Goodbye India, hello Nepal! It was a whirlwind trip through India (six weeks is not nearly enough time to cover the ground we covered, but somehow we did it) and we are sad to see our time there come to an end. We opted for the sampler-platter version of India and saw a little bit of a lot of what India has to offer, which we wouldn‘t necessarily recommend but what‘s done is done, and we‘re exhausted. Every region is so different from the last, it’s hard to imagine this kind of diversity existing within the same country but it does (a point we‘ll come back to later). In short, there are many different versions of India and the one we saw was simply amazing. But without summing up too much, let’s pick up where we left off, after the colorful festival of Holi, out of the city of Jaipur, and in search of tigers.
We made our way by train to the town of Sawai Madhopur, just outside the awesome wildlife refuge of Ranthambhore National Park with over 1300 square kilometers of wild jungle, grasslands, and small lakes. The town itself is kind of awful, a place where stray pigs outnumber stray dogs by 10 to 1 and there’s no good food anywhere, but the park was well worth putting up with the town. We went on two incredible safaris in a cantor (basically a bus with the top chopped off) and saw a huge variety of wildlife. Entering the park felt like entering the movie Jurassic Park, coming through an ancient stone gate with packs of black faced monkeys swinging in the trees everywhere. We saw beautiful dense vegetation and many different animals (giant spotted dear, herds of peacocks, crocodiles, wild boar, packs of monkeys, and tons of brightly colored birds including eagles and owls) on the first safari but no tiger. On the second safari, the scenery was not nearly as beautiful or the wildlife as plentiful (except for tons of wildly rude tourists, with one yelling “why did you pick me up last?” at the tour guide, as if someone didn’t have to be last) but we were lucky enough to spot a magnificent wild tiger. She was sunning herself in the tall grass the entire hour that we watched her (which is why the pictures aren’t great), but even from afar the experience was magical (except for another rude tourist saying “why are we watching her for so long if there are 32 other tigers in the park“, as if one is not magical enough). The 32 adult tigers and handful of cubs of Ranthambhore draw millions of tourist a year because they don’t shy away from the jeeps and cantors, but they’re also frightening as at least a few villagers are killed each year when they wander into tiger territory alone looking to gather sticks and never come home (no moms, they don‘t ever attack the tourist vehicles). Wild tigers checked off our list, we made our way back to New Delhi on the most memorable train ride we’ll likely ever take.
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| Now entering Jurassic Park |
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| The welcoming party |
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| Tiger food |
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| We promise there's a tiger in this picture |
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Todd is jealous of the beard, hoping his will be
like this by the end of the trip |
We had booked an overnight train ticket weeks in advance expecting to get off the wait list and into a confirmed seat during the lead up to the date, but despite being 1 and 2 on the wait list for some time, it wasn‘t to be. No one was cancelling their plans. With a booked plane flight the next morning out of New Delhi, this unfortunate error in planning led to our most memorable train ride, an experience we’re glad to have gone through but never want to repeat. We were forced to buy a general ticket which never sells out and only cost $1.75 each for the 6 hour journey. The nickname for general class tickets is “running class”, and for a reason. We literally had to run alongside the train as it pulled into the station and jump onto the moving car with our heavy bags as the men we paid a small sum ($2) held back the masses competing to get on with us. Only half the people waiting for general class were able to cram on, which necessitates the running alongside to jockey for a spot on the train and the paying of assistants when you have a lot of baggage. Once inside, we realized we were in for an intense night. There were people in every possible place. Men sleeping on luggage racks, families sleeping on the floor, people sitting over the people sleeping on the floor, it took us half an hour just to find room for our luggage. We’ve heard that 10 million people ride the constantly full trains of India every day, and we’re pretty sure at least half of those 10 million were in that one compartment. Luckily, Indian hospitality being what it is, people made room for us to sit saying “please, you are guests in our country, surely we can make room for you to sit“ and we didn’t have to stand the whole way like some people (like those straddling the families on the floor). We made friends with everyone in the compartment; everyone wanting to know where we’re from, what we do for a living, how many children we have, and what error in planning led us into the general class compartment (few foreigners travel that way and the ones that do usually made some kind of a mistake in planning, even Indians who seem to have no sense of personal space dislike being in the general compartment). Niceties aside, it was truly a moving mass of humanity. The constant sounds of coughing, sniffling, sneezing, belching, farting, laughing, talking, cell phones ringing, and multiple people playing music at the same time, combined with the smells associated with those sounds and the inexplicable cigarette smoking in a compartment with little to no ventilation made for a rough night. But, as good memories often come from uncomfortable experiences and boundaries are never known until they are pushed, we are strangely glad for our night in running class, we just don’t want to do it again.
