04/10/2018 - 08/10/2018
On starting this post I was trying to find the words to accurately describe India but I quickly came to the conclusion that those words just don’t exist in my vocabulary and I’m not even sure if they exist in the English language to be honest. However, I have committed myself to tracking our travel adventures through this blog so alas, a post must still be written so bare with me as I try to conjure up in words the spirit of India.
I can best define India after only being there for a few days as utterly tragic yet with many lingering hints of pure magic. I define India as the Hindus who worship more than 360 million gods (jeez, one God is hard enough for me!) the noise, the spicy curries, the headache inducing bureaucracy, the filthy overcrowded streets, the overcrowded trains, the overcrowded buses, the constant noise and blaring of traffic horns, the daily battle of trying not to get ripped off by every shop vendor and tuk tuk driver, the wondering cows and street dogs, stepping on said cow and dog shit (which no, didn't bring me good luck!), the pollution, the smog that blocks the sunsets, the dangerously overhanging wires in the cities, the daily worry that 'is this the day I will get Delhi Belly?', the overly sweet tea laced with sugar, masala shakes (which, dare I say taste..rotten!), eating rice for breakfast, the 10 people who can actually fit inside a tuk tuk, the burping and hawking up of phlegm that seems completely socially acceptable, the 5 near misses of death within the space of 2 minutes while trying to cross the road, the lack of footpaths, stepping over people as they sleep in the most awkward of places on the streets, the smell of piss wafting through the air, the 'is this guy being nice, or is he going to try and sell me something', the stocking up on hand sanitiser and baby wipes, the paranoia that you have rabies after a dog brushes up against your leg, the arriving at Delhi's international airport and realising that your Indian trip has officially.....BEGUN!
Ok, it all sounds fairly tragic right and yes at times (in fact, a lot of the time) it was, most notably for me when a young boy without pause threw his sweet packet on the ground with a bin resting right beside him....like seriously?? But I can assure you that if you come to India with an open mind and an open heart you will most certainly find many spots of magic.
We arrived in Delhi after a long trip from Sri Lanka and immediately I was not looking forward to the barrage of tuk tuk drivers that would be waiting for us at the arrivals hall but surprisingly it actually wasn't as chaotic as I thought it would be. I had been mentally preparing myself for India for the past number of days so perhaps I had built it up so much in my head that it would turn out to be much less frantic than I thought it would be. However, those thoughts quickly dissipated once we reached the city centre of Delhi where the only sounds that could be heard for miles was the beeping horns of cars and tuk tuk's, fusing together forming a sort of modern day Beethoven symphony. People seemingly in such a hurry to get around but yet at the same time many others lounging on street corners and in shop doors drinking tea and watching the chaos unfold around them, completely unperturbed and oblivious to the surrounding holy mess.
All we could do after somehow finding our guest house among the herds of traffic, street cows and people scurrying was to sleep, and sleep we did!
The next day we paid an early morning visit to the lotus temple of Delhi which is a Baha house of worship but we didn't really go there for the worship part more so for the exquisite building in the shape of a lotus flower and thus has become a prominent attraction in the city and an exceptional architectural feet and calmness through it's gates amongst the bedlam outside and beyond.
Later that evening we took the opportunity to visit one of the many slums of Delhi. Maybe not many people's idea of sightseeing fun but something I personally was eager to experience for myself so we took a trip with a reputable not for profit volunteer organisation called PETE (Providing Education To Everyone). The non slum areas of the city were pretty manic from the little that we experienced the day before so I was slightly nervous about what we would see in these slum areas. We met our guide, a very kind lady dressed in a beautifully ornate pink sari who slowly walked us through one of the slums all the while telling us how she was married herself at 15 and how the school for the poor children of the slum was set up. Its funny how something as simple as walking through a city can really change your perspective on things. Our initial trepidation quickly melted away as we were greeted by the positive outlook of each and every person we met and the genuine smiles and laughter of the children as we handed out sweets. The gorgeous children of the school wanted nothing more than to shake our hand, proudly show us their school work and to our delight, take selfies with us. It really amazed us how these beautiful people were so happy with life having so little in their possession. Families live in cramped shacks built of metal sheets, sleep together on dirty floors and share outside public toilets . Cramped alleyways where unbathed children play are scattered with litter and where all manner of smells drift through communities. It is something we will always remember, to value what we have like the fact we have food in our belly and shelter over our heads. Although we are the fortunate ones, there is plenty we can learn from others like the fact there is so much more to life than what we often place too much importance on. This visit for me was a small piece of magic right in the heart of the city.
