I have returned from my ten day trip to North India! We don't have spring break, so we decided to make our own. It was not so much of a spring break as it was a slightly stressful incredible learning experience. We started off with a 22 hour train ride in the 3rd tier a/c class. This is the structure of the Indian railway: 1st class (straight up Darjeeling Limited) which has your own closed off area and diner car and good service.; 2nd tier a/c which has two bunk beds (the bench that you sit on is also your bed) and they feed you and it's all grand; 3rd tier a/c is similar except it has 3 bunks rather than two, so just a little less expensive and more cramped; 2nd tier sleeper is cheaper than 3rd a/c but only has two bunks. the only food you get is what you pick up from the platform, your own food, or getting it from the millions of workers who sell chai and snacks (think the peanut and beer at baseball games); 3rd tier sleeper is the same but a little more crowded and then there is 2nd tier and 3rd tier general seating which is extremely cramped and uncomfortable. We travel by way of the 3rd tier sleeper which was not the most enjoyable of experiences. From Hyderabad to Delhi we took the 3rd tier a/c because of the 22 hour part, and that was good. The food was excellent: chicken masala, rice, daal, chapati, bread omlettes, mango juice, yummy desserts that could best be described as space food-esque sugar flakes. yum. And the food just kept coming. So food was a good way to keep of occupied and then we slept followed by a little bit of huddling under blankets because the a/c worked too well, then off to the busy streets of Delhi. Where to start with Delhi...wow. Everything can be romanticized upon seeing it through the window of a car through eyes that have been tainted by a false sleep on a train ride. The roads and new, there are flowers and huge government buildings. So we sped past those to the Pharanganj area which literally left me speechless. The main bazaar was one of the most crowded and ridiculous places I have ever been to. Way too overwhelming of an environment to stay in. Seeing how going low-budget traveling requires very little planning, we just waited the .25 seconds it takes for someone to offer you this or that and soon we were whisked away to find a hotel. A Lonely Planet is a good thing to have and it did lead us to the right area, but there are so many hotels you just kind of have to close your eyes and pick. We settled for the first one we found because we were exhausted and the room had a tv and room service so at the high price of 600rs/night (roughly $12) we unpacked and readied ourselves for the day in Old Delhi.
Anything labeled 'old' in India usually means Muslim, as far as my time here has tought me. Old City in Hyderabad is the Muslim district and Old Delhi is the leftovers from the Muslim empire. Apart from all the terrible things they did, they did bring a lot with them like fantastic architecture. Basically, they all had very good taste. So we took a rickshaw to the Red Fort, which if you can't tell is a fort made out of sandstone. Life on the inside of the Mughal Empire probably wasn't too shabby. Large lawns, quaint ponds, elaborate mosques...we took our time looking around and took frequent breaks to lounge on said lawns. This was also the first time we successfully were Indian residents. For tourist sites there is an Indian price which is usually 5-15 rupees and then there is the foreigner price which starts around 200rs. As we are registered through the Indian government as residents, a quick flash of a card and our price was drastically dropped. It was a good feeling. After some cold drinks and snacks on the lawn we walked past all the amazing shops in the bazaar in the fort and headed for Jama Masjid. The short time it took to leave the Red Fort and get to Jama Masjid was probably one of the craziest things I have experienced here. New to us were bicycle rickshaws. Thin, young Indian men pulling two or three people via bicycle. We decided it was something worth experiencing so for 50rs we were pedaled down the street to Meena Bazaar. It was kind of difficult to deal with someone physically struggling to wheel you down the street while cars and motorcycles zoomed by honking. It is a popular mode of transport but just because everyone's doing it does not mean I have to enjoy it. After a short fight where we refused to give our driver more money, we headed down the treacherous path that was the bazaar. It was a pretty amazing place and if I hadn't have been overstimulated with everything else, I could have done some decent shopping. There were hundreds of shoes, tacky children's clothes, all sorts of gifts, fresh fruit-you name it. The street was also lined with sick people. Here's the thing about sick people: the point is to feel bad for them so you give them more money, but often times it's just