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Just try and count all the people in this picture,
there are at least 14, probably more |
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| Catching some z's |
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We promise this man wanted to have his picture taken,
it just doesn't appear so from the look on his face |
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| Yep, that's a family of 3 people under those legs |
Having just made it into New Delhi in time for our flight, we were on our way to the complete antithesis of running class, McLeod Ganj (known by the name of the nearby city of Dharamsala to most, thanks to Jason McDonald for the recommendation to go there). The home in exile of the Dalai Lama and many Tibetan refugees, this was the most peaceful place we visited in all of India and a great place to recharge our dwindling energy. Along with the Dalai Lama, it is also the de-facto home of Tibetan Buddhism and the wonderful Buddhist monasteries and monks give the town a peaceful vibe. Tibetans are so warm, gentle, and quick-to-smile, that the contrast with the hustle-bustle and constant defense from being taken advantage of in the rest of India made McLeod Ganj feel like a slice of heaven. Combine all this with a spectacular setting at the base of the Himalayas and we’re already planning our next trip to McLeod Ganj. We stayed in a great guesthouse run by an American and Indian couple who grow their own organic vegetables, import organic coffee, and bake some amazing peanut butter oatmeal cookies. It was just outside of town and so quiet we could hear nothing but birds and the view over the valley was simply spectacular. We spent our time walking throughout the town past packs of monkeys and monks, monasteries with monks chanting in hauntingly deep rhythms, and smiling Tibetans (Todd took turns making cow noises to a cow with one particularly friendly-smiley old man, good fun). We took a great yoga class, did some guided meditation, took a free Buddhist philosophy class directly from a monk, walked to a beautiful waterfall, and took a thousand pictures of the oh-so-photogenic prayer flags flittering in the wind. We also became thoroughly convinced of the evilness of China and decided a Free Tibet bumper sticker will be joining Todd’s growing collection on his Acura Integra back home. For those that don’t know much about this like we didn’t, a little history is in order.
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| This place is so holy, even the monkeys bow in meditation |
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| Our guest house with monks heading up the road out front |
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Turning some prayer wheels, thought to be the equivalent of
reciting a thousand prayers |
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| One of the Buddhist temples in town |
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| It wouldn't be India without a cow picture |
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| Mags ready for breakfast, taking in the view over the valley |
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| Monkey thoughts: "Wow, this is hard" |
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| "How do I eat this thing?" |
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| "Oh, I suck on it" |
China invaded Tibet in 1950 and has been occupying this once sovereign nation ever since. They have carried out a horrendous campaign to wipe out the history, culture, and race of the Tibetans during this time. Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have been murdered since the occupation started (mostly during the brutal repression of protests from 1959 to 1961), and China has carried out forced abortions, forced sterilizations, and generally brutal oppression on the Tibetan people. They have destroyed nearly all 6000 temples and attempted to systematically wipe out thousands of years of Tibetan culture and history, all in the name of communism being better than the traditional monarchy of Tibet (and for the rich natural resources of Tibet of course). When the next Dalai Lama was identified at the age of 6 (as the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama, they must undertake their training early), he was promptly kidnapped by the Chinese government, making him the youngest political prisoner in the world, and has been imprisoned ever since. He is now 22 years old and getting past the prime age to undertake his training to lead his people. Tibetans, being a peaceful Buddhist people, have fervently but peacefully protested for the last 62 years, but are getting more desperate and self-immolation (lighting oneself on fire in peaceful but gruesome protest) at different locations within China is becoming more common (3 within the last month). There is an entire group of Tibetan youths who are on day 30 of a hunger strike and have vowed to starve themselves to death, or until China relents and returns Tibet to its rightful owners. After witnessing the kind of people Tibetans are and hearing of the awful acts carried out by the Chinese, it’s impossible not to sympathize with the Tibetan people and want to join their cause. Boycotting Chinese goods is one place to start (and this helps the US as well). For more information, visit
www.freetibet.org. But enough sadness and advocacy, back to our trip.
