Varanasi, the holy city, the city of life, the city of Shiva, also named Kashi or Benares. It's one of the world's oldest settlements. Hindus come here on their pilgrimage to wash away their sins in the river Ganga. And dying and getting burned here is supposed to end the circle of rebirths.Varanasi did not offer forts or palaces like the other cities we have been to, instead the Ghats, the stairs leading down to the Ganga are the main attraction!Especial...

Sizzling 44°C when we stepped out of the train in Agra on Monday afternoon.Still we got our act together and went to visit Agra Fort, where the builder of the Taj Mahal was imprisoned by his own son and only got to see his wife's shrine from the window... kind of sad!Then to the so called baby Taj on the other side of the river and finally to see the sunset from a park just across the river, perfectly in line with Taj Mahal.This morning then we got up just a...

The pink city: huge, busy, loud, pushy, uninspired, uninspiring, hot, adventurous.Friday early in the morning we arrived in Jaipur, both tired and a bit done with sightseeing and input we did not leave the hotel pool and airconditioned room the entire day and only went out for diner at one of those rooftop restaurants.On Saturday we got up early to go to Amber Fort outside of the city where you can ride up to the fort on the back of an elephant. Pretty touristy o...

The Venice of India, also known from the James Bond movie "Octop**** featuring the island-hotel Taj Lake Palace: unexpectedly clean, proper, well-organized, atmospheric, romantic, charming, friendly, art-packed, educational, relaxing, mosquito-invested, tasteful, surprising, refreshing.Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Udaipur after a very bumpy 7 hour ride in a very local bus. Stan bumped his head several times in the ceiling and me... well lets just say that a ...

The blue city: narrow, confusing, garbage overloaded, fly invested, impressive, majestic, friendly, delicious, decorative, informative, chaotic, On Sunday after arriving at our guesthouse we went to explore the city, which turned out not so easy in the labyrinth of narrow streets and market stalls. But finally we made it to Sadar Market with the clocktower in the middle. And although it was Sunday and the city was on a strike (some told us the reason was that two...