India: Bangalore

We finished off our time in India in Bangalore, at a Homestay called Mass Residency, which is run by two brothers, Syed and Shakir, who are the loveliest hosts ever! They couldn't do enough for us, a common trait in Indians and one which we will be ever grateful for. They gave us a whistle stop tour of the city via a map which they had annotated and detailed to help us get the most out of our time there. They even put up a mini Christmas tree so we would feel more at home for Christmas despite not being Christian themselves. So cute. We even got complimentary breakfast of egg on toast and chai, so we were loving life.

There isn't really much to say about Bangalore. It was pretty much just a stop on our way to Chennai where we caught our flight to Kuala Lumpur and onwards. We felt a little bit weird being away from home at Christmas time and since it was the first time for all of us we were expecting to feel a little down so planned to spend Christmas skyping our families and friends back at home. We made a little effort to embrace the Christmas spirit by buying Santa hats, and actually putting some make up on for a change. Haha! The highlight of our christmas, however, came in the form of our DIY Christmas dinner. We decided to search the city for somewhere that did a traditional dinner and eventually found somewhere that did a buffet for £9 which pained us to pay but then again, it was Christmas and if you can't treat yourself at Christmas, when can you, hey? It was ABSOLUTELY worth the money though - definitely the best meal we've ever had. The starter was 16 courses (no lie) and consisted of pretty much every meat you could think of, various indian snacks, and vegetables. As if we weren't full after that, we were then treated to a buffet of literally every food under the sun - endless amounts of it. We kept refilling our plates endlessly until we couldn't eat any more. And then it was time for dessert. Again the options were endless - from jelly and icecream to cake and fruit. Which we of course had multiple servings of until we genuinely resembled Christmas puddings and were close to needing to be rolled out of the restaurant. Success! 

All in all, Christmas wasn't half as bad as we thought it was going to be. We were more depressed about the thought of leaving India if we're honest. Devastated is not the word! Time has gone way too fast for our liking and 3 months definitely is not enough time to satisfy our wanderlust for this country. There is no doubt that we will be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later! We've already started missing the place and we haven't even left yet! See you later India, you've been a dream! 

Christmas Eve retail therapy

Christmas Krispy Kremes 

It's Christmaaaaaaas

Christmas in India does exsist! 

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Christmas Coffees

Being away from home isn't so bad after all

Christmas Dinner time!

Sooo much ice-cream

And desert :)

Words can't express our sadness leaving India!

Byeeee!

The Happy Wanderers 

♥

India: Varanasi

Next stop on our journey around India was Varanasi, probably one of the most chaotic places we've visited yet. We've been pretty excited to see Varanasi for a loooong time, mainly because of its sanctity within the Hindu religion, something which we've been trying our hardest to embrace and educate ourselves in as we've been going along. Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India and is often referred to as "the holy city of India", "the religious capital of India", "the city of Shiva", and "the city of learning" so you can imagine how important it was for us to visit. Many Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation - if you are cremated in the city and your ashes thrown into the Ganges, you will attain nirvana. This ends the life/death cycle which is preferable to the majority of Hindus because it means all their sins are forgiven and they can finally rest in peace rather than being reborn as something less preferable than a human, or even a human of a lower cast (if possible) in another life. We'll discuss this in more detail in a while.

We stayed at Stops Hostel during our time in the city. We absolutely loved the hostel and felt so at home there we ended up staying an extra two days! When we arrived we were greeted by bright displays of colour, painted walls, chalk boards, random furniture and a general chilled out vibe. The manager explained to us that a number of tours and activities were planned for each day of the week and that we could do a cooking class, a sunrise river boat tour along the Ganges, an evening boat tour to the burning ghats, a market tour, a temple tour, yoga classes, and much more. They even offered massages for a small donation which was very tempting. We stayed in a 16 bed dorm but we also found out that there was the opportunity to sleep in tents on the roof (the cheapest option available) which you would initially think is a bit silly considering there are beds available in dorm rooms with actual mattresses but it was surprising how many people were checking out of the dorm and into the tents at the earliest opportunity - they were fully booked for the entire duration of our stay! The tents were located on the roof and had a really nice area where you could chill out and socialise. Maybe worth a try if you ever visit! Also on the roof were the communal toilet and shower cubicles, each of which were painted in the theme of a particular film, some of which included Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It certainly made for some interesting toilet/shower breaks! The hostel also provided free breakfast - the first hostel we've come across that does so which we obviously loved. Every morning there were endless supplies of cornflakes, boiled eggs, toast with butter and jam, coffee, and chai which allowed us to fill our bellies up for the day.

