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Yes, we do plan to motor west

October 8, 2016/5 Comments/in Blog, Travel /by Paul Perton

The El (or L) – mankind’s noisiest commuter railway

Chicago

Last time we were here, it was almost winter time and not very warm. With the wind chill added in, cold enough to make me head straight for the nearest North Face emporium to buy some breeze-proofing. Fortunately, this time we’re better prepared, but the Windy City is just that and this time, quite temperate.

Morning sky after the rain

Battered Bluesmobile in the morning sunlight

Closed

Closed 2

Our Emirates 777—300ER touched down at O’Hare a few minutes early on Wednesday afternoon, after its 15 hour marathon from Dubai. On top of a nine hour flight from Cape Town and a two hour change of planes, it was predictable that our physical and mental reserves would be close to exhausted. A hang up with the usually achingly slow immigration and security process saw Mrs P hauled into a separate screening area to sit and wait (me with her) while someone delved into her personal information. After about half an hour, her passport was returned and we were told we could go – seems the fingerprint scanner hadn’t captured her prints properly – I wonder why they think it’s OK to be so faceless, officious and couldn’t just tell us what the problem was at the time.

But things were about to get worse for these weary travellers.

The Thrifty car rental documentation told me that I had to phone them to get a shuttle bus to collect us from terminal 5. That didn’t work – all I got was the “Press 1 for a headache, press 2 for irritation… and press nine for …rip someone’s head off.” Useless idiots.

A nearby airport guide eventually told us that the shuttle bus would arrive anyway, so we waited. And waited and eventually, for our sanity and to prevent us both from falling asleep at the bus stop, hailed a cab.

I suspect that the the cab driver couldn’t have found his arse without a mirror on a stick and definitely couldn’t find the Thrifty lot even with his satnav. Without increasingly frustrated yelling from me, he would probably still be myopically driving around the airport, meter running, trying to work out where the hell he was.

And yes, he still shouted at me when I didn’t give him a tip on top of the $15 the three minute taxi ride cost. Twat.

Thrifty didn’t seem to give a flying toss about the disappearance of their shuttle bus when I told them, but nonetheless did quite a swift job of the paperwork and with Mrs Garmin in full dominatrix mode, we set off for I90 and the South Loop.

I think some aeons ago when Ms. Garmin was new, I set a default a million menu layers deep and now un-findable, to avoid toll roads. So we drove the entire length of Milwaukee Avenue (12 miles, almost 20 kilometres) parallel to the I90, instead of said tolled Interstate. On the one hand, it was a blessing because at 2 m.p.h. and a zillion sets of traffic lights, I managed to avoid mowing anyone down, or swerving violently from lane to lane as my attention lapsed due to what was fast becoming life threatening exhaustion.

Of course, the downside was yet another hour of travelling.

Our hotel was where Ms. Garmin assured us it would be. A miracle as things often aren’t when she is in charge. Bags in our room, we fled for the bar, several shockingly expensive (e.g. Heineken@ $5 – R75) nerve-relaxing drinks and a tumble into bed not long after 20:00.

Awake at 02:00, I got up and read the South African and UK newspapers on line and then thought I might just manage an extra couple of hours back in bed. I did, but it was still just after 5 when the jet lag woke me up to tell me how tired I was.

Bah. Travel with the Pertons has always been spelled a d v e n t u r e.

At 07:00 I wandered across the now raining State Street (yes, that great street) to seemingly the only breakfast provider in the area. Coffee and BLTs in our room – nothing wrong with that. And there we sat, still half asleep staring at the rain, wondering whether we could be bothered to stir ourselves to get a bus into the city and do some of what we came here for.

Some time later, the über convenient 29 bus delivered us into the city, which was shrouded in low cloud and mist. Fortunately, the rain held off and we were able to wander the streets, stopping to buy a few essentials; a SIM card (for a phone-based satnav backup – essential if you think a Garmin is going to get you where you plan to go without freaking out at least once in every city), some toiletries, a couple of craft beers and a more than acceptable local diner-style lunch.

Friends at lunch

In the mist, the city looms and its skyscrapers photograph well in the Fuji’s Acros black and white, delivering OOC JPGs of exceptional quality, requiring little additional editing. Tomorrow, we must prepare for our departure and find the Route 66 sign on East Adams Street – that’s where it all begins.

