Palakkad & Delhi

We spent the last two days in Palakkad at Harish’s family home.  It was very special to stay with his family and we had a wonderful time.  His mother and father were incredibly nice.  On Wednesday afternoon we visited the Rock Garden at Malampuhza, a snake farm, and we took a gondola ride across a beautiful park. 

Touk-Touk into town for lunch

Marty posing at the Rock Garden

Rock Garden

I couldn't resist a photo

Pilar and I on the "Gondola"

Dinner with Harish's family

Palakkad is in the foothills of the Ghats and has a tropical feel like much of Kerala.  It was fun to watch Jaime interact with his family and give her a hard time about behaving herself…jokingly with love, that is.  On our last night there, Harish and Marty decided they would celebrate with a few beers.  Jaime did not want to drink because it would be disrespectful to his parents.  Somehow, it was decided that if Harish’s mother had a beer, then it was OK for Jaime to have one too.  The funny thing was, neither of them wanted one and they kept up the same pace sip for sip.  Jaime wouldn’t take a drink unless Harish’s mother took one first… this was all unspoken of course, but I was totally onto them.  When I made my observations known in a joking way and Harish’s Mom realized what Jaime was doing, she took her ¾ full beer and totally slammed it in one gulp, looked at Jaime, and said in Malayalam… there, drink up!  It was so very funny!  Then there was the fact that the entire time Harish’s father was in the kitchen making us dinner and having his own cocktail.  It was not necessarily the typical Indian family roles I was expecting, but that’s the funny thing about generalizations and male and female stereotypical roles… they are never what you might think.

It was a very nice end to a week with our dear friends and our trip to India would definitely not have been half as spectacular without them.

Thursday morning after breakfast we hired a driver to take us back to Cochin where we were to fly out the next day.  I was bound and determined to get a bit of shopping done, and I certainly did not want to wait until Delhi to have to do it.  We got a nice hotel downtown and spent the evening perusing shops and buying a few souvenirs.  Since our flight left Cochin at 6:30 am, we had to get up at 3:30 am to make it on time.  I am now on the plane, and I can feel the effects of 3 weeks of non-stop fun.  This trip has been quite the adventure and we have all learned so very much.  The girls have amazed me, as usual.  It blows me away what little world travelers they have turned into.  They acclimate to diverse situations without a hitch, they don’t complain about much, and they pretty much just go with the flow.  We are in Delhi for about 2 days and will hopefully hook up with one of my students and his family for dinner in Delhi before we fly out Sunday at 3 am (ouch!).  We are looking at about 40 hours total en route including layovers in Beijing and L.A.  We are all super excited to go home for a few weeks and relax with a bit of normalcy, but this next leg of travel should be a real doozie! We arrive Monday at some point, so if some odd phone number pops up on your caller ID in the next few weeks, it just might be us!

Let the Jetlag Madness begin!!!!

Oh Beautiful Kerala!!!

Thekkady

Saturday morning we got back into the car and started towards The Periyar Tiger Preserve in Thekkady.   On this route, we went straight into the mountains of the Ghats and a few of us had to psyche ourselves out again in the nausea department.  This drive, however, was one of the most beautiful I have ever been on.  Breathtaking mountains, tea plantations on the sides of the foothills, magnificent waterfalls, etc… Other than the fact that there were no side rails and the driving was just as insane up in the mountains as it was in the cities, the view was terribly pleasant. The tea plantations look like surreal mazes spattered with huge intermittent boulders draped over the hillsides.  I have been many beautiful places in my life, but the drive between Thekkady and Munnar ranks up there on the top three… and that is saying a lot.

We ended up staying at a hotel inside the wildlife preserve where they lock the gates at night so you and the animals can’t get out. There was also a moat surrounding the hotel to keep the critters out, but that did not seem to deter the monkeys.  The park is home to a myriad of other animals including tigers and wild elephants, but what we saw most of were the monkeys.  When walking along the paths, you had to be careful that it did not suddenly begin to rain on your head… and we are not talking about actual rain here.

It was breathtakingly beautiful and when the gates closed at 6 pm and all of the visitors left, the silence that ensued was stunning.  Looking out over the lake and watching the animals come out for water as the sun set, the sounds of nature took over and we were surrounded by bird calls, monkey howls, and the deafening mating calls of frogs.  It was so nice to see stars again… I almost forgot what they looked like!

 The next morning at 7:30 we took a boat around Periyar lake to see animals.  It was quite comical.  There were perhaps 100 people on the top deck and 100 people below sitting in rows.  We had to wear these incredibly large old orange life preservers that made it virtually impossible to sit down and with all of that bulk around you and everyone else, it was a bit difficult to see out of the sides to look for animals.

See the brown in the midst of green?
Elephants!

