Oh, the Places We'll Go

Ted and I were casually B-List celebrities in Amritsar. Though Indians in big cities and tourist towns are used to seeing foreigners, Amritsar (being a pilgrimage point) attracts Indians from all over the country – some from tiny villages in remote places that never see travelers. For that reason, we white folks were kind of a big deal. Walking around the temple and out in town, we were constantly being stared at, talked about and pointed at. Some folks would indiscreetly rush by and snap a photo on their cell phone without saying anything and some people would come up and have us pose in a picture with their whole family. Though initially uncomfortable, I quickly got on board and was holding babies, hugging grandmas and standing awkwardly next to teenage boys. Being white had never been so exciting!

P.S. Women had to cover their heads when visiting the Golden Temple, hence the awkward scarf on my head in the photos.

Posing with the locals

Smile for the camera phones

As you know, we Americans don’t really give a damn about the game of cricket, but for Indians it is the national game and a borderline obsession. Everyone loves cricket and this national infatuation was multiplied a 1000 fold during our stay because India (along with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) were hosting the Cricket World Cup 2011. Similar to the World Cup of soccer/rugby, it only happens every four years and it is of huge importance for national pride to compete well.

The night we got back from our camel safari, India was playing Pakistan in the semi-finals of the tournament. This was no ordinary game. India and Pakistan pretty much hate each other and the competition was symbolic of much more than a sporting match. In fact, India’s Prime Minister had invited Pakistan’s Prime Minister to come to India to watch the game together and the newspapers referenced this gathering as a notable sign of diplomacy! Every Indian we talked to told us that it was much more important to beat Pakistan than it would be to win the whole tournament. These guys weren’t joking around.

Though Ted and I didn’t watch the whole game (because we didn’t really care and we don’t understand it no matter how many people try to teach us the rules), we were able to guess how India was doing based on the number of fireworks that were exploding in the night sky. Though Pakistan started strongly, the Indians were the ultimate victors and the country celebrated with pride. We were only in tiny old Jaisalmer on western edge of the country however, from what we saw and heard in our little town, I can confidently say that the whole country was ecstatic.

India went on to play Sri Lanka in the finals and managed to win the whole tournament. As you might imagine, Indians were celebrating for days. It was quite a treat to be in India when the country both hosted and won the world championship of their much loved national game. Kids and dads took to the fields for impromptu games, the newspapers couldn’t get enough of it, the fireworks continued, and the players were all instant celebrities. Overly excited India got even a little more so.

Though we didn’t quite know what a camel safari would entail, we had been told we had to do it. So that’s how we found ourselves in the back of a van being driven for miles west of Jaisalmer into the Thor Desert. We were not sure where we were headed exactly, but it appeared that our final destination was just an arbitrary mile marker (rather a kilometer marker), because that is where we met our guide, his young apprentice, and our camels.

I can’t remember when or if I have ever hung out with camels before, but they are pretty funny looking things. Their facial expression reads a combination of curiosity and ambivalence mixed with annoyance, and they audibly chew their cud at all times. Not exactly cute and fuzzy, but somehow kind of endearing.

Suiting up on Mr. Rocket for our journey

Sideways chomping

Regardless, we were excited about our adventure. Ted’s camel’s name was Mr. Rocket while I was on Johnny Walker. Getting on the camel is no problem as they are kneeled on the ground, but when they need to get up, you’d better be holding on and leaning back or you will surely fall off. We made it up incident free, thank goodness. We were led by our guide and our little helper, who was no more than 12, was pulling up the rear.

Cruising the camel trails

Our guide and his apprentice

As we set off into the desert, there were still signs of civilization for the first half day, but as we continued west, it was just us and the sand. After a couple hours of camel riding, we thankfully took a several hour lunch break. Between the heat of the day and the need to stretch our legs and rest our bums after riding a relatively uncomfortable camel, we were happy to relax and nap.

Relaxing in the shade

Fresh curry and chapatis for lunch!

A couple more hours into the desert and scenery changed completely – rolling sand dunes as far as the eye could see. It was an incredible place to watch the sunset while our guide prepared curry and fresh chapatis for dinner. We slept under the stars on the dunes – no tents or pillows for us, just a simple mat on the sand. We were only a few short miles from the Pakistan border and from where we camped, we could see the glow of the giant spotlights the Indians use to patrol the boundary.

