Reflections on India

      It has been a few weeks since we got back from India and have been digesting about all the things we saw and did there.  When visiting India you are able to witness things from the super fancy to the poorest of poor.  As tourists, India hit us in every sensory ending.  Visually everywhere you looked there was something foreign to look at – from the people, to the buildings, and everything going on in between.  Aurally there was a constant din of sounds – from the shouting of the people, the incessant car horns, to parrots and monkeys chattering in the trees.  The olfactory senses were usually being overwhelmed.  Depending on the location and situation the smell could be either amazing…..or amazingly not.  Taste buds were often pleasantly stimulated from the spices in the food but at other times the air was so polluted that you could taste it as you breathed.  Tactilely the heat and humidity, even in November, made us sweat so hard that as soon as you stepped outside your clothes would stick to your skin.  India has 1.3 billion people living in an area 1/3 of the United States.  As a tourist you stand out in a crowd and as a result always have people wanting to talk to you and usually hustle you for one thing or another.  It is not a restful place to travel, especially the way we travel.  We had just been in Iran for a month where there had been the talk of war due to the Saudi Arabia oil refinery explosions and then had spent a month walking across Lebanon while the country was going through a revolution that overthrew their government.  We were tired when we arrived in India which may have not been the best condition for the month to truly enjoy what we were experiencing. 

     We initially flew into Delhi to see our friend Georgina who we had first met when traveling through South Africa and had been a big help when we did the Drakensberg Traverse there.  India has some of the worst air pollution in the world and Delhi is at the center of this.  AQI is the measurement of air pollution.  Above 50 is considered moderate air pollution and anything above 100 is considered severe.  Delhi had readings in the 500s while we were there.  From Georgina’s apartment balcony you were only able to see a few blocks before the city disappeared into the haze.

Delhi smog                                                    

The week before we arrived they even had to cancel airline flights due to the poor visibility.  People wear masks or scarves over their faces in a vain attempt to not breathe the air.  Georgina works for the British embassy and they have made the posting there a ‘danger post’.  Families and children are not able to be posted there as the air is so poisonous.  When in Delhi we would hide inside next to large HEPA filters that had to run all the time.  We did get brave and hired a driver to take us the several hours out to Agra and the Taj Mahal Palace.  At the Taj Mahal we saw a display where there were consecutive pictures of the palace.  In the old days the pictures were black and white.  Once the 1960’s arrived there started to be color photos.  In that series you could see that especially since the 1980’s the pollution has gotten consecutively worse as the sky turned from blue to grey in the photos.

Entering the Taj Mahal grounds                    

Taj Mahal                                                       

Taj Mahal                                                       

Stone inlay on Taj Mahal                              

Mosque adjoining the Taj Mahal                  

Reflecting on the Tajh                                   

Agra Fort - this moat used to have crocodiles

     The day after we arrived it turned out that Prince Charles was in town to meet with Indian government officials.  This was a few days after 11 November which is Remembrance Day in England (their Veteran’s Day).  The British embassy delayed their Remembrance Ceremony in order that Prince Charles could be there.  Georgina was able to get us an invitation, so we ended up getting to sit 14 seats away on the same row as the Prince.  Wreathes were laid at the British War Cemetery by him and a number of Indian and Commonwealth military and government officials.  It’s not every day you get to rub elbows with Princes, Lords, Ladies, Knights, Ambassadors, Generals, and Admirals.  Luckily, we were able to borrow some clothes to be dressed appropriately. 

Prince Charles laying wreath                      

     The next day we flew out of the toxic cloud and headed to the Southwest coast in the state of Goa along with Georgina and 7 of her friends.  A mix of Brits, Aussies, Canadians, and us representing the US.  They are all hardcore swimmers and had come to Goa to do a 10km swim around an island.  John paddled a kayak and Kathleen rode in the support boat as they did this swim.  In the distance dolphins jumped out of the water.  Large rocks lined the shore of the island.  The sun shone and the water was warm and calm.  The entire group successfully completed the swim.  We stayed at a cute boutique hotel along a river with a pool and a honor system bar where drinks taken were marked down in a notebook.  It was a nice place to spend the weekend.  In the mornings we would go for a run along small country roads to a 400 year old church.  