Misty car parks with apartments above

Downtown looms in the mist

Our couple of days R&R passed easily enough, allowing the jet lag to subside. Now it’s time to hit the road. We are planning to motor west, after all.

Morning car park, Bronzeville

Not what you want to see tailgating you

Loading bay

Eureka A

Trompe l’oeil

Downtown

Untitled, State Street

Summer in Scotland. Part1 – The North Coast 500

July 27, 2016/1 Comment/in Blog, Travel /by Paul Perton

Sea Stacks and Cliffs, Duncansby Head. Leica S2. Bob Hamilton

Driech* is pretty much how the weather has been in the far north for the last few days. Just as well we’re used to the vagaries of Scotland’s summers and have learned to pack accordingly. The local outdoor and fleece shops have done well enough from us in past years, so now we’ve got lots of warm layers to peel off as the mercury rockets up to and occasionally past 12 degrees C.

This is the North Coast 500; 500 miles starting in Inverness, around Scotland’s extremities and back to our starting point – all in five days.

Loch Sheildaig. Leica M9. Paul Perton

Wild Flowers at Sangobeg looking out over Loch Eriboll towards Whiten Head. Leica S2. Bob Hamilton

Helmsdale harbour. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Photo buddy, Bob Hamilton and I planned this trip late last year, following a big write up and some spectacular photographs of the route in one of England’s daily newspapers. Bob lives here and made the necessary hotel bookings, setting our rendezvous and starting point as Beauly, just a short distance north of Inverness. Di came along as well, but opted for crosswords and reading in the car, while we jumped out and took many, many photographs.

Bob’s photographs are very different to mine, so you’ll find contributions from both of us here – all a part of letting you see just how spectacular this route is.

Stream at Torrish. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Kildonan Burn. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Kyle of Tongue. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Our route was to take us from an overnight in Beauly to Helmsdale, Bettyhill, Rhiconich and finally, two nights in Gairloch, before heading back to Inverness. 500 miles – 800km – in five and a bit days. Easy.

Well, not quite. It’s easy if you drive at a gentle pace and don’t stop every few metres to drag out tripods and cameras. Then you’ll cope well. If like us, every shadow and rain cloud held photographic promise, getting into the hotel du jour before dinner was always going to be a struggle.

Loch Maree. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Loch Gleann Dubh. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

This is high summer in Scotland. Bob was born here and you’ll already know that I’m married to a Scot, so we were all well prepared for the vagaries of the weather. We saw everything from brilliant sunshine to thick lowerin’ clouds, rain, high winds and at one stage, a promise of sleet. Still, it was brilliant and we both shot the big landscapes, mountains, lochs and tiny intimate views that this incredible route delivers at almost every turn.

From Beauly to Helmsdale, past the many famous distilleries on the way. A stop at Glenmorangie to stock up on some fine Scottish Communion Wine was followed by a brief visit to a (thankfully) clear John O’ Groats and a splendid view of the sea stacks at Duncanby Head.

Lonely bothy, Loch Loyal. Leica M9. Paul Perton

Beinn Spionnaidh, Cranstackie, Foinaven and Arkle across Loch Eriboll. Leica S2. Bob Hamilton

Summer in Scotland. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Early Morning Light – Barley Field and Logie Burn Farm, Muir of Ord. Leica S2. Bob Hamilton

Untitled. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Sunset over Torrisdale Bay. Leica S2. Bob Hamilton

Lodge Number 933, Helmsdale. Leica S2. Bob Hamilton

Untitled. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

Sunset at Rhiconich. Fuji X-Pro2. Paul Perton

From John O’ Groats, we motored past Thurso, the nuclear station at Douneray and on to Bettyhill. Day three took us through some pretty wild countryside to Rhiconich and then our final stop at Gairloch. Day 6 saw us heading back to Inverness, with Di and me going on to Farr for a couple of night’s R&R prior to driving south to Grantown-on-Spey. More of that in the next post…

* Urban dictionary: A combination of dull, overcast, drizzly, cold, misty and miserable weather. At least 4 of the above adjectives must apply before the weather is truly dreich.

