India

I survived India safely, stayed healthy, and had an incredible experience!!

Cochin:

               I woke up to Zaneetas voice at about 8am saying good morning and announcing the beginning of the customs process. Bridget and I got up and she headed out soon after to explore the city but I had a field lab that didn't meet until 11:30 so I was able to have a leisurely morning outside.

               The port is not near the city and similar to Burma that there is no way to leave the port without really committing to it, so it didn't make sense for me to get off early. Our class met up and we got off the ship. The security here is very strict and we have to go through various checkpoints and show departure cards, passports and ship Id at different places. At the exit the local welcoming crew was there playing music, dancing, and giving us bindis (the dot on forehead). I learned from our tour guide that different colors are for different gods and that they used to hold a much more religious significance but now women will match the color to their outfit and wear different shapes and sizes depending on the fashion they like. 

               From the port we got on our bus to go to St Augustine's church in Cochin. It is a Christian church where vasco de gama is buried and there was also a good amount of history about Portugal and Lisbon and Belem (where Margaret and I were 2 summers ago-so it was great to remember that and have such a good reference for what they were talking about- and to remember Margaret and my awesome time in Lisboa!) We had a good tour guide who took us to many churches and synagogues all day which was interesting to see because India is 80% Hindu but these other churches have a big presence.

                We did spend too much time in the van in my opinion but it was sort of necessary because the government just opened up 2 new palaces/ churches in the past 2 weeks that had previously not been open to the public so we were lucky to see that. At one of the palaces we had a snack time set up and we got to eat these coconut crepes made from scratch by the woman who was serving us- she was so friendly and proud of her work. It is also nice how everyone speaks English in India!  

               We had a bit of time to walk around the "Jew streets" which is a market area with shops for clothes, souvenirs, and lots of spices in the spice market! We also got to see the fishermen at the port and walk by a fish market. They have another way of fishing here where they have these jetties out in the water with massive nets and then they throw food on the surface pull the big net up with a huge lever and hope there are fish in it!

               Later we had a massive curry buffet dinner, which was really good! My dad would have loved the various kinds of curry with tons of different spices to add in. Also in carola (the state we were in) is famous for their yeast rice pancakes, which they use to eat their food with. We still used forks and knives but the local people only eat with their hands! After dinner we got back on the bus to get back on the ship. The line to get on was long because of the thorough security. It's scary too because there are lots of guards all with huge machine guns.   I got back on the boat, packed quickly, and went to bed by 11.

               Alarm went off at 3:20 am and we had to meet up with our group for our flight to Delhi then Varanasi. Long day of traveling- took over 12 hours to get to Varanasi! Bridget and I utilized priority pass to get free wifi and some coffee! The Delhi airport was pretty nice compared to Vietnam and Burma  and the other airports we traveled through were a bit more rundown. Our semester at sea trip has 70 people on it which is a lot. We are split into 2 groups but it's still like hoarding cattle.  Getting everyone through the airport, getting tickets, security etc is quite the ordeal. Especially when the whole trip involved 4 different flights! I am definitly glad I did this trip to meet a lot of new people and be able to see everything in such a short amount of time but I am also glad this is the only organized trip I am taking.

 

  Varanasi-

 

                After finally arriving we got on our 2 buses and headed to the hotel. While looking out of the window I was overwhelmed to see the poverty, slums, trash and cows. The most overwhelming thing about the city is all of the dust. It is thick in the air and irritated my eyes badly and was caked on us after barely walking outside. When taking pictures my camera couldn't even focus because of all the dust in the air. After arriving at the hotel we changed quickly and had a brief talk from a professor of Hinduism about the religion. I was not too happy at this point because I really wanted to go out and explore and head to the river but we had to listen to some guy who could barely speak English for 40 minutes. Everyone was pretty upset too so we were glad to get in the bus to drive 30 mins to the river Ganges for our sunset cruise.

