Hello!
I spent two weeks in total in India, first I stayed a week in Southern Goa and after that we travelled to Mumbai by train for a few days, then to Delhi by plane and Agra by train.
We wanted to travel by train to get an authentic indian experience, but oh we were wrong to think that a sleeper-class ticket would be a decent way of travelling. So there we were, two blonde girls with a couple hundred locals hunched together in with big backpacks on our so called bed (more like a semi hard bench) for 10 hours 😂 We also got in the wrong coach, so we had to walk past 8 coaces to reach the right one. After the initial shock we managed to get some sleep, even though the train was noisy and people selling chai (indian tea with milk) ran past shouting ”chai chai chaaaiii” the entire night and we had several fans directed straight in the ceiling at us so we were freezing most of the time as well!🙈 Fortunantely the train ride was over sooner than expected and we had arrived in Mumbai.
Mumbai was quite nice, it was a lot more westernized that I had imagined with the odd Starbucks here and there. We lived in a private room in a hostel, so we got to meet some backpackers there as well. Mumbai also felt safe to walk around in (where Delhi did not) so we walked around a lot in the city for the 2 days we spent there. I have an offline map on my phone with navigation mode so we didn’t get lost. We also took a ferry to an island nearby called Elephanta, there were lots of ancient hindu caves and lots of monkeys.
Later, we took a 2 hour flight from Mumbai to Delhi, and were supposed to hop on a bus the same day to Agra (it’s a 3 hour journey there) but things didn’t go as expected and we had to stay a night in a hotel close to the airport in Delhi. The next morning we managed to get an uber to the train station in New Delhi and book a train to Agra that afternoon. We booked 3rd class, which was quite the same as the sleeper class we had travelled in before, but still it was felt cleaner and the passengers who would continue overnight even received clean sheets, blankets and pillows.
Taj Mahal was breathtakingly beautiful but the city itself polluted and dirty. The trainride back from Agra was really pleasant, it was an express train that only took 1,5 hours. The train was the first train that resembled a train back home, and we even got a meal on the train! We has some problems getting a taxi in Delhi, but we managed to find our hotel eventually. We didn’t have time for sightseeing in Delhi this time (due to problems with bus booking a few days prior) but I know I’ll be back in India another time.
We left India the following morning and got on a plane to Kathmandu, Nepal, but more about that next time! I struggled a lot with uploading these pictures and writing this blogpost on a small tablet, I wish I had a laptop with me!
Here you have the pictures I’ve been promising:
Agonda beach was soo nice
The cows also enjoyed the beach 🙂
Holi was so much fun! I got to celebrate it with the people who did the yoga course together with the friend i’m travelling with
Holi was kind of a paint/water fight where eveyone threw coloured powder and water on everyone! The paint came off in a few days
Agonda where I stayed was absolutely beautiful
We visited Palolem a few times as well, it was a 15 min tuk tuk ride away. The beach was gorgeous there as well even though the beach itself was slightly more crowdier
The beach dogs were so cute
Sunset in Agonda, hope they got a nice selfie!
I nevee had bad tasting food in India! Miss it already!
Our night train from Goa to Mumbai looked like this, it was certainly an experience
My bunk where I slept with all my luggage. These pictures are taken in the morning when some passengers had already got off the train
Then eventually we arrived in Mumbai
The cows in the streets were enormous in Mumbai compared to Agonda. The reason could be more plastic in their stomach
Mumbai had some really nice architecture and the streets were green from all the trees
Tourists at the gateway of India
A lot of contrasts in Mumbai, the poor lived like this or much worse and the rich like the picture below
So many nice buildings
A few books for sale
We took the ferry to Elephanta, the trip there was quite pleasant since it was a bit windy and the temperature was around 36 c.
The gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel
Cows dogs and monkeys everywhere in India
Caves of Elephanta
The statues in the caves are one of the oldest hindu sculptures, they are a bit damaged after the Portuguese found the caves and had target practise on the ancient monuments
Yoga time
The bazaar on the way up the hill to the caves
Mumbai skyline
Hotel Taj Mahal and the gateway again
Sunset on Chowpatty beach
The poorer part of Mumbai
Our homestay in Agra was lovely
South gate to the Taj Mahal
Sunrise at the Taj was impressive
The building is so beautiful that pictures don’t make it justice
Many people pilgrimage to the site
This morning was actually a bit chilly. The temperature in Agra and Delhi was around 10 c lower than in Goa and Mumbai
Everyone who wants a selfie with me I also want a selfie with 😀 these guys were a bit surprised when I picked up my camera as well
Indian women wearing so many colourful saris
The gate to ”baby taj mahal”
It was a lot smaller but nonetheless magnificent
I liked how peaceful the baby taj was compared to the bigger one
Beautiful handiwork on the mosaic
Lush gardens of the baby taj. The rest of Agra was rather dry
We also spotted a camel
The last picture for now from India, a beautiful sunset in Agonda
Currently i’m in Nepal, we’re going on a week’s hike tomorrow! That means no internet but I’ll post pictures from here as well as soon as I get back!
Sampai jumpa = see you later (in bahasa)!
K
Martial arts training session at a temple
We walked around in Kathmandu quite a lot, it was a nice change after traffic chaos in India.
The streets are lit up by prayer flags
The lakeside view was really nice
I almost expected to see some trolls or rumpnissar in the foggy forest but nooope
Up at 5:30 am at high camp at 4100m to see the sunrise over the Annapurna mountain range
We mostly trekked through rainforest but at around 3500m the trees stopped growing and the landscape consisted of grassy hills and melting snow.
Foggy on the way up.
Going down was a lot quicker than going up!
The hot springs at Jhinu Danda were awesome!
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