So, I need to continue my latest blog posting...my last major trip in India. I've been lazy lately and haven't updated like I should have been doing. But I'm fixing that now!
Now, to continue:
Day Three - Amritsar
If you remember, when I last left you, I was just getting on the sleeper train to head to our next destination city, Amritsar. We had 10 hours to kill on the train, and we were all split on too. I was luckily next to Jeannie and Stephen, so I wasn't completely by myself, which I am very thankful for. It's hard enough to be in a foreign country without being left alone on a train as well.
So, I had the top bunk on my side of the compartment, while Stephen and Jeannie had the two bunks next to me, only they were across the way. And since it was a sleeper train, we all settled in to just relax and read or do whatever it was that we could in our little bunks. It was also a time where we could get some food. I was STARVING as well! But me, I was worried about my money a bit...I didn't really want to spend a lot of money, so I bought a candy bar first. I, naively, thought that it would keep me filled up till we got to Amritsar the next day. Sadly, Stephen then had to buy dinner
and that just smelled HEAVENLY! I had to buy it and eat some actual food. Warm food too, mind you. Let me just say, it was delicious and I was really glad that I had bought actual food. And it was funny as well. Jeannie had an interesting way of eating her food. But that's just what you have to do when you're really hungry and want to eat food without spilling it everywhere and letting it go flying onto the train floor.
Once we were all feed, it was by the time that we were all settling down to sleep and hopefully rest enough to enjoy seeing the Golden Temple the next day. So, that's what we did. We all did random things, reading, working, listening to music, writing in our journals (well, I did), and all the other things, and we all just turned in to bed. Now, let me tell you...sleeping on these sleeper trains...so not comfortable. Nor is it so easy to get a deep night's sleep. I swear, while I may have slept for a full six hours, I didn't sleep deeply the way a person should.
We end up in Amritsar the next morning at about 6:30 in the morning. We make out way to the free bus ride that's near the train station to take us to the Golden Temple. That was a heaven send actually, as we didn't have to pay for a rickshaw. And when we got there, we all had to cover our heads in some way. The girls all had scarves, and the boys had to wear these pirate head wraps. It was kind of cool to wear the scarves in the way I've seen some girls wear them. A cool thing about the Golden Temple was that, even though were a lot of people in the area, and there was a lot of talking, but the thing was that it was a noisy quiet. It was beautifully reverent and quiet and just a nice place in general. Compared to a lot of the other religious sites that I've gone and seen and just been around in general during my time in India, this was one of the more spiritually reverent and connected places that I've seen. Let's just say, it was one of my favourite places to be on our trip.
After we had visited, and walked about the complex, as well as actually go inside the temple (which was pretty cool!), it was about 8:00, maybe 8:30 in the morning. Let's just say, that by this time, we were all STARVING!! There was a McDonald's close by, so we all trooped over there with our super super heavy backpacks, and ordered some hotcakes (pancakes) with the hash brown thingie and this really cheap, crappy orange juice drink that said it was Minute Maid orange juice. Yuck.
Once everyone had eaten, we all split off into groups. Lizzie and Oliver went off one way, Stephen, Jamie, and Westen went of to see the Indian/Pakistani broader. That left Kendra, Jeannie, and I in a group by ourselves. We wandered around Amritsar, looking at all the booths that sold those random little necklaces and trinkets and things like that. All three of us eventually got bored and ended back at McDonald's, just talking and waiting for the others to show up. By the time everyone did, we decided that we wanted to eat at Domino's for lunch, which was delicious! Pizza in India seems to just a little bit better than the pizza here. But that may just have been because I really really missed American food.
When we were done with lunch, we headed back to the train station to board our sleeper train for our 17 hour train ride. Now, that was a LONG train ride. I read for most of the trip, being in a top bunk again. I got quite a ways through the fourth Game of Thrones book, "A Feast for Crows". I then proceeded to fall asleep.
