Well a busy and crazy week! After my Everest trek I spent a few days in and around the Kathmandu valley having some much needed R&R and planning the next stage of my trips. After a bumpy bus-ride to the Nepalese border town of Sunauli. Another bus ride over the Indian side to the dirty town of Gorakpur and then onto my first Indian train!
I hired a bike in Kathmandu and biked out through the (mad) streets to the Royal town of Patan. It has a beautiful square with Hindu temples and colourful stalls.
Kathmandu valley.
Locals posing for the camera on our train from Gorekpur to Varanasi! It turned out we had got on the wrong train (all stops including farms!) so we switched trains about 10pm and finally got to Varanasi at midnight having meant to have gotten there at 7:30!
The river Ganges from our hotel balcony in Varanasi. What a full on place this was - the most hassle and touts I've ever seen!
The eleborate 'Ganga aarti' ceromony, performed every night at the main Dasaswadedh bathing ghat. They still kept in sync when the power went out and the lights went off!
Early morning boat ride on the river...
We got up at 5am but by the time we haggled for a rowing boat the sun had already come up!
Just another day at the ghat! Well, probably not - bathing here is such an eleborate and important ritual for most of these people.
Breakfast on the deck of our fairly lush hotel. I met Dan, Nath and Elena (all Spanish) in Gorekpur and spent four days with them in Varanasi.
Taking an autorickshaw to Sarnath, just outside Varanasi.
Sarnath, the place where Buddha spoke his first message. Convenently recreated just for us!
After Varanasi, an overnight train to Kolkata (Calcutta in old money). A vibrant, busy city very much still influenced by the British rule here.
Cooking up a storm with a Kalkatain!
Locals celebrating the ?? festival
Rickshaw-wallahs sleeping next to their machine. Could not believe how many people sleep on the streets here.
TAXI, taxi?
Caught in the rain (and not just any rain!)
The amazing Victoria memorial in the center of Kokata.
Darjeeling
The perfect cup of tea?
Nik, Kirstie (an aussie couple I met) and I playing the part of British planters.
Walking in the tea plantations
