Here on Semester at Sea, there are a lot of optional SAS trips. These trips of course cost extra but it means that everything is taken care of for you and you don't need to worry at all. I have preferred thus far to travel in smaller groups independently, but when preparing for SAS I was told by most how unreliable and difficult public transport in India can be…so I signed up for my one and only "SAS trip" in India.
Tuesday morning I woke up, got a quick break-fast on the ship and met my group of nearly 50 other students for our trip up north. Immediately I was turned off by the large group, but later learned how to deal with it. We got on the bus and headed to the airport. It's strange how I've been traveling so much, yet this was my first airplane ride on the trip. We got to the airport and it seemed like a pretty typical lower scale airport. Getting through security was much less of an issue than in the US…don't get me wrong, they did do a thorough job! Once we got through security we had about an hour until the flight. There was one big room to hang out in and four "gates" that left from the room. There were two little convenient stores, a book store where I bought a book recommended by Manish the night before called City of Joy, and oddly an umbrella store…yes, a store dedicated to just umbrellas. I found this very odd. Upon getting back on the ship and going to reflection, we discussed how lighter skin is valued and considered beautiful…maybe this is why they need an entire store dedicated to umbrellas!
When it came time to board the flight, we didn't walk through one of those temporary hallways that they use in the US. Instead, we just walked out the door of the airport and walked right up to the airplane. I got super excited as we approached the plane as it was called "Spice Jet". To my surprise, this wasn't a private Chesapeake Spice Company jet…This is the (ever so appropriate) name for the domestic airline in India. Half way through the flight we were served lunch. I have to say it was the best plane food I've ever had. The food in India really has a special quality that you don't find in the states…If you don't like spicy food you're in trouble though.
After a three hour nap on the flight, we got off the plane in the city of Delhi. As we headed for our hotel, we met our guide for the week, Devender ("Dee"). Delhi is a large city in the north of India. It is not the largest city in the country, not even the second largest, yet it has a population of 16 million…yes, million…and I thought places like NYC and DC were crowded!!
The first place we went to was called the India gate. The India gate is a huge, beautiful arch, and it is the national monument of India. This gate commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the India army that died fighting for the Indian Empire in World War I. The funny thing about Delhi, is that it bears and STRIKING resemblance to Washington DC. The gate, aka the monument, stands at the end of what looks just like the national mall…at the other end is their capitol building. It was so weird standing there, feeling like I was so close to home, then imagining myself on a map and realizing how farrrr I was. As soon as we got off the bus we were swarmed by people trying to sell us everything from post-cards to snow-globes to other gimmicks that no one needs. There were also women who would attempt to do Henna on us…the would literally grab our hands and not let go. I felt odd being so forcefull, we live in a very polite society in the states, but I had to be. I quickly learned that the only way they will leave you alone is if you literally pretend they don't exist and completely ignore them. I felt so bad doing this, but as our tour guide said to us "In India, when selling things, no means yes, and no thank you means definitely…so just say NOTHING." He was so right, my friend couldn't help herself but to be polite, and she had people all around her as she walked back to the bus. I on the other hand tapped into my Israeli side and put on a front…I may have been a bit rude for American standards, but I walked back to the bus in peace. Also, for the first time, the local people took just as much interest and fascination in us as we did them. Immediately after getting of the bus Indians asked me to pose in pictures with them!
When we got to our hotel I felt very weird. This far in my journey I have yet to stay in any type of hotel…instead I have opted for hammocks in riverboats and home-stays (things of this sort). So, when we rolled up to a 4-star hotel in the middle of India, the juxtaposition was a tad overwhelming. I checked into my room and had more space than I knew what to do with myself. I dropped my stuff and went right back downstairs to meet up with friends and go off on our own. We exited the hotel and flagged down a "Took-took" aka rikshaws. Took Tooks are 3 wheelers that you can take all around the city for much cheaper. The driver rides in front and 3 people can fit comfortable in the back…so naturally we had 5. It was getting dark out and we had to be back at the hotel for dinner in another hour, so we went to a few little bazaars, looked around and came back for dinner. Oh, by the way, the whole ride to and from the hotel after an hour of being driven around cost less than one dollar. It felt so insufficient paying so little, between 5 people and it felt even weirder that that was the norm. Call us Americans, but between the 5 of us we coughed up the equivalent of 2 dollars and gave him a little extra.
When we got back to the hotel for dinner we were greeted with an enormous buffet of all types of India cuisine. After ship food all the time, we were all in heaven with our naan and curry. Coming to India I expected everything to be so spicy. At dinner I asked one of the guys working there if there was anything spicier. He told me I wouldn't be able to handle it. I decided I didn't like being told what I can and cannot handle and asked him nicely to bring out the "goods". He brought it out and we had a good laugh as I put it all over my food and felt holes being burnt through my throat and esophagus.
During dinner, I complained to a few friends that the bazaars we were taken to were so touristy. They told me that they'd stumbled on a shop that wasn't at all touristy. I asked for directions and when they got to the part of "then you turn down this alley way and walk for about 10 minutes" I got a little apprehensive. They gave me the shops card so my friend and I decided to go to the desk and call the shop owner. He was very nice and told us he's stay open and that if we showed a took took driver his card they would know exactly where it was. So, we got back into a took-took, this time only 4 people in one with 4 people in another. We got to the shop, owned by a man named Bobby. This place was definitely more local and what we were looking for. He also did wholesale to places in Europe so his supply and pricing was unbelievable. Basically, each scarf was a dollar or less and things like pants were 2-4 dollars. I ended up buying a bunch of nice Indian scarves that I will be giving out as gifts…maybe to you! J. I also ended up buying a traditional Indian outfit…not the traditional sari, but another type dress that women typically wear with jeans or colored pants. Before even considering purchasing it I asked Bobby how Indians would perceive someone with white skin like myself wearing their traditional outfits. He told me something very interesting…he explained that if an Indian sees a foreigner wearing Indian clothes, they automatically assume that the person knows a good deal about Indian culture as well as respects it. He told me that if I wear my outfit out I will be haggled less. You may be thinking, man, he is a good salesman. Well, I'll talk about whether what he said was true or not in my next blog!
The group of 4 in the second took-took decided to take off and head back to the hotel. So, the 4 of us from my took-took said we'd stay a little longer since we weren't ready to leave yet and follow them soon. After purchasing some things, we ended up standing around talking to Bobby, his friend and employee, and his son, Sunny for another 30 minutes. We got into a conversation about Indian song and dance and before we knew it we were upstairs with loud music learning to dance from Sunny, the 11 year old son that did not speak a word of English but danced like a professional. After over 2 hours, it was already 11:45 pm so we decided to leave. Our took-took driver, Raj, had stayed with us the whole time, so we got back in and headed for the hotel. Raj told us he'd show us a little of the city on the way back to the hotel. He took us to see the India Gate in the night time as well as a couple of Hindu temples. Then, after the sights, as we headed back for the hotel we suddenly saw a man on his elephant riding along side of us. We asked Raj to stop and we all got out and petted the elephant. Can you believe that we were stopped in the middle of a main road in one of the largest cities in India hanging out with a man and his giant elephant. This is just the beginning of the magic that is India.
Raj was a great took-took driver and brought us back to our hotel safely. He even invited us over for dinner the following evening, telling us that his wife would cook dinner (I'm sure she appreciated that one). Unfortunately, we would be in Agra the following day so it was not possible. So, we said our good-byes and went to sleep so that we may wake up in the morning at the great hour of 5 am and catch a train by 6.
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