About halfway through the ride the guide spotted a family of wild elephants.  We pulled up pretty close to them before they sauntered into the forest and it was very cool to see a mom and a baby elephant in their natural habitat. 

After breakfast we started to pack up our rooms to leave, but my clothes were still soaking wet.  Nothing ever seems to dry here.  Harish came in and suggested that I open a window to let fresh air in.  There were signs everywhere stating not to do that unless you wanted monkeys in your room, but I figured opening it for a few minutes couldn’t hurt.  No sooner had I jiggled the window lock a few times than a family of eager monkeys were right in front of our hotel window waiting to get in.  Talk about Pavlovian conditioning!  I quickly shut the window, but they sat there patiently and kept waiting.  In about 5 minutes, we counted 17 monkeys outside our window and the girls were beside themselves with glee!  That morning during breakfast, there were even a couple of monkeys who shattered windows by the kitchen trying to get in.  Persistent little guys!

Carmela and the first visitor and her baby

The water tower outside our window

Outside the hotel 

 Munnar

On Sunday morning we boarded our chariot once again and headed back up into the mountains towards Munnar.  While in the very back seat with two of the girls, I had this amazing epiphany:  Riding in this car was a lot like training to be an astronaut.  Seriously, it really was like a 4-hour non-stop rollercoaster ride, only it’s through one of the most beautiful places ever.

In route, we stopped for tea and a restroom break in a small village in the middle of the mountains.  We pulled over near a random restaurant and took over the place with our 8 passengers.  Jaime and Harish left us to find the bathroom and when they came back Jaime said, “ Well…. Go into the kitchen, down the stairs, out the back door, past the goats, down the hill, and you will see three stalls at the bottom of the hill.  You should probably use the one with a door.” 

O.K….

So, the three girls and I followed her instructions and began the perilous bathroom journey.  The goats were intrigued and followed us down the hill, sniffing our legs and trying to nibble on Pilar’s pants.  We all survived the bathroom, which really wasn’t too bad as far as bathrooms go, and on our way back up we had a lovely lesson in goat mating right before our eyes.

When we got back inside the café, Jaime had gone next door and come back with the mother load of tasty Dark Fantasy cookies.  When I asked her how much they cost, she smiled and said, “I traded them for a pen.”  Apparently, there was a boy at that store who really wanted a pen.  Being the teacher that I am, I couldn’t help myself.  I went next door and gave him one of my best Taiwan mechanical pencils and a whole container of lead.  Of course, he had never seen a mechanical pencil before and was actually scared when I showed him how to use it.  His grandfather assured him it was OK and when I left, he had a large smile in his face.  I bet he will be the only boy in the village with a mechanical pencil.  I hope I didn’t just start a new fad!  Just as we were about to leave, we decided we needed more cookies and as we were walking away, the boy’s grandfather started to push the boy towards us like he wanted Jaime and I to take him with us to wherever we were going next.  The boy looked a bit shocked and was clawing to stay next to his grandfather.  I think he really thought we would take him.  Of course, I assume the grandfather was kidding, but you never know.  J

We continued though the mountains as the evening fog rolled in and I can’t tell you how many times we should have died.  The road was only one lane and it was a lot like that movie Romancing the Stone where the bus is on the side of the cliff with no rails, loads of humongous busses and other oncoming traffic, and fog so thick you couldn’t see but a few feet in front of you.  We finally arrived at our hotel around 6 pm and all I wanted to do was kiss the ground as I exited the vehicle. The Bracknell Hotel is 10 kilometers out of Munnar, nestled in the mountains, and surrounded by nothing but green.  It is a beautiful bed and breakfast that makes you feel as if you are staying in a tree house.  We stayed there for 2 days relaxing, having ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ competitions (I won, by the way), and taking in the beautiful scenery of the tea plantations.  The only downside to the whole trip was the fact that after three days, my laundry STILL was not dry.  Needless to say, ironing wet clothes monopolized a large portion of my last evening there.

Tea Plantations

In certain towns in Kerala in order to buy beer or alcohol, you have to stand in line and get it at a government supply station, like the one above.

Posing in the tea fields

Cochin

Tuesday morning we loaded back into the car for our last ride to Cochin to catch a train to Palakkad to stay with Harish’s family.  Jaime and I had the intention of getting a little shopping in before we ended our time together, so we convinced the others that we needed to reach Cochin early enough to make it to FABINDIA, an amazing clothing store that will make your head spin.  We got sidetracked a few times en route to climb boulders and take scenic pictures with tea bushes and waterfalls, but we finally reached Cochin five hours later.  