From the peaceful mountain retreat of McLeod Ganj, we made our way back to New Delhi and fast internet; just in time for Match day (the day Todd was to learn his fate for his residency training). We Skyped (free video calls for those who don’t know) Todd’s parents who attended Match day in his absence and opened the fateful letter for him at 10 am Denver time at the same moment with all the other 4th year medical students across the country. We were so happy and relieved to hear we’re staying in Denver with our family, friends, and Maggie‘s beloved job at Eastridge! Todd will do his 3 year internal medicine training at the University of Colorado and their 4 affiliated hospitals, his number one choice! We‘re so stoked!
After the excitement of Match day, we made our way to Agra and the home of the Taj Mahal, a fitting end to our time in India. Agra itself is pretty bad (we refer to it as AAAAAHHHHHHgra) due to the millions upon millions of tourists it sees each year and the scams and constant bothering that have popped up as a result, but the Taj Mahal is simply breathtaking. Hordes of tourists, even at sunrise, couldn’t take away from the majesty of this amazing building. Built as a mausoleum and a monument to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s favorite wife (yes, favorite, he had 2 others for political and domestic purposes) who died giving birth to their 14th child, it is impossible to understand how amazing this building is until seeing it in person. It took 20,000 laborers 22 years to complete it in 1653, with marble and precious stones being dragged from all over the world, from Egypt to China to Africa and Indonesia. It is covered in white marble with insanely intricate patterns of precious stones inlayed into it, covering the outside and inside of the mausoleum with holy scriptures and geometric precision. With perfect symmetry maintained throughout the building, throughout the immaculate gardens and reflecting pools that surround it, and throughout the accompanying buildings, it’s easy to see that Shah Jahan felt he was recreating the Muslim version of Paradise. Despite the hectic and generally awful time we had in Aaaaaahhhhhhgra, the Taj Mahal is absolutely a must see in India and worth putting up with the masses of tourists and scam artists.
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| One of the accompanying buildings at sunrise |
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Monkey terrorizing the ladies only line (they always split
men from women), he had just climbed back up there but was
literally in line with them moments before |
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| View from inside the main gate |
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| The postcard picture |
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| Cheezy tourist photo, we couldn't resist |
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| Can you spot Maggie, this place is huge |
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Close up of the patterns all over the building. This is
actually made up of precious stones (rubies, jade, emerald, etc.)
that are shaped and painstakingly set into the marble. A
paint job that will last forever |
After AAAAAhhhhgra we made our way back to New Delhi and flew to Kathmandu, Nepal this morning. Our time in India has come to an end and we have a weird mix of sadness and relief. Sadness that we are leaving such an amazingly diverse and action packed country, relief that we will not have to put up with the daily craziness that is traveling in India. Maybe a couple lists will help explain this mixture of emotions.
Things we will miss:
Delicious food - We have turned into primarily vegetarians, going many days at a time without meat mostly out of fear of food handling procedures, and don’t miss eating meat a bit. Indians can make so many delicious vegetable dishes and use such a wide variety of intense spices, the food will definitely be something we miss the most.
Indian hospitality - Every Indian we met (who was not trying to take advantage of us) went out of their way to make us comfortable. We went on a double date with a couple from New Delhi and the custom is that, if you invite someone out, you pay for everything. They invited us out, so they paid for our movie tickets (our first Bollywood film, but they sadly thought we would prefer one without the characteristic dancing), our drinks in their room afterwards, our food, and drove us around in their car, denying our offers to pay the whole time. This is just an example, much like the people on the train that made room for us to sit, of how far Indian hospitality will go.
