actually Poon Hill Nepal, but first foot forward
Bare Bones …. Delhi – Jaipur – Agra – Varanasi
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Landing in India for the first time back in January 1986.
2am, within the airport, the clean, sterile, safe environment of the glass-and-concrete terminal.
The slow trudge through Arrivals, the necessary bureaucracy of passport control,
only to look through the floor-to-ceiling windows and see a dense, living wall of faces staring back
The pulsating throng, the sheer crush and weight of humanity outside.
Delhi awaits!
the thick, humid night air mixed with exhaust fumes, diesel, bidis, and spices, accompanied by a roaring wall of sound from shouting drivers, honking horns, and dozens of voices calling out at once.
A late night black-and-yellow Ambassador cab journey to the hotel, bedlam and cows!
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I met Alan, a 22-year-old from Canada, at Heathrow Airport, when Mum and Dad were waving goodbye to me.
We started chatting, struck up a friendship… and spent the first few weeks of my time in India traveling together.
He was a positive enthusiastic soul… lacking my pondersome, youthful indecision.
Those first few days in Delhi a blur of exhaustion, sensory overload, enduring the chaos. Jet-lagged and sleep deprived.
It was around the time of Republic day, so the jamboree of colourful marching bands.
a horseback wedding procession!
The first thing I did was to head to Connaught Place to sell my bottle of duty free Johnnie Walker Whisky to a be-turbaned Sikh in an auto rickshaw
a handful of black market rupees!
Republic Day
Delhi Wedding
Cricket with Red Fort, Delhi
Cricket Mad India!
I remember being on a dusty train platform in the middle of nowhere.
There was one television, centrally located, on a table, Black and White, hulking, old school Cathode Ray Tube.
A huge crowd of a hundred Indians gathered around watching watching the game. Hushed focus.
All castes, every religion, from wealthy businessman through to beggar
Something ancient. Something powerful.
Alan Red Fort
Most of our first few days in Delhi, we were actually just trying to leave!
often the way. And yeah, such a bureaucracy involved in trying to get a train ticket.
queuing, filling out triplicate forms, seat quotas, bleaggh
We struggled. Eventually succeded. And, obviously, went first to the Taj.
Then after a day or two on to Jaipur
We stayed at the Jaipur Inn, a rooftop view, serene garden, and a retired Wing Commander, military rigour, with a glorious, flourishing mustache.
We were persuaded to buy some gem stones, the allure of easy moolah! Carry them on to Sydney, then sell them there.
Hours spent pondering fragments of stony light set in their velvet cases… Alan and Robin were particularly encouraged, peer pressure.
I purchased 3 light blue aqua marines, a string of purple amethyst and another, the warm honey, of brandy citrines.
I still have them to this day! lost in a box of memorabilia… Gemstones, they last forever!
Alan and Robin, A beautiful day cycling out to the Amber Fort
skirting the calm waters of Man Sagar Lake where the Jal Mahal sits in the middle
Next it was onto Varanasi, one of the worlds most ancient and sacred cities
two fighting rams with painted horns, one black and one white, clashing head-to-head in the morning light, yin and yang, balance, and conflict
the burning ghats, astonished at the sheer volume of wood it takes to burn a human body… the keening, the flames, the hush
sunset boat ride
the morning ritual
We stayed at Yogi Guest House—a travellers haven tucked deep within the narrow, winding labyrinth of the old city’s alleyways. I loved it there
Dhobi Wallahs: Watching the washermen at work along the lower steps—slapping wet clothes against flat stone slabs, laying the clothes to dry in the sun, and returning them days later scented with strong soap, crisp, fiercely, precisely folded.
Lonely Planet India, Geoff Crowther, before the days of the internet this was absolutely essential, a crucial read
it modulated and shaped the entire experience
where to go? where to stay? how to get there? where to eat?
I’d have been completely lost without it!
It was also fascinatingly informative on history, religion and culture… Hindu mythology, Mughal architecture, British colonial history.
it’s potted guides were a revelation and an education. Thank you!