Pretty

Carmela having fun

Pilar action photo

Pit stop to climb a boulder

Carmela and a waterfall

I love the fact that in India if you don’t know where you are going, you simply pull over multiple times and ask until you reach your desired destination.  We finally had to pay a rickshaw driver to guide us while we followed him in the car.  We had way too much fun at FABINDIA and after gorging ourselves on a fancy hotel buffet, we made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare. We were taking the train for the first time in India, so we were all terribly excited!  Having seven people, Harish was able to book us an entire berth with six beds and after the unbelievable car experiences we had been having over the past week, I must say that the train ride was like a dream come true.  I got my own bed, there was air con, and although you could see your pee hitting the train tracks as you went, they were quite clean as far as these things go.  All in all, the train ride was magical and we made it to Palakkad in a mere three hours with no traffic, no large busses running us off of the road, and most importantly, NO HONKING!!!!!  Would I want to ride it for 56 hours straight?  Probably not, but three hours was a breeze.

Marty contemplating the train

So happy in my train bunk!

Train food and boys!

The next stop is Palakkad to meet Harish’s parents.

Harish has been the most wonderful guide and I know the fabulous time we are having is mostly thanks to him.  It certainly makes a difference when you travel with someone who grew up near all of the places you are visiting. 

Oh how lucky we are!!!!

Varkala & Alleppey

Friday July 13, 2012

Varkala  & Allepey

Wednesday morning my friends Jaime, Harish, and Adia came to meet us in Trivandrum.  The flight from Jaipur to Trivandrum was a harrowing experience and I have decided that Indian’s fly much like they drive… crazy.  We used Jet Air, a local Indian airline, and I was seriously thinking that the end had arrived.  Aside from monsoon cloud turbulence, take off and landing was much like driving in Delhi traffic… hairpin turns upon landing, slamming of breaks as soon as we hit the tarmac, and I could have sworn I heard the pilot honking.  Well, the honking is a joke, but seriously, perhaps the runways in India are shorter, but in a nutshell… take off and landing was not smooth… at all.  Don’t get me wrong, though, I was terribly grateful we landed at all.

We walked out onto the tarmac and a bus arrived to transport us about 10 feet to the terminal.   We then took a taxi to our hotel and proceeded to lounge in the air con for the next 24 hours.  It is not like we didn’t want to sightsee, but after doing so for the past 2 weeks, we were in desperate need of some serious R & R.  Jaime and friends arrived the next day around 1 pm and Harish booked a taxi and we headed to Varkala… a seaside village on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea. 

We stayed in huts right next to the crashing waves and before I knew it, I was actually starting to relax.  We spent all day Thursday at the beach.  Being monsoon season, the waves were humongous and the rip tide was fatal.  The girls were only allowed to get their feet wet, but a large wave snuck up on them and that was almost all she wrote.  Knowing that this might happen, the adults were standing close by and were in the surf in a second flat rescuing the little chickens from being swept out to sea.  It was a powerful lesson in rip tides and currents, and afterwards, they were more than content just playing in the sand a safe distance from the water.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a lovely restaurant overlooking the beach, walking around the town, and getting henna tattoos at a beachside hut.

Jaime... at last!!!!

Ahhhhhh!

Happy girls!

Girls with Coconut

Henna tattoos

The next day, Harish hired a driver to take us to Alleppey to ride a houseboat on the Keralan backwaters. All of the guidebooks I had read about India said that this was a must on the itinerary, so we decided to check it out.  Our new driver was just as crazy as Durga and his overuse of the brake was enough to cause 6 out of 8 of us to suffer from carsickness.  When we arrived at the docks, there were scores of houseboats that looked exactly like the ones used many years ago… large wooden hulls with bamboo woven coverings.   Most boats were equipped with two to three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large meeting area with dining table, and a kitchen.  We had a crew of three… a captain, a cook, and an engine guy named Babu who was a jack-of-all-trades.  He brought us food, fixed the shower, and got rid of rather large unwanted cockroaches. We cruised out to a large lake and docked for a short lunch.  At first it was silent, except for the sounds of birds and other wildlife.  Shortly thereafter, however, scores of other houseboats docked next to us and I felt a bit like I was on a party boat during Spring Break with Malayalam music blaring from all corners.  One of the passengers docked next to us noticed we were not Indian and when he found out we were from the states he really wanted some money… or a penny , that is.  Jaime found a penny in her wallet and tried to toss it to him as we were backing out back into the lake.  He caught it at first, but then let it slip through his hands.  The look on his face was quite devastating!  For some odd reason, he really wanted that penny!  

For the rest of the afternoon, we slowly cruised along the backwaters watching Kerala river life unfold in front of our eyes.  It was so incredibly pleasant that I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

All good things must come to an end, however, and as we docked for the night, right next to the captain’s house, the sun began to set and hoards of mosquitoes came to greet us.  With mosquito repellent it wasn’t too bad, but I hate to think what our evening would have been like without it.  We ate breakfast the next morning on our way back to the docks and were off the boat by 9:15 am.  It was such a wonderful part of our trip and I highly recommend it.  In the crowded parking lot about to load back into the SUV, whom should we run into but the guy who wanted a penny.  Luckily Jaime had another one and she was able to give him one of each U.S. coin.  That was one happy man I tell you!