Amazing diversity - The shear number of times this land has been conquered combined with the rigid Hindu caste system, the multitude of religions feverishly practiced here, and the huge variation in land has contributed to make an incredibly vibrant society (or many different societies loosely joined by the name “India“, it‘s a bit hard to tell) with many different ways to live. The dress customs range from the more familiar western styles, to men wearing skirts, to women wearing incredibly bright saris with mirrors sewed into them, to many different tribal dresses, to Muslim men dressed in white “dresses”, to bright orange turban-wearing men with huge beards, to burka wearing women, and on and on and on. The food ranges from super spicy to super sweet to rich curries and everything in between, with completely different styles of cooking in each region. The land goes from equatorial jungle to vast plains, to the sky-scraping Himalayas, to arid desert and everything in between. We could go on, but we think you’re getting the picture.
Kids excited just to say hi - White people are somehow still a novelty here, despite the long history of British occupation and travelers coming here from all over the world. Children are absolutely fascinated by us and will go out of their way to say hi and give a giggly wave. It makes you feel like a celebrity when walking the streets. We know we’ll probably get this in other countries we visit too, but just in case, we’ll go ahead and miss it about India now.
Doorbells in crappy hotels - Somehow a doorbell is considered a necessity in every hotel room no matter how cheap and how gross. In many places we got a doorbell in the room but no top sheet on the bed, go figure.
Chuckles at Maggie’s name - As we’ve said in previous posts, Maggi is a popular brand of noodles eaten all over the country (we originally thought it was the Hindi word for noodle, but turns out it’s just a brand that’s so popular it’s synonymous with the word noodle). Every person we met was immediately fascinated by Maggie’s name and tried to contain their immediate reaction to laugh, a great icebreaker everywhere we went.
Great conversations - Indians are by nature very open and inquisitive (you married, how many children? How much does that cost? what is your salary at home?) and will make conversation just for the sake of conversation. They enjoy debating and espousing their philosophies on life and the world. They also have a passion for politics, local and foreign, and almost all wanted to know our take on the upcoming election in the US. For those that aren’t Obama fans, you should know that he is a worldwide phenomenon and that his presence alone has put the US in a very favorable light, not just among all the Indians who immediately give us a thumbs up when his name is mentioned but also by fellow travelers we met along the way (quite the contrast to George Bush, everyone we met, Indian and foreigners alike, also wanted to express their hate for George Bush to us)
Justin Beiber playing everywhere and sung by everyone - Indians have a strange infatuation with Justin Beiber and his music is playing absolutely everywhere with many people freely singing along, old man and teenage girl alike. A constant source of a good laugh for us.
Indian taste in music - The sitar and the tabla are two amazing instruments that put you into a very mellow-peaceful mood, we can see why the Beatles and countless other musicians have been inspired by classical Indian music. Indians also have a passion for Bob Marley, further confirming our suspicion that Bob Marley’s music is the single most universal music on the planet (even 31 years after his death you hear his music in every nook of the world we‘ve traveled to, proving that his inspiring Rasta jams are not just for dread-locked stoners).
Head bobbles - The infectious habit of bobbling their head while listening and talking is something we will miss the most. It was less pronounced in the north of India than in the south, but nearly everyone still had a bit of it. We’ve both picked up on it and find ourselves bobbling along, too much fun.
The smells - India is famous for its smells and we can see why. From incense burning in shops to spicy food being cooked on the streets to lavender and other essential oils, there is a constant parade of good smells coming at you everywhere you go (see below for the other version of the smells).
