India

Started the morning with a visit to the Jama Masjid, the morning preparations were still underway and there still weren't a lot of people. The carpets being laid out for prayer made me wonder what it would be like prayer time started. Karolina had warned me about the rickshaw drive-through of Old Delhi that Soni would arrange but I wasn't able to catch it on time and ended up on the same predicament of having my cart being hauled by some guy through the streets. I accepted my fate and just tried to enjoy the views. A statue of Gandhi with birds dropping their load, people doing their morning puja at the street shrines, jaywalking pedestrians, I guess this was the usual morning routine. The main highlights were my visit to the old bazaar and the Jain temple. I was shown around by the local head priest and was able to see some morning rituals being performed by some Jains as well.

After finishing up on this side, Soni took me to the Swaminarayan Akshardam, another Jain temple but this time was truly next level. It is not without exaggeration to say that this temple complex is the most beautiful, extravagant, and intricate piece of work I have ever seen in my life. The only thing that stops me from giving it the top spot is simply because it's modern but the awe experienced whilst walking around its grounds was very much palatable. I particularly liked the elephant motifs around the whole temple. I also didn't really understand what Jainism was about even reading through their whole history, the presence of Buddhist and Hindu deities further made it difficult to grasp.

After our business was done, we started the journey to Jaipur making a brief stop at a restaurant in between. There was also a horrific road accident with a totally destroyed car, it was a miracle no one died. At this point, my heart was carrying a lot of negativity and it was showing in my face. This made Soni a bit worried thinking I was worried about Jaipur's itinerary but it really wasn't the case. Another problem was my relationship with the divine and my own spirituality.

A tug of war until our arrival in Jaipur where Soni took me to see some elephants. I wasn't particularly keen on this but I thought it was an ethical sanctuary, sadly it wasn't. This made my mood sour even more, especially seeing tourists ride them and raising their voices at such gentle creatures. Soni saw that I was upset and decided to bring me to Shri Khole Ke Hanuman Temple. The idol here was quite special according to him. It was also my first visit to a Hindu temple, I bought some offerings as well. We took off our shoes and socks and walked the rest of the way to the temple. We gave our offerings and took the return as prasad. I sat in meditation and could say I felt better just absorbing the atmosphere of the place. I thanked Soni for taking me here and for showing me the proper way of doing things.

My hotel in Jaipur was also pretty good, a huge upgrade from my small room in New Delhi.Read more