India! Yes we are now in India. We flew into Delhi on the 31st (which was the worst idea I have ever had) and started the new year with a new country. Now a break down:
12/31: let's fly in on the 31st, we said! It'll go great, we said!
The cluster cuss of our trip to India actually started when we got to Inchon airport in Seoul to catch our first plane to China (some random city I have never heard of), from there we were supposed to have a 14 hour layover then another plane to Shanghai, then to Delhi. Random information for you: as a USA citizen you are only allowed to go through one airport in China and you have to be there for less than 24 hours. So someone should call Orbitz and inform them of this little tidbit and save other people the hassle that Tara and I faced in Seoul. After much confusion, calling orbitz, paying more money on our tickets, and getting rather annoyed with the ticket people in Korea, Tara and I had a new itinerary to Delhi. That is how I ended sleeping over night on an airport bench for the first, and I'm sure not the last, time in my life. After 18 hours in the airport we got on a plane to Shanghai.
We arrived in Shanghai and had to go all the way out of security (which we weren't supposed to be able to do and I am still confused how we got all the way out of security with out a visa. But I now have a China stamp in my passport!) to re check in and re check Tara's bag, that had all of our liquids and sharp pointy objects in it. Then right back through security and to our gate and onto our plane for Delhi. That sounds nice a smooth when written like that. China really didn't want us to come into the country and our passports were checked by at lest three people before being stamped. It's rather nerve racking to have the security people call over other people to look at your passport. I kept wanting to shout "That's me, I promise! It's worked in every other country I've gone to!" But, its all good we got through.
The beauty of a practically sleepless night is then you can sleep anywhere! So the 8 hour flight to Delhi went by in no time at all. They feed us on both flights and getting vegetarian food was no issue at all. They even gave us little tiny paper cups of wine on the flight to Delhi. After the wine we both went right to sleep. The down side of sleeping on an airplane is that, even with wine, it's horrible sleep. That is how we arrived in Delhi, on New Years Eve, at 7 pm, with jet lag, and no plan at all.
My advice, NEVER arrive in a big city, on New Years Eve, at night, with out any plans for getting around or where to stay. Especially if you are arriving in India. We had been blessed through all of Korea and Japan with extremely good luck, helpful people, and everything just falling in to place with out a plan. India not so much. We found a taxi who took us to the tourist information place which proceeded to not really help us in the slightest. Think of all the stereotypes about Indians working in costumer service and you basically got it. "I'm sorry madam. There is no way to get a room in Delhi tonight. Everywhere in city full." "What is your budget?... That is impossible." Eventually they sent us the market road(Karol Bagh) where the first hotel we got to gave us a room. Not the best New Year's Eve I have had, but a good story.
As a side note the room was freezing! Tars and I slept very close together all night and I was still cold every time one of us moved. We also didn't make it to midnight but got woken up by the fireworks so that sort of counts.
1/1/13: haven't gotten to write 2013 yet.
We moved hotels. The one we were staying at was a bit expensive and some very nice British people we meet in the lobby said it was cheaper next door. So we moved there. And got a SIM card for our phone. And took a very quick stroll through the market that was by the hotels. Delhi is just a bit sketch right now so we didn't do much walking around. Then ate dinner in the hotel and went to sleep early.
1/2: We're here we should actually see some of Delhi
So we got a driver for the day. It is a very popular thing in India to simply hire out a driver of a day, week, month any amount of time you would like them and they will take you everywhere you would like to go. So we hired one for the day and set out (only an hour and a half later than they said we would. India stretch time is totally a thing) to see the famous things in Delhi.
The first stop was India gate, which I can tell you nothing (other than it was built as a war memorial for the India soldiers who died in World War I) about because it was closed due to the protesting. India Gate is a symbolic place to gather so the police closed it to prevent that.