Things we will NOT miss
Being uncomfortably stared at - As white people traveling in a sea of brown, we expect to get stared at, but in India it is ridiculous. Both of us got stared at, but towards Maggie it was simply disturbing, despite her always dressing very modestly. People will divert their eyes for a moment when you look back, but then quickly resume staring. One particularly persistent starer in a train station looked at Maggie for two full hours while we were waiting for a train (standing just a few feet from of us) despite Todd blocking his view multiple times. He would just move to a different angle, then Todd would move, then he would move, and so on. As we didn’t want to get in an all out fight we tried a bunch of different tactics but he finally quit after Todd stared him straight in the eyes and wouldn’t divert, alpha-monkey style. It was no fun.
Constantly bothered for business - Indians are incredibly persistent in tracking down business and bothered us everywhere we went asking us “you want rickshaw now? How about now? Where are you from? Where are you going?” and on and on. By the end of our time in India we just stopped talking to anyone who approached us on the street. We generally like to be open to people and make friends, but it is hard to trust people when it seems they are only interested in making a buck off us. These tactics are common in almost all touristy areas of the world, but it seems all of India has a particularly bad case of the pester-the-foreigners-for-their-money disease. They are also very savvy in business and employ many different techniques to extract some cash. We had to be on our guard for not being taken advantage of at all times, which gets to be a bit exhausting.
Incessant honking- We’ve never been anywhere where they honk so much and the ever present horns in the streets at all hours of the day can be maddening. We arrived in Nepal today and already we can tell a huge difference in honking habits, a very welcome change.
Patience is NOT a virtue - Waiting in line is something that is most definitely NOT taught in Indian kindergarten. If you are not physically in contact with the person in front of you, you will be cut. The lines tend to go horizontal the closer you get to the ticket counter with everyone reaching around you to jockey for the attention of the person behind the counter, a bit like getting a drink in a crowded bar ALL the time. Cars will drive on sidewalks and into pedestrians to get to the front of the line waiting at a light. Even boats will drive around each other, honking the whole way, on busy waterways. This is probably the most frustrating aspect of travel in India but we suppose it is just the result of having a billion people living in one country.
Mothballs in all bathrooms - Indians have not figured out how to contain sewer gasses with a trap under sinks and toilets (the curved pipe under your sink, check it out if you don’t know what we’re talking about) so instead they plop a few mothballs in the bottom of every sink. The constant mothball smell is definitely something we will not miss and hope Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand and Indonesia have figured out the trap (or at least a better deodorizer).
Insane pollution - On our flight into Mumbai at the beginning of our trip, the pilot said weather conditions were “smokey” over the city, not a term we had heard used before to describe the weather. We soon came to realize that Indian air is some of the most polluted on the planet, stinging your eyes and burning your throat when you first arrive. This means the sun never makes it to the horizon at sunset but instead gets lost in the clouds of pollution on the way down. It’s not just from cars and factories either. With no well-developed trash handling system, most people burn their trash, plastic and all, and add to the ever present haziness. Maggie’s asthma has flared a lot as a result of all this and its quite simply gross.
Terrorism paranoia - We thought the US was bad about this, not even close. There has been a long history of fighting between different religions within the country and one famous attack in 2006 in Mumbai. This has led to the worst paranoia and insanely frustrating and quite simply stupid policies. We were searched and frisked at the movie theater and had to take the camera battery out and check it at the door for fear it might be a bomb (but strangely not the cell phone battery, equally likely to be a bomb in our eyes), there is a metal detector nearly everywhere (but ironically they are always on but no one is ever paying attention leading to a constant stream of beeps but no action), and having a backup battery for the camera and a pen got us kicked out of a prominent temple in Varanasi (they‘re very nervous about batteries for some reason). It’s sad that we live in an age where a few attacks lead to stupid reflexive policies and outright paranoia with no real protection from further attacks, both in India and at home.
The smells - The bad smells are the yin to the good smells’ yang and for every good smell there is soon to be a bad one coming. Open sewer pits, burning garbage, cigarette smoke, ever present cow dung, and, with public urination being the norm, the constant smell of urine in the streets all combine to make for olfactory torture.
