Into the heart.

Today we watched the sunset from the monkey temple, guarded by dozens of monkeys and surrounded by the desert city of Jaipur. Two days ago we were awe struck by the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings we have ever seen. The day before that we watched bodies being burned and put into the very holy Ganges river.

Traveling in India is by far the most challenging that we have encountered. Every moment is sensory overload, the sights, sounds, smells surround you and overtake what your thoughts, feelings and heart in every experience. The colors are stunning. The architecture is exquisite. The people are warm. The poverty is heart breaking. Cows are everywhere. And although each day in India continues to be a mental and emotional challenge, it is as much rewarding as it is challenging.

After leaving Darjeeling, we headed into the heart of India, the Golden Triangle. We took an overnight train to Varanasi, meant to leave at 5pm, actually left at midnight and arrived to Varanasi 9 hours late.

Varanasi is a complex system of narrow allyways. In order to get anywhere you, twist and turn throughout the areas behind the ghats. The alley ways are filled with colorful shops, food and chair stands that fill the air with yummy aromas that almost make it so you cant smell the cow, dog, goat and human waste that is everywhere.

We visited the Marikarnika Ghat first, one of two of the burning ghats. It is one of the most holy ghats for Hindus, as it is the final stop of the popular panchathirthi pilgrimage. The ghat is also just next to the primary cremation grounds, where bodies are burned, day and night, to be prepared to be placed into the river and sent on to the afterlife. Bodies are paraded down to the river, covered and adorned in flowers and gold coverings. The family prepares for the ceremony by the men shaving their head and the women painting their nails. After getting permission from the local government to burn their family member, the family purchases the wood to build the fire from the 'eternal flame'. The body is then dipped in the river and cremated. The ashes are then thrown into the river. Any Hindu can be cremated at the river, if the family has money to purchase the wood. The only exceptions are holy men, pregnant women, babies and animals. They are not burned but their bodies are tied to rocks and thrown directly into the river because they are already pure. Lepers and people bitten by snakes are also not burned.

We watched parts of cremations from a hospice overlooking the ghat and were told about the rituals by a 'government volunteer'. He was extremely knowledgeable about it all and we appreciated him filling us in, but afterwards he told me he would not take my donation as there was a 'minimum donation'. oooooookkkk. And then he invited us to come into his silk shop. So it goes in India, everyone has a shop or a friends shop.

After Varanasi, we took the overnight train to Agra. Agra is known for being a city full of swindlers and poverty, but it is the home of the Taj Mahal. On the train we met Sam (Australia), who offered us a lift with his private driver he had booked. The driver picked us up from the train station and after bribing the 'taxi union', we went to parking lot close to the Taj Mahal. You can only drive so close to the Taj, in order to keep the pollution down, and then you must take either an electric car, a horse or camel driven carriage. We opted for the cheap and cheerful electric car and pulled up to the door of the Taj. After a quick security check, apparently security has gotten a lot stricter after the Mumbai shootings, we were on the compound. Our guide was super informative and told us about each unique, always symmetrical parts of the compound. After viewing the outside sections, we crossed through an Aladdin shaped arch and were awe struck at the immediate beauty of the building. It only continued to get more beautiful as we got closer. It is not in fact white, but an intricate designs of marble stones with floral patterns throughout. There is also Arabic scripts from the Koran up and down the entry ways. The Taj is surrounded by four white pillars, all built at 100 degree angle away from the Taj, just in case they were ever to fall. Inside, the tombs themselves are off limit, but you can visit replicas that are kept in a beautiful, ornate marble room.

The story of the Taj Mahal just adds to its beauty and mystery. It was built for the favorite wife of Shah Jahan, the Mughal emporer in 1632. When he received the news that she had died, he decided to bury her in a tomb of timeless beauty, a "tear that would hang on the cheek of time". The building of the Taj was completed in 1653 with 20,000 imported Persian artists and workers working non-stop on the construction.

After an amazing, but much too fast visit at the Taj Mahal, we were on our way again (with our borrowed private driver) to Jaipur. Jaipur is in the desert state of Rajasthan, so the scenery changed to desert towns filled with camel pulled carts, turbaned men and more women in brightly colored sarees! Jaipur is known as the 'pink city', after being painted pink in the 19th century for Prince Alberts visit. The city is no longer actually very pink, but the name remains. The city is divided into several sections and was a lot larger than we were expecting! We had a hard time getting around our preferred style...walking. Streets in India are even less pedestrian friendly than southeast Asia, and not only do you have to avoid cars, you have the constant ring of rickshaw drivers following you trying to convince you wherever you are going is too far and you should get in with them. In the end, we often did just because it was more annoying to try and ignore them while trying not to get lost. Our first evening we visited the American embassy, good ol McDs, just to say we have been there in India. The menu is totally different, they serve McVeg and the Maharaja Mac. No beef at these McDonalds.

We spent our day in Jaipur with Dave and Sam (USA), guys we had met while buying train tickets. Hah, that was an adventure in itself. We still have not quite perfected that part of traveling in India either and by the time we bought 2 tickets, we had gone through the line 5 times. :) But, I think we made the ticket guy laugh. Anyways, with Dave and Sam guiding with their lonely planet, we did a walking tour through the craziness of the pink city. We walked through amazing bazaars, filled with fruits, veggies, spices, silk, tie dyed sarees, gems and jewels. It was beautiful and made me want to bedazzle myself in Indian clothes and gems. But no time, after passing through the bazaars, we visited the City Palace and museum, the Jantar Mantar Observatory, and the Hawa Mahal (the Palace of Winds). We missed the famous Amber fort, but instead decided to climb up to the Galta, the Monkey Temple. The temple is set on a cliff, overlooking Jaipur. The walk up is not bad, you just have to be careful of the aggressive monkeys, who will find any food on you, even in your bag. And while you are walking defensively through the monkeys, you have to watch out for cows meandering down the path...those cows don't move for anybody. But, if you make it to the top, the view is breathtaking, a dusky sunset littered with kites being flown by children atop their rooftops of colorful houses.

It is in these moments that I hope to remember and take with me from India, remembering the beauty that is unlike any other in the world. The moments where all the aches and pains and annoyances of traveling disappear in being in a place so different, so foreign that it makes you reflect on how big the world is and how lucky we are to get the chance to experience this corner called India.

Photos of India....

India