Next we went to Humayun's tomb which is, well, a tomb. It is surrounded by gardens and a few other buildings. It had really cool windows, they all had a carved marble lattice screens that filtered the light and made everything soft. The design was supposed to represent spiderwebs for protection. They also made great pictures!
Now sometime between here and the Lotus Temple we started having car problems that persisted through out the rest of the day. You see apparently this car was having problems idling (I'm totally making that up but the car kept dying and it would have to be physically in motion before it would start again. It is very funny to be in a car that wont start, in the middle of New Delhi traffic, and have the driver running along side trying to get the car rolling, then jump in and to try to start it before we rear ended the car in front of us. You just have to laugh!) and our driver didn't seem to have any idea what to do... so he rod the crap out of clutch and kept revving the engine which sort of worked. We made it through the rest of the day and only stopped on an over pass with smoke coming from under the hood once!
We eventually reached the Lotus Temple, a beautiful Lotus shaped temple which is actually named "Baha'i house of worship". It was built as a place of worship for people of all races, genders, and religions. It was a large room inside that filled the whole building where everyone was asked to be silent.
Then our driver took us to Delhi Haat was a building full of shops. Unfortunately for all of the sales people neither Tara or I wanted to shop at all so we didn't buy anything from them. Then we had lunch at a random restaurant that was next door and got back into the car to go to Qutub Minar.
Qutub Minar is a stone tower that is 72m high and decorated from top to bottom with engravings. There is 5 distinct stories with a balcony at each. You can't go in it (at all i think, it might have just been not allowed, I didn't see a door or anything. I think its just a really tall pillar.) On the grounds around Qutub Minar is the first mosque ever built in India. It is also beautifully engraved and made of the same red and white stones. There was a college there at one point as well and it was fun to get to wander through the ruins of that. The whole place was covered in carvings which was incredible when you stopped to think how long one of those would take.
The last stop of the day was Lal Quila (Red Fort). I can't tell you much about the fort because we were only actually touring around it for about 5 minuets before the sun set and they kicked us out, that was fine. The real reason we went was to see Mr. Singha, one of George's (Tara's dad) good friends who Tara had stayed with on her last trip to India. He was very nice and fun to chat with. So I have no pictures of Red Fort, thus named because it is constructed of red sand stone, which used to be a military base. The bit of it I saw was beautiful though!
By this point it was dark and being out after dark is not a good idea in Delhi at the moment. So back to our hotel for dinner and bed.
1/3: A lesson in why you should always travel India with an open schedule
"Don't worry ma'am I work here." "Go to booking office they will help." "Don't be crazy I know how far it is 400 too much!" "There is a 51 person waiting list and next available seat not until January 7th." "Please madam I will help you." "I make good deal for you don't worry." "Please Madam be comfortable. You want India tea (Chai)?" "Please have some bread."
Those are some of the things that I can remember being told that morning. Of course we didn't have a plan so needed a lot of help. We started the morning by getting to the train station at 8am and trying to get a train. We missed the 8am train to Agra and were sent to a "Government Tourist Office" (the amount of corruption in India is mind boggling so we were defiantly not at a government office. Not that is matters because India is corrupt all the way to the top) and that is how we ended up with a driver to take us around for a week and an extra stop to do a safari. Well sweet.
And off we go to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Which happens to be closed of Fridays so we had to hurry along and see it that day before it closed at sundown. The Taj Mahal really is a beautiful building that is quite amazing to see in person. There were a million and a half people there and it was hazy, as it always is in India, but it is a beautiful building. There also is not super good security or guidance so you can still touch all of the marble and inlay work. Our tour company arranged a guide for us which was a bit surprising so I actually got told a lot about the building and the king who built it for his queen ect. Unfortunately it was crazy crowded so I couldn't meander and soak up everything quite as much as I would have liked. The whole inside of the tomb is covered with inlay work. All semi precious stones that have been designed to look like flowers, the swirling pattern has the suggestion of hearts worked into it. a jaw dropping amount of work went into that building.