another scam. People wearing casts will sit for awhile and look miserable with a cast then if ignored will take it off and walk away. Babies are passed around to make it look like everyone is just looking out for 'their' child. Sometimes they are horribly sick. I gave money to a woman whose entire body had been burned, to the point where she didn't even have fingers and could not smile to thank me. Like everything in India, it takes finding a balance between helping those very much in need and naively handing out cash. After just a few moments in the bazaar we see what I hope I don't ever have to see again. A child stole something from a vendor and was running away and just in front of us the vendor catches up with him and drags him off to be beaten by an angry mob. The whole walk down a beggar attached himself to Abby and I and by attached I mean clung to our arms. But we finally made it to the wonderful masterpiece that is Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India built by Shah Jahan whose name you might recognize as he also commissioned the Taj Mahal. But as the trend goes, we can't go anywhere without some sort of squabble so we spent about ten minutes fighting the man at the gate. This is also a balancing act: at what point do you forfeit a fight and give into getting ripped off? Too much arguing becomes exhausting and accepting defeat is no fun either. First off, we were told the entrance fee is 200rs. Everyone, including Lonely Planet, knows this is a free site so we immediately told him no and he gave in since we obviously had some idea of what was going on. Erika and i both had on long pants and short sleeved shirts. At mosques it is required that shoulders be covered and we were respectfully dressed but this did not matter to ticketwala (-wala can be added to almost any noun to refer to someone who sells or manages that noun). He wanted our elbows covered so he pulls out the neon colored robes specifically aimed at humiliating tourists. Abby had her elbows covered and he tried hard to put one on her but we won that fight too. Ticketwala was not happy we had won twice so then he starts up about cameras. I have my dad's SLR which I just can't hide and most places you do have to pay extra to take pictures (this even applies to small children) so I handed over the 200rs, no problem, but then he wanted money from Abby whose digital camera was put away. This is where the bulk of the argument stood, convincing ticketwala that she was not going to take any pictures but he assured us that was not the problem it was just the fact that she had a camera on her. It got to the point where we were taking off the robes and getting ready to walk away that he finally gave in and just let us through. Like the Red Fort, we took our time strolling around, smiling awkwardly at those also forced to have the neon robes, and taking in the beauty. Our time was short lived as I let my guard down and a kid asked to have his picture taken and I said sure, forgetting that I had to pay him so I went to him and showed him I had deleted the picture and wasn't going to pay him and he was relentless and then got his buddies to harass me too so we had enough of that and left. We strolled around until we found a rickshaw and headed back to our hotel with comfy beds and a tv after a completely exhausting day. Even though this might sound like a terrible time, these aren't things that make me miserable or ruin anything for me. Had Delhi been my first city in India I might have felt different, but I feel comfortable with knowing the flow of things here so it wasn't anything too out of the ordinary. If every time I went out I had a grand old time, I wouldn't be getting the full perspective of Indian life. All in all, each experience is so important in creating my personal outlook and understanding of India.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Hampi and Holi
I have returned from a second successful trip to the distant lands outside Andhra Pradesh. Though I had never heard of Hampi before coming here, it was definitely a trip worth taking. Hampi used to be the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire but was invaded by Muslims in the 16th century. They destroyed a lot of the temples in an attempt to wipe out Hinduism but many still stand. Apart from temples there are very large boulders, caves, a river, palm trees, lots of animals, and hippies. We gave in and did a two hour tour with a local and he said Hampi has always been a large pilgrimage site but then the hippies got a hold of it and trashed a lot of important things. There are still plenty of strange people there, but hopefully now they are more respectful. We went into one cave that used to be a meditation site around two thousand years ago and it was pretty much trashed. It's a recognized UNESCO world heritage site but that doesn't mean everyone follows all the rules.
