I don’t actually know if anyone says this that often, but I do remember a story of when it was said. When Matt moved into his brand new dorm called Pennsylvania Hall for his sophomore year I remember my Mom calling it and comparing it to the Taj Mahal. Now I can say that although his dorm was awesome, the Taj was breathtaking!
I survived India! I survived through the heat, the humidity, the food, and all of the traveling that I did! I think I may have given you some background on what I was doing in India, but here it is in detail.
On Tuesday, I took a two and a half hour plane ride from Chennai (south) to New Delhi (north). We arrived at a great hotel where the beds were extremely comfortable! The next morning was an early wake up call at 5 A.M. We arrived at the Delhi train station at six and boarded shortly after for our two-hour train rides to Agra. The train was more like three hours because it kept stopping and we were absolutely freezing from the air that was pumping out of the train!
I can’t say if I have ever experienced something like the train stations in Delhi and Agra. It was filled with people asking for money and food. There were many people sleeping on the platform with their blankets; including Mothers with their babies. India is tremendously overpopulated with over 1.1 billion people in a country that is 1/3 the size of the United States. Second largest to China. Although people have been asking why doesn’t India take the one child policy; there is some issues with that because India is a Democracy and they cannot impose on how many children people have.
Okay, anyways- we arrived in Agra where we proceeded for a placed called Agra Fort. This place was flooded with red stand-stone buildings, which were the halls and palaces of the Mughals. It had a great view of the Taj Mahal from the fort. At dusk we finally were going to the Taj Mahal! It was incredibly hectic with people everywhere and the security right before you went in was pretty intense. A lot of locals came up to us and showed us the best photo to take with the Taj in the background.
The line to get inside was extraordinary! There were hundreds of people waiting to get inside with some people pushing and cutting in front of us. Then we decided to cut in front of them! Good thing we did because it would have taken us hours to get through this line. Before you are able to climb the stairs up to the main part of the Taj you either have to take off your shoes or put shoe covers on to protect the marble. It was great seeing everyone with these silly covers on their shoes.
Once inside It was hard to see much because they don’t allow light of any kind in there. We weren’t allowed to take pictures but definitely could see the tombs of the women that the architect built the Taj for and for the architect himself. I was a little surprised at the inside because although it was intricate with the patterns and marble, it wasn’t as spectacular as the outside was.
That night we all ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel that was awesome! My favorite was the Indian type of bread called “Nan,”So tasty! After dinner there were a few shops in the hotel that we explored and I bought some gifts for people. In addition to shopping I got what is known as “Henna”on my arm! It is something that has been used in the Mediterranean and originally and still used as a part of social or holiday celebrations such as marriages. There is a whole history to it, but I thought it was really neat. It last for about two to three weeks and then rubs off.
The following day we took a twenty- five-mile trek to a deserted city called “Fatehpur Sikri.”It is famous for the red-sandstone buildings like we saw the previous day at Agra Fort. This abandon city was truly gorgeous and well preserved even today. On the way back from the city, we arrived at Mother Teresa’s Ashram to interact with the orphanage children! I definitely forgot to buy things for the children before I arrived on Semester At Sea, so the bus driver stopped at a little shop and we all bought boat loads of candy, chocolates, bracelets, bouncy balls, etc. The kids were adorable and loved our presents. I was able to hold a baby that was only a few months old and then was able to play with some older kids on the playground. I believe that when I am in Vietnam my parents and I are going to an orphanage and I cannot wait =) Of course it was sad to think about these kids without any parents, but they were so happy to see and play with us that I really hope it made their day because it made mine!
That night we took the same train ride back to New Delhi. This train ride was ridiculously long! We made about thirty stops just from Agra to New Delhi. When we arrived at the hotel we all went to our rooms and passed out because we were exhausted from the traveling.
The final day in Delhi we started out by going to a Baha’i House of Worship where the building resembled the Sydney Opera House. This was a building made out of beautiful marble and a place where you can go to pray no matter what religion you are. There was no talking throughout except for about six or seven people that would sing or say a prayer from a different religion. I heard prayers from Christian Faith, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Sikhism, etc. I liked going there a lot because I was able to see and hear a variety of people praying in not just one religion.
Next we stopped at a Sikh Temple. This was the more interesting one of the two. We had to cover our heads when going throughout the temple as well as the outside areas surrounding it. I walked inside and saw people praying on the floor and there was music praying throughout. We walked around for a bit but didn’t want to stay long as people were trying to pray. We then walked outside where there was a huge area of water where the Sikh’s go to cleanse and pray. This area was beautiful with the different architectures of buildings all-blending in. Our tour director did not really tell us much about the Sikh’s; but it is definitely a minority religion as there are eighty percent Hindus living in India. I will have to do some of my own research on that religion!
The best part of the day came. Our visit to the “Raj Ghat”or Gandhi Memorial. This is the place where Gandhi came when he was in-transit from city to city. This was not his true home, but ended up being the place where he was assassinated in January 1948. There was a lot of information at this memorial on Gandhi’s last forty- eight hours of his life, his lessons, and what he accomplished through his lifetime. I really really really enjoyed this part of the tour. All of this history is fascinating and what Gandhi risked for his country is remarkable.
After the Museum our tour guide told us of some great places to shop in Delhi near our hotel. It was within walking distance so we found it quite easily. There were some great shops and I am excited that I got cool gifts for some people!!!
I realize how crazy this all must be to read, but I had the best time and have been on the go for the last four days. I am finally back to the ship and settling down with some schoolwork. I went to a guest lecture today and have another this afternoon before we leave tonight for our next port to Malaysia.
India was what I expected it to be, but in other ways it was not. I didn’t expect to be as emotionally affected, as I was when I saw a Mother of three at night sleeping on the side of the street with her kids. My tour group and I were on buses a lot and locals from the train station would all come up to us asking for food and money.
One night out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman with her newborn and a few kids standing back behind the crowd of people surrounding us. Everyone was trying to get out of the mess because it can be quite frustrating even walking to where you want to go. I however decided to go up to this woman and give her some of my left over food from dinner. She kept thanking me and I could tell that she was truthfully gracious.
India was great and I would do this trip again in a heartbeat, but the things you see are extremely hard emotionally. This is something in America that we totally take for granted and don’t think about in everyday life, but in a majority of India poverty is their everyday life.
On a happier note, what an experience I had as you can tell! I loved learning more about their customs, religions, political sphere, and more =)
Yeah! Soon on our way to Malaysia….
Okay this means only twelve days until I see my parents!!! They leave in less then a week for Thailand- wow!!
Posting another when I continue further into the Indian Ocean!
Miss EVERYONE like you wouldn’t believe! L.O.V.E Y.O.U!
Kristen
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