Incredible India!
After celebrating the Thai New for three days, Liz and I said goodbye to South East Asia and hello to Incredible India! We met my friend Nikki at the airport, who was on her first stop of her trip. We were lucky to be staying at my friend Rick's apartment in New Delhi who happened to be living in India for work. Our first two days were spent in Delhi. We walked around for about two hours one day and quickly noticed a long list of things that made India unique. There were barely any woman walking around on the street and even fewer westerners. We were stared at by absolutely every person within 20 feet of us and in a crowd of 200 people I would have been able to pick out Nikki and Liz in a second. We wore something Liz and I called our "India Uniform" for our two weeks in India- same pair of pants and a rotation of three t-shirts. As woman, it was important to keep our legs and shoulders covered through most of India- Goa was the only exception to our uniforms.
It really is impossible to describe India in words but I will try. I truly believe it is a place you must see for your own eyes. It is filthy yet breath taking, chaotic yet amazing... the best way to describe India is unbelievable and incredible. If you ever go to India, I promise you will see things you could not have imagined. The food was delicious yet it definitely did a number on all three of us. Between us all one of us was sick everyday. We were able to do a walking food tour in Old Delhi which was one of the highlights of my trip. The food was delicious and seeing Old Delhi this way was awesome. We got to see parts of the city we likely would not have seen otherwise.
From Delhi we did the triangle tour- Delhi- Agra- Jaipur. In Agra we were able to see the amazing Taj Majal at sunset and in Jaipur we couch surfed with an awesome Indian family who cooked us a home cooked Indian meal and showed us a view of the entire city at night that was beyond lovely. We had a great couch surfing experience with this family and it was highlight of Jaipur.
After about a week up North, Liz and I spent an entire night debating whether to take our flight south to Kerala and at 4am- 3 hours before our flight- we decided to cancel our flight and change it to Goa two days later. After some good time to relax at mansion de Rick we made our way to Goa, India. This is a beach town in India where the dress code is not as strict and tourist flock to in order to enjoy the sun and party. It was really beautiful on the beach in Goa and the sunsets were amazing. They had an awesome Saturday Market where I shopped so much that my backpack has now doubled in size!
Our last leg in India was Mumbai. We got there via overnight train from Goa. For some reason Liz and I got bumped up to first class so for this train ride- I don't have an India train ride horror story to share. I loved Mumbai! Our time there was much too short and I would love to go back. We spent most of our time in a popular area called Colaba. We saw the Gateway to India, and the famous Taj Majal Hotel and best of all we had sodas and a snack at Leopold's cafe. Leopold's Cafe is a famous spot in India- for those of you who have read Shantaram (a must read book) I bet you are pretty excited about this visit Liz and I did! For those of you who haven't read Shataram or who don't know of Leopold's it is a very famous spot and place Liz and I were beyond excited to see.
While walking and shopping in Mumbai Liz and I met a taxi driver who offered to give us a small tour of the area including the largest slum in Mumbai- Dharavi Slum. Over 10 million people live in this slum and it was an unbelievable sight to see. The people of the slum pretty much take care of the basic needs of all of Mumbai- they do most of the laundry, recycling, and bread making for the whole city. They live in crammed quarters with nothing, yet they may have been the most welcoming people we met in India. It was in the slum that I saw the most smiling faces in India. I really wish I could have spent more time in the slum and with the people there but I was grateful to see it with my own eyes.
One of my most memorable experiences in India has to be the local train ride that Liz and I took from a small town into Mumbai on our last day. It is because of this that I gratefully have my own India train ride story. All in all it was about a four hour experience that I will never forget. From the moment we arrived the adventure began. We had no clue which tickets we needed and as the employee at the ticket booth yelled at us and bobbled his head ( a friendly Indian gesture) a long line of clearly impatient Indian men formed behind us. Luckily, a nice man helped Liz and I purchase our ticket and we waited on the platform with a group of friendly woman for the train to arrive. We planned to sit in the woman's section of the train (no men allowed) so we could be comfortable. The woman were calm and chit chatting as we waited for the train but the moment the train arrived the environment changed completely- woman started pushing and shoving to get on the train- somehow Liz and I were able to get a seat which seemed like a miracle. We sat five to a seat on a bench that would normally seat two in the states. Children would sit on anyone's lap who was free and people stood nearly on top of each other both sitting and standing. It was the hottest, most crammed, interesting train ride ever. We were the only western people on the train. The ride was two long hours and by the end we were speaking with some of the younger women and people were smiling with us. At our stop we got up and waited to exit, excited to be in Mumbai. The second the doors opened complete chaos broke loose. Woman were punching and shoving, pushing in every direction. I was sure I was not going to get off of the train and I was ready to defend myself in a fight. I was pushing as hard as I could to get off the train and was honestly a little afraid for my safety. As my feet landed on the platform I yelled "What the F just happened1". I looked up to see all of the locals laughing at my shocked faced. I turned around to see Liz was safe and started laughing so hard over the incredible and truly unbelievable experience we just had. It was amazing! If there is one thing you have when you go to India- be sure to ride a local train- it will be one of most memorable experiences of your life and somehow you will hate it and love it all at the same time- Incredible India.
We had two weeks in India and it wasn't nearly enough. It is an incredible place that deserves at least a few months of travel in order to really see and get to know the country and its different regions. India really is a place one should see for themselves. I got a glimpse of it and it made me interested to learn and see more of this incredible country!
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| Walking around India |
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| Food tour group at the Red Fort |
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| No trash cans in Old Delhi |
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| Cheese filled Paratha- amazing- yes- that is a stick of butter we spread all over the food |
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| The girls with our food tour guide- Prabaht |
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| Local hang out |
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| cool kids |
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| Taj Majal |
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| View from inside the Taj |
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| Reunion! Rick let us stay in is awesome home while in Delhi! Thanks Rick! |
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| Saturday Night Market in Goa |
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| Blankets |
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| Spices! |
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| Shops on the beach |
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| Cow on the beach |
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| Amazing sunsets in Goa |
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| Another Great Day |
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| Goa |
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| Overnight train from Goa to Mumbai |
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| Leopold's Cafe |
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| Laundry site in India |
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| The slums |
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| Happy living in the slum |