Marty relaxing on our backwater cruise

Carmela and the boat

so very relaxing

Having Harish as our unofficial Kerala tour guide has been amazing!
I cannot have wished for a better trip.
Next stop.... Thekkady and the Periyar Tiger Preserve!

Agra and Jaipur

Sunday July 8, 2012

Agra to Jaipur

Today was another travel day with Durga.  I am happy to report that we seem to have made our way into the countryside, and let me tell you, it was a welcome change.  The girls decided that since there were so many animals on the road, they would create a graph of the kind and amount of animals seen.  For the first two hours we counted cows, goats, donkeys, horses, dogs, pigeons, cats, pigs, camels, monkeys, peacocks, chipmunks, and lizards.  At the end of two hours of counting, we were pooped!  The final count of cows that were simply walking on the side of the road came out to 1,187!  I kid you not.

Our first stop of the day was at Fatehpur Sikri, a Moghul Palace compound in the middle of nowhere.  Apparently it was the first official capital of Agra, but after 12 years or so the capital was moved to present day Agra because the water there was better.  The Moghul Emperor who built it had three wives and 300 concubines. One wife was Muslim, one Hindu, and one Christian from Portugal.  The amazing thing was, out of all of those ladies, only one (the Hindu wife) was able to give him a child… and lucky for her it was male.  The Emperor, who by the way was the grandfather of the Emperor who built the Taj Mahal, was so pleased, he built her a rather large palace, while the other two wives got little cottages, so to speak.  The palace grounds were quite amazing, all built out of natural local red sandstone, and we had fun learning more Northern Indian history.  

Inside Fatehpur Sikri

So many family photos, so little time!

Afterwards, we walked to a rather large Mosque nearby and were met with hoards of men and boys hawking their wares.  It was nutty, I tell you.  I completely and totally understand that this is how they make a living, but the constant barrage of “hey, you buy this!” was dizzying.  The girls didn’t quite know what to do. We have always taught them to be respectful, but being surrounded by very persistent young boys trying to sell you things is a bit overwhelming.  We just chanted “No thank you” over and over and tried to make our way to our destination.

There was this one small boy that I wanted to take home with us.  He was so very adorable and even though he followed me for 30 minutes trying to sell me some pens, he had such lovely manners… and his English was great.  So, since he showed no sign of going elsewhere, I taught him some new words and phrases to help him in his sales.  His older friend, however, was very persistent too, so I started speaking to him in Spanish thinking he would leave us alone.  No… he then switched into Spanish.  Ok… I next tried Chinese.  Low and behold, selling in Chinese ensued.  Hmmm… how about Hebrew?  Yep, he could hawk in Hebrew too.  Damn…. This was getting quite amazing.  Lastly, I tried Portuguese… drumming up those six hours I took in college and aha!!!  I got him!  He did not speak Portuguese, but was very curious to know where they spoke it and could I teach him some?  Holy cow!!!  These boys were simply amazing, and oh so smart to boot.  I taught him one simple selling phrase and a few numbers and bid him goodbye as we exited the Mosque grounds. 

The survival skills I see exhibited here on a daily basis are amazing!

We have gotten mixed information about schools here.  One guide in Agra told us that school in India is not mandatory and only those with the money to pay tuition get to attend.  One man in the airport told us education was free up until the 7^th grade but that expensive private schools were booming and that greatly affected the quality of public schools.  Another guide in Jaipur also told us that is was free, but that many families opt not to send their children and teach them the family trade instead.  He also told us that the education rate in the state of Rajastan is only around 56%, but that in Kerala to the South it is more like 98%.  He said in the areas where there are more trades and artisan skills, the number of children that attend school tend to be less because their education is in that of their family business.

Being the teacher that I am, I just couldn’t help thinking about the things these boys could do if they were afforded an education and more opportunities.  I know this is just me placing my Western ideologies on the situation, but they really were quite amazing.

Jewelry anyone?

While inside the Mosque compound, there was a Muslim temple for some important saint-like figure.  Apparently it is quite famous because if you make a wish in this particular mosque, there is a 99% chance it will come true.  Normally I would not make the tad steep donation for prayer quilt, flowers, and pieces of string to make the wishes, but I have a few family members in need of good juju right now, and well… you just never know.  So, the family and I gathered our sacred supplies, kicked off our shoes, and entered the Mosque to make our wishes/prayers heard.   The mosque was carved out of white marble and inside there was a religious man performing the prayer ceremony.  I let Marty take over seeing as this is more of his realm than mine, and well, I never quite know what the accepted role of women is in these circumstances.  Marty laid his prayer quilt atop a pile of others on an altar and sprinkled it with flowers while a man chanted and blessed it.  Then, we each took our red string, made a wish, and tied our strings in three knots to a marble screen inside.  We exited the mosque, took our obligatory pictures (per the guide’s insistence) and made our way back through the hoards of hawkers to find our shoes.  As we walked down the hillside, we had at least 5 men and boys surrounding each one of us trying one last time to make a sale.  We finally just jumped inside a tuk-tuk (motorcycle /three-wheeler /cart /rickshaw- type vehicle) and escaped the madness.

