After our return, I have sadly neglected this blog, what with comps and all. I do want to wrap up the story of our last few days in India, and our day in Hong Kong! So, here's a picture-free blog post (Mu posted links to all our pictures already!) about the end of our trip.
I left off on our last day in Jaisalmer. The highlight there was really the sandstone fort -- very grand, and with a beautiful palace! We took yet another audio tour and learned about the building of the city. It turns out that Jains, whose religion I know nothing about, were the merchant class there. Despite being a small minority, they were rather wealthy and responsible for a lot of the beautiful things built in Jaisalmer. This prompted the comment that they were just like Jews in Europe, except for the swastika bit. :) We also learned a little more about what a swastika stands for -- it's a symbol of luck, well-being, and welcome. Rather a different original meaning, no?
After a day of wandering about, we boarded our very last overnight train to Delhi. We were a bit apprehensive, since we had heard many horror stories about the city, and we hated Kolkatta so. I think having been in India for 3 weeks already made a huge difference, though. Things like trash and traffic were no longer surprising and overwhelming, and our cab ride from the train station to our hostel didn't even seem that harrowing! We'd clearly come a long way.
Our hostel in Delhi was a mixed bag. It was pretty far from the touristy bits of the city, which was both good and bad. On one hand, it took a bit of effort to get anywhere. On the other hand, this was the first time in our entire trip that we didn't get hassled by rickshaw drivers or shop owners! Because the area was mostly residential, people there didn't seem to count on tourists for business, so we were left alone. The hostel itself left something to be desired, with power issues and front desk staff that seemed to be out of it most of the time, but at least there was hot water. :)
We were both exhausted from the trip, and the weather wasn't very nice through most of our stay, so we didn't do as much sight-seeing as we might have. The main things we saw were the Delhi fort and a very bizarre, Disneyland-like temple, the Akshardham Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akshardham_(Delhi)
The fort was disappointing, actually. We had been excited to see it since it was built by the same emperor who built the Red Fort in Agra (which we didn't get to see due to Mu being sick), but it turned out that, for whatever reason, the fort in Delhi has really not been taken care of. This was surprising -- most of the tourist attractions we visited have been under restoration and it's clear that some effort has been put it to upkeep. This one, though...well, some parts of it are currently being restored, but the rest of it was crumbled and pretty sad. We meandered about for a while, but really felt like it was a let-down.
The temple, on the other hand, was really out of this world. You should read the wiki page, it has a lot of detail and some photos (which we weren't allowed to take). To start, the security there was nuts! You weren't allowed to take anything inside except a wallet -- no electronics of any kind (not even a USB drive!), no purses, nothing. There was storage provided for free, with a long line. You also had to go through a thorough pat down before being allowed to enter. Once inside, the place really reminded us of Disneyland, except there were people actually trying to worship. We saw a video about a child yogi (honestly, could've been about Jesus with some specific events changed around slightly) and went on a boat ride (rather similar to "It's a Small World") about how great India is and how it invented pretty much everything. :) So, lots of propaganda, but well-made propaganda. There was also a sound and light water fountain show, and the complex itself was really beautiful to wander around. And on the way home, we stopped to get yummy paneer dosas!
Our last few days were utterly nuts. We had a short-ish overnight flight to Hong Kong, which meant we slept for about 2 hours. We arrived in Hong Kong at 6am or so! We had originally planned to sleep at the airport for a few hours, but somehow, this just didn't happen, so we went into the city at around 7am! The whole day was an exhausting whirlwind. Dim sum, Victoria Peak, a sky ride to the giant Buddha (largest bronze outdoor seated Buddha!), a delicious veggie meal at the monastery, Hong Kong Natural History Museum, a night market, more yummy food, and then we returned to the airport and basically collapsed. Despite the exhaustion, we loved Hong Kong! It's super clean, the downtown has beautiful skyscrapers (I especially loved this!), the subway is amazingly fast and extensive, the food was delicious, there was almost no honking, and no one stared at us! We would love to go back for a longer time. It was also amazingly well-signed -- everywhere we wanted to go was easy to find, and any time we thought, "hmmm, are we still walking the right way?" a sign appeared, as if by magic, to guide us. Such a relief after the madness of the previous month!
The flight back was nicely uneventful, and after sleeping over at Cindy and Eric's, we had a reasonably fast drive back home to Tucson. Of course, as soon as the next day, we were like, "when can we go travel again?" It was a blast, and we can't wait to have more trips! Next up? Not sure yet, but probably somewhere in Europe. :)
