India (Winter 2003-2004)

There were a total of 6 of us (Jason, Craig, Blair, Elena, Nathan, and me). The trip started in Taipei, Taiwan. Jason’s dad actually lives in Taipei so he was able to come to Taipei and show us around the city. The most memorable things were the 101 building (the tallest building in the world), the National Museum, Snake Alley, and the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. He was also nice enough to take us out to dinner everyday so we feasted before India (Peking duck and more). Taipei was also really warm (in the 70’s) so it was nice to walk around and be away from the cold Japan winter.

After being stuffed in Taipei, we had what should have been a 7 hour plane trip to Delhi, India. Unfortunately as we approached Delhi we were told there was too much fog and that the plane would be rerouted to Bombay (2 ½ hours away). Once we arrived in Bombay that’s where the fun began. It was Christmas eve so the airport was already understaffed. Suddenly all the Delhi flights are showing up in Bombay and they weren’t prepared. At first they had us wait in the plane for another couple of hours (hoping we could fly back to Delhi) but eventually let us into the airport to wait for another 3 hours. Customs wasn’t there so they ended up taking our passports and eventually sending us to a hotel. And what a hotel. Very fancy ($300 US a night) and we felt like kings. Unfortunately they only let us stay for a few hours sleep and they bused us back to the airport to wait some more and to eventually fly us back to Delhi. Not exactly how I planned on spending Christmas but thankfully things went much better after that.

We stayed in Delhi a day and spent all day walking around and seeing the old city (the Red Fort, the biggest mosque in India, the market, and a Sikh temple). The best part was the Sikh temple because we were lounging around out front when suddenly a guy in a turban invited us in. He was so friendly and helpful and gave us head coverings to wear while giving us the grand tour of the temple, the housing, the kitchen, etc. Everyone inside was so friendly and inviting and we shared some tea and the guide told us to come stay there the next time we were in town.

We caught a night bus out of Delhi to Johdpur which was not fun at all. What we didn’t know was that this was a private bus (which basically means it’s falling apart). We expected bunks or even reclining seats but no, the seats didn’t go back. Plus the bus was so overbooked that we had people sleeping at our feet half the time. What was supposed to be 10 hours ended up being 13 hours and it was the most uncomfortable bus ride ever (and the coldest since the window in my aisle wasn’t a window but a wooded board partly covering a gaping hole). Thankfully someone shared a sleeping bag so we all arrived in one piece.

Jodhpur was probably my favorite city. All the buildings in the main city are painted blue so you look over the city from the above fort or from a building balcony and all you see is blue. It’s really amazing. We spent a couple days here relaxing and exploring the city, the fort, and the markets. Instead of risking another night bus we choose to go to our next city Udaipur by Jeep Safari during the day. We got to see a lot of the country side and also stopped at a few amazing places along the way. The first, and by far my favorite place in India, was the Ranakpur Jain temple. The entire temple is made from carven marble and there’s detail everywhere. Inside is what seems to be a million pillars all carved and supporting more carvings in the ceiling and the walls. Plus there’s monkeys running around all over the place so what more could you ask for? After that we went to an old fort which has the second largest wall in the world (after China’s great wall).

Next we spent a few days in Udaipur which is built on the shores of a large lake. The old palace is right on the lake and besides touring there we also took a boat ride out to two small islands offshore. Actually this whole area was used for scenes from James Bond’s Octopussy. We also saw a few cultural things there (traditional dances and puppet show) and walked through the markets looking for souvenirs. I picked up a few things including some crazy shoes with pointed, curled toes and a small drum. I was sitting down by the lake showing off my drum to one of my friends when a local musician playing some sort of stringed instrument came and sat beside me and asked me to play with him. I faked it a little bit but it was a fun memory and I was lucky enough to get a picture. We all spent New Years here in Udaipur and had a huge buffet on a rooftop and then joined a party on the next rooftop to dance and watch the fireworks over the city and lake. None of us got too crazy but it was a fun time. Up until then I had no problems with my health but the next day and into the night my stomach didn’t feel so good so I had to purge both ways. Not a fun memory.

Next we took a night train to Pushkar which was a small little town surrounding a holy lake. Actually the whole city is holy and all meat, alcohol, and even eggs are banned. Somehow, even with this ban we found one of the best restaurants we would find in India and ended up eating every meal there ‘cause it was so good. One of the most unusual things we saw were 2 different 5 legged cows (with the extra leg sprouting out the back). Must be the water? Only spent a couple days there and took the night bus to Agra. This time we double checked and got a government approved tourist bus so had bunks to sleep in. The only problem was that my stomach didn’t feel so good so when we stopped in the middle of the night with no bathrooms in sight I had to run out into thick fog to do my business. Have no idea where I was so hopefully some poor soul didn’t find a nasty present in their front lawn in the morning!

Agra was full of fog and cold but it luckily cleared during the day and was nice by the time we went to visit the Taj Mahal. It really is an amazing building and doesn’t look real. I personally think it looks best from a distance. Once you get close it’s hard to appreciate it’s size and the inside doesn’t seem to special (it’s dark to protect the colors, and it’s smaller than it looks from the outside). After spending a few hours here we wandered over to the Agra Fort which was really nice and had great views on the Taj Mahal in the distance. Finally we made it back to Delhi and flew home. No delays, no problems, and we got to enjoy a nice warm day in Taipei again on the beach and stuffing ourselves at the buffet.

Overall, I can’t say it was the most relaxing vacation in the world but it was definitely a good time. Basically, India is crazy. There’s so many people and the traffic is out of control. There really are no rules that I could figure out. People drive wherever they want (no such things as lanes or traffic rules) and are constantly passing people on the side or even into oncoming traffic. That and there’s people and animals everywhere. You can see wildlife wherever you look. While walking down the street it’s not surprising to see pigs, cows, dogs, monkeys, camels, and elephants walking wherever they like. After a while it doesn’t even seem weird. The people are friendly but poor so are constantly asking you to buy things or give money. It’s also a very dirty country compared to what we’re used to. Garbage is thrown on the ground and you constantly have to be on the look out for giant cow paddies (which can show up anywhere as I learned when I stepped in huge one inside the train station while waiting in line). The food wasn’t bad but sometimes it was almost impossible to find non-veg restaurants. There’s a ton of fresh fruit and food stalls but we were all a little cautious ‘cause we didn’t want to get sick. Overall, we all did pretty well. A couple of us threw up once, a few days of diarrhea, but nothing too serious. I did manage to catch a cold the last day but hopefully that goes away soon. Anyway, I hope I didn’t bore you all too much but thought I’d share before I forgot things.