Day 4 - Jaipur
We roll into Jaipur. Let's just say that the after two nights on sleeper trains and not showering....we were SO happy to get to Jaipur. And our hotel. Which also had a Western shower. HALL-AFRICKEN'-LUEIGH! (if I even spelled that right...). It was so nice to shower and just let it feel like I'm a clean human being again. So, all the girls are in one room, and the boys and Stephen and Jeannie were in another room. When we were all clean humans again, we got ready to set out for the day. The first thing that we did was eat breakfast! I was starving and it was good to have some actual food.
We first headed off to a place called City Palace. It was a big museum place. There was a textile
museum, an artillery museum, as well as a place that sold a lot of hand made items for very expensive. And I mean very expensive. But it was still a good place to just wander around and see what's what.
When we were done wandering around City Palace, we started trying to find other places to explore. We actually tried going to see another museum to explore, but we ended up getting lost. When we figured that out, we headed to a place near City Palace called the Palace of the Winds. There was a lot of little shops right out front, all along the street. There was so many things that you could buy from cheap little elephant keychains to these awesome genie pants! We all ended up buying at least one thing on the way there. I got a scarf for my grandma, bartered all the way from 600 rupees to 300 rupees. I also bartered for a nightie from 800 rupees to 150 rupees. Am I good or what? ;)
Anyway, after we went through all the shops, we decided that we could either head up to the Monkey Temple or back to the hotel to rest and then the Monkey Temple. We decided that going to the Monkey Temple then back to the hotel would be a better course of action as then we wouldn't be wasting as much money. Monkey Temple was pretty cool though. It was a long walk up to the temple and there were monkeys everywhere! And when we got to the actual temple, it was a beautiful site to see! To see all of Jaipur below as well the sky at the sun was heading towards sunset. It was just a wonderful site to see! And the monkeys were kind of funny as well. There weren't a lot of monkeys up at the temple, but on our way down, we saw a TON of monkeys. And we got to feed them. They were so used to humans coming around and just giving out food that they were would just come up and grab the bag of peanuts right out of your hand. It happened to Jamie. A monkey stole both of her bags right out of her hand and ran off with them. Luckily, Westen was brave enough to go after it and get at least one bag back for her. It was kind of crazy at the same time.
We get back to our hotel, and we eat at the restaurant that the hotel has in it for dinner. And then we just chilled in Stephen and Jeannie's room for a while, watching their TV as it actually worked before we all headed to bed. It was a wonderful first day in Jaipur.
Talk to you later,
Ashley
Now, to continue:
Day Three - Amritsar
If you remember, when I last left you, I was just getting on the sleeper train to head to our next destination city, Amritsar. We had 10 hours to kill on the train, and we were all split on too. I was luckily next to Jeannie and Stephen, so I wasn't completely by myself, which I am very thankful for. It's hard enough to be in a foreign country without being left alone on a train as well.
So, I had the top bunk on my side of the compartment, while Stephen and Jeannie had the two bunks next to me, only they were across the way. And since it was a sleeper train, we all settled in to just relax and read or do whatever it was that we could in our little bunks. It was also a time where we could get some food. I was STARVING as well! But me, I was worried about my money a bit...I didn't really want to spend a lot of money, so I bought a candy bar first. I, naively, thought that it would keep me filled up till we got to Amritsar the next day. Sadly, Stephen then had to buy dinner and that just smelled HEAVENLY! I had to buy it and eat some actual food. Warm food too, mind you. Let me just say, it was delicious and I was really glad that I had bought actual food. And it was funny as well. Jeannie had an interesting way of eating her food. But that's just what you have to do when you're really hungry and want to eat food without spilling it everywhere and letting it go flying onto the train floor.
Once we were all feed, it was by the time that we were all settling down to sleep and hopefully rest enough to enjoy seeing the Golden Temple the next day. So, that's what we did. We all did random things, reading, working, listening to music, writing in our journals (well, I did), and all the other things, and we all just turned in to bed. Now, let me tell you...sleeping on these sleeper trains...so not comfortable. Nor is it so easy to get a deep night's sleep. I swear, while I may have slept for a full six hours, I didn't sleep deeply the way a person should.