1/4: I'm so glad I don't have to drive in India
After a very cold night in the flying elephant hostel we journeyed on to Ranthambor. It was about a six hour drive that was passed chatting with our very talkative and funny driver (Sanjay) and relaxing. Well as relaxed as you can be on the roads in India. Don't worry every thing is totally acceptable here. You want to pass on the left (they drive on the opposite side) shoulder of the road? Go for it. Drive down the middle of the road for a while? Totally a thing. Pass a big truck while three motorcycles are coming the other way? Definitely, we can all fit on the road! Watch out for cows and carts. Camels will not get out of your way, they will just look at you with that nothing-will-ever-phase/surprise- me camel look. Feel free to drive on any part of the road that might please you, especially if there are pot holes. Drive in the ditch before going over one of those very fast.
The three things that are required to drive in India: good brakes, some luck, and most importantly a horn. DO NOT even think about driving with out a horn. It's all good if your car has to be moving to start or can't idol so has to be continually pushed to get it restarted (our taxi in Delhi) but you absolutely must have a horn.
1/5: Safari and Why I am so glad we got a driver!
We had to get up at 5am... And ride in an open jeep with just little blankets... for an hour! I couldn't feel my toes by the time we got the the tiger reserve. Meh I hate being cold.
So we got to the tiger reserve just before sunrise and started driving slower so I gradually regained feeling in my toes and started to look around. We were driving on dirt roads through a mountain dessert feeling place. After about an hour we found a hyena and proceeded to chase it. It is terrifyingly fun to bounce around in the back seat of a jeep that is going very fast down a very bumpy dirt path. The poor hyena was running as fast as it could away from us and I can only assume we totally ruined its day. After that not much exciting happened. We saw some spotted deer, a couple jackals, and the largest antelope i have ever seen. But, sadly, no tigers.
So we drove back to the hotel we were staying at and it turns out that it was a really pretty drive! Something I wouldn't have guessed at 5:30am. So that was nice. Gotta love being a jeep full of white tourist! Every little kid would wave at us as we passed.
After breakfast of parantha and chai(so delicious!) we got back in the car and drove to Jaipur. Since we had all day to get there Sanjay took the country way, past fields of mustard and small villages and Guava. It was very, very enjoyable to get to see a different view of India. Sanjay pulled over at one point and lead us into a guava farm where a man and 6 or 7 kids were picking guavas. We took pictures and picked fresh guava and ate it right off the bush. The kids loved the camera and posed for pictures every time is was out. We also shared the fresh sugar cane that Sanjay had gotten for us the night before. All of the kids laughed at us as we attempted to eat the sugar cane. You have to peel it with your teeth then you bite off the fiber in the middle, chew until all of the juice is gone, and spit out the fiber. You look totally ridiculous if you haven't been doing it forever. It was wonderful. He also stopped and let us wander and take pictures in a mustard field, which is just a sea of yellow right now. It took us longer to get to Jaipur than the highway but was wonderful!
When we arrived in Jaipur we went straight to the hanuman temple on the suggestion of Sanjay. Funnily enough right as we arrived there was a group of men staring at a spot on the hill across from us. Sanjay went over to check what they were looking at and called us over. Low and behold, there was a tiger sunning itself on a rock way up the hill. It was very far away so hard to see but, if you watched you could see it when it would move its head. We had to laugh at the irony of not seeing any tigers on our Safari and seeing one in Jaipur.
Now back to the Hanuman temple, it is know as the monkey temple not only because Hanuman is part monkey but because there are tons of monkeys there! They get feed so they have become used to humans and you can feed them peanuts from your hands. It was so much fun! All of these monkeys, adults and babies, would come up to you and take the peanuts from your hands. The little ones would climb on you if you held still for long enough.
After we had played with the monkeys, and given them all of our peanuts, we walked up the mountain and watched the sun set of Jaipur. It was beautiful. The haze that hangs over everything in India made it so the sunset was full of color and seeing the whole city spread out beneath you was breath taking. It was an awesome end to a fantastic day. Then we checked into our hotel, had an amazing dinner, and went to bed.
