Incredible India

When I called my Mom and Dad on the last day I was in India, they asked me what India was like. To be honest, I did not have an answer. Those of you who know me well know that I am one who always has something to say, but for once I have been rendered speechless. When I stepped foot off of the Explorer on our arrival and boarded one of the motorized rickshaws (AKA near death shaws), I felt like I stepped back in time to a civilization 100 years ago. I am not really sure how to fit all the points I want to make into a nice flowing paragraph here, so I am just going to list them. After the list I will tell the story of my travels in India. The bottom line is: I just don’t quite think I have absorbed what I have experienced yet…

Interesting, informational, and somewhat random comments about India:

The “not so good things about India”…
-There are 1 billion people in India, and it shows
-I will never forget the smells
-At times you are lucky if you can see the ground through all the trash
-There are cows everywhere, and the cow is sacred so if one is in the middle of the street then you aren’t going anywhere until it moves itself
-People live in the streets
-People relieve themselves in the streets
-People die in the streets
-Beggars are everywhere, most of them are women and children and most of them have deformities
-I did not meet one, NOT ONE Indian who has not tried to sell me something (besides our tour guide)
-The horn is apparently an integral part of the driving system. If there was a Guinness world record for horn blowing, India would take the cake
-There really is no traffic pattern at all. People drive where they want to. I figured out that basically it works like this: the bigger automobile is the boss
-If you live through a rickshaw ride, God must think you are one damn special person. If you get to your actual destination without stopping at 50 shops first so the driver can get his commission, then you are even more special
-Children are always in dangerous areas, like the streets. None of them have shoes, some don’t have clothing. That goes for all Indians actually
-Indians trying to sell you stuff will eventually lead you to insanity. You are lucky, and skilled, if you can shake one off within 100 feet of them following you. I am skilled
-Everyone seems to be “my friend”, and they always have a “special price today”…
-The only restaurants are located in hotels, the ones outside are just local shacks. The only established restaurant outside a hotel is Pizza Hut, and it is considered a high class restaurant
-Many of the sights in India, especially in the train stations, will stay in my mind for the rest of my life


The “good things about India”…
-Many of the rural areas are beautiful
-Many temples, forts, and complexes are incredible
-The Taj Mahal is as cool as I thought it would be
-It is a lot of fun and good experience to travel in India
-Everyone in India thinks Grant is a Muslim because of his beard. He gets many questions about it, and many people were calling him Ali-Baba, it was hilarious
-The food is amazing and spicy
-The ice cream is the best I have ever had
-Airlines in Asia rock
-The country is fascinating
-The religion is fascinating
-The culture is fascinating
-The experience is fascinating


It is a good thing my bed is comfy, because this is going to be a long night of writing. I’ve got a bag of peanut M&M’s and a Gatorade, so here goes:

My Story

The day before India was hectic. Everyone knew that we would still be going there, but we weren’t sure about the fate of the Varanasi trips. I was signed up for one of them, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would see my second most anticipated place of interest on this voyage, the river Ganges. Later in the day, we found out that even though the city was probably pretty safe after the bombings, SAS would not be leading trips to Varanasi. Instead of my trip doing Delhi/Varanasi/Agra, it now became a Delhi/Delhi/Agra trip. So basically, this trip is now the same as many others that cost $400 less. So yes, we did the same trip as other people for $400 more. Apparently, we are getting $225 dollars of it back, which is better than nothing I guess. Anyways, I went to bed early that night after the pre-port meeting so I could get up early and watch us pull in.

