Adventures in India

Pictures of My Posh Hotel Room

2008-06-16T01:52:00.003-05:00

Pictures of Nepal

2008-06-16T01:48:00.001-05:00

Pictures of Maymester Class in Indian Garments, Pictures of Nepal, & Pictures of My Posh Hotel, The Sheraton - Maury Hotel in New Delhi, India

2008-06-16T01:35:00.004-05:00

Hello All,

I just wanted to finish up the blog with a few more pictures from the last 2 weeks. The first set will be of my fellow classmates in our Indian garments in Dehradun, India. It was our last night there.
The second group of photos will be of Constance, Hillary, Krys, Becky and myself during our week in fantastic Kathmandu, Nepal. I loved this country!!
Finally, the last set, are photos of my posh hotel room @ The Maurya Hotel in New Delhi, India (www.luxurycollection.com/itcmauyra)

I hope you enjoy...
Maymester Class in Indian Garments

Future plans – Nepal, posh hotel in Delhi, Race DVD, and ongoing travels

2008-06-05T08:02:00.001-05:00

This blog is coming to a quick end. Our class ends on Saturday, June 7, 2008 and then we are all off to different directions. Krys, Hilary, Becky, and Sherry are headed to Nepal for a few days of new republic watching. (Nepal became the youngest republic in the world last week when the king was dethroned and power shifted to the legislature.) After that, Sherry has exciting plans to stay in the nicest hotel in Delhi to enjoy as many spas as possible. Krys, Hilary, and Becky are moving onward to Rajasthan, Mumbai, Pune, and hopefully Hassan. India has so much to see. There is no need to continue spending our precious time in class.

Missionaries of Charities Orphanage

2008-06-05T07:53:00.000-05:00

Later on that day afternoon, Constance and Sherry went to the Bizarre to buy gifts for the orphans at Missionaries of Charity, which we had visited the day before to get an understanding of what their needs were and what we could do to help. Because there were older girls at the orphanage, we decided to purchase them some nail polish and for the younger girls we purchased Barbie dolls. We also bought towels and cookies for the orphanage. The girls were so sweet, they actually painted my nails instead of letting me paint theirs. The orphanage cares for disabled, blind children as well as women. The facility was very clean and the sisters were pretty nice except the head sister was rushing us out of the facility faster than we would have liked, but overall it was a good visit. The girls even sang to us before we left. It was so sweet, I almost cried.

Church @ Grace Fellowship @ Dehradun by Sherry

2008-06-05T07:41:00.003-05:00

This past weekend while Becky, Krys, & Hilary were off to the Yamunotri Shrine, Constance and I needed our Jesus fix, so we went to St. Thomas Church down the street from the hotel and we were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a non-denominational church called Grace Fellowship worshiping there. The parishioners and Pastor Merlin Clarence were very friendly and seemed to love that we had joined them for worship. We were about 30 minutes early so Pastor Clarence sat and talked with us about his church. He told us that it was a “Happy Clappy Church” that used the word of God to encourage the members. When he and his wife found out I was from Houston, Texas, they enthusiastically asked if I had been to T. D. Jakes’and Joel Olsteen’s church. I said yes to both and they were very pleased. The service was GREAT, though a little long. Pastor Clarence’s daughter and son led us in praise and worship singing songs that we were very familiar with like, “Here I am to Worship”, as well as songs in Hindi. Many of the members of the church read scriptures and prayed for the service during praise and worship as well. Since last Sunday was the 1st Sunday, we were given communion, but instead of just praying together, Pastor Clarence said for us to go to another person and pray for them or have them pray for you. I prayed for a young woman who had beautiful young children and she was very receptive to my prayer. Afterwards, there was testimony period and I felt compelled to publicly, thank God for Grace Fellowship because I had been in India for a little over 2 weeks and this was the first time that I had been to a church or temple that worshipped Jesus and not idols. I felt like Elijah when he told God that he felt alone and God told him that there were people in the country that served Him. Constance and I were very disappointed because we will not be able to attend Grace Fellowship’s prayer meeting on this Saturday since we will be leaving Dehradun on Saturday. I am including Grace Fellowship's address for those who feel compelled to send them love offerings.