Back to the beginning. With only minor difficulty locating our seats/beds, we departed on the 10ish hour journey to Hospet, the city connecting to Hampi. The sleeper cars are like giant hallways full of bunk beds. Nothing glamorous, but definitely manageable. It was non a/c but with fans and open windows in the middle of the night we didn't have a problem and I actually slept a few hours! We got off the train right after sunrise and again with minor difficulty picked up our bus tickets for the return trip and then rickshawed it off to Shanthi Guest House. The tourism atmosphere of Hampi was similar to Goa: streets lined with huts, vendors, rooftop restaurants, and animals. Our guest house (I guess the closest word is motel, but rather than the sleeze of a motel it's just simple and kind of gross) was brightly colored with a tropical courtyard in the middle which was really nice. It's very easy to meet people, if only just for a quick conversation, in situations like that. There were a set of squat toilets in the back and two showers by the front with a communal sink in the middle but that wasn't bad at all. The rooms were two beds with an ineffective mosquito net and a small metal desk. "Bare necessities" as Baloo would call it. For 3$ a day you can't really complain though. After checking in we were told the temple elephant was having her morning bath so we headed down to the river to watch. I went down to help wash her which was really neat. My first elephant! Then hunger took over so we ate at a decent restaurant with a wonderful view and a massive fly problem. The bugs in Hampi are the worst. It was hard to even eat your food. After breakfast we stocked up on water and headed towards the ruins. We weren't exactly sure what to do so we just wandered around at our own pace with no plan in mind and stumbled across some great stuff. Nicole walked into a small room with bats. We found a giant single stone carving of Ganesha, many broken statues, lots of trash, and other cool things. We returned hot and sweaty for a rooftop lunch and wandered to the other end of the bazaar where we found a giant mountain. We were advised to go the next day because the trip down would be dark and scary so we made that our goal for the next day and continued at our leisurely pace observing the last bits of what was once a great empire. Opposite the mountain is a huge Shiva temple visible from almost anywhere we went in Hampi. It is still active and we ran into Lakshmi the elephant! We brought her some bananas (good karma) and if you give her a rupee she blesses you. We stayed with her for a while and these old Indian men had a great time getting blessings so we watched them too. Other than that we saw some deities and....monkeys. They are so cute but not things to be messed with. We saw them fight, attack some guy, and pee on someone. So that was the end of day one. We started bright and early the next day (we were told to climb the mountain for sunrise but no way were we getting up that early) so after nutella pancakes, eggs, toast, chai, lots of water, sunscreen, hats, and cameras we headed off. Matanga Hill is one of the coolest, most beautiful things I have ever seen and done. There are steps carved into the rocks which was really neat and slightly difficult. We mostly had on flip-flops and the rocks were slippery so barefoot was the way to go. We took breaks when we found shade and after some tough spots we made it to the top. It was stunning. There is a small Shiva temple at the top and if you climb on the roof you get a full panorama of Hampi which was so amazing. The temple itself was a cool building and it was so cool thinking about all the monks and pilgrims that made it up there and lived up there. That ended up being the coolest thing we did in Hampi by far so everything else just wasn't as exciting or pretty after that. After a lunch and some lounging about we met a local tour guide for a coracle ride and to see some more ruins. The coracles are strange bamboo and plastic boats that look like big baskets. They were nice to go on a quiet ride down the river but they can also spin in circles very fast, teacups style which was kind of sickening. Back on dry land we saw a wishing tree, meditation caves, and a market that was a place for dancing, marriages, food, ect. They had some strange kama sutra carvings (strange as in depicted people and animals though our tour guide said they were mythical. hmm) and one of the rooms was just light enough to make out all the bats on the ceiling which Nicole did not enjoy but I found pretty neat. Even though we were far below the good mountain, we still watched the sun set behind huge boulders and temples which was nice. Followed by dinner and, of course, dessert (nutella pancakes, a pot of cold chocolate-kind of like richer,Indian style chocolate milk- or hello to the queen-a bowl of basically chocolate soup with graham cracker cookies