I woke up at 6:30am, and I went outside. As soon as I opened the door, the smell hit me. It did not smell like roses; let’s just put it that way. As we were pulling into the Chennai harbor, all these little wooden boats and little canoes with Indians in them were rowing up to ship and looking up at it in amazement. Many of them waved and we waved back. We docked a little early, around 7:30am, and there was a welcome band outside on the dock playing us some music. Immigration then came on and we were informed to just hang out and not rush, because it would take a long time. I took a shower and a nap, and when I woke up we still weren’t even cleared yet. We eventually got cleared around 1pm. Ryan, Jess, Natalie, Alex, Laura, and I decided to go out and do some shopping. We were well informed that if you get in a rickshaw, you will not be taken where you want to go; the drivers will take you to every shop they get a kickback at. If you want to go to a certain place, you basically have to threaten that you won’t pay if they don’t take you there. So, we decided that since we didn’t have any specific place we needed to go besides an ATM, that we would go with the flow and let them take us around. When we walked out of the port area we were immediately immersed in literally hundreds of rickshaw drivers hounding us to take us somewhere. We just got in one and I tried incredibly hard, and unsuccessfully, to set a price with the driver. Here is what the conversation was like:
“My friend, my friend, come! I take you where you want to go.” – Driver
“How much to go to the markets?” – Me
“No problem.” – Driver
“No, how much?” – Me
“No problem.” – Driver
“HOW MUCH? – Me
“No problem! I drive you around. At end, you pay what you like.” – Driver
“No, I want to know how much right now.” – Me
“It’s no problem, really. Please, get in.” – Me
“Fine, so if I want to pay you 50 rupees, you get 50 rupees.” – Me
“What you like, what you like. Please, get in.” – Driver

So basically that is what every conversation is like. At the end they will demand a price, and I don’t care because I pay them what I think is fair. They try to scam, and I don’t play that game. Anyways, we get in 2 rickshaws, 3 people in each, and we start driving through the streets. It isn’t driving though. It is a maze of unorganized powered objects racing towards another at high speeds with death defying turns and swerves. How I am still alive, I do not know. After stopping at the ATM, we went to a number of shops that the drivers got a commission from. I have learned from traveling independently and on SAS trips that all Indians think Americans are really rich. There are two types of places you can shop. One is the street markets where you can get things for a few dollars. The other is incredibly expensive ‘departmental stores’ that have all kinds of handicrafts, jewelry, carpets, and antiques for thousands of dollars. By the end of the 5 days in India, I was sick of being taken to all these expensive stores where merchandise was being sold for thousands of dollars. On our free time we got to the markets and bought some really cool stuff for real cheap. Anyways, I did not buy anything the first day, but the girls and Ryan did. Before we headed back to the ship, we paid 100 rupees each (about 2 dollars US), to see a snake charmer charm some cobras. He used his whistle and the cobra came up and bit him like 4 times, and at one point he had two cobras moving to the music. It was pretty cool. The drivers then took us to a street market where Indians were selling all sorts of goods. Right behind the market was a cool Hindu temple, and we stopped and looked at that for a while. We went back to the ship around 6pm to meet with some people who were coming back from some day trips they did through SAS. We met up with about 10 other people, went back out of the port, and boarded some more rickshaws. Once again I could not get the driver to give me the name of the supposedly nice restaurant he was taking us to, so I figured if we didn’t like it we would get them to take us to a much nicer one. I was right and they took us to a small little underground restaurant that was very sketchy. Ryan and I always seem to end up being the leaders of our huge groups for some reason, but I guess it is a good thing because it means we are good travelers. So, I said to my rickshaw driver, who was also named Michael (allegedly), that it was about 3 steps below what we were looking for. I then told him we wanted 5 star, and he finally understood. We were taken to a five star hotel where basically the only good restaurants are. We had a great dinner of Indian food and Kingfisher beer, and then we headed back to the ship. On the way back, I saw what India was like at night, and it was a real learning experience. People in India don’t really have homes. I never saw one residential neighborhood or housing area. Some communities were little shacks of tin on the sides of incredibly polluted and smelly rivers, but even those were scarce. People pretty much just live on the ground anywhere. On the way back to the ship in the rickshaw, we passed people just sleeping on their blankets on the sidewalk, in the street, and everywhere. They literally live and sleep inches away from all the traffic, on a blanket on the ground. Some don’t even have a blanket. Families are all together, and it is really crowded. Everyone is pretty much touching each other. I don’t really know how to describe what it looks like, but it really is like nothing I have ever seen before.

