We did it! We survived our first night on Indian rail. With the train running on time and everything. With six out of our 7 group members all being in the same berth it made sleeping a little easier. Even though it it just as easy for some random to come in and grab whatever they like (thank god for luggage locks and cables)! Well in theory...however Toot "locked hers" but forgot to actually spin the numbers to actually lock the cable. D'oh!!! On previous trips with trains we have had a solid lockable door between us and the outside world, this time just a curtain. With 3 tier bedding but at least air-conditioned the night wasn't too bad. We were right at the end of the carriage so everyone who wanted to go to the toilet during the night walked straight passed our area which wasn't a problem in itself unless Gordo wanted to sleep with her legs stretched out. Being on the middle tier Gordos feet were just at the height of people heads coming through the door which meant every time the door opened the person would either get kicked in the head or the toes on Gordos feet had limited time left after meeting the door several times.
Toot woke up to find someone trying to "borrow" her blanket and once he realised she was awake quickly folded it back up and placed it back on her feet. Cheeky bugger!
We arrived into Varanasi this morning with all our belongings and a little sleep under our belt and headed to the hotel. We had breakfast as our rooms were not yet ready and sat and chatted for a little while. Then it was off to our rooms and time for a shower and some washing of clothes. The room now looks like a Chinese laundry.
We've just realised we haven't introduced you to our current group members (who will be with us for the whole 16 days - we have another 6 joining us tonight who started their tour in Nepal and I think we get another 4 in Agra?? - Gecko's for you all about "modules" for their tours!). Anyway getting back to our current group which consists of a total of 7 people including us - all Aussies except 1 American.
We have Chris & Danielle from Sydney a married couple in their mid-thirties seem very well travelled and nice enough. Chris currently has lens envy of Toots camera lens. We might need to frisk him at the end of the tour in case it accidentally fell into their teeny tiny luggage (that's another story right there).
We then have two young girls from Perth Holly & Chloe we reckon they must be in their early twenties. Any AFL followers out there apparently Chloe's brother Jack Darling plays for the West Coast Eagles? I have no idea about AFL any more so I'm just taking her word for it. Again seem like nice girls but are "young" shall we say.
And finally we have Yvonne from New York City - I'm really unsure of her age?! She's also lovely but very reserved. I guess as these next couple of weeks pass we'll know a bit more about each person and who annoys us etc. hahaha.
Also sorry our guide is names Prabhav - he's from Jaipur. It's taking some time on how to pronounce is name properly but we're getting there slowly. Again we keep comparing him to our fab first tour leader Tom from Vietnam. No one has topped him yet he was just awesome. Oh well we will keep you up to date with his progress and our final thoughts in the end.
Once this was all done we met up with the group and went to Sarnath (where Buddha gave his first major sermon after gaining enlightenment). This place is as holy to Buddhists as Varanasi is to Hindu's. There are ruins of monasteries and temples and an archaeological museum to show some of the relics found during excavations. We weren't allowed to take cameras or bags into the museum. Having said that some of these preserved items are on display with no cabinet and free for pigeons to shit on and people to touch. We don't see the sense in all of this, but we are just mere white folk.
After we returned from this is was time to return to the room have a little rest and a G & T and we are about to go and meet up with the group for dinner. More to follow tomorrow!
Ciao for now
Toot and Gordo Xx.
Toot woke up to find someone trying to "borrow" her blanket and once he realised she was awake quickly folded it back up and placed it back on her feet. Cheeky bugger!
We arrived into Varanasi this morning with all our belongings and a little sleep under our belt and headed to the hotel. We had breakfast as our rooms were not yet ready and sat and chatted for a little while. Then it was off to our rooms and time for a shower and some washing of clothes. The room now looks like a Chinese laundry.
We've just realised we haven't introduced you to our current group members (who will be with us for the whole 16 days - we have another 6 joining us tonight who started their tour in Nepal and I think we get another 4 in Agra?? - Gecko's for you all about "modules" for their tours!). Anyway getting back to our current group which consists of a total of 7 people including us - all Aussies except 1 American.
We have Chris & Danielle from Sydney a married couple in their mid-thirties seem very well travelled and nice enough. Chris currently has lens envy of Toots camera lens. We might need to frisk him at the end of the tour in case it accidentally fell into their teeny tiny luggage (that's another story right there).
We then have two young girls from Perth Holly & Chloe we reckon they must be in their early twenties. Any AFL followers out there apparently Chloe's brother Jack Darling plays for the West Coast Eagles? I have no idea about AFL any more so I'm just taking her word for it. Again seem like nice girls but are "young" shall we say.
And finally we have Yvonne from New York City - I'm really unsure of her age?! She's also lovely but very reserved. I guess as these next couple of weeks pass we'll know a bit more about each person and who annoys us etc. hahaha.
Also sorry our guide is names Prabhav - he's from Jaipur. It's taking some time on how to pronounce is name properly but we're getting there slowly. Again we keep comparing him to our fab first tour leader Tom from Vietnam. No one has topped him yet he was just awesome. Oh well we will keep you up to date with his progress and our final thoughts in the end.
Once this was all done we met up with the group and went to Sarnath (where Buddha gave his first major sermon after gaining enlightenment). This place is as holy to Buddhists as Varanasi is to Hindu's. There are ruins of monasteries and temples and an archaeological museum to show some of the relics found during excavations. We weren't allowed to take cameras or bags into the museum. Having said that some of these preserved items are on display with no cabinet and free for pigeons to shit on and people to touch. We don't see the sense in all of this, but we are just mere white folk.
After we returned from this is was time to return to the room have a little rest and a G & T and we are about to go and meet up with the group for dinner. More to follow tomorrow!
Ciao for now
Toot and Gordo Xx.
Hey ladies :)
ReplyDeletesounds like you're having a great time!! :)
loving the blog ... very entertaining haha cant wait to read more.
house is still standing - so no need to worry.
although i am afraid im going to be eatten alive by spiders :/ in the last 48hrs i have killed two huntsmans and two smaller black spiders... elana found it quite hilarious to find me upstairs in the bedroom holding the fly spray and a shoe waiting to kill haha
miss you both heaps
<3 Jnr
xoxo
hey girls,
ReplyDeletereally enjoying the stories keep them coming.
jack darling does play for the west coast eagles as a forward.
lara :)