There is a delicate balance to be struck when taking photos of locals and their ceremonies. On one hand, you really want to get those amazing shots. But on the other, you HAVE to be respectful of the subjects of your photography. This dude was way out of line at the Ganga Aarti ceremony in Rishikesh. Don’t be that guy.
The Taj Mahal. One of those Wonders of the World that exceeds expectations.
Chai (or more specifically, Masala Chai) is the staple liquid of India. A milk-based black tea flavored with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and lots of sugar, chai is more ubiquitous than coffee, and in my opinion, is far superior in taste. Served by street vendors known as “chai wallahs (a wallah is a person that performs a service – you have your laundry ironed by a “press wallah”, your shoes shined by a “shoe wallah”, etc), you can order a chai in a train, in a food stall, in a museum, in a restaurant, or basically on any corner in all of northern India. Sometimes served in a teapot, other times in a glass, and occasionally in a plastic bag, masala chai will forever be one of my favorite hot drinks.
Personal Chai Teapots
Chai in a glass
Cows are everywhere in India. Deemed sacred by the Hindu religion, cows are free to roam as they like, in the streets, in your yard, on bridges, in intersections, etc. The downsides to cows’ spiritual status are plentiful, including poop everywhere, traffic blockages, and occasional aggressive behavior. But in India, nobody seems to mind.
Cows in the square
Cows on a bridge
Cows on the street
Rishikesh vista
Rishikesh is special and fascinating for a number of reasons. First, its location at the foothills of the Himalaya and the headwaters of the Ganges (or Ganga, as they call it here) sets a beautiful backdrop. Flatness to the south, mountains (similar in size and feel to the Flatirons coming out of Boulder) cut majestically up from the wide and pale green Ganga (also a very holy body of water to the Hindus). The river here is relatively clean, and swimming in it is a common (and cold) activity. 2nd, its location away from normal Indian craziness (but it’s all relative). Rishikesh is actually the main city across the water and to the south a bit, and it’s regular old Indian mayham. The 3 main areas where travelers and pilgrams hang out are separate communities north of the main town and across the river – Ram Jhula, Lachsman Jhula, and High Bank. In all 3 of these, there is very limited traffic – mainly only scooters and motos, and then a jeep service between Ram an Lachsman. This is a very important factor in the development of the spiritual center this place has become. Most importantly though, this place is special for it’s spirituality, and the people that it draws in the pursuit of it. Yoga capital of the world, the region is dotted with Ashrams where pilgrams come for serious study. Ashrams range in their price and focus, but most require adherence to a schedule of study, a dress code, a conduct code, and that participants be serious in their dedication. We considered staying in one of the lite Ashrams for a couple days, but decided that we could get the yoga/meditation we wanted just by dropping in.
The entrance to Parmarth Ashram
There is a lot of focused brain power and spiritual energy in this place. A LOT. For all of the reasons above, Rishikesh is the perfect storm of elements to create probably one of the world’s most significant hubs of people energy. And you can feel it. Lots of Boulder people would dig the vibe here. Sarah gets a bit annoyed by all the travelers dressing the part (lots of people here wearing hippie clothes that wouldn’t be caught dead in them back home), but I think it’s just people getting away from their lives and getting into the vibe here.
Students of the ashram
The streets are lined with these unique beggars. Dressed largely in orange, this skinny old dudes with huge beards and long hair would very unobtrusively ask you for a donation as you walked by. As many people come to Rishikesh to cleanse and build up their karma, it’s a good place to be a(n apparently spiritual) beggar.
Rishikesh Beggar
There is NO alcohol in this city. None. Can’t have a beer with dinner, no wine, no hard stuff. There is one restaurant up in High Bank that has beer, supposively. Good for the budget though. Oh yeah, and no meat either. It’s so easy to eat vegitarian when meat is not an option. Haven’t missed it once since we’ve been here. Nobody offers it, nobody eats it, and the food is delicious.
Sunset on the Ganga
India has some interesting social norms when it comes to public displays of affection, romantic or platonic. As a general rule, women and men are not allowed to show affection for one another. In many places, women must cover themselves completely so as not to attract the eye or attention of the opposite gender. In a culture that still relies heavily on arranged marriages, dating is forbidden and many men and women don’t even meet their life partners until they are soon to be wed. There simply is not a lot of flirting (publicly, at least).