Grace Fellowship, Dehradun
Pastor Merlin Clarance
C/O St. Thomas Church
89 Rajpur Road
Dilaram Bazaar,
Dehradun, UL 248001
email: gracefellowshipdoon@gmail.com

More Yamunotri Shrine Pictures

2008-06-05T07:31:00.003-05:00

Yamunotri Shrine

2008-06-05T07:04:00.003-05:00

The voyage to Yamunotri Shrine was more of a journey than any of imaged. The trip began with the now familiar ride to Mussourie and then got more intense as we crossed the Himalayas. The bus shook constantly and several people lost their breakfasts. The power of “Vomi-stop” had not been widely available when the trip began. Luckily we stopped to visit the Kemant falls and take a few breaths of fresh air on solid ground. The break was brief and we quickly found ourselves traveling onwards towards Yamunotri. Another break occurred on the coast of the Yamuna River. Some village children joined us as some people swam in the fast moving, cold waters and the others rested on the banks. Lunch was served Raj style. There was an enormous spread of tasty vegetarian options that we shared with the villagers after we ate.

The last part of the trip found us on one way dirt roads that appeared to lead nowhere. After hours more on the bus, our bus encroached on an endless traffic jam of buses. We could not go any further on the bus and had to jump on a few SUVs to reach Jankichatti. Those drivers were ridiculous and driving very fast on the edge of the roads. We all feared for our lives. After 30 minutes or less ride on the jeeps, we made it to our destination. The town was full of local trekkers, pilgrims, and other randomness associated with pilgrimage sites. We wandered around the street leading to the pilgrimage trail, until we were totally freezing and huddled up in our cold hotel room to wait for dinner. The next morning we got up at 4 am to start the hike. The trail to the temple was about 5 kilometers long, and made up of a series of steep switchbacks up the side of a mountain, passing these beautiful valleys and peaks with tall waterfalls and the sacred Yamuna river flowing below. We made it to the top finally, where you could see the Yamuna coming out of a glacier on the opposite mountain. There was a small temple across the river, where we had to take off our shoes outside on the freezing cold, wet stairs. It was better once we got in the temple though, where there were hot spring baths for both men and women. On the women’s side, we went to the side of the tank and washed our faces with the hot water that the woman there kept handing us nonstop. Then we went up into the temple where some little boys boiled our rice offering in a hot spring while we did the puja ritual with the priest (and thank goodness Shama was there to translate!). The ritual was really beautiful, and we felt better about the ride back since the water was supposed to spare us “a tortuous death” and the string around our wrist would protect us. We walked around the shrine on the side of the temple and then went back outside to put our rice offering in the river (otherwise we would have to eat it, yikes..). We stopped for delicious chai and hot samosas on the way back, then had a quick breakfast before hitting the road. We got to stop at the same beautiful river spot on the way back as well – the cook staff was really amazing and so good to us, making us awesome Chinese food, literally on the side of the road! We got to watch a beautiful sunset over the Himalayas on the rest of the drive, which distracted us from just how close we were to the edge of the cliff. After a bunch of bickering about what to do for dinner, Becky became the group hero and took on ordering pizza for everybody to eat at the hotel and pass out. It was an exhausting trip, but a once in a lifetime opportunity. We were even more grateful for everyone’s prayers when we heard the awful news the next day that seven pilgrims died when their car rolled off the same road.

Doon Society

2008-06-05T06:59:00.001-05:00

As the only one of our scheduled evening speakers to actually show up, the members of the Doon Society came and spoke about their work with protecting the environment of the Doon Valley around Dehra Dun, as well as the forest of the Rajaji National Park and the livelihoods of the people who were traditional forest dwellers in the area. They discussed the challenges in India of working to protect the sustainability of natural resources in India, while also trying to improve the situation of poor populations dependent on harvest and livestock grazing in the forests. The Doon Society talked about the strategies they’ve used, including establishing villages for the forest dwelling communities where they each receive two acres for grazing their animals as well as extra income from small crop plots. Hilary and Constance were both impressed and excited to talk to the members about their work, although Hilary wasn’t very encouraged by the woman’s recommendation that she marry an Indian man to justify working in the country…

Travis’s Birthday at the Opal Lounge

2008-06-05T06:48:00.004-05:00

No trip is complete without an adventurous night out. For Travis’s birthday, we made reservations at a pub, Opal Lounge. We had no idea of what to expect. The place was really nice and could have been in any U.S. city. There were plenty of foreigners there to make you feel right at home. So all 25 of us ordered food and started drinking. Our budget was 15,000 rupees or $360 USD. We spend almost all of it. The pub was expensive but had a wonderful ambiance and music. You just couldn’t keep our group off the dance floor. A little 50 Cent and everyone was on the dance floor. That DJ must have had the CD, Dance Party from the 90s, because we heard music that night that has not been played in the U.S. since 1996. We ate it up. We danced so much that the DJ refused to play bangara for fear of the place getting too rowdy. When looking around the room, it was unsurprising that only our group was really dancing. Since we made up about a quarter of the restaurant population, it did not faze us at all. Everyone else there just starred at us aside from the few shady men who tried to dance with our women.

