From Agra to Varanasi

We have arrived in Varanassi yesterday after a 15 hour overnight train ride across central northern India. The last few days in Agra were not that great for Steff who has been immobilized by her persistent stomach disaster (happily she is fine today).

Despite Steff not feeling that great while we were in Agra, we did still manage to get out and see the Agra fort, the former main fortress and palace of the Moghul empire. The size of the fort is enormous and once housed over 500 buildings within its walls. In the late 1600's the buildings were demolished to make way for the palaces of marble that were built. Some of these palaces remain inside the fort walls, many of them however, were demolished by the British in the 1800's when they were attempted to be used as a stronghold from the Brit's. The forts grounds were well worth the visit and had some beautiful views from the palace balconies of the Taj Mahal, which sits further down the Yamuna river.

On the Saturday i took a trip out to Fethepur Sikri, a town about 40 km's outside of Agra where an old Moghul ghost town lies. The biggest adventure was getting there and back on the regular Indian bus system. When i got to the bus station in Agra waited for over two hours (for a bus that leaves every half hour) and spent considerable time just siting on stationary busses waiting to leave. In that time i changes busses twice and the driver changed at least five times, all this without actually leaving the bus station.

In Fethepur Sikri, the ruins were interesting to see but the working muslim mosque was the highlight. There, one of the students who studies the Koran at the Mosque showed me around and involved me a religious offerings of flowers and cloth inside the marble temple. At around 5:30 pm we left the mosque for the bus stand under the advice of Shoukeen, my student and guide, who informed me that Indian busses were not very good (this i had already discovered), and that my 7 O'clock bus would likely not come and i should wait and hope for one to come a bit earlier. So i went, and i waited and waited, finally just after 7 pm it was clear that no bus would come, Shoukeen had offered me to stay at his home an return to Agra the following day. Steff was back at the hotel, not feeling well, and i needed to get back. Anyhow i will skip all the details of attempts to leave including taxis, jeeps and horse's and tell you that a short while later i was about 3 km's away standing at the side of a busy road trying to flag down passing vehicles in the dark. Finally the 3rd bus that passed stopped and there was pandemonium as 40 or so people all fought to get on a bus, that was already full. Anyhow, i made it back standing against the bus door that wouldn't close properly, in the stairwell of the bus. It was great to get back to Steff and she seemed to be doing better than when i left her earlier.

Now, we are having a beautiful sunny day in Varanasi. Our train ride was pretty neat, the Indian 2nd class sleeper trains are quite the adventure. We are just getting settled here where i think we will spend a fair bit of time before our next big move. Last night we saw a classical Indian music concert which was very beautiful and intimate. We also went for a short walk along the Ganges where there was a Hindu funeral happening, during which they burn the body of the dead on an open fire, while the families look on. The remains are then sent out into the Ganges and each of the family members enters the water of the river, pretty intense.

We hope that you are all well. Love Steff and Justin xo