However, it is quite normal for both men and women to show platonic affection to others of their own gender publicly. Behavior that would likely be perceived as homosexual in our culture is simply a demonstration of everyday friendship. It is typical for men to embrace, hold each other, and then hold hands while they walk down the street. For us, a handshake that lasts for more than a couple seconds starts to feel awkward, and when the Indian man at the other end of the shake doesn’t let go for 30 seconds, I’m feeling like, ‘let my hand go dude’. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a little overt brotherly love – it’s just not what we’re used to. But it’s quite a bit harder to accept the cultural norm that women are not to be seen by men. Gender equality has quite a long road ahead here in India.
I’d just like to take a moment here to recognize the utter deliciousness of Indian cuisine. We’ve been big fans of Indian fare for years, and one of the big draws of visiting India was eating the food. And I must say, we were anything but disappointed. While we never fully knew what we were getting, it was nearly always delicious. Our favorite dish was the Thali, which is tray of different curries – kind of like a sampler platter. Each thali would be different, featuring the restaurant’s curries of the day.
Thali from Rajasthan
Our last meal in India - a Varanasi Thali
Other favorites include dosas (super thin pancakes wrapped in a tube and filled with curry), malai kofta, and butter chicken.
Masala Dosa in Delhi
Paneer Dosa
In an effort to learn how to recreate this deliciousness at home, we even took a cooking class. We’ll give it a try when we get back, but I have a feeling we won’t quite be able to capture the rich flavors that burst out of ever bite here.
Sikh pilgrims from across the globe converge on the Golden Temple at a rate of thousands per day. For many, this is the trip of a lifetime. For others, it’s an annual visit. For all, it is a welcoming experience of unparalleled hospitality.
Every visitor to the Golden Temple, Sikh or not, is invited to free meals, served throughout the day, to up to 40,000 people daily. At first I was hesitant to accept – after all, I’m not a believer of their religion, and the complimentary food program was not designed for free-loading backpackers. But after being encouraged by a number of Indians to join in, I left a donation and gave it a go.
What an experience. The Golden Temple meal program might just be the most efficient restaurant on the planet. Hundreds of people are led into a large room and sat in rows on the floor. As others continue to file in, the first row is handed a plate, bowl, and cup, followed quickly by men with large ladles and buckets full of curries, dal, and rice. The chipati lady is close behind, followed by a little girl pouring water into everyone’s cup. The eating commences immediately, and Indians eat fast. No need for silverware, it’s all scoop and push with your fingers. Within minutes, the servers are back around for 2nd servings, though its hardly necessary after the heaping portions given on the first round. Within 15 minutes of walking in the door, over 250 people have been fed, and the room is nearly empty, save the cleanup crew, who come in with large mops to clean up the mess that accumulated on the ground (particularly around my plate – eating rice and curry with your fingers is rather messy for the inexperienced).
Serving hundreds - bucket-style
One of the most orderly endeavors we witnessed in all of India
The food, prepared in the biggest pots I’ve ever seen in my life, is surprisingly tasty, and most certainly filling. The people around stare at me as they eat, but with big warm smiles, and my neighbors practice their English and invite me to their home. While seemingly out of place as the only white guy in this huge room of Sikh pilgrims, I feel completely welcome at the meal, happy to have enjoyed what will surely be one of the most unique eating experiences of my life.
The kitchen - wood in the center for cooking, huge pots boiling curries in the back, and a chapati lady on the left
Lots of meals means lots of dishes, and lots of people to wash them
Coca Cola is the world’s most popular and widely distributed product (based on my own very scientific research of traveling and drinking a lot of it). From super rural villages in Ecuador, to Nepalese hill stations accessible only by foot, to remote Indonesian islands, there isn’t a place on the planet that you cannot buy a bottle of Coke. While the recipe varies slightly from place to place, you can always count on the familiar jolt of sugar and carbonation no matter how far from home you are. Coke’s ubiquity is a modern marvel of mass production, distribution, and marketing, and I really can’t think of any product that even comes close to it’s universal recognition. Can you?