Grant, Ryan, and I had to wake up at 3:30am to go on our trip, so we decided to make it an early night. I got to bed around 11pm.

I woke up ay 3:30am, grabbed my bag I had packed the night before, and went to go meet up with the SAS trip in the dining hall. We boarded the buses and drove to the airport. Once we got there we went through security. For some reason airlines in India do not let you take batteries on board, so all our trip leaders collected the batteries and put them in one checked bag. After security, we got on the plane. The ride to Delhi was about two and a half hours. I slept most of the way because of my lack of sleep the night before. Once we got to Delhi, we met with our tour guides and we boarded the tour buses. We first visited the Bahai house of worship. It is a cool temple that is shaped like a lotus flower. It reminds me of the Sydney opera house in Australia. After that we drove by the parliament house, war memorial and the president’s house.

After our drive we went and checked into our hotel, the Hotel Ashok. It is a 5 star hotel, but 5 star hotels in India are more like 3 or 4 star in the US. We ate some amazing Indian food for lunch. Desert was these little balls of fried dough soaked in honey, and they were soooooo good. After lunch we visited Humayun’s tomb, which was pretty cool. After that we visited Qutub Minar which was even better. It was built in 1199, and it is crazy walking around a palace that was built almost 1000 years ago. The carvings and scriptures were amazingly intricate, and the architecture was mind blowing. After that, we went for a shopping tour of Cottage Industries. This is a company that makes the nicest Indian carpets around. They gave us a nice demonstration of how the carpets are all hand made, and they gave us tea and cookies too. Then they wanted us to buy some of the carpets, which were thousands of dollars. I bought some of the tea, which was about $6. After that we went to a dance performance called, The Dances of India. It was really cool and it combined classical, folk, and tribal dances into one big performance. The drummers were amazing, and they were doing back flips and all sorts of tricks while playing the drums. After the performance we came back to the hotel and had another great dinner, and then we just hung out for a while until bed.

The second day was the day we were supposed to go to Varanasi. Since this was not happening, we went to visit Old Delhi, since we did New Delhi the day before. We ate breakfast and then boarded the buses. We drove by the red fort that was built by the emperor Shahjehan. There are two red forts, and the other one is in Agra, which I saw the next day. After that we began our drive into Old Delhi. I love Old Delhi. It was absolutely amazing to be driving through nothing but crowds, cows, carts, markets, and people. It was so packed and so lively. People were everywhere doing everything you can imagine. It really was a site to see, and I captured some of it in my pictures. We got off at one point and took a rickshaw ride for 50 rupees each, which is about one dollar. This was not one of the motorized rickshaws I had ridden in Chennai, it was a bicycle one, and it was even more fun. Riding through traffic, cows, and people in a bicycle rickshaw was great. At one point elephants were walking down the road and we stopped while they passed right next to us. It was one of the coolest experiences ever. After that we visited one of the largest Mosques in India. We always have to take our shoes off when we visit temples which is kind of gross, but oh well. The mosque was cool, but I am not sure how interested I am in the whole Hindu religion. After the mosque we went and visited Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation site. It was really beautiful. There are acres and acres of green grass and gardens, and his cremation site is this huge black marble pillar with flowers on it. His ashes were inside and it felt really cool to be so close to such an amazing person. We then boarded the buses again and went to another ‘departmental store’, which of course I didn’t buy anything because it was all so damn expensive. After that we were let off again at the hotel and given the rest of the afternoon free. Me and several people decided to go down to the street markets to pick up some souvenirs and presents. We hired a cab for the afternoon and went to Janpath markets in New Delhi. It was crazy. I saw maybe two or three other tourists there the entire time. Of course, at the end of the 3 hours we spent there I was ready to leave. I can only take so much of the constant hassling, harassing, and following of the people trying to get you to buy things. I did not buy too much, but I did get a t-shirt and a coat. I know, who buys a coat in 95 degree India? I got it at a suit store and it is really cool. It is a long black merino wool coat I can wear to work or over a suit. I will wear it during the freezing winters of Syracuse. In the US, the coat would have cost me probably over $200. I bargained with the guy and paid $50 US. I was happy. Grant bought the same coat, and another one of my friends got a suit there. So after the markets, we got back in the taxis, paid our 200 rupees each, about $4 US, to the cab driver for the 3 hour hire, and went back to the hotel. We ate Chinese food, real Chinese food, for dinner, and then I went to bed early because the next day was to be a very early one.

