Traveling all over India

I last updated my webpage in Rishikesh. Since then we have been very busy traveling across India.

After leaving Rishikesh we went to a city called Hardiwar. While there we went on a ski lift up to a famous Hindu Temple on the top of a mountain. We also went down to the ghats on the scared Ganges River and watched all the strange people doing strange things. The Ganges River was way more polluted than in Rishikesh and it was only 1 hour down the river. Hardiwar was o.k. but I liked Rishikesh a lot better. We left Hardiwar and caught a bus to Dehra Dun and then onto Musoorrie.

Musoorrie, a former British Hill Station, was way up in the mountains at over 6,000 feet. Our room had no heater so we had to cover up with 6 blankets. It was so cold you could see your breath in the morning. Musoorrie was good and we had a nice time relaxing. We even went to Domino's for pizza. From there we cruised to a place called Chandigarh.

Chandigarh was a modern city, very different than what we had seen in India. We cruised all over town in cycle rickshaws, ate good food and checked out the Nek Chan Rock Garden. This strange guy (Nek) who worked for the road department would collect garbage from all over the city during the day and would go out at night and turn it into treasure. From 1958 to 1972 he would sneak off into the forest and build sculptures, buildings, and other pieces of art out of the city's trash. He did not tell anyone, not even his wife. When the city eventually found out, he got in trouble and they were going to destroy all of his works of art. However, they ended up changing their minds and turned the place into a museum. They also gave him a job, and a full work crew, to continue making it bigger. It was amazing what that guy could do with garbage. We left Chandigarh and caught another bus to Amritsar.

Amritsar was one of my favorite places in all of India. As we pulled up to this holy city for the Sikhs this lady started talking to my dad and me and asking questions about where we were from. A few minutes later she asked us to come to her house and stay with her family. We were a little nervous about going with her. My parents had always taught me not to talk to strangers and now we were actually thinking about going home with a complete stranger. We ended up going, not knowing what to expect. We were happy to find that they had a very nice house and also a bakery right on the property. For the next 4 days I could eat as many fresh pastries, cookies and cakes as I wanted. It was awesome. The whole family was very friendly and made us feel at home. They were also very generous and fed us way too much food and took us everywhere.

While in Amritsar we got to visit the Golden Temple two times. It was amazing. The Golden Temple is the most important location in the world in the Sikh religion. The temple is surrounded by a scared lake that they believe has healing powers. The first time we saw the temple was at night and there was a full moon. There were gurus chanting and the temple(which is actually made of gold) was very crowded with pilgrims from around the world. It was a great experience. We also went to the border closing ceremony. Every night as the border between India and Pakistan closes there is a ceremony that is like going to a show. It was really neat to watch. They would exchange dirty looks, hurl insults, and clench their fists; then, in the end they would exchange warm handshakes and close the border. While this was happening there were thousands of Indians cheering for their country and at the same time people in Pakistan doing the same. We almost got trampled after the ceremony by a stampede of crazy patriotic Indians. It was a great experience, but I was glad to get out of there without getting hurt.

We were sad to leave Amritsar and our adopted family, but we caught a train and headed to Jaipur. Jaipur, is a famous city in the state of Rajastan. Japiur was cool, and one night we actually got to stay in a palace. We also got to explore the old city and the Amber Fort which was great. We hung out for a few days before heading onto Pushkar.

We are now in Pushkar, which is a small town in the middle of the desert. It is located in the hills and surrounds a scared lake. The Hindus believe the lake was created by Brahma and has healing powers and there are gurus and other spiritual seekers everywhere. This is a very relaxing town and we are going to go on a camel safari while we are here.

From Pushkar we are heading south to Udaipur, then Mumbai (formerly Bombay), and then down to the beaches in Goa and Kerala. We are going to spend over a month kicking back on the beaches and will spend Christmas in Goa. We are having a great trip.

Please email me at kylearoundtheworld@gmail.com and post a comment on my blog.