               Driving through Varanasi is fascinating- it is unlike anything I have ever seen. The roads are horrible and we have to drive so slowly. The dust in the air even makes it's way into the bus and it smells awful. There are cows everywhere! All in the streets, eating the trash and lying down wherever they want. There are also tons of goats, stray dogs and pigs. The traffic was awful and took 30 minutes to go about 7km. When we finally got to the river we had to walk through a neighborhood to get to our boat. I have never walked through that much trash and dust and cow poo in my life. There were little kids trying to sell us candles with flowers and they were extremely pushy and demanding and it made me really sad. As we were getting on the boats they started wailing and crying and it was really hard to see.  

               On the water it was pretty dark so we couldn't see too much until we got to the cremation ceremony called the Aarti ceremony on the Ghats of the Ganges. On the Ganges- all day everyday- people bring the dead to submerge in the water then cremate on the side. There were fires all along the river so we probably saw around 20 people being cremated. Then at the big ceremony (on the Steps called Ghats on the shore of the river) we watched from the water hundreds of people participating and watching as the people dance and play music and sing hymns. It was unlike anything I have ever seen- really loud and noisy and still dusty but it was also very spiritual and cultural- hard to describe but glad we saw it!

               I got absolutely eaten alive by Mosquitos- it looks like my ankles and feet have chicken pox- I'm glad I am taking my malaria meds! We watched the ceremony for about 30 minutes then boated back to the shore and walked through the town to get to the buses. I felt scared walking even though we had lots of people and guys and we were definitely totally safe- it just felt dirty and scary. 

               Back at the hotel we had an awesome buffet dinner of Indian food (every meal has mostly been at the various hotels and they all have very extensive and delicious indian food!) we were exhausted at this point so we headed to bed with our alarms set for 5:30am for our river Ganges sunrise boat trip!  

               We rolled out of bed and got on the buses and it was well worth it because the sunrise trip was incredible! The drive was much faster with less traffic but still insanely dusty and bumpy. We got let out on the Ghats (the steps that we saw the ceremony taking place on the night before). It was still pretty dark out but we were able to see people stripping down to jump in the river! It is a very spiritual and holy experience for these people and as a Hindu you must bathe in the river to come back better in the next life. With the morning light we were able to see just how dirty the river is. Our guide talked about how the river is actually really clean and flowing and pure and heals people.....we were all in shock hearing how he really believes the river is clean and how people drink out of it meanwhile there is trash and grunge floating all over it.

               Being on the water while the sun was rising really was incredible. The sunrise itself was gorgeous but seeing the people bathing and seeing the buildings and people on the shoreline was even more fascinating. We saw groups doing yoga but it was far from any yoga studio I have ever been in! There wasn't a specific thing each person did in the water but I noticed everyone did their own thing- some more energetic and sort of thrashed around while others calmly dunked their heads. Even little kids were playing in it. We boated for a bit then saw a "gymnasium" right on the shore up some steps. It was basically an outdoor dusty roped in area half the size of a tennis court with a rope to climb a tree and a few metal cans that I assume are weights. Not really sure why our guide brought us here but it was still interesting to walk through more of the dusty streets and just see more of the intense poverty.   We got back on the buses and headed back to the hotel for breakfast, quick change, and back on the bus to see more in Varanasi.

               We went to a Tibetan university which was pretty boring - but it was interesting to see how nice the school was in comparison to the outside streets.  Then we went to a park with some ruins and a pagoda called Sarnath! It was built in the 1100s and was surrounded by green grass, which was the only green we saw our whole time in Varanasi. It was pretty to see and we were able to walk around for a bit then head to a more local lunch spot. After curry and naan it was back to the airport to head to Delhi- more lines and waiting to get our whole crew on- but a few hours and a nice nap later we made it do Delhi.

 

Agra

 

               We checked into our hotel in Delhi which was really nice ( I have been shocked at how nice the hotels we stayed at were!) got dinner (more yummy curry and naan!) and went right to bed.

               Another early morning- 5am- to get on the bus to head to Agra. 4 hours later we pulled up to the Agra Fort- on the opposite side of the river from the Taj Mahal. The “fort” is massive and spans at least a mile of walled in green space with gardens, mosques, and buildings. It was beautiful to walk around and take pictures. Then we got back on the bus to head to our hotel- the Jaypee Palace! This hotel was really fancy with a huge swimming pool (that we sadly had zero time to enjoy) and had the most incredible buffet lunch of indian food, and had many lounges and gardens. Upon checking into all of the hotels we had to scan our luggage through airport security xrays etc, which is something I am not used to.