The DJ and owner are both Sikh. I guess those Sikhs knows how to party because everyone had an incredible time in spite of leaving by 10:30pm. Even our favorite tour guide, Ram got up and danced with us. It was a great night out and Travis really enjoyed his birthday in spite of being slightly ill.

Tibetan Buddhist Stupa

2008-06-05T05:21:00.001-05:00

Much to our surprise, Dehradun is home to perhaps the largest Buddist Stupa and a thriving Tibetan Buddhist community. The Mindrolling Monastery hosts a large college for Buddhist monks and a five-storey Great Stupa. It is over 60 meters high and contains shine rooms displaying relics, paintings of every single Dalai Lama, and a huge tiny remake of an ancient Buddhist Temple that the Chinese government destroyed.

The Monastery and surrounding area was incredibly peaceful. We removed our shoes to enter the Stupa and walk around (clockwise only) to experience the exquisite artwork that covered all the internal walls. It was incredible. The bottom floor is dedicated to a Buddhist prophet and is monitored by a Buddhist monk who prays in the corner as observers leave and enter the room.

Outside of the Stupa are two enormous prayer wheels. Krys, Hilary, and Becky turned one of them in hopes of Buddha hearing theirr prayers for safe travels. After the wheel, we checked out the tiny food store and adjoining clothing stalls that were filled with women’s bras and underwear, seriously. When we ventured into town, we found a store with Tibetan artwork and prayer wheels where everyone found something to their liking. Our Tibetan experience ended with a little Hannah Montana watching at a small Tibetan restaurant where we snacked on some questionable momos. We hopped on a local bus and arrived safely at our hotel after countless stops along the way.

Sherry is sick.

2008-06-05T05:20:00.000-05:00

Sherry and many others on our trip have been suffering from a mysterious stomach illness that causes endless trips to the bathroom and rather small appetites. Due to her fluctuating health, Sherry did not participate in our visit to the Stupa, Dune Society speakers, and Yamunotri Temple.

Mussourie & Jaypee Residency Manor

2008-06-05T05:01:00.004-05:00

Mussourie is a pleasant town located in the lower portion of the Himalayas. It is only 20+ kilometers from Dehradun but takes a good hour and a half to reach due to the winding roads.

Our first stop was the Lal Bahadur Shastry National Academy of Administration where the most important civil servants in the Indian government come for training each year. The site was amazing with a very nice library and breathtaking views of the Himalayas. The gentleman showing us around, Dave-Soma, was not too bad looking either.

Next we were given some free time to walk around Mussourie. We walked from the Gandhi Chowk to the Kulri Bazaar on a lovely pedestrian only walkway. Along the way were tons of shops with clothing, sweets, and the opportunity to wear local clothing and take pictures. Becky couldn’t help herself and paid 40 rupees ($1) to try on some local attire and take some random pictures with this guy who insisted on being in her pictures. Along the way, we watched a little boy get briefly chased by a monkey as Sherry screamed and took off running. Hilary and Sherry also took a fabulous picture next to the larger than life picture of a lion. By the time we reached the group, we had enjoyed this very pleasant town and were ready for bed.

Bollywood

2008-06-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

When in India, there is no shortage of Bollywood films to watch on the big screen. One evening Sherry, Hilary, Krys, Constance, Amanda, and Becky ventured to the Krishna Palace to watch Race. The feature song of the film, Touch me Touch me, is everyone’s caller tune thanks to Vodafone (the Indian cell phone company). We were curious to see what this song had to do with two brothers trying to kill each other for their family fortune. The movie was a cross between Matlock, MTV, and Days of Our Lives. It was rather ridiculous and entertaining. We were not disappointed with the rather inappropriate, confusing lyrics of Touch me, Touch me. The movie ticket cost 55 Rupees ($1.25) and included a sticky seat in the balcony that reclined. I guess the chatty family next to us was just part of the Indian Cinema experience.