Cruising the dunes

Sunset in the desert

The Dunes

The Dunes at Sunset

The second day we headed back in a different direction to an equally arbitrary finish point as where we started. We’d had a good couple days on our camels, but I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say that we were ready to be done. With super sore bums, a hot shower and a proper sand-free sleep were in order!

Sarah and Johnny Walker

Getting a camel to stand up can be difficult

Kinda like riding a horse, but not really

From Udaipur we headed to Jodphur, known for the impressive Mehrangarh Fort perched on a 400 ft cliff overlooking the city. Calling the Fort merely impressive is a huge understatement – this Fort is incredible. Built in the 1500s by Rao Jodha to house and protect the Maharaja and his family, the Fort was used as recently as 1952 for a modern-day coronation of the living Maharaja, Gaj Singh.  Aged 4 at the day of his coronation, it was this young Maharaja’s foresight, money, and dedication that created the Mehrangarh Museum Trust that is dedicated to preserving and caring for this important part of India’s history.

Meherangarh Fort

The Palace within the Fort

The inside was just as impressive as the outside

The halls within

Neither Ted nor I are history-buffs or museum people in general, but we were hands-down blown away by what we saw and learned. Surprisingly, it was a well-produced and informative audio tour (included in the price of our tickets) which led us from the exterior walls of the fort, through courtyards, into the palaces’ opulent rooms and finally to the tops of the walls where dozens of cannons now sit idle after providing hundreds of years of protection. Some highlights of the day include:

• 

  Palanquin

  Learning that fort had never been breached or conquered in its 500 year history.

• Seeing examples of palanquin which were used by the royal family when traveling by elephant.
• Learning about the intricacies of the window panes that allowed the women of the palace who were observing Islamic purda to see out into the courtyards but did not allow men to see in.
• Hearing a story about the 21 wives of one Maharaja that threw themselves on to his burning funeral pyre after his death in battle.
• Seeing extravagant royal baby bassinets and learning the importance placed on astrology for determining that baby’s destiny – everything from their name to their future spouse.

Oh and the stories go on. This fort was by the far our favorite of the sites we visited in Rajasthan. Whether looking up at the fort from town as it towers above you or standing on top of the fort’s walls looking down over Jodphur’s iconic blue buildings, you can’t help but feel its importance to the people of Jodphur, both historically as a great protector and presently as a source of pride and income for their city.

Views from within the Fort

Hookah Man

Views of Jodhpur from the Fort

Our first and last overnight bus ride in India got us to Udaipur just in time for sunrise. Our guidebook called Udaipur the “Venice of India”, and though that is quite a stretch, the city is centered around the water – a beautiful and impressive lake that is lined with palaces, forts, and guesthouses. Wonderfully, nearly all the restaurants and guesthouses in the area have rooftop balconies for taking in this fabulous view.

Floating Palace

Rooftop sunsets

Rooftop view from our hotel

Udaipur waterfront

Udaipur was a treat. Yes, it is still full of aggressive Indian salesmen, noisy rickshaws and smelly cows however, it is such a small place that it all feels more manageable. Anytime the chaos is too much, you are never more than a couple minutes stroll from your hotel or another equally welcoming rooftop with this breathtaking view – perfect for sipping on chai and admiring the floating palace, the whitewashed guesthouses lining the lake, and the mountains that hover in the distance. We took a boat ride on the lake, we visited a temple in town, we watched sunsets from our rooftop, we recuperated from being “foiled by India”, but our favorite and most memorable activity in Udaipur was an Indian cooking class.

Neither of us had ever taken a cooking class before, but we were excited as we obviously love Indian food and wanted to learn how to cook it better at home. Our instructor, Shashi, was a widow who had lost her husband when her sons were young. The Indian caste system did not allow her to remarry, but she had no way to support herself without her late husband’s income (and family members did not come to her rescue). After working for years doing laundry and sewing projects for the many hotels and tourists in town, she came up with the idea to start a cooking class. Through trial and error and her many international customers, she learned English and she now operates one of the most successful courses in town. Her class is so popular, it has surpassed the floating palace as the #1 activity in Udaipur according to TripAdvisor! She was a very fun and inspirational lady and the day we were in class, her oldest son was off to take his exams for university admission so she has obviously done well for herself and her family.