All the details of the North Coast 500 are here: North Coast 500

Bothy, Loch Stack. Leica M9. Paul Perton

Locked – Helmsdale. Leica M9. Paul Perton

Helmsdale harbour. Leica M9. Paul Perton

Seaweed at Beauly. Leica M9. Paul Perton

All the Js

October 20, 2015/4 Comments/in Travel /by Paul Perton

Queue for the Amber Palace, Jaipur

These have been busy days; travelling from Gwalior to the Js. First to Jaipur, several days on the streets and then on to Jodhpur. Two cities in central India that are home to much of the country’s history and able to speak volumes of their entanglement with their former colonial rulers.

Jaipur, unremittingly India, colourful, noisy and a must on anyone’s travel agenda. It is also home to the sprawling, hilltop Amber Palace and with the right guide, a place of constant surprise and delight.

We’d arrived after a lengthy drive from Gwalior. Nine hours on a variety of roads from primitive, yet effective (and tolled) dual carriageways, to rutted, potholed country tarmac. Piloted by the ever-capable Manoj our driver, we finally tumbled off the bus late in the afternoon and set about doing b-all.

Untitled, Jaipur

The following morning, our itinerary was essentially a tour of the Amber Palace. The bus set us down in Ghandi Chowk, the village at the base of the hill over which the Palace looms. On the suggestion of our guide, we wandered the lanes, alleyways and various temples on our walk up to the Palace itself. Before you ask, yes it was blerry hot – before 10:00 and the temperature was already reaching for the mid-30s Celsius.

Untitled, Jaipur

Every town and city we’ve visited has a slightly different feel; Jaipur being no different. It’s closer to its agrarian roots, retains more structured village-like housing and is palpably tidier.

Depending on your photographic preference, the Amber Palace offers just about everything; horizon-to-horizon views, magnificent (if down-at-heel) buildings, quiet corners and people everywhere. October is late season in this part of India and the crowds were manageable – it’s hard to imagine what high season 40C temperatures and thousands more people could do to the current semi-tranquility.

From the Palace, we descended into the city and it’s market under a banyan tree. It’s very obvious if you’re driving past, but few guides seem to bother, preferring to usher their charges through the more obvious tourist landmarks.

The market under the banyan tree, Jaipur

We got to see locksmiths cutting and matching keys by hand, the hairdresser turning out first class high-lather, straight razor shaves and a transport hub, all in an area not much bigger than a large blanket.

From there the street market was just a few steps, the colour and bustle of India on display at every turn.

High art and cables, Jaipur

Day two saw us lolling – the guide books call it a “day at leisure”, we call it a “down day”, which we use to rest and sleep a bit, attend to our personal needs and wander the immediate area. Years of touring have impressed on us the necessity of time off – if you don’t make time in your schedule, you’ll quickly wish you had – especially with day time temperatures peaking close to 40C.

Day three. The early morning vegetable market, cold coffee in one of the city’s famous patisseries and on to the Monkey Temple. Nestled in the hills to the east of the city, it’s usually ignored by tour guides and visitors alike – a pity as the photo opportunities are wonderful.

Monkey temple, Jaipur

A late lunch in one of the city’s swankier coffee shops and back to the hotel to prepare for the drive to Jodhpur tomorrow.

Hard though it was for us to believe, Jodhpur is almost clean and free of litter. Our guide explained the Rajah’s ongoing involvement with the city and away from the (supposedly idle and corrupt) ministrations of the government, things like refuse collection and maintenance work and are well funded and get done timeously.

Commuter, Jodhpur

Untitled, Jodhpur

Rickshaw, Jodhpur

Obliging photographer, Jodhpur

Untitled, Jodhpur

Chillin’ (no.1 daughter’s toes) Jodhpur

The Mehrangarh Fort hovers spectacularly over the so-called Blue City city; perched on a commanding hilltop. Our guide was highly enthusiastic about the Fort and we found it’s tour well organised and pleasantly free of litter and land mines left by the itinerant cattle.

The Blue City, Jodhpur

Locked, Jodhpur

Suti handprints, Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

Inside the Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

Apparently, the municipality herd these bovine interlopers together and take them to a central pound, where owners can pay a fine and re-claim them. Likewise, badly parked cars – the first city in India where we’ve heard anyone even mention a functioning police force.

The guide created some expectation regarding Jodhpur’s street market. The city is very much a desert city and it’s market reflects the different style that brings. Gone are the narrow lanes and claustrophobic press of people, in it’s place, open air displays and vendors selling the produce so typical of the region. There is even a thriving area in the market for used clothing, especially freshly washed and pressed saris. And, for the first time since arriving Mrs P buys spices and a (new!) magnificent cashmere scarf for our upcoming and doubtless chilly UK visit.