As we arrived pretty late in the day, and weren't yet sure of our whereabouts we asked for some advice on where to eat and were told that Kerala Cafe, about a two minute walk away had some pretty good food. We decided to visit and found the cheapest food yet (around 50p for a huge portion!) VERY spicy but delicious all the same. After our great feed we decided an early night was in order as we had booked a sunrise boat tour of the ghats for the next morning - we were not looking forward to our 4.30am alarms!

Before we knew it we were awoken to the dreaded sound of our alarm. Still pitch black outside, freezing cold and still half asleep we followed our guide on a 5 minute walk from the hostel to the Ganges river. Here we were met by the most friendly young man - Babu, who would be our boat rower for the tour. This boat ride was very chilled, taking a slow pace up the river where we admired the local laundrettes hand-washing bags of laundry from the surrounding houses and hotels. We also got to see many local people having their morning bath in the river (even though it was freezing cold outside!), they do this as they believe it washes away their sins. When the sun rose around 6.30am, we could finally see just how many people were at the ghats waiting to wash in the Ganges and start a new day afresh. On our way back towards the hostel Babu kindly stopped at a small stall selling chai - a bargain at only 5p a cup! We were feeling pretty exhausted after our early start, so after taking full advantage of our all you can eat inclusive breakfast at the hostel we decided that some down time was in order so set up in the chill out space in our dorm room to begin planning our next leg of the adventure. This proved to be a very frustrating task indeed, as every route we planned to take brought us more and more dead ends. After hours upon hours of planning, our hard work had worked up our appetites, which was only going to be fulfilled by McDonalds - thank god for google maps pointing us in the right direction!

The next morning we thought we would have a wander around the streets of the city - what a maze this turned out to be! The streets were so windy and narrow it was impossible to navigate our way around. After aimlessly wandering for a few hours and feeling ourselves getting a little overwhelmed we took refuge in Brown Bread Bakery. We had been warned about the many fake copies of this restaurant but a kind local man reassured us this was the original. We were delighted with our amazing pasta dishes and the bread basket that accompanied it was to die for! After months and months of Asian bread (you'll know what we mean if you've been) it was like a dream come true to taste the freshly baked goods.

That evening we were feeling inspired by the city and eager to learn more about the ghats and the significance of Varanasi city within the Hindu religion so we booked another river boat tour through the hostel, however this time we would have a guide, Anil, to explain everything in a lot more detail. As we travelled up the river Anil first explained about the 'burning ghats'. Manikarnika Ghat is the most well known place for Hindu cremation, carrying out around 200 cremations per day, as they believe that cremation here will bring moksha (emancipation, liberation, release). The price of a cremation here is very expensive and the type of cremation depends on a persons caste. The body burns best using sandalwood, which is the most expensive and so can only be afforded by the richest families. If a cheaper wood is used then the body will burn more slowly, or not completely which is undesirable. The ashes are then collected and thrown into the river. Women are completely banned from attending any cremation at the ghats, as it is believed that women bring too much sorrow to the event. Burning of the body is not to be looked at as a sad event; but rather a new beginning.

Next on the tour we stopped at Dashashwamedh Ghat where every evening five priests perform Ganga Aarti (Agni Pooja) which is a dedication made to Lord Shiva, the Ganga River, the Sun, Fire and whole universe. This is a spiritual ritual which takes place along the entire length of the Ganga river. There were hundreds of boats filled with both tourists and pilgrims who come here daily to worship Lord Shiva. We watched as the priests began the ceremony with large flaming lamps and the chanting of mantra and songs. The crowds in the boats followed this by lighting their own lamps on placing them into the water lighting up the whole river. Our heads almost exploding with new information we decided a good dinner was necessary so we left the boat and went on a mission to find something delicious.

Varanasi really was one of the most inspiring places we've visited so far, we hope the pictures capture the beautiful chaos better than our words... 