Coke delivered via carts
Coke delivered via bike
In Amritsar, we encountered what I believe to be the cheapest Coke on earth – 5 Indian Rupees per bottle. That’s about 11 cents! I think the Sikhs are subsidizing the cost slightly – the 5 Rupee Coke Stand was just outside the free food building at the Golden Temple. No matter how cheap you find it internationally, you almost never find soda fountain machine Coke anywhere but home (with the exception of McDonalds restaurants anywhere). And those fountain machines provide one thing I miss dearly when traveling abroad – free refills!
5 rupee coke, and the pilgrams enjoying it
From Rajasthan we headed way north to the Indian state of Punjab, known for its rich delicious curries, its bearded turbaned men, and for the Sikh religion, which is centered in the city of Amritsar.
Amritsar is a fascinating and very special place for a number of reasons. It is home to the Golden Temple – one of the most impressive structures in all of India. The temple itself is a beautiful building that glows in the sun, surrounded by a massive bathing pool and then further enclosed within a series of impressive white buildings. As Muslims hope to make a to pilgrimage to Mecca in their lifetime, Sikhs from around the country (and around the world) make pilgrimages to the Golden Temple. At any point in time, there are hundreds to thousands of Sikhs within, bathing, praying, walking the perimeter, or waiting in line to give offerings within the glowing temple.
Golden Temple glowing at sunset
Pilgrams walking the perimeter of the temple grounds
A Sikh man prays and baths
Sikhs are unique in their very open and inviting approach – anyone and everyone is not only welcome, but welcome with a bed and all the food you can eat. On the grounds of the temple, free meals are served throughout the day to believers of any religion (more on the very interesting experience of family-style eating with 1000 of your best friends in an upcoming post). In addition, nearby accommodation is provided free of charge and once again is available to all (we did not take advantage of the free accommodation though we met many travelers that had). It’s an amazing hospitality that I’ve never seen before – sometimes feeding over 40,000 pilgrims a day! This generosity is incredibly important and impressive – it allows Sikhs from around Punjab, from around India, and from around the world to make this important pilgrimage financially possible for their families. If you can round-up the money for a train or bus ticket, you’ll be taken care of once you get there. How cool is that?
Because of its religious importance, most of the visitors to Amritsar are not just foreign tourists, but rather Indians who are visiting for spiritual reasons. As a result, many of these visitors are from small towns around India, and they are sincerely excited to see white people. The more outgoing ones asked us to be in pictures with them and their children (seriously, we’ve posed for well over a dozen shots with kids, parents, wives, brothers, etc). We are part of the attraction when rural people come to Amritsar. Before we figured this out, we were wondering why so many people were staring at us so hard – afterall, this is a pretty well-visited place. It all came together once we understood that almost everyone there was a tourist too.
A long line forms to enter the Golden Temple
Many impressive buildings create the perimeter of the temple complex
So, with a super open and accepting religion, an extremely holy (and impressive) monument that draws millions of Sikhs from across the country (and beyond), a pilgrimage center that provides free accommodation and food, and a bunch of people who are not used to foreign tourists, Amritsar became one of the most fascinating and welcoming places on our trip. Every conversation we’ve had with people (save rickshaw and taxi drivers) has been the polar opposite of our experiences in Rajasthan. We met a teacher outside the gates on our first visit, who told us about his class, and even invited us to the school for a visit. At the communal lunch, I met a kid who wanted us to stay until next Sunday when his family was having a party. Others wanted to practice their English or just be in photos. And the big one – I met a guy named Digpol, an Indian man who spent much of his life in Switzerland, who asked me to sit with him while he told me a bit about the history of the temple. For 20 minutes, he told me about Sikhism, the history of the pool around the temple, and answered a few of my questions. Afterward, he was insistent that we come stay with him when we came back through Delhi, where he would feed us, help us get around, and we could stay for at least a few days in his house. And it was heartfelt. From the way he approached me, to the teaching nature of his conversation, to the way he offered a visit, I could finally feel the Indian hospitality, sincerely.