We end up in Amritsar the next morning at about 6:30 in the morning. We make out way to the free bus ride that's near the train station to take us to the Golden Temple. That was a heaven send actually, as we didn't have to pay for a rickshaw. And when we got there, we all had to cover our heads in some way. The girls all had scarves, and the boys had to wear these pirate head wraps. It was kind of cool to wear the scarves in the way I've seen some girls wear them. A cool thing about the Golden Temple was that, even though were a lot of people in the area, and there was a lot of talking, but the thing was that it was a noisy quiet. It was beautifully reverent and quiet and just a nice place in general. Compared to a lot of the other religious sites that I've gone and seen and just been around in general during my time in India, this was one of the more spiritually reverent and connected places that I've seen. Let's just say, it was one of my favourite places to be on our trip.After we had visited, and walked about the complex, as well as actually go inside the temple (which was pretty cool!), it was about 8:00, maybe 8:30 in the morning. Let's just say, that by this time, we were all STARVING!! There was a McDonald's close by, so we all trooped over there with our super super heavy backpacks, and ordered some hotcakes (pancakes) with the hash brown thingie and this really cheap, crappy orange juice drink that said it was Minute Maid orange juice. Yuck.
Once everyone had eaten, we all split off into groups. Lizzie and Oliver went off one way, Stephen, Jamie, and Westen went of to see the Indian/Pakistani broader. That left Kendra, Jeannie, and I in a group by ourselves. We wandered around Amritsar, looking at all the booths that sold those random little necklaces and trinkets and things like that. All three of us eventually got bored and ended back at McDonald's, just talking and waiting for the others to show up. By the time everyone did, we decided that we wanted to eat at Domino's for lunch, which was delicious! Pizza in India seems to just a little bit better than the pizza here. But that may just have been because I really really missed American food.
When we were done with lunch, we headed back to the train station to board our sleeper train for our 17 hour train ride. Now, that was a LONG train ride. I read for most of the trip, being in a top bunk again. I got quite a ways through the fourth Game of Thrones book, "A Feast for Crows". I then proceeded to fall asleep.
Day 4 - Jaipur
We roll into Jaipur. Let's just say that the after two nights on sleeper trains and not showering....we were SO happy to get to Jaipur. And our hotel. Which also had a Western shower. HALL-AFRICKEN'-LUEIGH! (if I even spelled that right...). It was so nice to shower and just let it feel like I'm a clean human being again. So, all the girls are in one room, and the boys and Stephen and Jeannie were in another room. When we were all clean humans again, we got ready to set out for the day. The first thing that we did was eat breakfast! I was starving and it was good to have some actual food.
 |
| The guards outside the Textile Museum. |
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| Just some cool looking architecture. |
museum, an artillery museum, as well as a place that sold a lot of hand made items for very expensive. And I mean very expensive. But it was still a good place to just wander around and see what's what.
When we were done wandering around City Palace, we started trying to find other places to explore. We actually tried going to see another museum to explore, but we ended up getting lost. When we figured that out, we headed to a place near City Palace called the Palace of the Winds. There was a lot of little shops right out front, all along the street. There was so many things that you could buy from cheap little elephant keychains to these awesome genie pants! We all ended up buying at least one thing on the way there. I got a scarf for my grandma, bartered all the way from 600 rupees to 300 rupees. I also bartered for a nightie from 800 rupees to 150 rupees. Am I good or what? ;)
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| The view from the top at the temple. |
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| A mother and her child at Monkey Temple |
We get back to our hotel, and we eat at the restaurant that the hotel has in it for dinner. And then we just chilled in Stephen and Jeannie's room for a while, watching their TV as it actually worked before we all headed to bed. It was a wonderful first day in Jaipur.
Talk to you later,
Ashley