Inside the Mosque

The red strings... make a wish!

Obligatory photo.... my smile is not real, can you tell???

We finally made it to Jaipur around 5 pm and once again were greeted with massive amounts of people, traffic, cows, and trash.  Marty and I had a little counting game of our own going on by this time… how many people were relieving themselves on the side of the road.  In the 30 minutes it took us to make it to the hotel we counted roughly 15 people peeing and 3 people crapping on the “sidewalks” right amidst the traffic.  Jaipur was the first planned city in the north and apparently they must have anticipated this issue, because I saw open urinals for men along the sides of the roads… just tiled stalls really, but rarely did I see men using them… even if they were only 20 feet away some preferred the sidewalk.  NEEDLESS TO SAY, there is a certain aroma to the cities here.. Eau de toilet… literally! 

Oh what valuable lessons the girls are learning on our trip.

Tomorrow we are in for another insane day of sightseeing… Jaipur in a day… Durga style!

Monday July 9, 2012

Jaipur

In Jaipur, we stayed at a hotel called the Umaid Bharwan Hotel.  I booked all of my hotels for this trip ahead of time on the Agoda website and so far I have had nothing but good luck.  This particular hotel was quite old from the looks of it, but absolutely beautiful and architecturally amazing.  The entire hotel was decorated like an old Majaraja palace. The lobby ceiling was covered with an intricate glass tile mosaic and the ceiling of our room had similar designs all painted by hand.  It was mind-boggling how much work went into each inch of that place.  Sure, the A/C broke in the middle of the night, but that just meant that we got a new room and got to see more cool ceiling work.  The roof top restaurant had a lovely view of the city and the free breakfast was phenomenal.  And all for the low, low price of $58 USD a night.

Durga picked us up at 9 am on the dot and our first stop was the Amber Palace.  The Palaces we saw in Agra were part of the Moghul Empire, whose first emperor migrated from Afghanistan.  Therefore, they are Muslim influenced.   The palaces in Jaipur were ruled by Maharajas, which were and remain rooted in Hinduism.  I tell you, those Maharajas had it made… gold, jewels, wealth, wives, whiskey, Turkish baths, Persian rugs, and money galore… yes, it’s good to be the King!  We had the choice of arriving to the palace by elephant or by car, but after seeing the incredibly steep hill they had to climb, we opted for car.   The structures were amazing and our tour guide was quite knowledgeable. 

We kicked off the tour by entering a Hindu temple and making an offering.  

After the Hindu Temple in front of the Amber Palace

The Amber Palace was truly spectacular and throughout the tour my quirky little family was taking mental notes on all of the architectural elements that we would someday add to the house we want to build.  So far, we plan to have a mirrored palace room, a yoga room, NICE squat toilets, and waterfall cooling systems in each room. J

The Yoga room... we want one!

After two hours of traipsing around the amazing palace grounds, Durga decided we really needed to see where they housed the elephants and perhaps take a ride on one around town… for half the price as at the palace.  (Really, he adored the girls and this was his secret way to ensure they got to ride an elephant in India!) I guess it pays to have a driver like Durga who can hook you up with things like discounted elephant riding deals!

  

 So…. even though it would not be something I would ever do if I were on my own, it is hard to deny your kids the chance for the whole family to ride an elephant around the old city of Jaipur.  We arrived at the elephant “barn” and got to see first hand where they live, how they are cared for, and we even got to walk around and pet a few.  While the men who worked there saddled up one of the elephants for us to ride, Marty got accosted by one of the nearby elephants.  Maybe he had food or just smelled appealing, but this huge elephant kept swinging his trunk trying to reach Marty to smell him.  It was hilarious!

When our elephant was ready we hopped aboard and set out.  For about 30 minutes, we roamed the streets of old Jaipur waving as small children followed behind us yelling the few English words they knew.  We were such blaring tourists, but the girls AND MARTY loved it.  I have to admit, elephant travel is quite slow going, but you get into a rhythm and it becomes sort of like dancing after a while. 

