Crystal Pond Travels

Finally leaving the dusty capital, we were heading to Agra. After some research we decided that arriving early in the morning and spending just the day in Agra would be enough. And it definitely was the best decision ever. We met a French girl traveling by herself and we stuck together until the night which we had a train to our next destination. And we visited only 2 places Agra Fort and Taj Mahal - Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites and a must see of course. So much beauty - Agra Fort Agra Fort is pretty damn big and was the main residence of the Mughal Dynastys emperors till 1638, when the capital was shifted from Agra to Delhi. You can see the Taj Mahal from inside of the fort too which is great to give you a different perspective of that beauty. The haze was intense but you can still see the Taj Mahal on the right  We arrived at about 11am, done some exploration and some squirrel feeding - and got bitten by one, no, I did not get rabi...

We arrived in Delhi by train, as usual, and I thought it would be a place we would like to stay longer than we actually did, not sure why, but yep I was wrong. We could not wait to leave this city after the first day, but due to sold out train tickets we had to stay 3 full days there.  Still we found some beauty in it of course and there's plenty to do, don't get me wrong, however it can get a bit stressful, as there are scammers everywhere.  We stayed at a nicer hotel this time. When I say 'nicer', it is compared to where we stayed before, or perhaps just a bit more expensive which does not mean necessarily nicer. We paid $35 per night at that time and yes, they had hot shower and comfy/clean bed! Happy days. We explored a bit of the area which we were in, which apparently was the tourist area (Main Bazar Rd) and we didn't find it super exciting (perhaps because it was the tourist area? HA). We still enjoyed having brekky at a rooftop restaurant there an...

One of the most historical and spiritual cities and also one of my favorites cities in India! There is something magical over there and I could feel this energy by walking by the Ganges. Peaceful walks by the Ganges We arrived at 6am, had our host waiting for us where we got dropped off, it was wonderful. It felt so good having a lovely local with us after all that nightmare.  Morning ritual Our guest house was called Marigold and as he walked us to the guest house along the river locals were doing their daily rituals.  So peaceful and beautiful. What a great start! They have these ceremonies every morning and every night by the river and it is just fascinating. It attracts a lot of people at night time and it makes it super lively. Monkey chillin The guest house itself was pretty decent, we had a warm and knowledgeable host, we had monkeys greeting us through our bedroom window every day, a nice rooftop view and th...

We flew to Kolkata planning on staying 3 nights, no accommodation booked in advance. Basically, we arrived at the airport (2am) and spoke to a couple of backpackers on the same flight as us to see where they were staying - Just to have a rough idea. And so we also found out that Sudder Street was apparently a well known area. Well and that's where we ended up. *Not having a hotel booked can come in handy when you land at 2am. It does sound weird, but we found out that one of the guys in the same flight as us had a booking and his hotel was closed when he arrived, which means he could not get in, had to find another hotel to spend the night and lost his money for that night. So we jumped on a cab and asked him to drop us off in the middle of this Sudder Street which was the main touristic part of the city (apparently). At 2am everything is closed, most of the accommodations as well, so we thought this would be our best shot. But it was fine, it just felt ...

When and How We had 30 days to see as much as we wanted, yay!!  As we didn’t have any tickets/accommodation etc booked, we could spend as much time as we wanted in a city that we liked and less time in the ones we didn’t like as much. (Well, kind of.) Basically, we visited 11 cities in 30 days. I guess we did well, it was a bit rushed because of the holiday season (December = booked out trains) and India is such a big country, but we really enjoyed every second of it. It was an average of 3 days in each city, traveling mostly by train. However, some cities we only spent the day because it wasn’t worth spending the night. This trip happened in December 2014, so prices might not be relevant at this stage anymore. But it is more about sharing the experience with you. One of the amazing architectures - Jaipur The Weather In December the weather was great, it was sunny most of the days, not too cold and not boiling hot and we started in the north part as it ...

I'll be writing about my travels and life style. Current status:  Jobless and homeless travelling around Europe for about 2 years now :) Any questions please comment :) ⇝Yes, it was a decision to quit my job, sell everything (except for some clothes and laptop) and return the keys of the rental apartment in Melbourne City.  ⇝ No, I don't have any attachment to anywhere and almost anything. And an important thing is that I don't have a mortgage yay! No house, no bills, nothing but my backpack. ⇝Yes, I worked and I had some savings before deciding to go on this 'pre-retirement' stage of my life. :P And I was willing to commit to a simple life where  the less thing you own the more freedom you have.  ⇝ No, I'm not an extreme minimalist, but I would say minimalist enough. Basically I have only a carry on backpack which weighs about 10kg. Wearing the same outfit forever haha. However, at my friend's place in Australia, I still have a few bo...