Rishikesh & Haridwar Continued

2008-06-05T04:50:00.003-05:00

We had no idea of what to expect in Haridwar. We were told that the night ceremony is amazing. So we reluctantly followed our guide to the Har-Ki-Pairi (The Footstep of God) Ghat. Unfortunately, no one told us that Haridwar is one of the most sacred cities in Hinduism where people come to wash away their sins in the Ganges River. Therefore, our first impressions were rather fierce and confusing. People were everywhere. This child was trying to sell you milk to pour into the river while another was trying to reach your forehead to put some paint on it. Another guy was trying to explain the ganga aarti (river worship ceremony) for a nice price. The sheer amount of people was indescribable. People were bathing, others were waiting for the ceremony to start, and others were trying to reach the Har-Ki-Pairi. This was the crowded India we had been expecting.

Several of us bought an organic basket of flowers to place in the river for the river ceremony. Every night people flock here to leave an offering to the Goddess Ganga. (Every river in India is considered a goddess).

As the sun set, the bells rang and the prayers began.. Then huge flames were lit and everyone lit their puja (offering- for us, it was the basket of flowers with a candle) and places them in the river. There must have been hundred of flowers in the river. It was mesmerizing. Several of us also poured a little milk in the Ganges River and washed our feet in the river in order to wash away our sins. Becky hopes it worked!

The final event of the night cannot be ignored. Before venturing back to Dehradun on the dark, rather dangerous roads of India, we stopped to use the bathroom. Just about every girl on the bus got out and lined up at the facility. Some kids behind the gas station kept yelling something at us. No one understood them. One child grabbed his older relative who told us that we were using the men’s bathroom. Our guide had misled us yet again… oh well… Only Krys had actually used the men’s bathroom. The rest of us ventured to the women’s toilets on the other side of the gas station.

Rishikesh & Haridwar

2008-06-05T04:37:00.002-05:00

The day trip to Rishikesh and Haridwar was terribly exciting. It took a few hours to reach Rishikesh, a town known as the yoga capital of the world. In the 60s, the Beatles rocked out at the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram and wrote many songs for their White Album. We didn’t see any rockers around, but we saw plenty of random foreigners.

To venture into the town, we walked down, down, down a pathway to reach the Lakshman Jhula hanging bridge. Of course it was raining most of the way, so we purchased 10 rupee (25 cent) ponchos to keep our items dry. By the time we reached the bridge, the rain increased and the wind picked up. We kept walking forward on the swaying bridge as people screamed and we all wondered if the bridge would flip over. Hilary later informed us that had we drowned in the Ganges River below we would have gone straight to heaven… not exactly a comforting thought.

When we reached the other side, we crammed into a small shop to escape the rain. Lucky for us, the shop was filled with delightful shawls and clothing. The prices were unbelievably low. So just about everyone bought something. We had to pull Sherry out of the shop in order to find the rest of the group and reach our lunchtime destination. Unfortunately for us, the day got a little worse when everyone realized that our guide had no idea where the restaurant was and everyone was still soaking wet. The guide decided that we better eat at the “little budd restaurant.” Well our group of 20 was beyond their capacity. So lunch was postponed and everyone was given about 2 hours to shop and make it back to the bus on the other side of the river (via the foot bridge).

Thankfully, the rain stopped. Krys, Becky, Hilary, and Sherry decided to visit the huge 13-storey wedding cake temples of Swarg Niwas and Shri Trayanbakshwar. To enter, we removed our shoes and walked barefoot through the muddy street which was simply GROSS. The temple was surprisingly clean. We walked around and around to see the various deities and shops housed in the temple. As time progressed, we rang a few bells, left offerings, and collected our shoes. Now it was time to walk across the bridge to our bus.

The walk back was not that bad. Our guide almost led us the wrong way (again) but we ignored him and followed our instincts to the correct path. Our bus was thankfully full of delicious Italian food that we consumed on our way to Haridwar.

Rajaji National Park

2008-06-05T04:04:00.001-05:00

The next morning we all got up very early to travel to the nearby Rajaji National Park, hoping to spot some wild elephants and maybe even tigers! No such luck, but we still had a good time. We got to the park around 8 am after passing over the sacred Ganges River at Haridwar and past several “wildlife corridors” which the guide told us connect the different protected areas through strips of land, which allow wildlife to travel back and forth without being in too much danger. Once we got to the park, we hopped into different jeeps and one stuffy bus. Becky and Krys rode in the open air jeep back for a while, which was really exciting when it drove through the muddy river and nearly drenched everyone in mud! On the road we saw a few super big lizards running along the riverbanks, and a bunch of pretty wild peacocks. We also saw one elephant, but it was a domesticated one near the entrance that the Forest Service uses for tourists. The landscape was pretty, but fairly scrubby, and like many of our trips, the drive included scary driving along a dirt road on a cliff! We also had a little fun when our jeep got completely stuck in the mud… we were sitting tiger bait for a while until the fearless bus driver came back and got us out. We had a very late lunch back at the park entrance (where the cows were a little too friendly and tried to eat food right out of people’s laps) before heading back to the hotel in Dehra Dun, where we got ready for our exciting trip the next day to Rishikesh and Haridwar.