and bananas topped with ice cream. so so good) we went off to bed to once again start the day early. Goal for day three: Hanuman's birthplace and temple. We were told it was on the other side of the river and was a 600 step climb. Just a quick boat ride and rickshaw drive away, we found ourselves at the base of a giant white stone staircase. We brought much more water with us this time and it was maybe even hotter than the previous day but it was a regular staircase rather than the slightly carved rock from Matanga. We stopped a lot and found caves that were like natural a/c. the top wasn't such a great view and we had to take off our shoes and that rock was hot. Inside the small temple there was a monk and we left an offering and got a tilaka and ate some sugar. Then 600 steps back down which was ok because at the bottom I fed monkeys! Monkeys are straight up tiny people. These monkeys were used to taking food from people I'm sure and they were so polite! I paid 25cents for some little bananas and you break off a piece and they very gently took it from me. There was no fighting or competing or biting. Once I was distracted when I handed one over and I didn't let go immediately so the monkey very gently picked up my hand and took it off the banana. It was so cute. We'd heard that there were a lot of monkeys at Hanuman temple (afterall, Hanuman is a monkey) and it was nice to find good monkeys. Fast forward through all the lounging and being tired and get to the bus ride. It was actually on time which was nice but I don't think I will take a long distance bus in India ever again. We had a/c seats and the bus was pretty nice but it was incredibly bumpy and loud and Indian drivers use their horns to let people know they're there or to ask to move around so there was constant honking. The a/c cut off a lot and then it would get super cold. There was always something to keep me from falling asleep, it was awful. We also stopped in the middle of nowhere and I used what might have been the absolute worst (squat) toilet I've used in my life. We weren't exactly sure where to get off the bus and the driver's buddy helped us out but it was at least a 30min rickshaw ride from the bus stop which was rough. A few minutes in our Muslim driver stopped to go pray for a solid ten minutes which is fine that he was praying but we really just wanted to go home and the rest of the way our driver nodded off a few times and looked like he would just fall asleep. Ahh, the rickshaws.
While I wished I had a sweatshirt for that freezing morning drive, it is now officially summer. Happy Holi! Despite getting back at 7 this morning, we got up to go play and I'm so glad we did. We bought packs of colored powder and in celebration of the coming summer months, the powder is rubbed on people's faces. It's pretty gross and overwhelming and doesn't taste too good but the colors were wonderful and everyone looks so great. We went to the women's hostels and there were guards there so the men couldn't pass through our gate but we could go out. It was a fun game of them taunting us and we would run out and get covered in all colors and have water poured all over us and then we would run right back over the line. Some of the girls were just as bad as the boys. If someone came out clean there was an instant crowd to cover that person. I think if I could pick one holiday to be in India to celebrate it would be Holi. I don't think I'll ever experience something like that outside India. I didn't get to take any pictures since everything on you gets absolutely covered in powder, water, egg, and tomato. After much scrubbing I am still covered in dye but it was definitely not something I could have missed.
Let me just recap for you what a fantastic weekend I had. I did everything associated with what India is. We made this list on the bus ride: took a sleeper train, bathed an elephant, had an elephant bless me, fed elephants bananas, fed monkeys bananas, our first temple experience and tilaka, successful management of squat toilets, climbed a mountain mostly barefoot, rode a coracle, ate a sugar cane stick, walked 600 stairs to see the birthplace of a god, saw a snake charmer, found new and delicious foods (mostly desserts), sleeper bus, saw a kingfisher bird and some bats, and ended it all with a Holi celebration. This is why I am here. This is amazing. There are some things I miss about home...the people, the food, easy transportation, and some other minor comfort things but I can't believe how quickly this semester is going. We're trying to plan more trips and we're running out of weekends. Someone, after covering my face in a new coat of hot pink powder, asked me if I actually enjoyed this and I was like yeah, absolutely and he seemed surprised.
It has been a very long day so I should get some sleep. I'm not looking forward to the constant increase of heat, but other than that I am living the life here.
