Rajasthan & Varanasi 2019

This is the first time I’ve been to India, and it was definitely intense. Every day we had at least 5/7 hours on the bus because the distance between each leg was quite big and the roads in India are not even close to what we are used to here in Europe. As the first bite of this huge country, I chose Rajasthan, and I travelled with the same agency I travelled to Sri Lanka before, Viaggi e Avventure nel Mondo. Before digging into the specifics of the travel, though, I think a brief introduction is important.
Rajasthan, known as the Land of Kings, is the richest region of India with fortresses and majestic architectural works. This is the land of the Rajput, warrior clans who controlled the region for over a thousand years. However, being all of them always at war with each other for pride reasons, reduced them to being dependent on the Mughal Empire. After this empire collapsed, the Rajputs tried to find an agreement with the English to be independent states under the English domination of India. Even after Indian independence in 1947, many Maharajas maintained titles and properties. Finally, in the 70ies, Rajasthan, too, had to submit to the central control of the country. Nowadays, losing its power due to trade routes, Rajasthan is a popular tourist destination and may be one of the most visited regions of the country.

For this reading, I suggest listening to Mahalaxmi Mantra Om Mahalaxmi Namo Namah Shri Mahalaxmi. This was a mantra we listened to during Diwali. It is quite long, so it may not be even finished once you arrive at the end of the reading.

Day 1
The very first day, the 18th of October, was the flight day. I met all the other participants (except for one) at the airport, and it was exciting. I was so looking forward to going to India! We were 11 people including the coordinator: me, two girls, Jessica and Giulia, that already knew each other and were just one year older than me, Mauro, 50ish guy that traveled a lot already, Maurizio, 50ish guy, banker, Efrem, 40ish guy, policeman, Matteo and Rachele, super young couple of 22 that stayed most of the time on its own, Carmine, 39 years old guy, Laura, the coordinator, 70ish. The first flight took us from Milan to Istanbul, where we met Marco, the 11th person, two years older than me, and very nice. There, we also discovered that our flight to Delhi was delayed, so we waited for some hours at the airport. Then, they decided to anticipate the flight, and we almost lost Marco there as he went for a walk. Thankfully, we all made it to the plane and, after 7 hours, we arrived in India!

Day 2
We arrived in India in the morning, completely exhausted. And then a long seven-hour transfer was waiting for us. After we met the guy from the agency who had all our hotel reservations and documents, we walked to the bus. Our driver was a peculiar guy who spoke close to no English. Our very first destination was Mandawa, already in the region of Rajasthan. It is quite popular among tourists, who stop here to see the famous Havelis. These are houses built by rich merchants starting in the 18th century, when new commercial ways were opened, to show off. The richer the decorations, the better. The name haveli means private space, and it then became the term to indicate these specific buildings. Usually, Havelis are formed by two or more courtyards, the inner one for the women and private life for the family, where the merchants were welcomed, and deals were made. In this part of India, Havelis are decorated mostly with frescoes depicting gods (still not sure how many there are in Hinduism, 33 million, 330 million, or more!) and later also trains, phones, and planes. They are very beautiful, but many of the houses we saw in Mandawa were left abandoned. This is something we found in every place we visited, and the abandonment is part of the charm, even though, from a European perspective, this sounds like a crime. We walked around the city in the late afternoon with two guys who guided us, but when dinner time arrived, we were more than happy to go back to the hotel (a haveli, too!) and rest a bit. The first dinner was good and an introduction to Indian cuisine: naan, spices, lentils, paneer… super tasty, especially if you are into spices!