Both of these lists and countless other aspects we could have written here are why we are in love with India, and kind of hate it at the same time. It’s definitely the most interesting place we’ve ever visited and we’re likely to come back. We can see why some people spend months exploring this incredible country. But for now, Goodbye India! Hello Nepal. We’ll update again in the coming weeks. Until then, you stay classy America (again, if you still don’t chuckle at least a little from this signoff, you really need to see Anchorman).
Top things we’ve never done before this trip:
1) Spotted a tiger in the wild!
2) Went on a double date with a couple from New Delhi and saw our first Bollywood film (but sadly without the dancing).
3) Been charged by a monkey, twice within one week. The first happened inside our own hotel when Todd was running up the stairs to meet Maggie back in the room and came around a corner to see two monkeys blocking his path (the stairway was open to the outside). He startled them (and vice versa!) and one charged out of reflex but luckily backed off as Todd did the same. The second happened in McLeod Ganj when Todd squatted down to take a picture of a group of monkeys and their alpha came running out of nowhere hissing and charging, again backing off when Todd backed off. Maybe Todd’s fascination with monkeys is going to be a bit of a problem on this trip.
4) Figuring out the Indian cell phone system. SIM cards inexplicably expire after one month if they are not recharged, separately from recharging minutes. Once expired they cannot be turned back on so we lost our phone number and had to go through the bewildering process of copying Todd’s passport, turning in two photos of Todd, and signing about 17 different forms, all while dealing with a guy who didn’t speak English (thank you to the kind rickshaw driver who helped translate with his limited English!) in an insanely crowded market. Of course the copies had to be made in one store, the photos taken in another, and the SIM card purchased separately from the minutes, all for a prepaid phone (but it is SO nice to travel with a cell phone, makes booking ahead much easier, a necessity in India).
5) Witnessing Indian wedding processions - We had the fortune (and horrible luck) of staying across from two different wedding venues on Saturday nights and saw first hand the extravaganza that is an Indian wedding. The groom is paraded down the street to the venue on a horse with people dancing to deafeningly loud music with glowsticks in hand in front of him, all powered by a generator carried down the streets. They light fireworks off every few feet and generally make a spectacle as he is paraded to the venue (one had money taped all over him and would throw out fistfuls of cash every once in a while, creating a huge crowd to pick it up). Once arrived, the music fires up in the venue and they party all night (thank god we brought earplugs!).
6) Seeing the Taj Mahal
7) Running, literally running, with our heavy bags to catch a train
8) Finding out where we’ll be living for the next three years, while outside the country, skyping to Todd’s parents
9) Praying for dawn to come while sleeping in the most god awful hotel in the world (no mosquito nets over the beds or screens on the windows with swarms coming in at night, stains on everything, weird smells, and a very shady owner to top it off). The booking we thought we had confirmed was canceled by the hotel for no reason and we had to find this place last minute as everywhere else was full. Just one more reason we’re not big fans of AAAAhhhhhhhgra.
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Not sure if the stains show too well (especially
check out the sheet and the red blanket), but
trust us, it was awful |
10) Realized that, despite a huge number of laws, signs mean absolutely nothing and laws are rarely enforced. We’ve never seen so many signs completely ignored. People smoking directly under no smoking signs, one way signs on streets with two way traffic, no parking signs with seas of cars parked under it, “kindly form a single line” signs with people crowding around the counter, and on and on. Partly funny and partly annoying, it makes us glad for the sometimes stifling uniformity of life back in the States
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All of these rickshaws were both stopped
and parked. One example of many |
11) Traveling for 6 weeks in the developing world and only losing 1 day to sickness each. Every other similar trip we have taken has been bogged down by lots of intestinal troubles, but not so much in India. This is a testament to the vast improvements in sanitation over the last few years as we’re told the norm in the past has been “Delhi Belly” for the whole trip. Thank you clean water and spreading knowledge about food handling.
12) Writing the equivalent of term papers every few weeks while traveling (thanks for reading to the end, this one was really long!). We apologize again for the wordiness, but again, there just seems to be no other way to describe this trip and the words just seem to flow.