Back to the beginning. With only minor difficulty locating our seats/beds, we departed on the 10ish hour journey to Hospet, the city connecting to Hampi. The sleeper cars are like giant hallways full of bunk beds. Nothing glamorous, but definitely manageable. It was non a/c but with fans and open windows in the middle of the night we didn't have a problem and I actually slept a few hours! We got off the train right after sunrise and again with minor difficulty picked up our bus tickets for the return trip and then rickshawed it off to Shanthi Guest House. The tourism atmosphere of Hampi was similar to Goa: streets lined with huts, vendors, rooftop restaurants, and animals. Our guest house (I guess the closest word is motel, but rather than the sleeze of a motel it's just simple and kind of gross) was brightly colored with a tropical courtyard in the middle which was really nice. It's very easy to meet people, if only just for a quick conversation, in situations like that. There were a set of squat toilets in the back and two showers by the front with a communal sink in the middle but that wasn't bad at all. The rooms were two beds with an ineffective mosquito net and a small metal desk. "Bare necessities" as Baloo would call it. For 3$ a day you can't really complain though. After checking in we were told the temple elephant was having her morning bath so we headed down to the river to watch. I went down to help wash her which was really neat. My first elephant! Then hunger took over so we ate at a decent restaurant with a wonderful view and a massive fly problem. The bugs in Hampi are the worst. It was hard to even eat your food. After breakfast we stocked up on water and headed towards the ruins. We weren't exactly sure what to do so we just wandered around at our own pace with no plan in mind and stumbled across some great stuff. Nicole walked into a small room with bats. We found a giant single stone carving of Ganesha, many broken statues, lots of trash, and other cool things. We returned hot and sweaty for a rooftop lunch and wandered to the other end of the bazaar where we found a giant mountain. We were advised to go the next day because the trip down would be dark and scary so we made that our goal for the next day and continued at our leisurely pace observing the last bits of what was once a great empire. Opposite the mountain is a huge Shiva temple visible from almost anywhere we went in Hampi. It is still active and we ran into Lakshmi the elephant! We brought her some bananas (good karma) and if you give her a rupee she blesses you. We stayed with her for a while and these old Indian men had a great time getting blessings so we watched them too. Other than that we saw some deities and....monkeys. They are so cute but not things to be messed with. We saw them fight, attack some guy, and pee on someone. So that was the end of day one. We started bright and early the next day (we were told to climb the mountain for sunrise but no way were we getting up that early) so after nutella pancakes, eggs, toast, chai, lots of water, sunscreen, hats, and cameras we headed off. Matanga Hill is one of the coolest, most beautiful things I have ever seen and done. There are steps carved into the rocks which was really neat and slightly difficult. We mostly had on flip-flops and the rocks were slippery so barefoot was the way to go. We took breaks when we found shade and after some tough spots we made it to the top. It was stunning. There is a small Shiva temple at the top and if you climb on the roof you get a full panorama of Hampi which was so amazing. The temple itself was a cool building and it was so cool thinking about all the monks and pilgrims that made it up there and lived up there. That ended up being the coolest thing we did in Hampi by far so everything else just wasn't as exciting or pretty after that. After a lunch and some lounging about we met a local tour guide for a coracle ride and to see some more ruins. The coracles are strange bamboo and plastic boats that look like big baskets. They were nice to go on a quiet ride down the river but they can also spin in circles very fast, teacups style which was kind of sickening. Back on dry land we saw a wishing tree, meditation caves, and a market that was a place for dancing, marriages, food, ect. They had some strange kama sutra carvings (strange as in depicted people and animals though our tour guide said they were mythical. hmm) and one of the rooms was just light enough to make out all the bats on the ceiling which Nicole did not enjoy but I found pretty neat. Even though we were far below the good mountain, we still watched the sun set behind huge boulders and temples which was nice. Followed by dinner and, of course, dessert (nutella pancakes, a pot of cold chocolate-kind of like richer,Indian style chocolate milk- or hello to the queen-a bowl of basically chocolate soup with graham cracker cookies and bananas topped with