Elephant ride in Jaipur

After that we headed to see some joya (that would be jewelry).  I knew that if I left Jaipur without making an effort to look at joya my aunt would string me up.  So… I did what any good niece would do and had Durga and our guide for the day take us to a jewelry shop.  I guess I did not specify what kind of jewelry, because our first stop was a family lapidary shop.  (Stone cutting)  It was amazing to see a small room filled with about six men cutting emeralds and rubies.   Not necessarily what I was in the market for, but cool nonetheless.  After being given a demo on cutting emeralds, we went into the showroom and were shown gold, diamonds, and fancy pants jewelry that was not only severely out of my price range, but also not the type of bling I had in mind.  I ended up getting two pairs of earrings with beautiful enameled inlay work.  I really got them for the girls to wear someday, but I suppose I can help them out and wear them myself until then. 

As we were leaving, Marty let it slip that what I really wanted to see was old tribal jewelry and in a mere 10 minutes I was walking into a large family owned shop with a dizzying amount of old silver jewelry.  I felt like Charlie Bucket from Willy Wonka…like a kid in a candy store where everything was way out of my price range.  But, I figured that since I had come all this way, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look.  Of course, I headed straight for the most unique and expensive pieces.  The man who was helping me look commented that I must know what I was looking at because I was choosing some of their nicest pieces.  Of course, he was probably just saying that to make a sale, but I took his compliments anyway.  When it was all over, I had three pieces that I possibly couldn’t live without.  When I finally worked up the nerve to ask for a price, I almost had a choking fit right there in the store.   For the next 20 minutes, I haggled, worked the teacher card, and anything else I could think of.  When he had finally reached his bottom price, I headed upstairs to have Marty talk me out of buying the bracelet I had settled on.  He looked at me and said, “April, if you can spend a certain amount of money on a pair of boots and only wear them once, why do you flinch at buying this bracelet?” 

Wise words from a wise man. 

I went downstairs, made an offer, told him to throw in two Ganesh statues for the girls for free, and bit the bullet.  Ten years ago when Marty and I were in Taxco, Mexico there was this amazing amethyst and turquoise ring I wanted but did not buy and I still think about that damn ring all the time.  That is what credit cards are for, I guess.  So Aunt Krysti, if you are reading this, make sure you lie to me and tell me how much you love my bracelet when I see you!

The rest of the afternoon included lunch, the Maharaja Museum and current palace, and this super cool astrological garden laden with very old gigantic sundials and astrological calculating sculptures.  It was about 42* Celsius, but even though it has been hot here in India, it hasn’t phased us much.  I guess our time acclimating to Taiwan has toughened us up. 

The world's largest sundial

Posing at the Maharaja's palace

Tomorrow we board a plane and head down south to Trivandrum, Kerala.

We were sad to day goodbye to Durga and I have a sneaking suspicion that traveling without him will be quite the different experience.

Onward ho!!!

Delhi to Agra

Thursday July 5, 2012

Delhi

For some odd reason I thought I couldn’t be shocked anymore… I thought I was somewhat mentally prepared for getting off the plane in India and taking whatever came my way. 

I was wrong.

We scored by setting up a driver to pick us up at the airport at three in the morning and drop us off at our hotel.  How nice it was to arrive at an airport in the middle of the night, see a smiling face holding a sign with our names on it, and not have to stress about a thing.  Driving through Delhi in the wee morning hours we were surrounded by large trucks carrying cargo into the city.  Apparently, trucks are not allowed in the city during the day so the nighttime traffic seemed insane.  (Little did we know at the time that this was quite the norm.)Rickshaw drivers wove in and out of the convoys and countless numbers of people were sleeping along the sides of the roads either stretched across their bikes or simply laying upon the ground. The first thing that struck me was the amazing amount of trash everywhere, and I mean everywhere!It almost looks as if living occurs in the middle of a landfill.  For some reason I thought that Delhi would be a bit more developed, a tad more like the cities I am used to, but I have to say that even though I have traveled all over Mexico and Central America, I have never seen poverty such as this.  We have all seen photos and video of the extreme poverty that exists here in India, but I don’t think those images can quite capture the magnitude of it.  The mere struggle for daily survival I think is what struck me the most.  I couldn’t stop noticing the hoards of vultures that constantly flew overhead in certain parts of the city.  That is just not something you see on a regular basis.  The poorest neighborhoods in the U.S. border on luxury compared to what I saw today.  There simply is no room for complaint… at all.

After driving around town this morning, the girls admitted that they could understand what we had been trying to convey all of these years by telling them they should be thankful for all that they have.  Mission accomplished I guess you could say.

The driver that we have for the next 5 days took us around Delhi for roughly 8 hours and showed us everything a person with one day in Delhi should see.  It was quite ridiculous actually and by the end of it we were dehydrated, starving, and pretty much delirious. Luckily, at the end of it all he took us to some fancy pants Indian restaurant where they food was incredible.  Of course, after all that we had seen today, I felt guilty even eating.  The highlights were an old Mosque, the Delhi Gate, The Baha’i Temple, Gahndi’s Memorial, and some cultural shopping center where high-pressure sales took on a new name. 