Indian spices!

Mashing away

Mix and stir

Presenting...pakora

Our group mates were a couple from The Netherlands. They were wonderful partners in crime as we worked our way through Shashi’s recipe book. We sliced and diced veggies; we deep-fried pakora; we hand-rolled naan and roti; we simmered curries; we watched Shashi in action; we took notes; and we had a wonderful time. The course was topped off with an over-the-top meal that we couldn’t find the room to finish (thanks to all the snacking along the way). Our first cooking class was a roaring success and we look forward to trying to recreate Shashi’s masterpieces when we get home.

Look Ma - we can cook Indian food!

Shashi, her pupils, and deliciousness

After the Holi celebration, we headed west from Delhi to the Indian state of Rajasthan. India has 28 different states, each with tens of millions of people and many with their own distinct dialects, religious beliefs, food specialties, and rich histories. This diversity makes the country incredibly interesting to travel through, and though we are only going to see a small portion of it, Rajasthan is supposed to be one of India’s highlights.

Rajasthan is the land of forts, deserts, and city palaces. It is India’s biggest state and also the most visited by travelers due to its proximity to Delhi, its storied past, and its impressive architecture. As a result of its popularity, there are lots of traveler services (decent hotels, yummy restaurants, multiple train and bus options for transport, etc), however there are also plenty of people out to haggle you out of your money along the way. The aggressive nature of the Indians here unfortunately left us feeling underwhelmed by the people we encountered in this state. We didn’t meet one Indian person throughout our 2 weeks in Rajasthan that we had a genuine conversation with. Every single interaction eventually resulted in a sales pitch of some sort. Yes, we pretty much stuck to the well-traveled tourist route, but that applies to many other countries that we’ve visited on our trip, and India was just different.

Despite our less-than-ideal personal interactions, we loved the places we visited in Rajasthan. Our first stop was a few nights in Jaipur, the state capital. Jaipur is part of the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra), which is the most popular short tourist route for quick visits to India. Though definitely an interesting place with some phenomenal history and an impressive city palace, I was battling a wicked head cold and overall stomach unrest brought on by our Holi day extravaganza which left me unenthused with the place. On top of that, Ted had another “foiled by India” episode as he attempted to book our onward transport on our first day. But thankfully, Ted had a little more energy in him, and he dragged us to some of the city’s historic buildings – the Hawa Mahal, the City Palace, and the Jantar Mantar, an observatory of massive proportions.

Hawa Mahal

City Palace

Hawa Mahal

City Palace Musician

Jaipur is also a big trade hub – many of India’s famous textiles and art come from Rajasthan, and Jaipur acts as a distribution center. It was fascinating to cruise the shop-lined streets, watching craftsmen work on everything from textile dyes and tea pots to keys and Hindu god shrines. India’s vibrant colors shone brightly throughout the never-ending bazaars and shops, and it was interesting to be surrounded by people so dedicated to their individual craft. We’d seen a lot of vendors and markets over the past 7 months, but nothing can quite describe the colors, smells, craftsmanship, intensity, aggressiveness, and chaos of an Indian marketplace.

Jaipur's colorful markets

Preparing textile dyes

Jaipur vendors

Making keys on the sidewalk

All in all, Jaipur was not our favorite destination, and we were ready for a change of pace out of the big city atmosphere. Luckily, our next stop was going to fit the bill perfectly.

Holi Cow Ticket

Holi is an important Hindu and national holiday in India, and we coincidentally arrived in the country just in time to celebrate it.  Sasank insisted that we stay through the weekend so that we could check out the Delhi festivities in full force.  Ok, big fun party – twist our arms…

I am not familiar with the religious significance, but from what we witnessed, Holi involves dressing up in white clothes, going to a party and then covering yourself and others with large quantities of bright-colored powders.  It’s quite hilarious.

However, colors (as they’re called) are not reserved for private parties between friends.  On Holi (and the days leading up to Holi), one is at the mercy of anyone they may pass on the street.  We regularly saw people on the metro covered in color days before the main Holi celebration.  Ted and I got targeted on our cycle-rickshaw ride through Old Delhi (the kid missed, thank goodness).  People in the street outside Sasank’s apartment were also a threat, with both colors and water balloons stockpiled on balconies.  These colors are beautiful and fun however, they are extremely potent and could easily ruin your clothes, stain your skin or dye your hair.  Kinda intense if you aren’t ready for it.