All too soon, the clean and thoroughly enjoyable Jodhpur falls behind us as we move on to the last leg of this hugely enjoyable and entertaining journey. We’re headed for Narlai, a tiny village barely on the map, ignored by the guide books and home to a hotel our recent experience tells us from which we should not expect too much.

See Agra and then quickly head for Gwalior

October 15, 2015/0 Comments/in Blog, Travel /by Paul Perton

The Taj. A magnificent monument to love. Fuji X-Pro1, 25mm Zeiss Biogon

Gwalior. Not on the itinerary of many India visitors and it really should be.

I’d added it to ours on a whim – the evening before the details of our tour were set in stone, I’d been idly remembering a series of British steam locomotives that had been named in the ’30s after various Commonwealth countries, provinces and cities. Amongst them, Gwalior.

Not very PC in this insane world of being frightened of offending people, but there was an easy two day slot in our schedule. So, why not?

I’m glad we did.

Family pilgrimage, The Taj. Fuji X-Pro1, 25mm Zeiss Biogon

Architectural detail, the Taj. Fuji X-Pro1, 25mm Zeiss Biogon

The observant amongst you will quickly realise that I’ve skipped Agra and the Taj Mahal. Not. That’s about to happen. In truth, Gwalior probably ought to rank equally with the TM and if you’ve been there before, do replace it on your list of places to see.

Taj visitors. Fuji X-Pro1, Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4

Untitled. Fuji X-Pro1, Fuji 35mm f1.4

We’d left Lucknow by train – did you expect anything different? It was a horrible journey, almost as bad as the TANZAR between Lusaka and Dar es Salaam, which is probably unfair as Zambia Railways actually got us into Dar on time after three and a half days. The bloody Lucknow-Agra Express was dirty, more cramped than a flight on Mango Airlines in South Africa, full of broken seats and seat back tables and the air conditioning was on a par with an asthmatic old man.

I decided not to risk the WC.

Anyway, this bloody old contraption eventually lurched into Agra at 01:00, three hours late after stopping at every station and signal along the way. Fortunately, our guide was still patiently waiting for us and sped us off to our hotel and a couple of hours of wide awake in bed, waiting for sleep to come. We’d abandoned our 05:00 alarm call to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise.

Instead, we visited at dusk and it’s magnificent – pretty much as you’d expect. This is low season, but there were still thousands of visitors milling around and getting any kind of collectible photograph is hopeless. We did the sunrise shoot the following morning, immediately prior to getting back on our small bus for the drive to Gwalior.

That was also special. Less visitors, fewer locals jostling and some nice photo opportunities and a brilliant sunrise.

Taj close-up. Fuji X-Pro1, Fuji 35mm f1.4

Agra? Great, but as WikiTravel says; one day and flee. I’ve been there and now understand why.

Poolside loll. Fuji X-Pro1, Fuji 35mm f1.4

Sandstone everywhere. Fuji X-Pro1, Fuji 35mm f1.4

Sunrise near the Taj. Fuji X-Pro1, Fuji 35mm f1.4

So, Gwalior.

This morning’s guide arrived full of beans and was clearly a local history maven. He took us to the fort – actually a mogul’s palace and temple. In a word; spectacular.

The fort is perched on a hilltop overlooking the city and our tour explored pretty much every nook, cranny and tiny staircase in and between the walls. Our guide didn’t guide, he taught us about Shiva, Vishnu, the succession of moguls, wives, the architecture, habits, practices and just about everything else. In short, he brought the whole two thousand year history of the fort and its surrounds to life. Taj Mahal? Seen it and won’t go back. Gwalior? Read on.

According it the blurb, we’re staying in a non-hotel hotel. A self-catering boutique hotel, created from the tumbledown structure of some former mogul’s guest house, the hotel has a central buffet-style dining room if you want to use it and not much else. It’s old, renovated, comfortable, surrounds a large lawn area and is entirely enchanting.

To our (all of us) delight, there are several tiny temples and other ancient buildings also on the property and accessible to guests. Having arrived late yesterday afternoon after a lengthy road journey from Agra, my sundown shoot on the property was hurried and yielded little. This morning’s sunrise wander amongst the temples was everything I’d hoped for yesterday and a great deal more.