Day 3
The day after, we were more rested and eager to be on the road. Our first stop, not so far from Mandawa, was Fatehpur, a city founded in 1451 and full of Havelis. We went to see Le Prince Haveli, a beautiful building bought and completely restored by the French artist Nadine Le Prince and turned into a guesthouse for artists and a hotel. There we had a guided visit by a French girl who resides there, who explained very well the haveli’s history and all the functions it had.
After seeing all these frescoes, we moved to Deshnok, where there is the famous Karni Mata Temple, also known as the Temple of Rats. Yes, rats. The story says that, when Karni Mata’s son died, she, as the reincarnation of Durga (one of the forms of Devi, the divine mother), brought him back to life and decided that the members of the family would not die but would reincarnate in kaba (rats). Nowadays, many citizens of Deshnok believe they descend from her and the rats are their ancestors. Besides all these religious/mythological stories, the temple is quite fascinating. You enter and see rats pretty much everywhere, especially where the devotees leave food offerings. I did not have the luck of having a rat stepping on my feet, but maybe that was not so bad.
Finally, we reached Bikaner, our last stop for the day. Bikaner is a desert city with a fort, and that was an important stop for the caravans in the 16th century. We visited the fort, which was impressive for its size and the decorations. Later, we had a walk in the city with a guide and saw some other Havelis, the market, and a Jain temple.

Maybe some extra info about the religions in India is at this point. Hinduism is the main religion in India, with 80.5% of the population. The main characteristic is to believe in Brahman, an infinite force that generates everything and to which everything will eventually go back. As I said, I still don’t know how many gods there are; even the guides seemed to be a little bit confused on this point. However, the main are Brahma, the generator, Vishnu, the operator, and Shiva, the destroyer. My favorite god is Ganesh, also the easiest to identify, who brings luck. 13.4% of the population is Islamic, the biggest religious minority. Islam arrived around the 17th century when the Mughal Empire controlled the northern part of the country. Other minorities are Sikhism, concentrated especially in Punjab and born as a revolt to the caste system and to the Muslim domination, Buddhism, born in India but nowadays practiced by less than 1% of the population, and Jainism, as well, born as a revolt to the caste system. The Jains believe that to be completely free, we need to get rid of the superficial, practice a life of austerity, and not kill any form of life. Most extremists wear something in front of their mouths not to accidentally kill an insect, and the monks usually have just a piece of fabric to cover themselves. –

Day 4
Back on the road the day after, we arrived in Pokhran, a city famous for its fort (we saw maaaany forts). The building itself was beautiful, but as for the others we saw, there was nothing inside, nor was it easy for us Europeans to completely appreciate it. However, we had an incredible guide who took us around. He knew maybe three or four words in Italian, but what an entertainer! He took us pictures in the best spots of the palace and made us enjoy every minute we spent there. And then we were on the bus again to our destination of the day, the city of Jaisalmer. On the way, we stopped at Bada Bagh, where we saw the sunset at the cenotaphs of the Rajasthan maharajas. The view was great, and it was a good conclusion for the day. We then drove to our hotel, which was, once again, a haveli. This time, instead of frescoes, the decorations were made directly into the stone that was marvelously carved. It is typical of this area, and then further also in Jodhpur and Jaipur, to have this kind of decoration, maybe also because Jaisalmer is in the desert and stones survive better than painting to sand.

Day 5
We spent all day walking around Jaisalmer. It is a beautiful city with its own charm. From afar, the first thing you see is its fort, which seems a huge sand construction even though it is quite a solid rock building that survived intact for more than 800 years. Jaisalmer was a very important city back in the centuries due to its strategic commercial position: only about 100 km west of the border with Pakistan. However, after the wars between India and Pakistan in more recent decades, its power declined until it became only a popular destination for tourism. From the terrace of our hotel, you could have an impressive view of the fort, where over 3000 people reside, and the surrounding city. The visit was super interesting, as the guide was very informative and spoke good Italian. Of course, as with any other guide we had, we had to stop in his shop. And of course, I bought something. I fell in love with a cashmere scarf that I plan to use a lot this winter. We visited some Havelis (yes, again) and various Jain temples until evening. Then, we head to dinner in a restaurant with a beautiful terrace.
So far, I haven’t said much about the group and its dynamics since it was difficult to understand everyone in the very first days, but as we reached Jaisalmer, I think everyone started to feel more at ease and entered into the Indian mood. India is different from every other country I have been to so far. I thought it would have had something in common with Sri Lanka, and indeed, there are many similarities, but then, India is a completely different story. The dirt, the cows, the dogs, the trash, all the smells are something you are not prepared for, and it makes you disgusted until something changes and everything appears to be in the right place. I would say that day 4 was the day my perceptions changed.
As for the group, we started understanding each other better. I bonded easily with Marco, Jessica, and Giulia as they were my age and we had things in common, while the “older guys” bonded among themselves. In that sense, we had a sort of crack due to the age gap. It did not bother me so much, but sometimes you felt it.

