now we have left rajasthan and are staying at varanasi. let me summarise, where we have been so far:
from pushkar we have left for
ranthambhore, where we were supposed to go on tigersafari. when we entered the nationalpark early in the morning everybody was very excited and ready for tigerspotting. we spotted and spotted and spotted. and really! there were some white-spotted deers, monkeys, birds but no tigers. badluck - but we didn't feel like others, who are attending several tours on the off chance to see one of those sweet cats in nature... i prefer going to the zoo where there are tigers for sure:-)
our next destination was
jaipur, the pink city. it's famous for hawa mahal (palace of the winds) and the gigantic amber fort. jaipur is a busy place with many things to see. we enjoyed something else much better than all the sights - the bollywood movie "deewangee"! it's a typical indian movie, which gots everything in it: action, thrill, love and dance. we liked it very much, eventhough we didn't understand one single hindu-word. the final scene was just the best, as it showed the hero-couple on the moenchsberg in salzburg... we were taken aback und started feeling a little bit homesick. we finished this exciting evening with a soft-ice from mc donalds...
on the way to agra, we visited the fascinating ghost town
fatehpur sikri. it was built by the big emperor akbar, but only used for a couple of years in the 16th century. what remained is a huge open-air museum with palaces, mosques, temples and fort. it's a very interesting place and we enjoyed it a lot.
in
agra are basically two things to see: agra fort and taj mahal. agra fort is huge and interesting for many moghuls have lived there and each of them did some new buildings, in order to give the fort his own touch. the main attraction is undoubtedly
taj mahal. it's one of the seven wonders of the world and when you see it, you can understand why. it's perfectly constructed in symetry and harmonie and you can feel it's grandeur in every part. the white marble changes colours depending on the sun- and moon-light. it's just unique and almost impossible to be described. so when you are just around the corner, don't miss it!
the last place we were to visit with our driver raju was
khajuraho. it's famous for it's temples, some of the last ones of the chandel area (built between 950 and 1050 a.d.) still existing in india. the temples are also called the kama sutra temples and when you see them, you know immediately why. there are countless erotic scenes to be seen on the walls. most of them are very open-minded for these days so it's hard to believe, that they have been built about 1000 years ago. we spent many hours watching the temples - i'm sure, most people prefer studying temples with erotic subjects rather than stories of gods and goddesses.
then we had to say goodbye to raju, who has not only been a good driver but also a good advisor and fellow for the last 20 days. he dropped us at the train station at satna, where we catched our train to
varanasi. this is one of the most holy places for hindus where they do religious bathings in the ganges. it's fascinating to watch all these people on the ghats doing everything from praying, bathing to washing. a good way to follow the action on the ghats is to catch a boat ride in the morning time. we liked it! afterwards i enjoyed a full bodymassage right on the gangas shore, which is supposed to be very vitalising... we'll see!
posted by christoph 09:36