Gwalior is welcoming – as are all of the places we’ve visited so far – and as hectic as we are coming to expect. It also has the special something Agra lacks. I’d recommend it to any traveller.

The rest of the family arrived in Agra, along with my new Fuji X-Pro and Fuji 35mm f1.4 lens. Between visits, walks, food and beer I’m working through the manual and trying the new lens and well as my various M mount lenses on its adaptor. So far, the 50mm Summilux, 25mm Biogon and Voigtlander’s 15mm all seem to work fine. The latter is a complete surprise as my Sony NEX-7 simply refused to deliver anything usable with it.

While I’m learning the X-Pro, I’ve been relying on my X100T and growing to respect it more and more. It’s simple to set up, incredibly forgiving of my regular poor decision making, reliable and can shoot against a 2-3 stop overexposed background and still deliver a magically balanced, usable image.

More? It’s small, unobtrusive, unthreatening and totally silent. It’s visual qualities have been amply demonstrated by many other photographers around the world. I’m late to the party, but will happily sing its praises and endorse those that have gone before.

Every image below was shot with the X100T at f2 or f2.8 – see what I mean?

Daughter-in-law temple, Gwalior. Fuji X100T

Intricate detail. Mother-in-law temple. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

Full colour, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

Untitled, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

Sikh pilgrims, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

Museum visitors, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

Untitled, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

Untitled, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2

Tea room, Gwalior. Fuji X100T @ f2.8

…and then you’ll be able to rememberise Varanasi

October 7, 2015/0 Comments/in Blog, Travel /by Paul Perton

He walks in his own light, Varanasi

Sunrise ceremonies, Varanasi

Cows everywhere, Varanasi

Saturday – we were advised last evening that today’s early afternoon flight west to Varanasi had been cancelled, the airline offering us an alternative at 04:30 to Delhi, several hours wait, then a flight all the way back to our intended destination. Or an airline switch that would cost 3000 Rupees (R600/£30) for the pair of us.

Rather than waste an entire day travelling and sitting around, we opted for the relatively small extra and landed in Varanasi mid-morning after an 05:00 wake-up call and a quick transfer to the airport.

International baggage allowances vary, depending on the airline. Most allow 23kg, Emirates 30kg. Both of our cases tipped at the scales at under 20kg when we flew here, but the internal airlines are on the same money-making gig you’ll encounter elsewhere and were very quick to charge us several hundred Rupees extra for our “excess baggage”. I do understand the profit motive; I’ve worked for myself for more than 30 years, but this feels much more like taking the piss because you can.

Rant over. For now – we’ve another flight coming up.

Untitled, Varanasi

Flower market, Varanasi

The school run, Varanasi

Untitled, Varanasi

Kolkata had largely proved my photographic choices; small mirrorless cameras (Fuji X100T, Sony NEX-7) and 25/35/50mm lenses. I’d also packed my ancient Leica 135 f2.8 thinking I’d use it around the Taj Mahal for sunrises and sunsets. That has still to come, but given the very limited scope for long lenses so far, I’m beginning to think it would have been better to leave it at home.

In the main, the Fuji shines very brightly. When it hits a critical focus point, the results are as good as with the best of cameras. The autofocus isn’t that quick however and I have definitely lost some images in alleyways and poorly lit buildings that were grabbed en passant. Another second or two and some patience could have delivered a great shot.

The NEX-7 and it’s manual lenses remains a delight, but not for anything other than outright daylight, or situations where there is time to focus properly. Zone focus is a solution, but at ISO800 and f2.8 a daylight exposure value that delivers wonderful focus and sharpness deteriorates to f2.8 and a half second exposure in a heartbeat, as the environment changes from pavement to semi-dark alleyways and the deep gloom of open fronted shops/eating houses.

My new Fuji X-Pro1 and 35mm f1.4 arrives with the rest of the family in a couple of days and I’m hoping that will be a more workable solution.

While I’m being a bit technical, I’m using some different editing techniques on this trip. Fortunately, they’re non-destructive, so if what I’m doing doesn’t fly, I can head back to where I started.