Forest Research Institute & Cricket

2008-06-05T03:40:00.002-05:00

The Forest Research Institute is a vast institution housed in gorgeous brick buildings dating to the 1800s. As usual, we began our tour with introductions via personal microphones and then toured the numerous museums throughout the facility. After that, we jumped in our bus and toured the chemistry area, biology labs, and a very interesting medicinal garden that was everyone’s favorite. Just when we thought the trip was over, we ventured over to the botanists offices and saw a very old specimen dating back to the 1700s (?). The main botanist was super excited about their specimens and took us on a tour of a huge bamboo forest. Just when we thought we had seen and experienced all types of bamboo, he showed us something new like giant bats that are the size of medium sized birds. Images of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, the Birds, definitely crossed our minds.

Our guide was all about the bamboo. We toured the forest for over an hour and finally had to cut him off to return to the hotel. We were bambooed out!

That evening or perhaps it was another day, we returned to the Wildlife Institute to challenge their graduate students to a game of Cricket. Since we had no experience with this exotic game, we were mixed with the graduate students in order to create fair teams. Unsurprisingly, all of the Americans were just okay at this new game. Our hosts were incredible and took it easy on us. The game, which started off super slow, ended with an exciting finish. The final score was 69-70. Ask Sherry how to score a cricket game since she is the only one who figured it out. How you can score 40 runs in 30 minutes is beyond my imagination according to Becky.

shakin' the moneymakers

2008-06-04T00:53:00.001-05:00

shakin' the moneymakers
Originally uploaded by MaymesterIndia08

Some of my classmates took a little break from studies to do the Cupid Shuffle. We had a blast. We even got Dr. Eaton to join us.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) & Reception

2008-06-04T00:03:00.005-05:00

Our visit to the institute began with a round of introductions. This was our first experience with individual microphones per place setting. Apparently, this is on the rage because every institute we visited thereafter has a conference room with individual microphones.

The WII was particularly interesting to everyone because of the facility was impressive and information was pertinent to our visit. The first lecture we heard discussed a project that tracked and counted the amount and movement of tigers throughout India. The following lecture covered the history of environmental laws in India. It was interesting and rather long. Everyone’s eyes were closing slowly because it was difficult to hear the speaker and the seats were super comfortable.

After the lecture, we took a nature tour, where we got up close and personal with wild monkeys and observed natural plant life. The guides keep pointing out this and that plant while we kept photographing the much unappreciated and thieving monkeys that plaque the WII. Apparently the monkeys enjoy entering people’s homes and stealing their food. To us, these thieves looked so cute and unique much to the distaste of our hosts.

The day ended with an evening reception at the hotel. All institutions participating in our program were invited and a few leaders showed up. They mainly spoke with our professors while we chatted amongst ourselves. To amuse ourselves, Latha brought down her laptop and we attempted to dance Bollywood style, but fell back on roots of hip-hop and concluded the night with the Cupid Shuffle.

Day 6

2008-06-04T00:02:00.001-05:00

We woke fairly early the next morning so that we could get packed and get our luggage on the bus. We had breakfast on the roof of the hotel where we met all of our classmates and our professors. The trip from Delhi to Dehradun took about 4 hours.

We were pleasantly surprised by the Hotel Madhuban. The staff treated us like royalty by placing a red dot on our heads, blessing us, and providing us with sweet lime soda to refresh us after our long day of travel. Everyone was provided with their own room that includes 24 hour access to Bollywood music videos and HBO. Needless to say, we are very happy here. Right now the Bollywood big hits are Om Shanti Om, and Touch Me, Touch Me.

The evening concluded with a full buffet of North Indian cuisine, which was pretty spicy for Sherry, but good.

Now the Class Begins…The lectures are 3 hours a day Monday through Friday and are delivered in classic LBJ style. Professor Eaton lectures for most of that time and fields questions at the same time. On the afternoons we go on field trips to various environmental institutes located in Dehradun. The following entries will highlight the more memorable field trips.