Planning our next move

Stops Hostel Wall Art

Babu on the Sunrise Boat Tour

And they say India is third world.. :P

5p Chai 

Cheers! 

Evening Aarti Ceremony

Happy Wanderers

♥

India: Agra

We finally arrived into Delhi, with nowhere to stay except the airport floor once again! Missing our flight meant that we missed our only planned day in Delhi and with our itinerary already jam packed there was no room for changes. We had a few hours sleep before jumping into a taxi in the early hours of the morning. We arranged to meet the Spicy Mermaids at the train station to begin our 2 week journey - first stop, Agra for the Taj Mahal!

After 48 hours of being homeless all we wanted was to meet with the rest of the group, check into our hotel and have a well deserved meal and catch up. We already boarded the train and were eagerly waiting to catch a first glimpse of our friends. Spotting them we were banging the glass and shouting so they would notice us. Luckily enough they were seated only a few cabins down and it wasn't long before they'd heard all about our first 5 weeks of travelling. Jack was kind enough to offer us the most revolting prawn flavoured crisp snack - thaaaaaanks!

We had booked AC 3 Tier tickets, which are middle ground prices. These are set up as separate air conditioned cabins housing eight beds, six of which are like 2 sets of triple bunk beds and the remaining two just a standard bunk bed. However, looking back now there was no need to book sleeper beds as the journey took little over 3 hours, a standard chair seat would have done just fine (and saved us a few pennies). 

First thing we did on arrival into Agra... eat! Our hotel had a decent roof top restaurant with views of the Taj Mahal. In about 10 minutes we'd sent plenty of 'Taj Selfies' to family and friends haha! All fed and rested it was time to do some exploring and experience our first Rickshaw ride - what an experience it was! The streets of Agra are sooo narrow and our driver wasn't shy about squeezing into any gap, inches away from people, cows, cars and trucks - our hearts really were in our mouth. He must have noticed we were getting nervous, telling us "don't worry, chicken curry", hahahaha! 

We survived the ride to Agra Fort and enjoyed wandering around the site for a couple of hours. We paid 300 rupees (£3) for entry which we felt was worth it as it helped us get more of a feel for the history of Agra. The fort can be better described as a walled city, the centre of Mughal Empire, containing many palaces. Rumour has it that Shah Jahan (the emperor who built the Taj Mahal) was placed here under house arrest by his son after he become ill. He is said to have died in one of the palace towers which overlooks the Taj Mahal. 

A very early 5.30am start for the sunrise at the Taj Mahal (750 rupees, £7.50) was next on the agenda. We arrived even before the ticket counter had opened, there was no way we were missing this! After waiting eagerly for the doors to open and walking what felt like an eternity through the security checks and pretty gardens, we were finally met with this epic wonder of the world! It felt kind of surreal being there as it is such a sceptical. We had to pause for a few minutes just to pinch ourselves. It wasn't long before the site was filling up so we hurried along to take photographs before it got too crowded. 

The Taj Mahal is a white marble mausoleum built in 1632- 1654 by Shah Jahan as a resting place for his late wife. We were asked to remove our shoes before walking on the marble, which we enjoyed as it felt more sacred. Inside the mausoleum itself there is a replica of the tomb (the actual one is underground and is closed to the public) and the walls are covered in Islamic calligraphy messages. Shah Jahan himself was later buried here next to his wife after his death. We were lucky enough to step right inside the mausoleum as we got there very early, however we heard you can expect to queue for up to 2 hours just to enter the building at around midday. After wandering around the site for around 3 hours we decided to just sit and watch as the sun rose and reflected off the white marble, changing its colour from pink to orange. It wasn't long before our tummies started rumbling, so we headed back to our hotel for some yummy breakfast. 

Here are our favourite pictures from our time in Agra:

Travelling like locals in the deadly rickshaws.. *Note Jack in the mirror*

Agra Fort

The rumoured place of Shah Jahans' death

Cute paraquet

The Taj Mahal

Heeeey Spicy Mermaids!

Our honorary Happy Wanderers :)

Sarah modelling Jack's 'man bag' (which was pink..)

Mermaid Temple!

Within 24 hours of being in India..

.. we all had henna!

Happy Wanderers 

♥