Running in Goa                              

They all flew back to work at the end of the weekend.  The next days there were multiple texts and pictures of an itchy rash that most of them developed after the swim.  It never was determined if the cause was pollution or some sort of parasite.  The two of us stayed in Goa though we moved further south along the coast to a quiet area called Kola Beach.  It was a secluded cove about a 40 minute walk to the nearby tourist beach town of Agonda.  This was a typical Indian beach town with a lot of Europeans there to relax on the beach, eat, drink, and do yoga.  As in most of India there are large numbers of cows that just roam around so the beaches have cow poop that washes into the water every high tide.  

Agonda Harbor                              

Cows on the beach                        

Fun for all ages                           

Kola Beach didn’t have this so we ended up staying there for a week.  We would run in the morning and then in the afternoon walk into town to eat, shop, or run whatever errands we needed to.  It was hot so it was nice to jump into the warm ocean or the cooler river that flowed into the sea right there.  It was a mellow existence and was a nice break after the previous hectic months we had had in Iran and Lebanon.  We had a bungalow right on the beach and fell asleep to the roar of the surf every night.

Khola Beach bungalow                     

     Eventually we had enough relaxation time and it was time to move on.  We next visited Hampi which is a religious area full of ancient temples and palaces.  It reminded us as a smaller version of Angor Wat in Cambodia.  We took an overnight bus to get there.  That was an adventure unto itself.  The roads of India are narrow with cows, dogs, chickens, monkeys and people wandering in them.  There was a lot of yelling, swerving, and brake slamming as we tried to sleep on the bus.  We managed to get there in one piece but we later found out that a traveler whose blog we monitor was on the same route as we were years ago where the bus crashed and broke into three pieces.  He walked away with cuts and scratches but 2 people did die.  We were glad we didn’t find out about this until after the fact.  Hampi was one of our favorite places that we visited.  The ancient sites are scattered over a wide area.  We hired a local man (Viru) and his tuk tuk to show us the best sights.  

Hampi temple                                          

Statue of Ganesha                                  

Hampi temple                                            

Hampi temple and market                         

Scary Hindu god                                        

Queen's bathtub                                          

Man cutting grass by hand                          

Elephant stable                                            

Stone car - pulled by thousands of pilgrims

Viru showed us the main archeological places but also knew of some good hikes and swimming holes in the area.  

River disappearing underground               

Viru showing us a cliff jumping spot                                     

Hampi swimming hole                             

Hampi also has a lot of banana and coconut plantations in the valleys between the hills covered with large rocks and boulders.  

Hampi landscape                                      

Banana plantations in Hampi                   

Common sight in Hampi                            

It has become a famous place for rock climbers to visit and is very scenic.  The only drawback (for some) is that since it is a holy area both alcohol and meat (in most restaurants) are not available.     

     Our next stop was Mumbai.  A large city and the financial capital of India.  There were a variety of things to do here.  We did both a slum tour and explored the rich areas where the Bollywood stars live,

Chowpatty Beach (nice beach, toxic water)

took a boat out to Elephanta Island where there are caves with large carvings from an ancient civilization,

Boat ride to Elefanta Island                        

Elefanta Island caves                                  

View from Cannon Hill on Elefanta Island

and explored the areas in downtown where there is old British architecture and the Indian Stock Exchange.  

Mumbai street barbar                                 

Mumbai street cricket                               

Public newspaper library                         

Mumbai shopping area                           

Streets of Mumbai                                  

One of the highlights of our time there was seeing the movie ‘Hotel Mumbai’ the night it came out.  This movie was based on the terrorist attacks that occurred there over a 4 day period in 2008.  This was a coordinated attack on 12 different areas in the city including the train station, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the Leopold Café, and a hospital.  This attack was the equivalent of India’s 9/11 where 174 people were gunned down and over 300 wounded.  We watched the faces of the Indian people as they filed out of the theatre and realized that most of those people had been alive and living here during the attack.  It was a very somber crowd that left.  Leaving the theatre was a surreal experience.  As soon as we walked out the door to our left we could see the train station where the attack occurred.  We knew that the Taj hotel was only a 5 minute walk to our right.  

Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Gate of India

The next morning when we were catching a local train within the city we walked by the bathroom where the initial 2 terrorists came out of and started spraying the train station platform with bullets.  It was recent enough that it gave us goosebumps to think about.  A few days later we were eating at a café and realized that it was an Iranian café from some items on the menu and from the decorations on the wall.  We noticed a white-haired man sitting next to the bar whom we decided must be the owner since he looked Iranian.  We went up to him and this turned out to be the case.  It also turned out that he was one of the owners of the Leopold Café who had not been there the night of the attack but he did have some employees who had died that night.  The film had a powerful effect on us as we explored the city. 