               After, we got on the buses to go to the Mother Teresa Charity Home in Agra.  This is a home for people with mental disabilities ages 6 months to 97 years old. It was really intense because there were so many people all with varying degrees of disability but at some points it seemed like we were just watching animals through cages. We were encouraged to interact, play, and talk to people which I definitely took advantage of and had a really nice time connecting with a few people but I was still just so overwhelmed by the home with all the rooms of people with different disabilities. I was happily surprised at how clean and well kept the home is and to know that the people get good care and lots of human interaction.

               After this visit we were off to the Taj Mahal (quite a contrast of emotions going between these 2 places) but it was AMAZING! Literally it is the most majestic and beautiful building I have ever seen in my entire life! It was built by a king who lost his wife in childbirth so he wanted to construct the most beautiful building in the world to commemorate her, the most beautiful woman in the world. It took 20 years and 20,000 men, all who got their hands chopped off after completion so the building could not be copied! We had the best time walking around, taking pictures, and trying to really soak in the beauty.

               After the Taj it was dinner (more naan and curry!), showers, and bed! Meanwhile all along this trip it was awesome to meet and have conversations with people on the ship who I had never met before! Bridget and I were roommates every night (random- we didn’t even request eachother!) but we slept like babies in our big beautiful room and woke up at 7:15am (our latest morning of the whole trip) to drive back to Delhi!

              

Delhi Again

 

               Another interesting bus drive looking out the window- lots of poverty, trash, etc around the cities but most of the drive was on a highway with lots of farmland on either side. I also listened to harry potter on literally every long plane flight and bus drive- kept falling asleep so had to rewind and find where I was (not like I don’t know what happens though!)

               Upon arriving in Delhi we drove around for a long time seeing the main sights from the bus- this was really annoying because all I wanted to do was get out and walk around. We saw the India gate- which was built after WWI as a memorial and it reminded me of the arc de triumph in paris.  We also drove past the president’s palace, famous mosques, etc.- cool to see but wish we could have gotten out and explored. Then we got lunch at a local restaurant with more naan and curry. Then we headed to explore the Qutub Minar- the highest pillar in India (but 5 ft shorter than the Taj!) which includes an old mosque with surrounding gardens- very beautiful and good to walk around and stretch our legs after so much sitting. Then checked into the same awesome hotel as before and got our first real “free time” of the trip!

               We headed out in hopes of finding a bazaar, but instead just walked around more streets and shops. At one point we started getting water balloons thrown at us by little kids because it is almost some festival in delhi so they are making water color balloons- I didn’t get wet but the locals were joking and laughing with us! The streets were pretty busy with people and it was fun to see local vendors and people just watching the world go by.  3 of us went into a Sheik temple, which was really interesting. We had to take our shoes off and we were actually the only white people in the entire place. The people were all praying and while we were not looked at strangely or anything, we were definitely outsiders. It was sunset at this point so the sky was very beautiful against the massive white marble temple.

               We got henna from some people on the street who were so good at it and so fast. I got some on one of my hands and it looks really cool! After getting henna I walked back to the hotel with a girl named Madeline and one of the guys on our trip. We had more curry and naan and lots of hot gooey brownies with vanilla ice-cream!

               Got to bed by 11:30 with our alarms set for 4:25 am to catch our flight. Made it back to the ship safe and sound and with plenty of time. It is now 7pm and I am about to go to bed- I can hardly keep my eyes open!

 

               There are 6 days on the ship till Mauritius where we only have 1 full day there then 6 more days then South Africa! I am really excited to have some time on the ship to catch up on sleep, hanging out with friends, and school work- I have 2 tests and an essay before Mauritius!  I apologize to anyone who has emailed me within the past week- there was no wifi in India (except for the last morning for 20 minutes) so I haven’t had the Internet or the time to respond- but I will soon!