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I am definitively coming back to India. The reason for that is that this time around 'Incredible India' hasn't really convinced me and I think India has more to offer than what I've seen so far. In fairness, India was up for a big task after we'd had such a great time in Pakistan and it is monsoon here and has just been pissing down. But still... No, hasn't quite done it for me yet.
After Lahore in Pakistan we went to Amritsar about an hour from the border. Amritsar is known for its Golden Temple which is a Sikh temple. It was, and is, very beautiful and peaceful, well worth a visit. It is 'run' on volunteer work only and you can also get free food there. According to Lonely Planet they feed about 10 000 people there every day but our guide said 300 000. After being there I would say it's somewhere in between, closer to the former than the latter. But it was very interesting to see how the people come in in crowds, sitting in lines on the floor and people come with buckets of food and splashes it onto your plate (which you get outside). Efficient. The food wasn't quite to my taste but the others liked it.
One of the guide books said that Amritsar only has the Golden Temple to offer and that is true. We didn't see all of Amritsar but what we saw was just dirty and dusty (and it was unbelievably hot!) and not even in a charming way. Even so, it was one of the better nights I've had in a while. After seeing the border ceremony from the Indian side (which wasn't nearly as good as the Pakistani side), one of the guys and I went for dinner. We were tired of curry and just wanted 'normal' food. And we found Crystal restaurant, where we felt really underdressed, but where they had exactly what we wanted: pasta and fish and chips. And beer even! Although it was not on the meny and the bottle was covered with a cloth to hide its content. I'm not really a beer drinker but its funny what you want when traveling through a dry area. After that wonderful dinner we finished off with Italian gelato. Nice! We took a rickshaw taxi (first time ever!) back to the hotel where we joined the others just hanging out and talking. We all had a few beers and I guess we all felt a bit tipsy, having the first taste of alcohol in a while. But everyone was happy and it was a good night (even though it didn't last very long).
From Amritsar we did a seven hour drive up to Dharamsala, or more specifically McLeod Ganj. This is a small hillside town where Dalai Lama has his exile home along with his government (also in exile). It was a strange kind of place, lots of tourists, a fair amount of Tibetan monks and a few hippies. On one hand it was very relaxed and offered a good variety of food and cakes (!) and Tibetan presence. On the other hand it stank, had lots of cows in the street and the maddening honking of the horns. Perhaps not a very good description but basically it is fun to have been there but I'm probably not going back. Ever.
The day in McLeod Ganj it started raining and that set the standard for the next few days. When we left Dharamsala it was absolutely pouring down and when we arrived in Shimla about eight hours later it was also raining like nothing else. And the hotel was crap (although the service was good, in fact just the opposite of Lahore where the hotel was good and the service was s***). The room smelled, it was tacky and they didn't have electricity. Not nice. It did not look good for Shimla.
Next day: raining. Ah well, we can't stay inside all day. The driver took us to Kufri, apparently a place Indian tourists go. We drove up a small mountain, were convinced that we needed horses and were presented to some skinny-looking things of some horses. The ride up to the sight was not a pleasant one, for man or beast. And I'm not even sure what we went up there to see. I think one of the buildings was some kind of temple and they had a view point where you supposedly could see the Himalayas. If the weather was good, that is. They tried to get us to pay to look through a telescope but with that fog you couldn't even see 200 m. And it was raining. Absolutely no point in going there what so ever.
Back in Shimla, a town set in the hillside forest where the British apparently spent the summers, the fog was still thick. We went up to the Ridge and the Mall road and suddenly we saw a much nicer part of Shimla. That part of town is actually charming with its old colonial buildings and nice view. If it hadn't been foggy. And we just hung out in that area the rest of the day.
Next day, another long drive. This time about nine hours to Rishikesh And the first part of the trip it felt like being in a tumble dryer. You couldn't find 100 m straight road and the conditions were so bad it felt like getting your brain shaken out of your head. Not at all pleasant. And, as the days before, I think we were going through some very nice areas of India but because of the fog I have no idea. Some places you could hardly see the road in front. The second half of the trip I kept thinking of the song of Queen "I'm going slightly mad".
Now in Rishikesh the weather is somewhat better because we're at a lower altitude. And it's actually good that it's cloudy today because the humidity alone makes sweat like a pig and with the sun it would have been unbearable. We have been walking around for a few hours in this sacred yoga place and I must admit it doesn't really do it for me. I'm not that into yoga, meditation or smoking of hasj so it hasn't much to offer me. Again, fun to have been here but I'm ready to move along tomorrow.
After traveling a while you get used to different kinds of wild life, including lizards and bugs. Yesterday we saw fireflies and it was cool to see how they light up in small flashes. And this morning we had monkey s*** outside our door. But one thing I can definitively manage without is spiders. The guys in the room next to mine said they had a huge spider in their bathroom and I had to go and check. I didn't even look properly in the room, I just saw some really long black legs beside the toilet and backed out instantly. Oh my God! That b****** was as big as my hand! Probably not dangerous but I would refuse to use that bathroom. They ended up killing it but for the rest of the day, and still now, I can't help but thinking if it has some relatives that might fancy our bathroom...
All in all, monsoon is not the best time to visit India. Any guidebook would have told me that if I had bothered to read them. But I'm here now for a few more days before I will see what Nepal has to offer.
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