Day 5 Continued

2008-06-03T23:53:00.001-05:00

That evening, Deepak, a friend of our friend from LBJ School, Nishesh, picked us up from the hotel and took us to a very nice restaurant that served thali (all you can eat) (What was the name of the type of food??? ). After dinner we walked down the streets of Dehli and stopped for Indian ice cream which was very interesting. At the ice cream shop, Becky was talking to a Sic man who was actually traveling from Sugarland, TX. Sherry told him that she too was from Missouri City and they laughed about how small the world really is. We were all surprised when the young man’s father came up to Sherry and asked was she still excited about coming to India? He told her that he was on her flight from Houston to Newark and that she talked to his wife about being excited about coming to India. Wow! It is indeed a small world!

Day 5

2008-05-25T23:49:00.003-05:00

Agra completely wiped us out. We didn’t wake up until 10 a.m. the next day. Since it was rather late for us, we quickly packed to meet the 12 p.m. check out time and get to the new hotel the school had reserved for us. I guess we are here for class after all. To think we thought school was over ?!?! Didn’t Krys, Hilary, and Becky just graduate? Whatever…

After checking into Hotel Singh Sahib we jumped in rickshaws to eat at the very well-know restaurant, The Original Karim’s Seehk Kebabs in Old Delhi. The food was absolutely delicious. The wait staff was super nice and attentive and even winked at a few of us. We ate it up.

The hijras were also entertaining. They were sitting behind us and asked if we were “Muslim or Christian.” Sherry said “Christian” and they seemed satisfied with her answer. That was the end of that conversation. They continued to watch us as we secretly stared at them.

After lunch, we decided to wander around Old Delhi. We bought some perfume, gold and plastic bangles, and pondered buying “real” gold. To ensure our trip here is full of nonstop excitement, Becky had a brilliant idea to take cycle-rickshaws back to the hotel. A cycle-rickshaw is built for 2 people. Apparently, one driver thought he could haul 3 of us. So, Becky, Krys, and Hillary shared a ride. Hilary initially rode on Becky’s lap which was particularly scary for us all. Then the driver had the brilliant idea of putting Hilary in back like a small child!

The first 10 minutes or so of the trip was fun. We were laughing, waving at strangers/new friends, and just chilling. It didn’t become sad and particularly heart wrenching until we traveled uphill. Krys, Mari, and I had to get off of the rickshaws and walk alongside the drivers during these repeated episodes. Just when we thought we were up our last hill, another one would arise out of a crowded corner of traffic. Poor Hilary was stuck in back and couldn’t get off. So, she looked like the queen of our rickshaw. She is our deity.

Unfortunately, our ride home was longer than expected. It took us 45+ minutes to reach the right neighborhood, Karol Bagh. The cyclists didn’t quite know where they were going nor did anyone else. We were “lost” in our neighborhood for a while. Oh well… when in India… So, we smiled at the locals and waved because we looked absolutely RIDICULOUS on rickshaws. Imagine two rickshaws of crazy foreigners trying to cross a large city… not such a good idea. We were quite a sight. I think we stopped the already slow traffic… oh well..

When we finally reached our destination, the price of our trip exploded. We had originally agreed upon giving the cyclists 50 rupees each ($2.50 U.S. Dollars) but once we saw how difficult the trip was, we decided double the fair or our payment ($5.00 U.S. Dollars per rupee). But once we reached our destination the head cyclist demanded we pay ten times our original price. He demanded 500 rupees. Hillary put a finger in his face and said something like.. Apre mughe thaga d’iya! (You have deceived me!) But, he would not back down. Out of our American guilt, we broke down and paid the man the entire 500 rupees, if anything we ensured positive karma for our ENTIRE trip and then some.

Day 4 Continued

2008-05-25T23:48:00.000-05:00

On our way back to Delhi from Agra, we encountered a protest by the villagers in Agra. They had blocked the main road with large rocks and tree branches, leaving their community because a boy had recently been killed by a hit and run accident and they wanted the police to do something about it. Our driver tried to take detours on country roads in order to bypass the blockade. He was unsuccessful and led us right into the heart of the protest. Fortunately, the villagers were made up of very nice men and boys who were more interested in seeing the “foreigners” in the cab than being an angry mob. The boys were so enamored with Becky that they opened her unlocked door to get closer to her. After several attempts, Becky finally got her door to lock. The driver got out of the cab to plead with the elders of the community to let us through since we were foreigners and we had nothing to do with the death of the little boy. Thankfully, the elders agreed and they let us pass. Because of the chaos, it took 4 or 5 hours to get back to Delhi. We were too exhausted to go out, so Becky and Hillary offered to go out and get some kebabs and of course try to find cold water for Sherry. Thanks again Becky for your diligence! Becky replied, “Hilary, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