Day 6
After two nights in a row in the same hotel and one day with no bus transfer, we were moving again. We first stopped just outside Jaisalmer on the Gadisar Lake. In the morning, it is very suggestive as there are some pavilions coming out of the water. Later, the bus driver stopped close to a madrasa, which we quickly visited, and then arrived in Osian. Here we went to a Hindu temple first and then to a Jain temple. This city was an important commercial junction dominated by Jains, and the Jain temple still preserves a statue of the XXIV Tirthankara (a savior and spiritual teacher) made with milk and sand. The highlight of the day, however, was the Jodhpur fort (yay, a fort!). Among all the ones we saw, this was the one I liked the most. From downhill, it looks majestic and imposing. You start walking up and, just next to the entrance, you can see the traces of the red hands, the testimony of the sati. This practice was endemic in medieval times in India among the highest castes: when a man died, the wife would be burned alive. The ones here remember the maharajas’ wives who suicided. The last ones were in 1843. Nowadays, this practice is forbidden, but some woman still practices it. Inside the fort, there are some interesting exhibitions, such as the ones with elephant palanquins, but the best part was the sunset view of the city of Jodhpur, also known as the blue city. It was founded in 1200 by Rathore Rajput and then grew thanks to the trade with Gujarat. We, unfortunately, did not have time to properly visit the city, but after leaving the fort, we went to the hotel and then out for dinner. At that time, it was too dark to see the blue walls, but the city was still alive and fascinating. We had dinner in a beautiful restaurant with a spectacular view of the fort, and I discovered one of the most delicious Indian delicacies: aloo gobhi, basically spiced cauliflowers and potatoes. Very simple but super tasty!

Day 7
This was perhaps the most intense day of all. We did over 350 kilometers and just two stops along the way. The first one was in Ajmer, where there is an important sanctuary dedicated to Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti, the founder of the first Sufi order in India. The place was super overcrowded, and the atmosphere was totally different compared to any other Islamic place I have ever visited. Even Islam is lived in a different, Indian way: chaotic, noisy, and colorful. After that, we drove to Pushkar, a famous city for the yearly camel fair. I don’t have a good memory of that place. Along the sacred lake, there are various Ghats, including the one where Gandhi’s ashes were tossed. Among the people, there are so-called brahmins who make you sit and say a prayer asking for money. At this point, you cannot really refuse, and all the experience seems more like a scam. It is a pity because in Pushkar there is also one of the very few temples dedicated to Brahma, a place where a Hindu devotee should go at least once in their life.
Finally, we left Pushkar and we arrived in Jaipur, where we had the best hotel so far. The room we had was huge. We had a sort of living room with a sofa and armchairs, then a huge bed and a bathroom that is bigger than my room at home. It had a bathtub in the middle surrounded by marble columns! Outside, there was also a very nice swimming pool. We were lucky we stayed there two nights. And, did I already mention it? It was a haveli.