1/6: Swarms of men are really annoying.
For real being a celebrity would be incredibly annoying! Today we decided to see the sights in Jaipur. So we started our day by meeting our guide and going to Hawamahal, palace of winds. Which is a beautiful palace that is built at the the intersections of the two main roads in old Jaipur. First of all, Jaipur was the first planned city in India. The original section of it is entirely surrounded by a pink wall, then there is another "mini wall of China" running around a much wider perimeter. When the palace was built the two roads where very busy streets that had most of the shopping in town on them. At this time it was not allowed for queens or princesses to be seen out on the streets. So the winds palace has lots of little rooms that have large lattice covered windows where the queens/princesses could sit in their swings or on cushions and watch what was going on in the world below. The whole place had ramps to get between floors because as a queen your job was to sit around and eat so, naturally, they got extremely fat and then it was some servants job to push them around in wheel chairs. It also had a swimming pool in the middle of the courtyard where the queen/princesses could swim (only women were allowed in this palace at that time.) There were tons of people there when we were there but, with the guide, we were spared having to pose for pictures. The totally obvious men who would point their cameras directly at us while we looked at things or walked around was unavoidable, unfortunately. Some one should teach these men lessons on being discreet because there was no question that they were taking pictures of us and how, strangely, every time we would move to a new room that room all the sudden became the most popular room in the place.
Next we went to see the City Palace which has been converted into a museum with several focuses. We started in the armor and weapons room where they had way more weapons than they apparently knew what to do with because they had hung knives like star bursts on the walls and made signs out of them. The prettiest ones were in the cases, of course. There were elephant guns, ivory carved gun powder casks, swords from many kings, and old even more old guns. It was actually quite fascinating seeing all of the old weapons. After that room we went to the textiles museum, the one that I was more excited for. There were old saris, scarves, mens shirts, and just cloth that were intricately embroidered (with silk, silver, or gold thread), stamped, and woven. It was crazy to be looking at a dress from hundreds of years ago that had several kilos of gold embroidered onto it.
After the city palace we went to Jantar-Mantar, one of the largest and most well preserved observatories from the 18th century, which is still accurate today. There are two sundials, one accurate to and the other accurate to 2 seconds of the actual time. A contraption to tell the exact longitude and latitude through out the day and ummmm... thats all I can remember! Our guide was really trying but his english was sketch and its really hard to explain astrology with a language gap. Tara will probably know more, she had already been all of the other places so this was the only new place for her. It was a really cool place though and if i knew more about that kind of stuff I would be able to tell you way more.
Then we had lunch and went to Amber Palace, which was built by a king who had 12 wives and 300+ concubines. All the palaces have little hallways that make it like a maze and most places haven't closed off areas yet so you can just explore where ever you want. It is great fun to wander around and find random halls and rooms. Our guide walked us around a little and when we got to the courtyard of the palace, which was in the center with all 12 of the queens rooms around it and had hooks to hang curtains and swings so the queens could hang out, he told us to go explore. So we did. Which is when we got inundated with men... We were standing on the balcony over looking the courtyard and had paused to take a picture. All of the sudden there were 3 guys who asked for a picture. We ignored them because that is the best way to get people to leave you alone. Unfortunately that didn't work as well this time, they seemed to interpret our silence as conceit and soon they were poising next to us while their friends took pictures. Of course once one started the men multiplied at an alarming rate. I would love to see the pictures they took because Tara and I kept looking at each other and laughing then frowning as our personal bubble got entirely invaded then laughing again because it was just so weird to have this many people want a picture. Eventually Tara started yelling enough in Hindi, which got the response of "Just one more ma'am!" until we both just pushed our way out of the crowd and sped our way out of there. When we got back down to our guide he was chuckling, he had witnessed the whole scene from the courtyard below. 'I told you they would want your picture' was the only thing he told us about the whole event. When we told Sanjay about it later he had a good laugh and said they were probably village boys who had come to the city to take a test that had happened the day before and we were probably the only white girls they had ever seen in person. So your welcome random Indian men! Next time it will be 10 rupees a picture. Which is about 20 cents, but it will still fund some of my future shopping.