The next day we wanted to somehow escape the madness of the Delhi markets and street life so took a relaxing trip to the Gandhi Smriti museum, where Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian activist and leader of the Indian independence movement spent the last 144 days of his life before being executed at point blank range as he attended a prayer service in the surrounding gardens. A very interesting and informative museum and a nice way to spend a few hours in Delhi city away from the sound of beeping car horns.
On our way back from the museum we relaxed for a few hours in the nearby Lodi Gardens, a serene local city park perfect for a spot of people watching, duck watching or perhaps some penalty shoot outs like Paul if you happen to meet a local teenager practicing his goalkeeper techniques.
The next day we took a train from Delhi to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world We were brave and took a 3rd class ticket and in India a 3rd class train ticket means prison like metal bar windows, no air conditioning and sleeper beds which instead of sleepers, are seats holding 6 people. A big part of experiencing India I feel is to get your ass on the public transport. It ain't pretty, its dirty, the air is dirty and every 5 minutes people get on trying to sell you everything from dodgy looking samosas (which would be sure to give you Delhi belly) to colouring books for kids and an explanation by the seller of each page of the book (yes, really random!) but the journey is certainly an experience in itself and one where were you most certainly will lay eyes on some whacky looking people and lots of loud cackling monkeys on the train tracks. Luckily for us, the train ride was only for 2 hours and just aswel because by the end of those two hours we both had a dry cough presumably from the shitty train air.
There's not much to do in the city of Agra (Another hectic gritty city), bar visit the Taj Mahal and if your feeling up to it after an early rise to see the sunrise at the Taj, the Agra fort is also worth the visit. So this is what we did.
The next morning after arriving in Agra, we rose early at 5am and made our way to one of the main four gates of the Taj. The streets were surprisingly busy with early morning local risers out for their morning run to beat the mid day Indian heat which by the way is VERY hot. The huge iron gates opened at 5.50am and the tourists piled in to witness the marble beauty that is the Taj Mahal, a tomb commissioned in 1632 for the wife of the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. I must say that the Taj Mahal is truly one of the magic sites of India. I wasn't expecting much from it if I'm honest going by the many littered streets elsewhere in the city but I was very very pleasantly surprised by it's sheer size, crystal clean white marble and rich green surrounding gardens. It's also a great place by the way to get those insta worthy photos! A big gem in a big city and worth the 2 hour cough inducing train ride.
Afterwards as we weren't feeling overly tired and were in good spirits after visiting one of the 7 wonders of the world which in itself was pretty wonderful, we paid a visit to the Agra fort, a historical fort in the heart of the city and the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty up until 1638 and also listed as a Unesco World Heritage site (We have plenty of those under our belt at this stage!) We took a tour guide this time and probably paid too much for him even after haggling hard but figured it would be a good way to learn a bit about the mass of stones rather than aimlessly walking through. The red brick towers are mighty and the facades are overwhelming, a testament to the power of the dynasty of that time. We really enjoyed our time here and a few selfies with the locals thrown in for good measure.
Ok, so my feelings for India meander from good to bad as each day passes here. Some days I have hated it (like really hated it, especially the litter!) but other days I have absolutely loved it. Come here with an open mind and an open heart and you will certainly be overwhelmed with all this fascinating crazy crazy country has to offer. It will be one of the best rollercoaster rides you will ever take.
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