The first change is the use of a 2.39:1 crop – the cinematic ratio, I’m told. I’ve tried several different ratios before, including the usual landscapers’ 2:1, but this one really works for me – especially with the scenes I’ve been shooting. Comments would be helpful…

Shoes off please

Queue to enter the Golden Temple, Varanasi

A common sight on Varanasi’s lanes

Sunrise ceremonies, Varanasi

The Ganga at sunrise

The second experiment is using VSCO’s plug-ins. I bought Pack 4 (essentially offering Velvia, Provia and some Kodak film emulations) and added it to the free Pack 0 which I use for Tri-X emulation. I’m really enjoying the bright and intense colours, but find it necessary to tone down some of the Velvia renditions, especially with Asian skin tones which quickly head for bright yellow. All-in-all, it’s an experiment worth trying.

Untitled, Varanasi

So, Varanasi. It’s dry, dusty and much less humid than Kolkata. The traffic is as bad and the willingness to hoot at every piece of paper on the street, shadow, dog, cow, cyclist, pedestrian, or other vehicle within 50m is identical. The hotel, several notches up from Kolkata’s quaint Fairlawn has just served us a passable buffet lunch and we currently await our guide for the afternoon’s exploration.

Collecting us from the airport was Anil; chatterbox of note, he was keen, a mine of information and introduced us both to the concept of rememberisation; some kind of recall one has after visiting Varanasi and joining one of his tours. I hope we’ll remembers this one with great fondness.

Billed as the planet’s oldest city, Varanasi is known for its temples, religious activity and daily gatherings at the ghats along the Ganga (Ganges to us outlanders). Our first guided visit was to walk a bit of the city and end at the Dashaswamedh ghat – a stepped entry down into the Ganga – as darkness fell.

In classic Indian style, the evening ritual was celebrated with a huge crowd, seemingly made up equally of sightseers and worshippers. Bells clanged, hand organs played, tablas bonged and five orange and gold clad priests led the ceremony, chanting, singing and ringing hand bells. The crowd joined in and with the addition of clouds of incense, turned a sundown rite into a spectacular experience.

Sunday morning saw us with another early alarm call, this time to re-visit Dashaswamedh ghat, to climb on board a large rowing boat to see the morning bathing ritual and witness the sunrise over the Ganga. There are few words to describe the experience.

Off the boat, just beyond the cremation area (strictly no photographs), we walked along the various ghats, spectators at a daily ritual critical to India’s Hindu community. If last evening’s ceremony was a great experience, this was truly special – one of the great sights that make India the travel destination it is.

Untitled, Varanasi

Waiting for the ceremony to begin, Varanasi

Untitled, Varanasi

The Ganga at sunrise

Sunrise witnessed and hundreds of pilgrims seen washing and purifying, we were ushered back to our hotel for a (very) late breakfast, followed by a walking tour of one of the city’s fabric factories, the Islamic market and a the lanes that differentiate this ancient city from so many others.

This morning (Tuesday), another early call heralded departure for Allahabad and Lucknow – in other words, a day in the car, with brief stops at Sangram, the holy confluence of three great rivers and then on to Nehru’s house in Allahabad. Photography in most of these places is forbidden and while the house is magnificently maintained, I managed only a couple of shots. The police are inches thick everywhere and I suspect falling foul of them is not advised.

If you’ve read Rohinton Mistry’s A fine balance, or Gregory David Roberts’ Shantaram, you’ll understand.

Before I turn my attentions to Lucknow, I need to say that Varanasi was truly special; the religious pilgrimages surrounded by the Ganga and a city full of ancient buildings, unique. That said, for all its history and appeal to the tourist/photographer, the city is unremittingly dirty. There are dogs and (predictably) cattle everywhere, often asleep in the middle of main roads and alleyways. Their droppings make navigating the litter- and rubble-strewn lanes and roadways almost impossible. Couple that with the unending press of humanity, motor bikes and scooters roaring past and the permanent stench of just about everything you don’t want to imagine and you’ll be well prepared if the you choose to visit.

Sunrise

Sanskrit University, Varanasi

The Ganga at sunrise

Untitled, Varanasi

Sanjiv, our day guide did a fine job of navigating us through the labyrinthine lanes and alleyways, and swatted (not literally) away the endless stream of beggars. If you’re planning to visit Varanasi and need someone to show you the real photographic sights – send me an e-mail and I’ll let you have his details.

Wednesday – Lucknow. Breakfast soon and then our first of two full days in the capital of Uttar Pradesh.