ice cream. so so good) we went off to bed to once again start the day early. Goal for day three: Hanuman's birthplace and temple. We were told it was on the other side of the river and was a 600 step climb. Just a quick boat ride and rickshaw drive away, we found ourselves at the base of a giant white stone staircase. We brought much more water with us this time and it was maybe even hotter than the previous day but it was a regular staircase rather than the slightly carved rock from Matanga. We stopped a lot and found caves that were like natural a/c. the top wasn't such a great view and we had to take off our shoes and that rock was hot. Inside the small temple there was a monk and we left an offering and got a tilaka and ate some sugar. Then 600 steps back down which was ok because at the bottom I fed monkeys! Monkeys are straight up tiny people. These monkeys were used to taking food from people I'm sure and they were so polite! I paid 25cents for some little bananas and you break off a piece and they very gently took it from me. There was no fighting or competing or biting. Once I was distracted when I handed one over and I didn't let go immediately so the monkey very gently picked up my hand and took it off the banana. It was so cute. We'd heard that there were a lot of monkeys at Hanuman temple (afterall, Hanuman is a monkey) and it was nice to find good monkeys. Fast forward through all the lounging and being tired and get to the bus ride. It was actually on time which was nice but I don't think I will take a long distance bus in India ever again. We had a/c seats and the bus was pretty nice but it was incredibly bumpy and loud and Indian drivers use their horns to let people know they're there or to ask to move around so there was constant honking. The a/c cut off a lot and then it would get super cold. There was always something to keep me from falling asleep, it was awful. We also stopped in the middle of nowhere and I used what might have been the absolute worst (squat) toilet I've used in my life. We weren't exactly sure where to get off the bus and the driver's buddy helped us out but it was at least a 30min rickshaw ride from the bus stop which was rough. A few minutes in our Muslim driver stopped to go pray for a solid ten minutes which is fine that he was praying but we really just wanted to go home and the rest of the way our driver nodded off a few times and looked like he would just fall asleep. Ahh, the rickshaws.
While I wished I had a sweatshirt for that freezing morning drive, it is now officially summer. Happy Holi! Despite getting back at 7 this morning, we got up to go play and I'm so glad we did. We bought packs of colored powder and in celebration of the coming summer months, the powder is rubbed on people's faces. It's pretty gross and overwhelming and doesn't taste too good but the colors were wonderful and everyone looks so great. We went to the women's hostels and there were guards there so the men couldn't pass through our gate but we could go out. It was a fun game of them taunting us and we would run out and get covered in all colors and have water poured all over us and then we would run right back over the line. Some of the girls were just as bad as the boys. If someone came out clean there was an instant crowd to cover that person. I think if I could pick one holiday to be in India to celebrate it would be Holi. I don't think I'll ever experience something like that outside India. I didn't get to take any pictures since everything on you gets absolutely covered in powder, water, egg, and tomato. After much scrubbing I am still covered in dye but it was definitely not something I could have missed.
Let me just recap for you what a fantastic weekend I had. I did everything associated with what India is. We made this list on the bus ride: took a sleeper train, bathed an elephant, had an elephant bless me, fed elephants bananas, fed monkeys bananas, our first temple experience and tilaka, successful management of squat toilets, climbed a mountain mostly barefoot, rode a coracle, ate a sugar cane stick, walked 600 stairs to see the birthplace of a god, saw a snake charmer, found new and delicious foods (mostly desserts), sleeper bus, saw a kingfisher bird and some bats, and ended it all with a Holi celebration. This is why I am here. This is amazing. There are some things I miss about home...the people, the food, easy transportation, and some other minor comfort things but I can't believe how quickly this semester is going. We're trying to plan more trips and we're running out of weekends. Someone, after covering my face in a new coat of hot pink powder, asked me if I actually enjoyed this and I was like yeah, absolutely and he seemed surprised.
It has been a very long day so I should get some sleep. I'm not looking forward to the constant increase of heat, but other than that I am living the life here.
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