Our wake-up call was at 4am, and I got up and got my stuff ready for the trip to Agra. We met in the lobby at 430, and hen we went to the Delhi train station. The train station in Delhi was….interesting. Just like the streets, there were people everywhere. Beggars, sellers, and people in general were everywhere. We boarded the train and the ride from Delhi to Agra was about two hours. We arrived at Agra train station two hours later. Agra train station is nothing like Delhi. It is about 100 times worse. I will get to that later though. We left the train station and boarded our buses. At this time, our tour guides figured out that there was a VIP visit at the Taj Mahal that day, and it would be closed for a period of time. They did not know this beforehand, and I knew about it a month ago. Why SAS did not plan for this, I have no idea, but it was a poor judgment on their part. I figured SAS would have known this and accounted for it, but I guess I was wrong. So after it was figured out that the VIP visit was scheduled to take place at 2pm, and we were supposed to see the Taj at sunset, they decided it might cut it too close. It wasn’t known when it would be reopened after the visit. Therefore, we changed our itinerary and instead visited Agra fort and the Taj first, and then we went to the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri. The VIP visitor of the Taj Mahal was the president of Myanmar actually. Some people were saying it was Yanni that was visiting, and I laughed when I heard that. Yanni probably couldn’t get a Burger King closed for himself if he wanted to. Anyways, the first thing we did was visit the Agra fort. I was starting to get a little sick of all the palaces and forts, and this one wasn’t all that much interesting either; just another huge red stone fort that took up a massive waste of space. I have found that all these forts and palaces are just sitting there taking up space in such a crowded country for no reason other than for tourists to go visit them. Anyways, after the fort we made our way to some hotel that we ate lunch at. We weren’t staying there, but apparently it was arranged for us to have lunch there. After lunch, it was time for the Taj Mahal. This was to be the highlight of my trip, and I was very excited. My only worry was that it was still morning, and it was very hazy. Luckily, we reached the Taj around 11am and it had cleared right up and the sun was shining. We waited in line forever to get in. Men and ladies are always in separate lines everywhere we go, and the men are always let in first. It is always interesting to see it. Anyways, while we were in line we were getting hassled by street merchants like no other. They would not leave us alone and it eventually got to the point where our guides realized it was getting really bad and they got us to go through a side entrance. We walked through a little village, passing huge camels and some goats, and went to another entrance where there was a small line. We went through “security”, and then we were in. At first you see a large red brick palace that has a small opening in front of it that you walk through to get to the Taj Mahal. When you walk up to it you can begin to see the white marble structure on the other side. As soon as you walk through the opening you see the Taj Mahal. It is breathtaking. You are up on a stone ledge and the Taj Mahal stands up in the sky from behind a long reflecting pool and beautiful gardens that lead up to it. I had finally made it to the Taj Mahal, and it felt great. Ryan, Grant, and I walked around and went inside and saw where the emperor Shah Jahan and his wife were buried. We took many pictures outside including this one:

We were yelled at many times because apparently signs are not allowed, but we didn’t come this far to not take pictures with our signs, so we snapped away. We spent about two hours at the Taj Mahal, and then we boarded the buses again and headed to the deserted city of Fatehpur Sikri. Once again, it was a palace, or city rather, that was deserted and just left there taking up space. It was very cool though. Emperor Akbar built it out of red sandstone. The city is basically in a desert, and apparently Emperor Akbar must have been quite the idiot, because after it was built, they realized that they couldn’t get any water, so the city was deserted. Sounds like a smart bunch of folks to me. After the city, we took the long bus ride back to the Agra train station. Before we got to the train station we stopped off at one of the highest class restaurants in India, Pizza Hut. It felt good to eat pizza again, even though it wasn’t as good as pizza back home. After Pizza Hut we went back to the Agra train station for our return to Delhi. I have heard stories from people about the Agra train station, and they were all true. Agra train station is full of beggars, pickpockets, and people who have decided to just live there. I saw a lot of things in the Agra train station, and I will not write about it in here. At some point in some time I will discuss my experiences with people one on one, but an online blog is no way to tell you what I have seen. All I can say is that we as Americans have such a damn good life, and many of us don’t even realize it.

We arrived back in Delhi from Agra at about 11pm, and I was exhausted so I just watched a little TV before bed. I was excited when I saw ESPN, but my excitement soon went away when I realized all they broadcasted was cricket, which is a game I don’t understand and never will. VH1 is the same as in the US, but MTV is totally different. It is all Indian music videos and I got very scared when some of them played. The Indian commercials were even weirder. Grant and I were laughing hysterically when we found the actual show of Takeshi’s Castle. It is not the same as Extreme MXC because there is no funny commentating. I then found 3 channels of HBO though and watched Bad Boys 2 and then went to sleep.

We woke up at 7am, had breakfast, and met in the lobby to catch our flight back to Chennai. It was our last day in India. Unfortunately, the trip leaders found out our flight was delayed about an hour so we hung around in the lobby for a while before heading to the airport. While in the lobby I noticed a group of five adults sitting on some couches who looked American. Me and some people walked over and began talking to them. They were the first Americans I had met while in India, and they were actually from Connecticut. We talked for a long time about all sorts of stuff and they clued us in on all the stuff that has been happening in the states since we have been gone. They were doing some research in India for their company and were waiting for their flight to another city. We eventually parted ways and went to the airport. We boarded our flight back to Chennai. Airlines in Asia are very very different from the US. When you get on the plane you first receive a hot towel. After you sit down they give you some mints. After you are in the air they bring you drinks, and then they bring you a full meal. After the full meal you get Baskin and Robbins ice cream. It’s really cool. Anyways, we got back to Chennai and went back to the ship. I got on the ship around 5pm, and took a shower then went to dinner with some people. I called my parents and talked to them. After that I decided I didn’t want to get back off the ship before on ship time at 9 because it was just too much of a hassle. I would have only had 3 hours anyway. I unpacked, and we pulled away from the dock a little after 11pm.

The entire time I was in India, I tried to compare what I was seeing with what I knew from the world I was from. Nothing I saw could compare. India is that radically different. The cars, the people, the living situations, the smells, the filth, and just everything about it is nothing like anything I have come to know this far in my life. In our standards, it would be the poorest civilization that exists, but in their standards, it isn’t poor because that is how everyone lives. I really wish I could sit here and describe India, but I can’t. Before I came on this voyage, I read information, looked at pictures, and listened to stories of what India was like. Once I was there, it was so much more real, and so much more of a shock than anything I had attempted to prepare myself for. If anyone ever gets a chance to visit this country, even if it seems repulsive, disgusting, and dangerous to you; do it. The experience of seeing a radical culture such as India is worth everything it takes to experience it.

We get to Myanmar on Thursday. We have been learning about it and I can not wait. For those of you who don’t know, Myanmar is located between India and Thailand, and is formally known as Burma. In Thailand, there are approximately 12 million tourists a year, but In Myanmar, there are only 600,000 tourists a year. 1% of those are Americans. The history of this country should warrant an interesting experience. If any of you know what Myanmar is really like, be assured that I will be safe, as the tourist will see everything that the tourist is wanted to see by the military government, and nothing more…

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to check out my pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/mgilbert7

P.S. – GO SYRACUSE! BIG EAST CHAMPS!