1/7: Shopping in Jaipur and Why Hindi movies rock
On our second day in Jaipur we didn't have a guide. Which was good because Sanjay knew a ton about the city and where we should go. However when there was a guide around he pretended not to speak english because it would get him in trouble with the tour company. So he would speak only in hindi when there was a guide around and talk our ears off in english when it was back to just the three of us. We had some wonderfully random conversations and I actually learned a good deal from him in the 5 days he was driving us around. Any who, he took us first to Nagargarh Fort because it has a wonderful view of all of Jaipur. Tara and I explored around the almost deserted fort until we became totally fed up with being followed around and photographed by a steadily growing group of young men. Even with scarves to cover the blond hair we seemed to be attracting an impressive group of followers. So we left and went to find some good shopping.
Jaipur is know for its gems, among other things, but after the gem shopping the day before we were really looking for silver work. Unfortunately we had a tough time finding it and of the two stores Sanjay took us too only one had anything along the lines of what we wanted. Tara found a bracelet and I passed up a beautiful (but $200) moon stone necklace. Then we were on to textiles, another thing Jaipur is known for. Block printing (hand stamped ink onto fabric) is another thing Jaipur is known for. We went to a factory where we stood for a few moments and watched the men rhythmically hand stamp the dye onto the fabric that was stretched across the tables. They use all natural dyes that are then washed in something that makes the color hold and dried in the sunshine which changes the color to a more natural color. It was amazing to watch a plain piece of fabric get layers of color and patterns and be transformed into rich fabric that India is famous for. They had an overwhelming about of things for sale and the best part was watching them make so we didn't spend too much money there.
Sanjay had gone out and gotten us lunch while we were shopping and we ate in the store with the shop owner (who was a friend of Sanjay) and the man who owned the store next door. It was interesting to eat with a group of people. Everything was delicious. Gotta love being vegetarian in India! I'm convinced it's the only way to do it! Because there is such a high number of vegetarians here meat is not always the best. Mutton is normally fine but any beef is most likely from an old sick animal and pigs wander the street eating garbage before they are killed for pork. Best idea is just to stick with veg. The best food is veg already!
Now I get to talk about Hindi movies! First of all, a Hindi movie is an experience that you should take for what it is and simply go to soak it up. The sound is always up way too loud and physics is totally ignored. Coming from Rapid city, people don't cheer in movie theaters. In this movie everyone cheered, whistled, and booed, the hero kicked everyones butt, people survived insane amounts of beats/shoots, there was really only one moment of conflict that helped the weak story line, and almost everyone of the bad guys died. As a bonus we went to the sequel of a good movie that tried to take all of the draw from the first movie and make more money from it. So there was an excessive amount of butt kicking. Sanjay even said it was overacted which is saying something because Hindi films are notorious for overacting. It was awesome! We laughed, jumped, danced along to all of the songs, and pointed out the incredible amount of science bloopers (Brennan and Dad, you would have loved to pick apart this movie! At one point the hero jams a mettle pole into the cement ground, breaking the cement, he then jumps out so he is holding himself parallel to the floor, and kicks all of the bad guys coming at him in the face while spinning around the pole. I can't get my words to do this justice I will have to find a clip for you. It was so funny!) I am totally sold on Hindi movies!
After the movie we went back to our hotel and packed up all of our things. The next day we said good bye to Sanjay and got on our plane to Goa. This is already a very long post so I will catch you up on the beauty of Goa, our life here thus far, and more Indiaisms that make me laugh soon! Sorry this took so long to post!Happy New Year everyone may your days be full of love and light.