At the big party we went to on Holi (aptly named Holi Cow) – we were ready for it.  We got decked out in new white outfits we secured at a cheap market, we lathered our skin and hair with coconut oil (to avoid staining, seriously), we drank a couple beers, and we piled into a cab to the party, ready to go get colorful.

The "before" picture

Holi provisions

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves but all in all, we had a hilarious day relaxing in the sunshine and making a complete mess of ourselves.  Our before and after pictures say it all.  Luckily the oil did its job and most of the color came out of our hair and off our bodies after our first shower.  As we traveled through the country for a few more weeks, we came across many blonde travelers that were not so lucky.  They were sporting pink hair for weeks!

Applying colors

Colored up!

Colorful and happy

Our Holi Cow Crew

The "after" shot

For Day 2 in Delhi, we had an equally ambitious day planned that would take us into the heart of Old Delhi.  We opted to take the city metro and we were beyond impressed.  Not only could we effortlessly travel to all the main tourists destinations but the metro was the cleanest, most secure and easiest to navigate subway that either of us had ever experienced.  NOT what we were expecting at all and a welcome treat.  As it turns out, the city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the completion of the metro coincided with this important international event.  Side note – Particularly awesome about the Delhi Metro: women-only cars.  A welcome relief from all the Indian men’s smells and stares!

Women Only Section!

Our first stop to Connaught Place, a conglomeration of shops, restaurants and travel agencies, was uneventful except for our first run-in with one of India’s notorious touts.  We were looking for India’s official office of tourism (a notoriously hard place to find), however, the seemingly helpful concerned citizen instead had us follow him around for several blocks with plans to take us into his friend’s cousin’s brother’s sketchy travel agency.  Needless to say, we figured it out rather quickly and had some steps to retrace.  Foiled!

Our next plan was to head to the train station to pre-book our onward tickets to our next stop in India.  The Old Delhi train station is such an overwhelming, dirty, confusing, loud place that they have an upstairs room of the station dedicated solely to helping foreigners buy actual train tickets to their desired destination for the correct price.  The guidebooks warn you, “Don’t believe anyone you meet in the station that tells you the office doesn’t exist, or that it has moved locations or that it has burned down”.  Apparently, there are enough fakes out there that have illegitimately separated tourists from their money that they had to create this office to begin with and then warn people to persevere to find it!  We did find it, but the line to meet with an agent was literally all the way around the room.  After over an hour of waiting, we found our desired trip was full and since we didn’t have a back-up plan lined up, we walked away having purchased nothing.  Foiled!

Our plan to take the lovely, beautiful metro to our next stop was also unsuccessful.  The metro stop below the train station is probably the busiest one in the whole city.  The line to buy tickets, plus the line to get through security (yes, they have separate male and female lines for body pat-downs and an X-ray machine!) were both over 100 people long.  After extensive waiting in the train office, we did NOT want to wait again (in hindsight, waiting would have been the best move).  Foiled!

We decided to take an auto-rickshaw instead.  However, as we were at the train station where many people arrive and need rickshaws, and because we are white tourists, the price we were quoted was astronomical.  We asked 5 different drivers with no significant budge in the price.  How about using the meter?  Absolutely not!  Foiled!

We opted for a cycle-rickshaw instead, as Old Delhi was not too far away.  This was moderately successful though it involved a very skinny and rather old man using all his might to move his bicycle and our large, American bodies through the most insanely unproductive, inconsiderate traffic that we’ve ever experienced.  Trucks, buses, cars, auto-rickshaws, bicycle-rickshaws, mopeds, children, cripples, cows, and chickens are all going whichever way they want to go with little to no regard to any other moving object in their way.  It’s chaos and total gridlock.  What should have taken 5-10 minutes took well over a half hour.  Semi-foiled!

Old Delhi - crazier than it looks here

Cycle Rickshaws - when they're not full of people

We finally got close enough to our desired destinations that we opted to bail on the cycle-rickshaw (the traffic had clogged up again) and walk our buns the rest of the way.  Walking wasn’t much easier.  Sidewalks don’t quite exist and every step is a conscious thought that involves avoiding the street traffic and making sure you don’t walk into cow poo, a mysterious dark liquid, someone’s lap, or a man urinating.

