How to explain my month in India. Before coming here I talked to other travelers who had been to india and half of those people loved it and half hated it. So I was curious how I was going to fair here and what my reaction would be to traveling here. Turns out I both loved and hated parts of my trip, people I met and experiences I had.
I started my trip in Varanasi, which is south west of kathmandu. I took an 12 hr overnight bus from Kathmandu to the border then another 10 hour bus ride to Varanasi. I was exhausted when we (luckily i met some other travelers on the bus from kathmandu going to varanasi so i didn't have to start india on my own) got to varanasi. Varanasi was a very busy city at the time because they were having a festival so lots of indian pilgrims (not sure if thats the right word or not) were in town to wash in the ganges river. It is THE place to go when you die to have your body burned next to the river then have your ashes put in the river. Apparently expensive too so not all families can afford it so some people tie stones to bodies and sink them in the river. And there are burning ghats (where bodies are burned) and bathing ghats where people come to wash in the Ganges.
morning boat ride on the ganges and the main bathing ghat in the background
Bathing ghat
bathing ghat again
After Varanasi I took a train to Satna then a bus to Khajuraho which is known for the temples with Kama Sutra carved sculptures. My first overnight train ride was a bit of an adventure. The train was overbooked and the sleeper bed I had reserved was filled with people when I got there so it took some time to get everyone off so I could go to sleep. The train conductor came and helped as well he yelled and hit some people not really my style but effective I guess. The temples were beautiful and mostly just suggestive poses but some were kind of x-rated. The city was a bit more laid back than Varanasi but it is the low tourist season now because its super hot here so I was bombarded by shop keepers trying to get me to buy stuff.
One of the overwhelming parts of India is the sales tactics of... well everyone is a salesman. There are people constantly following you and talking to you trying to get you to buy stuff or go to their hotel or take a ride in there rickshaw. Its a bit exhausting and it did take some time getting used to.
temple in Khajuraho
carvings on the temple
close-up carving
Next I took a bus to Orchha which I heard was nice and really low key compared to other places which I was very ready for. Theres a palace and some temples there which were nice but most of all it was a small town and I could walk around with less constant touts.
Orchha some temple ruins
Orchha Palace
After orchha was agra to see the taj mahal! I took the train to agra and just spent the afternoon in agra to see the sites. I hadn't heard good things about Agra so I was almost thinking of not going but the Taj Mahal was pretty spectactular (thank you bess for talking me into it).
That night I got an overnight train to Udaipur. Which has a lake and some more palaces. It was a nice city. It took me about a week and a half to really sort of get into india but it was about here that I started to get the hang of it.. or deal with it (not sure the best way to describe liking india). But I met some really nice people there. It was funny I hadn't been having the best time up until then and on the train the night before I was trying to figure out how to deal with it all but I was determined to like it and the very next day I started to meet really nice helpful people and started to have a really good time.
Taj Mahal
agra fort
Taj Mahal from Agra Fort
Udaipur from the city palace
inside city palace
city palace
water buffalo's in lake pichola Udaipur
Udaipur (city palace on top of hill)
Udaipur
next I hopped over to Mt abu, which is a getaway place for indian tourists. It has a lake and some beautifully carved temples (which they don't allow photos of). It was pretty nice but not alot going on.
nakki lake
nakki lake mt abu
Next stop was Jodhpur. It has a beautiful fort built on a cliff. I ended up meeting a german lady at the fort who needed another person to go on a village tour the next day so I said sure sounds good. they were (and still are) bishnoi villages that we visited.
jodhpur fort
jopdhpur
inside the palace inside the fort
village house
village house
village house
next up I took a bus to jailsalmer which was so hot it wasn't even funny (but a dry heat). And what did I decide to do in the desert in the sweltering heat, yep thats right camel safari. It was fun despite the heat.
jaisalmer
jaisalmer
camel safari lunch stop
more camels (the one on the left was mine)
camels in the morning
After the camel safari I made my way to Bikaner because it was on the way to Delhi where I had booked my plane ticket for thailand. India really tired me out. It was the first time since starting my trip I was pretty tired of traveling. So I got to Bikaner and found a cheap place to stay in the city and sat down to eat lunch and met a guy from denmark living in bikaner and a guy from bikaner. We started chatting and suddenly I was invited to a wedding party the following night. The next day I hung out with the hendrick (the guy from denmark) and he took me for a walk around the old part of the city to see a temple and some old houses.
temple painted on the inside, which is rare because most are carved
one of the old houses (havali's)
That night we went to the wedding party for the groom and it was really fun. I couldn't talk to many people because I don't speak hindi but fun all the same. We ate some curry and chipati then some sweets that were made out of milk and coconut. There was also part of the cermony where the ladies of the house washed the groom (he had clothes on) with this orange paste to welcome him into marriage and the brides family. It was a muslim arranged marriage so the bride and groom hadn't met and wouldn't meet until after they were married. The evening ended with a dj and stage where a male transvestite danced to music. I wasn't expecting that at a muslim wedding in india but india has lots of surprises so just go with it.
Two days later was the wedding which after the party the family invited me to and it was probably the best part of my trip in india. It was a bit wierd at the beginning because I was a bit of a novelty but after everyone got a little used to the white girl they started being a bit more comfortable around me. The wedding started at the grooms familys house were we got in cars and went maybe 2 hrs away to the brides village. We stopped and ate lunch at a school I think then the groom got on a horse and we all followed him over (walking) to the brides house. There was a truck in front of the group playing loud music and all the boys were dancing as we made our way over.
Once we got there the groom had his cermony outside with the priest then the bride had her cermony inside with the priest. then we ate lunch more curry, a doughy thing in curd, sweets and vegetables. Then after everyone finished the groom went into the house to meet his wife and we all got in cars and took the bride back to the grooms house. Up until the wedding I was on the fence about liking india but after meeting and spending time with the grooms family I couldn't help but love India. So moral of the story is... well I don't know so Ill end with a knock knock joke. Knock knock.... whos there.....Mary Lee.... Mary Lee who.....Mary Lee we roll along!
thats me in my new outfit on the left in case I didn't stand out enough.
railay east
railay east (closest) railay west (farthest beach)
railay
railay
im not crying...its just been raining on my face
sunset on railey west beach
ang thong marine national park 
ang thong marine national park
muay thai fights ko samui
muay thai fights
beach ko tao
island off ko tao (which is an island)
temple in petchaburi
temple in petchaburi
cave temple petchaburi
monkeys at the cave temple
kanchanaburi
big budda 
big budda in temple in kanchanaburi 
bridge over the river kwai 
rented a motorcycle and got myself caught in a rain storm near kanchanaburi 
jenny at the burmese border (just saw rambo IV... not going to burma)
some temple in sangkhaburi
really long wooden bridge in sangkhaburi
sangkhaburi 