Day 8
In Jaipur, we had another “relax” day with no long transfers. Jaipur is the capital city of Rajasthan and one of the few cities in India (maybe the only one?) with urban planning. We met our guide in the morning, and we headed first to the Hawa Mahal, which we saw only from the outside. It is an incredible palace built in 1799 with red stone to allow the women of the court to see life outside. After that, we drove to the Amber Fort, one of the most impressive in Rajasthan. This was built in 1592 as Amber was the capital of the Jaipur state. It is still well preserved, and you can get an idea of how life was at the time. On the way back to the city, we had a quick look at the water palace, another royal family’s palace in the middle of the lake. To complete the historical tour, we stopped at the Jantar Mantar, which, among all, was the most interesting place in the city. Jai Singh II was a maharaja with a strong interest in astronomy and had this complex built to have the most accurate calculations of time and the stars’ movement. You could stay there for hours to see how all this stuff works! We then spent the rest of the day wandering around until dinner, where we went to our guide’s home. After that, more wandering for some of us and some shopping. It was indeed the right day for shopping, as in two days (the 27th of October) it would have been the culminating day of Diwali, and it is tradition to buy something new to wear two days in advance.
Now, you may wonder what Diwali is. Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is the celebration in Hinduism of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. In the previous days, celebrants prepare by cleaning, renovating, and decorating their homes and workplaces. During the climax, revelers adorn themselves in their finest clothes, illuminate the interior and exterior of their homes with diyas (oil lamps or candles), offer puja (worship) to Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity and wealth, light fireworks, and partake in family feasts, where mithai (sweets) and gifts are shared. Diwali is also a major cultural event for the Hindu and Jain diaspora from the Indian subcontinent. So, something quite big in India that we were preparing to experience!

Day 9
Unfortunately, the day we had to leave our beautiful hotel and the beautiful Jaipur had come, and we left with Agra as our destination. Along the way, however, we also had two other interesting stops. The first was in Abhaneri, where there is an impressive well. I mean, not as well as we imagine it, but with stairs designed with a unique geometry. After that, we went to Fatehpur Sikri. This archaeological site is a fortified city built in the 16th century and the capital for a very short time of the Mughal Empire. Due to the lack of water, the city was then abandoned and forgotten. Nowadays, we can admire the perfect Indo-Islamic architecture and just imagine how it must have been in the past. Next to it, there is a mosque still in use, where many devotees go to pray at the tomb of the Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti. We were in a bit of a rush for this visit as the drive to Agra was still a bit long, and we wanted to make it before sunset to have at least a brief view of the Taj Mahal. And so it was, we arrived just in time to catch a glimpse of it.

Day 10
The morning was tough as we woke up at 4.30 to be inside the Taj Mahal complex before sunrise. It was totally worth it. In the beginning, when you enter, you only see all the people. Then, you see the mausoleum, and it is a big emotion. It is nothing different from what we saw already in pictures, advertising, movies, and books, but it is still one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It is not the case that the poet Tagore described it as a marble tear still on the cheek of time. Now, you may know the story, but I will tell you just in case. The mausoleum was built by Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631, giving birth to their 14th child. According to the legend, Shah’s hair became white out of desperation. The building of the entire complex took more than 20 years. In the meantime, Shah’s son overthrew him and put him in the Agra Fort, from which he could see the Taj Mahal from afar, and where he spent the rest of his life. At his death, he was put next to his beloved wife. After the visit, we went back to the hotel, had breakfast, and went to visit the Agra Fort. Even though we were growing a bit tired of forts, this was indeed worth it. It was also very different from the ones we saw before (well, we were not in Rajasthan anymore either). Its architecture is Moghul, and the building is immense. The materials used are marble and red sandstone. It would have also been nice if there had been a bit less smog and we could have appreciated the view, but what I learned in India is that air pollution is, sadly, common.
After the visit, we took the bus and left for Orchha, a city I didn’t know existed until this trip but that was a beautiful and unexpected surprise. The hotel we were in was super nice and, as I mentioned, it was the culminating day of Diwali. We arrived, and they put us on flower necklaces, and they had decorations everywhere. They also fired some crackers and put on music. It was just beautiful.

Day 11
Today was pretty intense. We went to the city center of Orchha. As I said, this city was a surprise. Its history is connected to the Bundela Rajput clan, who elected it as their capital from 1531 until 1783. Because of this, it is possible to visit many royal palaces and cenotaphs. What surprised me the most was that inside these palaces, there are still very well-preserved and beautiful frescoes. Just imagine immense palaces decorated in every corner! Unfortunately, as often in India, there is no care for this heritage, and everything is more or less abandoned. It is also true that this is my European point of view talking, and in Asia, there is not the same concept of conservation they have there. And in some regards, the abandonment gives this place an additional charm. We found a guide who walked us around, talking in terrible English. The result is that we learned almost nothing, and we had to work on our imagination. After three hours, the visit was done, and we wandered for a bit in the city. It was full of people and street vendors as everyone was still celebrating Diwali and going on pilgrimage to the Ram Raja Temple. As the name says, this temple is dedicated to god Rama and, especially in Diwali, the pilgrims are many. We then sat in a bar to relax a bit and just enjoy the celebrations. It was, anyhow, not bad when we drove back to the hotel in the afternoon and stayed a bit at the pool. Later, we went to another hotel for dinner and then had a final walk in the city and saw all the pilgrims still celebrating and chanting around the temple.

