On Places, People and Cultures

… That was a question, me and Bob overheard, put by an XXL sized, I’d say, 60+ year old American couple, who’s deep “r”s place them south of Mason-Dixon line, to their Indian tour guide, while visiting one of the major country’s tourist attractions Taj Mahal. The fact they were referring to the troops of hungry and scarred (some were missing patches of skin on their bodies) dogs, filling the streets of Indian towns and cities, left us cracking up at the ridiculousness of the question for the rest of the day.

The reason I’m mentioning that here is because it serves a good metaphor to what we have experienced so far, after we left Vrendavan for Agra in our quest to visit major places of interest in India. I’m really feeling lost right now. I don’t see how you can get off the beaten path and travel this country independently. No matter what you do or don’t do, you are treated like a tourist, which means you’re a source of income to literally everyone here. There is so much hassling one can tolerate before reaching the tipping point. It’s not even about the fact you’re expected to pay higher prices or tip everyone generously, it’s the fact you feel being openly fooled every time you interact with a human being, regardless from one’s position in the society. What makes it even harder, some people seem like they try to become friends with you and be really helpful, which is supposed to be a good this thing as, contact with people is what you look for when you travel independently, but after some time you realized it was just more sophisticated way to get to your money. Emotionally it’s very difficult to bare. I haven’t had a similar problem anywhere else along my route so far. At the moment of writing I really think that the best way to see India and familiarize yourself with it’s vibrant history and culture is to book a packaged holiday and experience it form behind the tinted window of your air-conditioned tourist bus.

However, having said all that, I’m still optimistic about my upcoming journey. Tomorrow we’re heading off to Dharamsala, the place of residence of Dalai Lanma, where we have some arrangement with Couch Surfing people, which I’m really looking forward to. So check back later to see how that went.

P.S. And as usual more pictures on Flickr.

I’m in India, and this is surreal. It’s been two days already, but I still feel like I’m watching a movie through my own eyes. Hot weather, exotic culture, smells and colours make it even harder to draw a line between what’s real and what is not. It’s just impossible to fit all the impressions and emotions I’m going through right now in the space of this post, but let me just give you a brief account of what happened to me since we arrived to the Sherevetjevo 2 airport in Moscow to Fly to new Delhi.

While waiting in line to check in Bob was chatted up by a Azerbaidzhani descent Russian Ajunur, who was on her way to India to show the rest of her family holy places and culture she’s been a part of for some time now. It turned out it conveniantly coincided with the a big Holiday for Krishna cult follower, his birthday. They invited us to come along, and we agreed. To save money and have a taste of real India straight away me and Bob decided to take a bus to the Holy city of Vrindavan instead of a taxi. Surprisingly we made it with no problem for a third of the taxi price. The same day we visited the temple. The rest will tell the pictures and videos.

OK, as some of you may  or may not know the original destination of my trip was Southeast Asia. Well, guess what? It’s not anymore. I’m going to India and Nepal!!! The reason is simple. It proved to be too hard to try to swim against the stream and travel across China during the Olympics when visa and travel regulations are so tightened up. At the moment of witting I’m thinking of spending about three month in that region and head back home after that, but that doesn’t mean my plans can change again…

There’s something else. I’ve got a travel companion now. Let me introduce you Bob.

How do I know Bob? I met him at an American House party in Vladimir. He used to be one of the English teachers’ staff at that place and now he’s teaching English in Moscow. How did I end up at that party? Well, Alex took me there (If anyone’s got picture of Alex, could you please let me know). I met Alex at Katya’s birthday party the previous day and he offered to stay at his place, as the only other option I had was a tent. Now, you may wonder who Katya is. Katya is a person I met through Couch Surfing.

I was supposed to meet her for tea or coffee, so she could give me some advice about her town and possibly show me around. However, she ended up inviting me to her birthday party at her parents’ cottage.

That was quite a random sequence of events, but, hell, this is what happens to you when you travel independently. And I’m loving it!

Visa regimes and consulates being the biggest enemies of an independent traveller, I thought I’d post some information on the issues I had when all of a sudden I set my sights on India as soon as I made it to Moscow. Mind that this information is accurate for the day of posting (22 08 08) and I’m a Lithuanian national travelling in Russia on a tourist visa.

Having said that, technically it’s impossible to get visa to India in my case. The answer I got at the Indian embassy in Moscow stated that I was supposed to apply for visa in my regional Indian embassy, which happened to be in Warsaw, Poland. According to the official I had pleasure to talk to, the only way I could get a visa while I’m in Moscow, was if I were legally employed in the capital. Although, I didn’t really follow the logic, as to my suggestion that I reside in the UK, I got response that applying through the London embassy was just as fine. Personally I just got an impression, that I became a victim of general mistrust Indian officials have to the their regular customers, Russian citizens.

Now, the sunny side. Everything is possible in Russia for a certain price (which a lot of Russians are particularly proud of). A friend of mine provided me with a contact at one of the Moscow tourist agencies called “открытие”. To my surprise in 5 days and for a price of 4800 RUB had they had my passport stamped with a shiny double entry Indian tourist visa. Whooohooo!!!

One additional paper you might need in case you’re not staying in a hotel, hence you haven’t declared your place of stay in the capital, is Moscow visa registration. Like a lot of paperwork in Russia, you can get it done for a small fee at a dodgy office. Here’s the contact information:

Leninskij prospekt 1 (transliterated),
12th floor,
room 1219

Just go there, don’t ask questions, tell them you need to register for two weeks, and come pick it up the day after. It is going to be a stamped piece of paper with some random address on it, where apparently you’re staying in Moscow. The service should cost you 250 RUB to register for two weeks and 450 RUB to register for a month.

Tickets. Generally speaking, the best prices are offered by the former USSR countries like Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazachstan, and few others. How to book them? Well, they have no websites or online booking systems. If you manage to find their offices in Moscow, please let me know. The solution? There is a tourist agency called India Tour. They are experts when it comes to all kinds of questions regarding India. Their services include tickets reservations, and they have access to all the cheapest carriers booking systems. I’d be really surprised if you found a better deal to fly to India from Moscow somewhere else.

Hope this is helpful. Be sure to make comments if there are some changes the information I provided. Good Luck!

This is not exactly something new, yet you don’t fully realize that before it happens to you. I decided to comletely let it go and just get out of crazy Moscow for a bit to a nearby city Vladimir just to change the atmosphere, as Vladimir is a nice small historic Russian town, which is a part of so called Golden Ring. I just decided to let it go and didn’t make any plans for accomodation and stuff like that, hoping to pitch a tent on a bank of river Kliamza, curving around the town.

Well, this is my third day in Vladimir and I’d probaby need to write a little book to describe all the adventures I had here and people I met. One thing I can tell for sure is, if you wanna experience real Russia don’t go to Moscow, go to places like Vladimir.

More pics on Flickr