India - the first thing that hits you about this country is the noise, the dust, the pollution the smell! This vibrant country is full of people, full of life and full of colours. I must admit I've been fascinated by India since reading Dominique Lapierre's "The City of Joy". From the moment I met my first hippie backpacker to seeing the extreme poverty I knew this is the India I have always imagine it to be. India is the most interesting country I have visited this travel. The country is full of people, all living in proximity closer then anywhere else I have visited. The locals I found was hard work to deal with. With so much poverty I found them a different breed to handle. But in saying that, the experience was more rewarding as I got to know some of them.

After Varanasi I visited Khujuraho, to view it's magnificent UNESCO protected temples. These temples, built by the Chandelas dynasty between AD 950 to 1050 have survive centuries of unrest and wars thanks to it's location of being in the middle of nowhere. As I found out since getting there was a bit of a mission, entailing a combination of train and buses. But it was well worth it just to see the spectacular carvings and it's sensual scenes.

From Khajuraho I caught a bus to the nearby Orchha to see it's former imperial palace, chhatris (cenotaph) and temples. All very impressive and peaceful as there were hardly any tourist around. From Orchha it was another bus ride to Jhansi, followed by a class 3 train ride to Agra. Damn should I have known that class 3 did not include seating (well it does if one is quick and lucky enough!) and being packed in like animals I would have opted for a higher class. I ended up being stranded beside the smelly toilets, but thanks to my recently purchased Nintendo Gameboy (yeah yeah... whatever! ) the next 4 hours passed like a breeze... of rotten egg!!!

The Magnificent Taj...

The train bought me to Agra for one thing only, the magnificent Taj Mahal. I wanted to see this amazing piece of architecture, to see whether it is as beautiful as it is from all the picture I have seen. The Taj Mahal was built by the Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction of the building took 22 years to complete, with a total of 20,000 workers. The central structure is constructed of semi-translucent white marble, carved with flowers and inlaid with thousands of semi-precious stones in a beautiful pattern using a process known as pietra dura. The whole structure is topped of by four small domes surrounding the beautiful and lofty bulbous central dome.

The Taj Mahal did not disappoint, it is the most stunning piece of architecture I have ever seen. And despite the massive price hike for foreigners - at 750 rupees (or 15USD) for me it was worth it. But it is sad to see backpackers who came all the way here, to miss it out coz of the price.

After Agra, it was a quick bus ride to Fatehpur Sikri, to wonder around Emperor Akbar's 'perfect city'. Though I wasn't impressed. Especially after forking out another 250 rupee to enter the compound. I was also pretty pissed off from being hounded by the locals in the Jama Masjid (Main Mosque). Why do they hound you even in a place of worship??? So I left for some peace and tranquility at the famous bird sanctuary of Bharatpur. To arrive to a noisy and brightly lit evening, as the locals celebrate the first day of Diwali - the festival of the lights, a celebration by each and every household, rich and poor. All decorated with oil lamps lit to show the Hindu God Rama the way home from his period in exile. The kids especially love this festival as they shoot their colourful sky rockets and ignited loud firecrackers. I join in on the celebration with a local family in a traditional 'puja' In which prayers are held, incense lit, with sweets offered to the the Goddess Lakshmi.

The next day I hired a bike to cycle around the Keoladeo Ghana National Park. This park is famous for it's varieties of birds. I saw Siberian cranes, herons, egrets, cormorants, kingfishers and other birds which I don't recognize. Their cries in early morning was deafening as they go about their daily ritual of gathering tree branchs for nesting and fishing for breakfast.

The colours of Rajasthan!

After the bird sanctuary I headed for Rajasthan and it's colourful capital - Jaipur. Also known as the 'pink city' for the colours of the buildings in the old city. I enjoyed walking the streets, past the fruit sellers (with their massive papayas at 10 rupee/kg!!!), past furniture stores, saris shop, electronic dealers and yummy street side snack stores, I walked past traffic junctions and it's crazy motorbike onslaught, past beggars, cows, pigs, monkeys and camels... Past... a McD! Jaipur is the most cosmopolitan place I've visited since... Chengdu in China! I confess, upon seeing McD's I had to duck in for a feed. Trust me, you would yearn for it too after a constant diet of curries and rice! Though there were no Big Macs at McD's, only McVeg, McFish or McChicken. I met more friendly locals in Jaipur, and ended up having another Diwali celebration with them. We played with expensive fireworks too, including these 500 rupees sky rockets! My host took me to attend a puja at the Govind Devi Temple before returning to their home for a family feast.

snake charmers
in Pushkar.

After Jaisalmer, we headed into Pushkar for the world's greatest camel fair! Although I felt we may have arrive a little late as most of the camels were sold therefore there were little trading going on. However the atmosphere was still grand, with plenty of devotees, tourist, mystics, comedians and musicians about. A highlight for me was ridding one of the ferry wheels during to see the activities around town as well as to view the sun set. The locals were extremely friendly at Pushkar, and were eager to talk to us. It was good to have Yogi around as being a British born Indian he could still converse in Hindi and could explain some of the going-ON's to me. We saw some weird sights in Pushkar too, like a Sadhu (Holy man) whom was hangin a brick of his testicles and men pushing their 'holy' cows around with 5 legs. After a while, the crowds in Pushkar got too much for me. I think I will have to return to this town in the future to get a better impression of it.

To the wintery capital...

So upon leaving Pushkar we did a quick visit to Jodhpur, to see it's majestic Fort of Meherangarh, for a view over the 'blue city'. I was running out of time, and was eager to spend extra days in Delhi to sort out my flight home. It was an overnight train into Delhi.

And how chilly was this city!!! I arrived at 6am wearing only 2 layers, so the rickshaw ride to the Paharganj was a bone shivering affair. Delhi on first impression is dirty and smelly, pretty much my first impression of entering any big cities in India so it is not a biggie. There are so many poor people here, with many living in the slums dotted around the city. Especially around the fringe of Old Delhi. From my rickshaw I saw people stoking fire to warm themselves up and to cook breakfast, dishevel looking kids were walking the streets looking for scraps and cows were were feeding on each other's turds! How depressing it seems!

Despite all these Delhi has a fascinating history, just read William Dalrymple's "City of Djinns" for it's account of old Delhi. Wondering through old Delhi reveal the mingling of two great religion, Hinduism and Islam. Muslim women in black veil mingled with Hindu women in their colourful saris and a bangle-full wrist. Men with big whisking goatees haggle over prices with their Hindu counterpart. I hung out with Yuko in Delhi and we explore it's famous sights including the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, India Gate, Humayun's Tomb, Isa Khan's Tomb, Lodi's garden, Bahai Temple, Raj Ghat and Gandhi's Memorial museum.

Delhi has a lot to see and do, but no matter how interesting this city seems. I was winding down after a year of solid traveling. What an awesome journey it has been! But a certain cloud was hanging over as the end is in sight. I guess I have a lot of apprehension and uncertainty about my home coming, though I am excited about hanging up my backpack and anxious to see my friends and family, and having my bedroom back, having home cooked meal and not constantly watching over my moneybelt. It was also a sad farewell to Yuko, my wonderful Japanese companion whom I hung out with from Tibet, I hope we meet again. Farewell India, thanks for the memories, thanks for the challenge and thanks for the experience.

"Namaste" to...

Yuko Hisatsugi (Jap), Simon (Germany), Andrea Ling (UK), Claire Morton (UK), Yogi Kumar (Birmingham, UK), Ravi Verma (Udaipur), Jill Marrone (USA).