Day 12
Another day, another early alarm. We drove to Khajuraho, and the road was one of the worst we had seen so far. We basically jumped every minute, especially me, sitting in the back. Arrived in Kajuraho, we left our stuff in the hotel and went to the city with our guide. This city is mostly famous for its temples with erotic sculptures, and indeed, they were interesting. However, they are not the only representations you see, as all the temples are a sort of comic of the time (time being the X and XI centuries). 85 temples were erected in the area, but only 25 survive now, and only one is still used as a temple for ceremonies. We first went to visit the occidental group, where the best preserved and beautiful are enclosed in order to take care of them. In truth, they are all very similar to each other, having even the same scenes depicted all around, but seeing all of them at a glance is incredible. Some of the erotic scenes are really absurd, and the guide even warned us not to try them unless we were yoga pros!
After the temples, we went to see the old part of the town as we were waiting for the sunset to attend a puja (prayer). The town was nothing exceptional, but I discovered that there is a celebration even for cow poo during Diwali. Poo is burned in front of every house for luck. Maybe we should try, in Switzerland, it should not be hard to find some! The puja we attended at sunset was perhaps the most authentic one. It was the only ancient temple in Khajuraho still active as a temple. It is dedicated to Shiva, and inside there is a huge lingam (a phallic symbol of Shiva), and the prayer consisted of a long, deafening bell ringing. At the beginning, it was fastidious, but after a while, you could feel you were almost going into a trance.

Day 13
The night was short as we all, except for the coordinator, signed up to go to the Panna Tiger Reserve to see… the leopard! No, kidding, to see the tiger! We were in three different jeeps, and mine was super lucky as we saw a tiger soon. She crossed the street and did not even pay attention to us. Moreover, we were the only car there, so we really enjoyed that moment. The safari itself was ok, it is basically designed to see the tiger. However, given the fact that we saw her at the beginning, we then drove to some other areas and saw other animals (lots of spiders!) and panoramas. Once back, we had breakfast and then we went to see other temples in Khajuraho. Early in the afternoon, we left by bus to go to Satna, where we said goodbye to our driver and started a new adventure: taking a (night) train in India (to Varanasi).
The station in Satna is not super big, but it was still quite hard to find our train. First, all the signs were in Hindi. I did not mention it before, but Indians are not very good at speaking English, so even asking for information was sometimes hard. As the coordinator was not keen on giving us the booking references and our train seemed to have disappeared from every screen, we had to start asking people. Apparently, there is an app they use which is very accurate, but not on my phone (probably you need to be Indian to be able to use it). After some expected hours of waiting, our train finally arrived. We then had to find our seats (not easy as we did not have the references…) and prepare our comfortable beds. It was not so bad, only the super tall people struggled a bit, especially because we kept our baggage on the beds with us, so we had less space left. The beds were ok, and we even had sheets. Also, the toilets were ok. We set our alarms and tried to sleep a bit.