Parsee (Iranian) clock tower in Mumbai        

     For our final days we flew back to Delhi to see our friend Georgina again.  As our ‘high society’ coordinator she had arranged that we could go see the polo match the next day between the Indian and British Army teams.  It was another fancy event with large hats, suits and ties, leather couches to sit on, catered food, and a bar.  The Indian team won the match soundly but the British army was on borrowed horses and made a good game of it.  Polo is a cross between croquet and hockey on 1000 pound animals.  Horses are galloping at full speed as they bump into each other with large mallets swinging through the air.  Only one British soldier ended up hitting the dirt and luckily was only stunned and not seriously injured. 

Polo - India vs Britain Army      

High speed horse hockey           

     The next day we flew up to Amritsar on the Pakistani border with Georgina to visit the Golden Temple.  There are interesting things to see here including the Partition Museum which covers the violence and trauma that India and Pakistan went through when the countries were split when the British left.  

Partition museum entrance         

Armitsar statue                           

Amritsar sculpture                     

Amritsar sculpture                     

The main attraction is the Golden Temple which is the holiest shrine in the Hindu religion and therefore the town has a constant stream of pilgrims visiting it.  The shrine is on a spit of land that juts into a large man-made lake that is considered holy and many of the people purify themselves in the water.  

Golden Temple                          

Bathers in holy pool                  

Temple guard                            

Pool cleaners                            

Golden Temple complex         

Even more interesting to us than the Golden Temple was the border closing ceremony that takes place every day of the year in the nearby town of Atari.  I went expecting a formal military ceremony with bugles, marching, saluting, and such.  What we ended up seeing was the most nationalistic (and antagonistic) spectacle we have ever seen.  On the Indian side is a horseshoe shaped stadium that holds over 12,000 people.  On the Pakistani side the stadium is ½ to 2/3 of the size.  Both stadiums were packed.  

Outside of stadium                             

Inside of stadium - full by show time

At the beginning both sides were trying to drown out the other with loud music.  When the ceremony was about to begin there were soldiers that were encouraging the crowds to shout chants back and forth between each other.  We could not understand what was being said but it was obviously not friendly.  As the ceremony started on the Pakistani side there was the Call to Prayer.  As this was happening on the Indian side a bunch of women were let into the area who started to do a Bollywood type dance with a lot of butt shaking and ‘raising the roof’ with their hands at the Pakistani side.  

Pre-show activities                          

Then the iron fence between the sides opened up and the military part began.  To start with 2 Special Forces type soldiers on each side marched toward each other in bullet proof vests with assault rifles in their hands.  They marched to within 5 feet of the border and then just stood there and stared at each other through dark sunglasses.  Then the ceremonial troops in fancy uniforms and large ornamental hats began their show.  This involved a lot of high kicks where they would march and be hitting their foreheads with their legs.  The two sides basically puffed their chests, shook their fists, wiggled their hats, and had some of the most aggressive mustache twirling possible for at least 30 minutes before the flags were finally lowered and the gate was closed again.  

Mocking the other side

Antagonizing               

Fist shaking                  

This ceremony began in the 1950’s as a statement that while the two countries might go to war it would not be because of this border crossing.  That said the ceremony does not seem to be doing much to decrease tensions between the two nations.  The three of us sat throughout the ceremony with our mouths hanging open at the spectacle we were witnessing.  Do a search on YouTube to really appreciate what we saw. 

     We then took the train back to Delhi and flew home the next day for the holidays stopping in Seoul, Korea in between.  We initially were going to do a quick tour into Seoul during our layover but John managed to catch a cold 2 days before we left India and since he was possibly febrile the quarantine checkpoint in the airport would not let us out.  We managed to survive a month in India with no gastrointestinal distress (despite eating salads and things we couldn’t peel) but did get to spread the Indian crud (cold/flu) from one side of the world to the other. 

     We would return to India to visit Ladakh in the Himalayas as we have heard very good things about trekking there but being November was too late in the season for us to go there.  Otherwise we felt like we had a good sampling of the country even though it is very large and there were many areas that we were not able to see.  We have traveled a lot and found India one of the more difficult places to travel in.