Travel shenanigans
We booked a last-minute bus while in the tuk-tuk on the way to the bus stop, which turned out to be nothing more than the side of the highway. After an hour and a half waiting on the side of said highway, we were informed that the bus was cancelled. Given our present location it made more sense to get a bus to Agra than to head back into Mathura, so two minutes later we did, and an hour later we were on the side of another highway, because it turned out the bus was not going into Agra, only past it, so we were thrown out at the most convenient spot (for the driver, not for us!) We knew we should be able to flag down a bus to Lucknow at some point on the complex junction, but it took almost an hour of wandering up and down, trying to understand the locals who were so keen to help us but with no common language whatsoever. Eventually we found a stall (that we’d already walked past about 3 times) where the owner understood us perfectly, and told us the bus would stop exactly there, and lo and behold one showed up less than a minute later. We were finally on our way, much later than intended and having paid more, but the rest of the journey was smooth, and we were in our hotel just after midnight. It just goes to show that even when you’re an extremely experienced and competent traveller, some days the logistics turn into a bit of a mess. It’s worth noting that this display of finely tuned travelmanship took place on Creed’s 10th anniversary of being a full-time traveller! He’s clearly a true professional at this now. What an incredible life.
Lucknow
Lucknow was a great relaxing break. Our hotel was very comfortable at $8 a night, and we made good use of it. The city is another not commonly on the tourist trail, but it had some interesting finds. The architecture is absolutely stunning, but many of the old buildings are crumbling down. The biggest sites are easily visited in half a day, so our sightseeing excursions were brief before returning to the luxury of our airconditioned room. We spent four days without any goal other than sleeping a lot and eating a lot. The cuisine in Lucknow contains a lot of meat, which is rare for India. We were excited to eat all the different types of kebab, but these were not what we expected. Apparently, the most famous dishes were creating during the reign of a ruler with no teeth – so Lucknowi kebabs are actually mushy. They’re very tasty, but the consistency is truly weird.
Varanasi
Our next stop was Varanasi. It’s one of the holiest cities in Hinduism and a visit here is a must do on any India visit. The city sits on the river Ganges, with a riverfront stretching over 4 miles, with 84 ghats (sets of steps down to the water). Varanasi is often regarded as India’s spiritual capital, and Hindus believe that dying and being cremated here will bring salvation and free them from the cycle of rebirth. Cremation rituals are performed throughout the day and night at the ‘burning ghats’, locations along the riverbank where a large number of pyres burn over 200 bodies every day. It’s a sombre but fascinating sight, and a very unique cultural phenomenon that is definitely worth witnessing if you ever get a chance to visit Varanasi. The other unmissable ceremony that needs to be experienced here is the sunset worship. Enormous crowds of people flock to the riverside, sitting for up to two hours before the event to get a good seat, while river boats clog the waterway vying to get the best views for their passengers. In the most populous country in the world, this was possibly the most people I’ve seen in one place. Holy men perform the ritual on platforms, chanting and waving various blessed objects in specific patterns. The ritual itself isn’t particularly exciting for a non-Hindu onlooker, but the size of the crowd it draws needs to be seen to be believed!
The hotels in Varanasi (at least the ones by the river) are in much older buildings than most of the places we’ve stayed, meaning they’re a lower standard for a higher price. It’s a great city for just wandering and people watching, so we’d thought about staying here a little longer. But there’s not a ton to do, and with a hotel room that wasn’t great for relaxing, we decided to move on after a couple of days. The hotels have been an important part of this trip, which is quite unlike me. Ordinarily I will focus on the experiences, and will happily choose a less nice hotel room to save money on accommodation and be able to spend it on activities instead. Not this time! We’ve been very spoiled in India – we definitely prioritised comfort and always booked hotels with top reviews, central locations, large, modern, clean rooms with good AC, good showers, good wifi, flat screen TVs, stunning rooftop views and often breakfast included. Our average cost for this was around $15 per night (split two ways). India is so cheap, and we’ve made the most of it!
Kolkata
Our last stop on our India trip was Kolkata. This was more because it had cheap flights out than any super strong desire to visit the city, but there are a few interesting sights to see, and we were looking forward to having a nice hotel room again. And with our extra time here after moving on from Varanasi earlier, we took an overnight trip to the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans. The forest covers a larger area in Bangladesh, so I’d learnt about it when we were looking at potentially travelling into Bangladesh after India. When we decided against that, we decided to still visit the Sundarbans from the Indian side. Honestly, I don’t think I’d recommend this tour. You see very little wildlife, and the boat trips feel more like a ferry ride than a river tour. You go along the large waterways, rather than exploring the small canals between the mangrove roots like I’d pictured. It was nice to get out of the city though, after 6 weeks of city hopping through some of the busiest cities on earth. The air was fresh, the boat ride was relaxing, the food was good and the guide was friendly.
There are a few sights to see in Kolkata: the Victoria Memorial, Birla Mandir Temple, St Paul’s Cathedral and Indian Museum with a large collection of slightly horrifying taxidermied creatures. Our sightseeing day was a little rainy, but given that this was the first rain we’d seen in 66 days in the country, I can’t complain too much. We avoided it by going to a planetarium show where Robert Redford taught us about cosmic collisions.
Final thoughts
Our time in India has been full of exciting adventures, amazing architecture, delicious food, friendly interactions, and enough relaxation to compensate for the intensity of every experience. It’s a place where you’re immediately bombarded with an overwhelming jumble of noises, colours, smells and people as soon as you set foot outside your door every morning. While that can be wonderful and I’ve loved my time here in India, I think we’re both ready for something different, something a little more calm!
