India part two.

DAY39 07.03.2010 From Doha, Qatar to Delhi, India.

We fly about three and half hours to Delhi and we reached it around 6am in the morning, cos the time is +2,5 hours compered to Doha. We made our way to passport control and we got little scared cos our passport man didn't know what was VISA on arrival.. Luckily there was a nice other man who showed us the right way (the right place was opposite side of the airport) to our VISA on arrival counter, where was nobody, the man was sleeping somewhere, sooooo india! We got our man and we get the VISAS very easily and there was no problems, so mission impossible complished, Twins and Jenni in INDIA, WUHUU! ..finally! (and we didn't even need the third time to tell the truth)

DAY 40-43 8.-11.03.2010 Delhi, India
DAY 43-45 11.-13.3.2010 Agra, India
DAY 45-49 14.-17.3.2010 Varanasi, India
DAY 50-52 18.-20.3.2010 Khajuraho, India
DAY 53-55 21.-23.3.2010 Mumbai, India

They always say that India is a big big big culture shock for western people, but I think that we handled it quite well. Okay, the first "big choice" was room with the western toilet or the cheaper room with the "indian toilet" (you don't sit at all, you stand or go to kyykkyyn and there is only a hole in the floor, and no paper only water), so we of course choose the more expensive room. But hey, it was our first day, we still got time to experience the indian toilet;) When you think about being in India the first thing that comes to your mind is that everything is soooooooo cheap! (or almoust everything..) Maybe you need some examples.. 1€ = 60 rs
1 night in hotel(clean, with fan and hot water) for three people around 300-450 Rs 5-8 €
2 km by cab 70 Rs
2 km by auto riksa 40-50 Rs
2 km by bicycle riksa 25-35 Rs
1 meal on the street 30-40 Rs
1 meal on the restaurant 50-100 Rs
1 meal in McDonalds (only for compearing, guys!) 120 Rs
1 bottle of water (1l) 10-15 Rs
1 bottle of soda (cola, fanta, sprite, 300ml) 15 Rs
1 bag(for men or women) from the bazaar 100 Rs
1 pair of trousers from the bazaar 80 Rs
1 bambu flute from a music store 100-200 Rs
1 ice cream on the street 5-20 Rs
1 tea 5-15 Rs 1 coffee 10-30 Rs
1 bag of fresh grapes, bananas, oranges 20-30 Rs
1 glass of just sqeezed orange/pineapple juice (with ice) 20 Rs
1 bottle of beer 90-150 Rs! (North India)
(In every place they don't have the permission to sell the beer, but you can still have it if you ask. In the menus the beer is written like "special drink" or "tikka" and if you order it you will have the beer in a mug or in a tea pan, so nobody can see what you are drinking, so it's illegal but still it's not, so pretty clever for indian people, isn't it?)

1 3D Cinema ticket 250Rs (150Rs 2D)

The other thing in India is the traffic, the noise, the rubbish and the pollutions AND the cows. First the most irretateing thing was the hornes! BIIIIB TOOOOOT TUUUUUUT TUTUTUTU BIBIBOBOBOOO BIUUUU all the time! and everywhere and everytime and for everyone! I think in these 10 days we had had only a one auto riksa driver who didn't want to use the horn and said that it's very stupid. I hope that there would be more drivers like that guy..
The traffic is very messed up, there is in the same time, cars, cabs, auto riksas, bicycle riksas, motorcycles, tourists, cows, dogs a lot of indian people and like everything that you can imagine! And I'm sure that there is no rules also! Police can't do nothing and there is people driving without drivers licence too, although it's only a peace of paper for the indian people..
Cows in the streets are everyday life for the indians, they are holy animals and you want the cows to be free and happy. The cows don't usually go to the main roads and in Delhi they stayed in the main bazaar area, or that was the place we saw them most.. But in Varanasi they all everywhere, so I think they sleep and walk where they want. People aren't interrapted with the cows and the cows aren't interrapted with the people, so they really know how to live in a perfect symbios with each other. A big surprise in the street is the street dogs, and there really is many of them! Even more than cows, in every corner. Some people give them some food and water but others can just spank them with a stick and it's not nice:/ The little puppies are still in good shape but the older ones look like crap, after living such a long time in the streets.
The rubbish situation wasn't so bad that we expected. It's true that people really don't care where they put their garbage, but still it's surprisingly clean (exept the cow and PEOPLE poo (FOR REAL?!?) in the streets), they clean up their own "spots" every morning and evening. It's also a good try that there is public toilets (no walls, you stand and there is a hole, so you can say that these are only for mens), but still the amount is like 1 public toilet for 17 millon indian people, so quite bad? Or maybe they just want to fertilize the ground by peeing everywhere?
When we arrived to Delhi we though that the smokiness in the air is only fog, but after few days we really got that it's all pollutions flying in the air.. You can prove this after one day when you sneeze, it's all black:/


The third and the biggest thing in India is of course the people and the culture! I think it's something that everyboby should see in some point of life. It's all about the food, the clothes, the music, the religion, the bargains, the salesmen, the cows, the drinks, the language, the traffic, the rain stations, the tourists and the whole way of life, something you can't explain. Generally we have met some very friendly indian people but always there is some touts (usually guys that are trying to help you only for getting some commesion fees from the place they lead you) who can be very irretateing..