The Baha’i Temple was architecturally amazing.  There are seven Baha’i temples around the world, one on each continent (except Antarctica J ) and I can now say that I have been to three of them...one outside of Chicago, the headquarters in Haifa, Israel, and now here.  As in most temples, you must remove your shoes before entering and hope that they are still sitting outside when you return.  This temple had an underground shoe storing system manned by a few guys.  You picked up a plastic sack, like the ones used for onions, and shoved your shoes inside.  Then you gave the sack to the guys in this underground cave like structure and they gave you a token.  Afterwards, you simply, well chaotically rather, returned to the cave and retrieved your shoes.  The downside to all of this is of course that once shoeless you still had to walk quite a ways to the Temple and the stone walkways became like stovetops in the 115* heat.  Let me tell you, people were walking fast to reach the shade!  Once inside the immense and immaculate temple, talking was not permitted and no photographs were allowed.  So of course, Marty starts to draw like he always does.  The girls and I went back outside after a while to escape the sauna like heat, but returned inside after a while because outside was no cooler.  Low and behold, there was Marty drawing away with a line of people walking SLOWLY by him to catch a glimpse of his masterpiece.  People were literally going out of their way to exit the building next to Marty to see what he was drawing.  This happens A LOT wherever we go.  He has this amazing gift with art… and with people.  It never ceases to amaze me.

Another eye opening moment today (of many) was when our driver, whose name is Druga drove us by the government compound and the prime minister’s mansion… the equivalent of the white house.  The entire city that surrounds it is dirty, poor, and dilapidated… and in the sea of all of that stands this immaculate compound of pristine European architecture and loveliness.  If that is not a message in itself about the contrast between the government and its people, I don’t know what is.

From the looks of it, all of the tourist drivers hit the same spots and the hawking bro network was in full force.  Since I did not plan a thing ahead of time with regards to Delhi, we were just happy as clams to have someone take control and minimize the incredible culture shock we were all experiencing.   For any of you out there who are thinking about coming to India you might want to ease into it and NOT try to do it all yourself.  Seriously, traffic is INSANE, horn honking is an art form, and I can’t even begin to describe the mind boggling driving techniques we have seen here.  Having just come from a city of 20 million people, I suppose we thought we would be accustomed to crowds, but Beijing pales in comparison to the sheer amount of people in one place at one time.  My father likes to make jokes that big cities are like living in ant beds, but Delhi appears to be precisely just that.  I don’t know where all those people were going all day, but holy crap it was enough to make your head spin. 

Oh, did I mention that it was 43* Celsiustoday?… um, that is something like110 degrees Fahrenheit.  I would like to say something witty to emphasize how hot it was today, but I think you get the point.   

So that is a narrow description of Delhi from only one day’s experience.  I know one day is certainly not enough to form a sound opinion of a place, but that is all I have.  Today we head to Agra for two days and then to Jaipur.  I must say that I look forward to going to Kerala next week for a break from the heat and perhaps a bit less big city insanity. 

I have no idea what is in store for us over the next two weeks, but I am confident that after this trip not one of us will be the same… not by a long shot!

Not only in China do people want to pose with the girls

The girls and Druga

Holy Cow!

Friday July 6, 2012

Delhi to Agra

I almost died today… so many times I lost count.

It would seem that while most Indians are crazy/insane drivers, our personal driver Druga is the King of them all.  That man is absolutely out of his mind when it comes to driving and I seriously never thought I’d live to see our hotel tonight.

Luckily, I did.

It all started at 10:30 this morning when he arrived at our hotel in Delhi to pick us up.  Delhi morning traffic was nuts, as usual I suppose, and after stopping off at a medicine “stall” for codeine laden cough syrup, we were on our way. 

I am not sure why I though it would only take us around two hours to make our way from Delhi to Agra, but when you factor in bumper to bumper traffic, the time it takes to honk your horn upwards of three thousand times, the fatal car crash (not ours thankfully), the counting of innumerable cows, pigs, monkeys, and camels sauntering along the highway, the child throwing up in the backseat, AND the arrival of the monsoon…. Well seven hours was a bit more accurate.  Yes I am trying to be funny, and no I am not exaggerating in the least.

The most shocking part of our day that comes to mind was the car wreck about half way between Delhi and Agra.  As you may know, Indians drive on the left side of the road and the drivers sit on the right.  This always throws me off because I instinctively think we are on the wrong side of the road.  Well, we hit some town and traffic immediately stopped.  Enormous trucks, cars, and countless motorcycles carrying men, women, and month old infants were stuck in line… a long line from the looks of it. 

