Probably the most common question I get asked about Burning Man (other than why on earth did you want to go there) is what did you actually do? It turns out it’s remarkably easy to pass the time, and the week flew by.
Apart from conference travel, life lately has been mostly about the routine. Working full time (in a temporary personal assistant job) has rather put a crimp in my exhibition-and-gallery-going, although it’s nice to have some extra dollars coming in (especially with a demanding end-of-summer trip coming up, but more on that another time!).
It’s been a while since I added a new state to my collection, but earlier this month a conference took me to Cleveland so that ticks Ohio off the list. Unluckily for Tom he didn’t make it out there (although he got to go to Santa Monica instead so there’s no need to feel sorry for him), which means that he is now trailing two states behind…!
Back in Delhi at the end of our Golden Triangle tour, my thoughts were focussed on the conference – it was, after all, the alleged purpose of the trip! However, we knew we had at least a day free at the end, and top of my list was a walking tour of Old Delhi. (I would have been perfectly happy to do this on our own, but the brief glimpse of Chandni Chowk from the cycle rickshaw had convinced me we’d get lost within moments, so it seemed like it would simpler, as well as more informative, to join a guided group!)
The latest excitement in Hoboken is a trial program for one of those public hire schemes for electric scooters. Since it launched I’ve been enviously watching people zipping around, and so I downloaded the app in preparation for use at the earliest opportunity.
February 11th was our single day in Jaipur, and we really made the most of it, although in a future trip I’d like to spend a lot more time exploring Rajastan. Our guide, Seema, met us bright and early and we drove through the old city for a glimpse of the Wind Palace on the way out to Amer fort.
Most of February 10th was allocated for the drive from Agra to Jaipur, visiting Fatehpur Sikri and the Abhaneri step well en route – a good 5 hours of drive time, plus stops. But at least we were fortunate enough to be travelling in the reasonably spacious comfort of an air-conditioned car…
Other than the undeniable beauty of the Taj Mahal, Agra was the least interesting stop on our tour – apart from the Taj itself, the rest of the city isn’t much to look at, and although the Red Fort had some attractive elements too, it’s the only place we visited which I wouldn’t bother to go back to.
All that notwithstanding, sunrise at the Taj Mahal was absolutely worth the trip!
After a couple of wonderfully hectic (or should that be hectically wonderful?!) days in Kathmandu, we flew back to India. Next on the itinerary: Varanasi, or Banaras as it is called by most of the Indians we spoke to.
In describing my experience of Varanasi to people, the word I keep coming back to is “magical”. There was just something about being in a place which is so ancient and so meaningful to so many people, even despite the lunatic traffic and incessant noise.
When we were planning the itinerary for the trip, our travel agent initially came back with a schedule which looked good, but contained quite a few instances of “half day to explore on your own”. Now, I’m all in favour of self-motivated explorations, but it seemed like there was space to condense things somewhat and insert an additional destination. Various Indian options were discussed but the prospect of adding another country won the day, so Kathmandu was duly selected