More Photos of the Taj Mahal

2008-05-21T13:23:00.000-05:00

Day 4

2008-05-21T12:48:00.000-05:00

We had a great driver on the trip to Agra, who played us music throughout the day, and Sherry and the driver kept each other entertained really well. Sherry also created a new Hindi word “chaakaa”, which apparently means “hole” or something like it. First we went to Fatahpur Sikri, which was a beautiful old city made of stone buildings. We had a fight with the annoying guide we didn’t want, and stormed off until the security guard came to get us. We walked around the buildings which housed Akbar’s wives an d his treasury, and then headed to the main mosque which contained the tomb of Shaikh Salim Chishti, the two most notable things were the enormous amount of people that “worked there”, and the intricate marble screens where women tied red strings in order to pray for children and fertility. Sherry was offered one to tie, which she quickly and respectfully declined. We then headed back to the car, chatting with some locals on the way. We hit the road to Agra, and stopped to get lunch at a delicious restaurant with South Indian thalis before heading to the Taj Mahal. Getting into the Taj Mahal was feat in itself, with a 15 minute walk through vendors to the gate, where we discovered half of India was also there to see the Taj. After paying 18 US Dollars at the entrance, we received tickets, bottled water, and socks, then ventured into the female line where we were frisked and went through a miraculous wooden “metal detector”. The initial courtyard does not have a view of the Taj Mahal, until we went through a large archway where we impressed by the distant memorable sight of the tomb of Mumtaz Begum and Shah Jahan. The white marble structure is larger and more magnificent than any picture or video can accurately describe. The sight evoked the sense of enduring love that we all hope one day to receive. The close up experience of the Taj Mahal is intense due to the size of it and the intense heat radiating from the white marble. It was so hot that average Indians were taking naps in the shade inside of the tomb, which was dark and somewhat cool. In the midst of the commotion from all the people we admired the marble screens with gemstone inlays, and near perfect symmetry. But at the same time we felt an intense sadness because of the loneliness felt by Shah Jahan.

Day 3

2008-05-21T12:47:00.000-05:00

We took it easy, went to Café Coffee Day for some intense sweet Nescafe-ish drinks, then headed to the Hanuman temple for the first temple venture. We ditched our shoes and went through the temple gate, into the main chamber with Hanuman, the monkey god who is holy for saving the god Rama’s wife from the evil demon Ravana. We did the circle of the temple and looked at the various idols of deities, as well as the large Shiva linga being washed with holy water. We then left the temple and got henna painted our our hands (mendhi) and feet (except Sherry). Chilaryji got to bargain in Hindi for the first time, and we got badgered for a while by a few beggars while we waited for the henna to dry to we could head to lunch. In spite of it being morning, the plaza was still crowded and had a lot of vendors out there. Sherry was particularly popular with local kids and beggars, they can tell she’s “surprisingly loaded” and a big softie. We left the increasing heat to go eat masala dosas in the yummy South Indian restaurant near our hotel, then went to our first Bollywood movie in India, where we first discovered that Krys’ calculator was a weapon of some kind. We saw “Bhootnath”, a movie about a little kid who befriends a ghost…. And who knows what else. It had a couple fun songs and dances, but sadly no romance. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel, ate in the restaurant downstairs, and then some of us went to have a cocktail in the hotel bar, where we discovered alcohol has three sin taxes on it… needless to say that was the last cocktail we’ve had. We crashed early to get ready for the Agra trip in the morning. Sherry had earlier proved herself an expert travel planner and negotiator when she found a private car to Agra for much less than the expensive car the hotel wanted to book for us.

Day 2

2008-05-21T12:20:00.000-05:00

In spite of the heat, we headed to the Lotus temple, built for the B’hai faith in Delhi. We tried to visit the visitor’s center before we were turned away and told to visit the temple first. We walked the 500 yards to the temple, where we removed our shoes and hopped across the hot stone floor. We went into the temple interior, which was much simpler given the complex design of the exterior, and where you could pray to any God. After paying our homage to whomever we chose, we exited admiring the pooling system surrounding the temple and forming the lotus. However the ground was so hot we quickly retrieved our shoes and went to the visitor’s center where we watched a movie with excessive detail about the temple construction. Rapidly losing attention, we loaded back into the car and hung the white flag because we were not getting out of that car again. We had our driver take us down Rajpath, seeing the Parliament, the Ministry of Defense, and Presidential Palace, as well as India Gate. Our driver tried to take us to DilliHaat to go shopping, and wasn’t too pleased when we refused to get out of the car. He did finally let us go home to Hotel Alka, where we all crashed out for a little bit before heading out to dinner at a posh sizzler restaurant where we ordered about five times the amount of food we could actually eat. Which, according to Sherry, was good but waaaay too spicey. Becky also noticed the Mafioso out front. On the way home we got some yummy ice cream and chai at the South Indian restaurant by our hotel.

