cool.    Read more

  • India
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    Day 20

    Taj Mahal!

    December 2, 2019 in India ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    First of all, thanks for all the lovely comments. Makes it feel special to share these memories with you. ❤️

    Today we got up at 5:30 and saw the Taj Mahal! Best time to go because it was still very quite. What an experience. Not much to say apart from just wow. It's so huge! And again, the detail was just fantastic. Really cool building. Felt like I checked something of my bucket list today, once in a lifetime. Very happy.Read more

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