So, our driver Drugadecides that he is just going to hop into the lane with oncoming traffic and bypass it all.  Imagine jumping the median and being met with cars and trucks head on weaving all around you.  Throw in the fact that horns are blaring from all directions, people on motorcycles are screaming at you and beating on your windows, and men dressed in military uniforms finally jump in front of you to force you off the side of the road… four lanes away from where you should be.  I kept thinking it was a dream and surely this wasn’t happening.  This was of course after my kid had thrown up all over the back seat.  After sitting there for a good thirty minutes the lanes where we were supposed to be began to move and Druga somehow magically backed up enough to weave his way back over the median and into the correct lane.  When we finally approached the car accident, a backhoe was lifting it to the side of the road and I really doubt there were any survivors… that car was as flat as a pancake.  Why I thought seeing this would make Druga drive safer, I have no clue.  As a matter of fact, it seemed to make him step up his game and drive even more insane.

For lunch, we stopped at MacDonald’s.  Yes, I found it odd too.  Seriously, we only saw one in Delhi and here was one literally in the middle of nowhere… right next to an Indian Oil refinery.  I wondered if they actually served cow, seeing as in India cows are considered sacred and you don’t see beef on menus.  Sure enough, they had a McChicken, a McPaneer, a McVeggie, and my favorite the Maharaja Mac.  No cow at all.  Fine by me, I really dislike eating at McDonald’s, but I have quickly learned to eat when I can and be thankful for it.  As we were finishing up, the Monsoon arrived.  I heard it was running two weeks late, but now that we are here, I suppose it decided to greet us with open arms.  The deluge was quite impressive and the amount of flooding it caused outside was jaw dropping.  Druga told us to wait for him under the awning and he would pick us up so we wouldn’t get drenched.  I guess he is not too familiar with drive through lanes because he turned into it to pick us up and then was miffed that it didn’t move as people sat there waiting for their food.  The entire area around us was flooding but this of course was no deterrent for Druga, he just continued on his merry way as if nothing had happened.  Water was up to our doors and he just floored it, laid on the horn, and hydroplaned all the way to Agra.  Seriously, it is a miracle I am alive to write this down at all.

The accident: The two lanes in front of you are SUPPOSED to be going the other way.  We SHOULD be in the two lanes furthest from you.  Wacky!!!!

The view from the car as we wait.

By the time we finally reached our destination, I was so completely overwhelmed and experiencing severe sensory overload that I headed straight for our room and buried my head beneath the pillows until my family got the hint and went for a walk to check out the hotel.

We are making our way to the TajMahal at 6 am tomorrow.

We have a decent view of it from our hotel roof and upon asking Marty what he thought, this was his response:

“It is not as big or as white as I thought it would be.”

Hmmm… tomorrow should be interesting!

Saturday July 7, 2012

The Taj

At6 am this morningwe met Druga and a guide he uses to go to the TajMahal.  We bought tickets at the Taj Museum a few blocks away and received our complimentary shoe coverings.  We then boarded an electric car and drove about ½ mile to the East Gate entrance.  You are not allowed to bring much inside, so the possession search at the entrance took some time.  Although a tad annoying, this is a really good thing.  From what we have seen thus far, trash is just simply thrown upon the ground, regardless of where you are.  Apparently before the TajMahal become a UNESCO Heritage Site in 1983, it was really trashed out like the environment that surrounds it.  Now, there is absolutely no food, candy, etc… allowed inside.  This essentially equates to a clean Taj.  As we waited for our bags to be checked, there was a group of monkeys on hand to entertain us.  Once inside, we made our way past the workers’ compounds and then into the main entrance leading towards the Taj.   I must say, it was really quite impressive.  Marty retracted his earlier comment about it being smaller than he thought it would be and we continued on our tour.  Our guide was quite knowledgeable and we learned much about the Moghul Empire and the construction of the Taj.   Up close, the intricate marble carvings and inlay work were mind-boggling and the symmetry of the entire structure was beautiful.

It started pouring again while we were inside and the flooding commenced.  Yeah for Monsoon season!!!!  Carmela has a nasty cough, so we started to make our way back to the hotel.  Drenched upon arrival, we still had plenty of time to dry off and make the complimentary breakfast buffet before it closed.  It pays to wake up early!

After breakfast, Marty continued on the tour and visited the Agra Fort and the shops where marble inlay work is done.  In retrospect this was a bad idea because he returned a few hours later with all sorts of expensive trinkets that we did not need.  The girls and I, on the other hand, had a restful time in the hotel in a cold dark room with cable.  Aahhhh!  Taking it easy is important when your little chickens are sick, you know.

Tomorrow we set off for Jaipur for two days and then fly to Kerala.  I am super happy to be out of Delhi and lush green Southern India is calling my name.  Plus, I am quite excited to hook up with my friend Jaime for some quality female bonding time!  The girls’ new favorite pastime is counting cows and monkeys walking down the roads and I am going to use the rest of the evening to mentally prepare myself for the van ride tomorrow. 

So very cool!

Martini and Agra Fort

Hopefully, Druga will summon his safe driving juju and we will live to see another day in INCREDIBLE INDIA!!!!