Back To Day 1

2008-05-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

After a difficult night’s rest, we emerge from Hotel Alka to take a driving tour of very hot Delhi… the tour of death (dum dum dum). First we went by the historic Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi. We reluctantly trusted a gentleman to watch our shoes while we entered a mosque for the first time. We climbed a huge flight of steps to enter mosque courtyard. The building can hold 25,000 people, but instead we saw thousands of pigeons and a few people seeking refuge in the shade. After burning our feet on the hot stones we decided it was time to allow the Muslims to enjoy the mosque and headed to the next stop, Humayan’s Tomb. We climbed a huge flight of stairs (again) and baked in the intense heat while pretending not to notice the bats right over our heads in the tomb stairwell. Next on the tour was the RajGhat, where Gandhi was cremated after his assassination. His cremation platform was a large slab of onyx, now decorated with oil lamps and marigolds, as well as the words “hare ram”, Gandhi’s last words of praise meaning “oh God”. Next we went to lunch, which was kindly chosen by our driver as one of the probably most expensive restaurants in Delhi, but which also had the coldest water in Delhi according to Sherry. The waiter wasn’t a fan of us sharing our dishes, but we enjoyed the expensive food and the air-conditioned facilities. After lunch we headed to the Q’tab Minnar, the first Islamic constructions in India which marked the beginning of Mughal reign. We were impressed with the enormous size of the pillar but were unimpressed with the metal minaret in the courtyard. We posed for a large amount of photos with locals and enjoyed wandering around the ancient remains.

Day 1

2008-05-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

All of us met up in Newark (Sherry almost flew to Bombay on her own after sitting at the wrong gate) and boarded our 14 hour flight to Delhi. Once we arrived in Delhi, we thought Krys was on the flight behind us, then realized the flight was full of Tibetan monks and probably came from Asia. We grabbed our luggage and managed to get a couple cabs to our hotel in Connaught Place.

The flight was long but Sherry did find time to make friends on the way to India.

Technical Difficulties 5-19-08

2008-05-19T07:44:00.001-05:00

Hello Everybody,

Due to some technical difficulties, I won't be able to upload my pictures until Tuesday or Wednesday. By then we will be in Dehradun, India and hopefully the internet connection will be strong enough for me to upload pictures. We have seen a lot these pass few days, from Ghandi's Memorial to the Taj Mahal. So, don't forget to comeback in a couple of days and check out the pictures.
Be Blessed!

We're Here!

2008-05-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to stop in briefly to let you know that we have made it safely in India. The time is now 1 a.m. here in Delhi and the day is Friday, May 16th. Yes, I lost an entire day in the air! Well, we have scheduled a bus tour late this morning at 10 a.m. so I'd better get some shut eye. I plan to take many pictures and will post them this weekend.

P.S. The temperature is close to 100 degrees!!!!

Be Blessed!

Let's Meet the India Posse

2008-05-10T23:32:00.004-05:00

Hello Everyone,
Before I start, I just wanted to introduce you to the ladies I am traveling with. We will be sharing this blog together and we will each make updates periodically.
Let’s meet the team! Becky – also a recent LBJ graduate, also on her first trip to Asia, 100-rupee snatcher, group motivator and excellent kebab fetcher.
Sherry – excited Houstonian on her first trip to India, afraid of the hot and spicy food and non-cold water. She’s our team spirit captain. Krys – recent LBJ graduate, on her way to law school, who enjoys amateur photography and calculating the US Dollar- Indian Rupee rate on her Eagle Creek calculator, apparently a common terrorist accessory in India. Hilary – aka Chileryji, is the in house semi-translator and cultural guide, queen of the cycle-rickshaws, but don’t try to overcharge her or you’ll get the neckwork and pointer finger in your face. Mari – future top-model and calmest first-time world traveler ever, closet carpenter and electrician par excellence, but also in your face when getting ripped off.
INDIA FACT ----- 1 U.S. Dollar = 40 Indian Rupees