Day 14
The night was ok, we had a bit of sleep but not too much, as we were also worried about getting off at the right station. The train would continue for another entire day to go who knows where. Some people helped us, and some of them were curious about us. I bet it is not very common to see a bunch of Western people on a night train as we were, especially on a less-used line (the train from Khajuraho was fully booked). In Varanasi, we were picked up by a guide who drove us to our hotel. We would have never found it if it were not for him, but at least the hotel was in a strategic position just in front of the Gange river.
Varanasi is another world. Even after two weeks in India, you are not completely prepared for it. It is humid, it is dirty, it is rotting, it is dead and alive, it is smelly. I thought people were exaggerating in saying not everyone can stand it, but now I can say I agree. For me, it was a bit shocking at the beginning, but then I did not care too much. I just followed the stream, literally. We again left our stuff in the rooms and went out to explore. We walked along the river for a while, seeing all the ghats (stairs) where people go to bathe, to wash their clothes, to pray, and to do all possible daily activities. Of course, we also went to see the burning sites. Varanasi is considered, in fact, the best place to die, and all Hindus want to have their ashes spread in the sacred river. Those who die here will never be reincarnated again, and their soul will be free. We saw some temples, even if many are inside the houses walls and therefore private. Early in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit. Soon, anyway, we had to move to meet our guide to go on the Gange with a boat at sunset. It was nice seeing the city from a little afar. In a way, it was refreshing not to be immersed in the crowd and its smell, but it was short as we then went to the puja. This time, I did not like it that much as it seemed fake. But maybe the show off and the kitsch is part of the Hinduism rituals, and it was more authentic than I thought.

Day 15
In the morning, we took the boat again and saw the sunrise from there. The shore was already full of people bathing and praying before starting the morning, and the pyres were burning as they do at every hour. 5 of us decided then to have a yoga class, so we went to our guide’s home rooftop, where a young Russian girl now living in India taught us for almost two hours. My back after that was hurting so much! But the experience was nice. I mean, when will I experience yoga again in Varanasi? The rest of the day was quiet. I stayed in the hotel, while the rest went shopping around a bit, and in the afternoon, we all went to the airport to fly to New Delhi. The flight was ok, but once in Delhi, the pickup bus was not there. After some calls, we found out the guide with the bus was waiting in the wrong place, so it was not a major issue, and we soon arrived at the hotel.

Day 16
As our last day in India, this was not a great day. Delhi is ugly, not because there are ugly things, but because it is a chaotic metropolis immersed in the smog. It was hard to even breathe. In addition to that, the group kind of broke up: the young couple left and went to explore alone, and the others were all nervous and tired. I was actually quite interested in seeing something of the cit,y and we also had a bus booked for us all day. In the end, we managed to see just a couple of things. We went to see the Red Fort (what if not a fort to conclude our trip?), but it was hard to enjoy it: the smog was covering it all. Later, we went to the Lotus Temple, which was the most surprising thing. It is a temple with a lotus flower shape in which all the religions are welcomed, and you can pray or meditate. Only five of us went, but it was really worth it! It is a pity we did not get to see all the other sights, but we were not even in the spirit of enjoying them. We had our last supper next to our hotel. It was good, but my stomachache (it started a few days before, most probably due to tiredness) did not allow me to enjoy it that much.

Day 17
This was the day we were leaving and the day we had a real adventure in the airports. We left early, but then our flight was delayed for several hours because of the smog. Our reservation was under Turkish Airlines, but the flight from Delhi to Istanbul was operated by Indigo, a low-cost company. We arrived super late in Istanbul and, even though the gate was still open, the hostesses refused to let us board the plane. At that point, some in the groups got super upset. We went to the transfer desk to get new boarding passes and, after 5 hours (!), we got them. We had to speak with several people as Indigo was blaming Turkish and vice versa. In the beginning, they only gave us new tickets that were for flights in 48 hours! The final ones we got were for the next afternoon, so we also had to find a place to sleep. Of course, no company paid for that. In the desperation of the moment, we were lucky that Istanbul airport has a hotel just inside, so we did not have to find other, far places to go. The hotel was actually very nice, and the beds were amazing, and thankfully, they had space for all of us. The day after, we were all in a better mood and had breakfast to start the day. We had to fight again with Turkish Airlines to get the lunch vouchers, but we managed to get those, too. Finally, at 4, we left Istanbul for Milan. It may seem it is over if it was not for the six missing suitcases (not mine, thanks Ganesh!) that apparently decided to stay behind.

For many reasons, this is a trip I will remember dearly. India is a fascinating place full of contradictions, and too easily portrayed. In some moments, I felt like it was enough, but now I wish to go back to India and explore it a little more. Hopefully it will happen soon!