These pictures really don't do justice to the chaos of Old Delhi

Old Delhi from above

We were hot, we were tired, we were hungry.  We ate, we relaxed, we attempted to gather up the energy to head back out and visit our planned tourist destinations.  However, we looked at our watch, saw it was late afternoon, realized the monuments would be closing and that Sasank would be home from work soon.  So after hours of attempting to get to where we were at that exact moment, we turned right around, found the nearest metro, and called it a day with little to show for ourselves.  Foiled indeed.

We returned home dirty, exhausted, and unaccomplished.  Old Delhi had shown us a little taste of the India we had in store for us ahead, and we now understood the previous warnings from other travelers.  India had gotten our attention that day, and it wouldn’t let it go for the rest of the trip.  This would not be the first nor the last day we would be foiled by India!

Our first day of touring in Delhi took us to two famous sites recommended by Sasank: Humayan’s Tomb and Lodi Gardens.  He also recommended a nearby lunch spot we couldn’t miss – I tell you, this guy is good.  Imagine our surprise on our first auto-rickshaw ride through New Delhi as we took in the busy but not too busy street scene, the slow but not unbearable traffic, and the trash-ridden yet tree-lined streets of New Delhi.  India wasn’t overwhelming at all – what was all the fuss about (we asked our innocent selves on Day 1 in the country)??  We were momentarily convinced that our 7+ months of traveling had broken us in and that we were not feeling the intense reactions that many travelers report upon arrival to India.  We were just incredibly naïve – but more on that later.

Auto-rickshaw ride #1

Humayan’s Tomb is an incredible architectural masterpiece.  Built by a Mughal emperor in the 1500s, the tomb was once left to ruin but is actively being restored and has earned the designation as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It’s is surrounded by a dozen other interesting buildings and the grandeur of the central building is accentuated by the beautifully manicured grounds.  Lots of picture-taking ensued.

Humayan's Tomb

Amazing stone work at the Tomb

The actual tomb

After an amazingly delicious lunch featuring our first of many orders of butter chicken, we found our way to Lodi Gardens.  Situated in central New Delhi, Lodi Gardens is a lovely green oasis featuring beautiful flowers, old-growth trees, ponds, as well as, several architecturally impressive monuments dating back hundreds of years.  Families, old folks, young lovers and tourists alike stroll through the gardens, nap on the grass and enjoy the peace and quiet that is rare in this raging metropolis.

Lodi Gardens

Lodi Gardens

Lodi Gardens

When we got back to Sasank’s that night, we were feeling quite comfortable and accomplished.  All this talk of Delhi’s intensity and challenges – shenanigans!  That is, until tomorrow…

We had heard a lot of intense things about India before our arrival, so we didn’t quite know what to expect.  Overall most people liked the place, but no review of the country was without some obvious cautions.  Some of the most common warnings we heard had to do with lack of personal space on a daily basis, the general dirt and filth of the streets and public spaces, the fact that you are being stared at by someone at all times, and the glaring and depressing poverty.   Someone once told me that India stands for I’d Never Do It Again.  Wow, what were we getting ourselves into?!?

Despite all of these warnings, our arrival to the Indian sub-continent was actually quite smooth.  Delhi, known as an overwhelming big city that most people try to get in and out of as fast as possible, turned out to be a place we rather enjoyed, thanks to an old friend.  Sasank is a friend from high school who learned of our round-the-world trip via Facebook.  He saw our travels were taking us to India and he invited us to stay with him.  No, we hadn’t seen him since high school graduation, nor had we emailed or spoke on the phone, but that didn’t stop him from offering us a gracious invitation and didn’t stop us from happily accepting.  It was great to catch up after all these years – in no time we felt like we’d been in touch all along.  He was an amazing host and a wealth of information about the city, Indian culture, religion, food menus, and more.  AND he’s got a sweet pad in a cool area of the city, complete with full-time domestic help – a super nice guy named James.  James whipped us up breakfast, did our laundry, and made the most delicious chai in India.  Delhi”s not so bad…

Sasank and Sarah

James and Ted

A huge thank you to Sasank and his roommate Brian for hosting us twice as we toured the country, and for telling James to take care of us!