Since I’ve started all my other blogs in chronological order, I thought I would mix it up this time and start with our last day in India. We got back from our field program at 12 the last night, so we woke up on the ship the last morning and got off to have one last day in Cochin. Rachel, Maggie and I ended up getting in a tuk tuk (motorized little vehicle) and told the driver we wanted to find a cricket game to play with some locals. We found a dirt patch where some kids our age were throwing around a ball. At first, they were a little hesitant about 3 girls in their workout clothes asking to play cricket, but we quickly started tossing around a ball and they taught us how to use the bat. It turns out that they were filming a short movie, so they asked us to be extras in the back of one of the shots, so now we’re Indian movie stars.
While very nice, Indian people can be very pushy. We didn’t have any plans for the day, so the tuk tuk driving ended up taking us to his friend’s shops and telling us to go inside and shop so we could help him and make his children happy. We bargained, tried on some fur coats and bought some last minute gifts. Our last stop was a small restaurant/local kitchen- where we tried chai masala that at first we thought would break our good streak of no Delhi belly, but turned out to be really good.
Now to rewind back, we got to India early in the morning on the first day. After clearing immigration, we got in two taxis and went to Jewtown. Jewtown is a small, touristy area in Fort Cochin. Before 1948, there were about 5,000 Jews in Cochin. After the founding of the state of Israel, most of them went to Israel and today there are 5 remaining Jews in Cochin. We walked through the old synagogue in the center of town and stopped in some of the stores. All the stores had the same blue and white awnings that say “Shalom” on them and the storeowners stood outside yelling saying come in and shalom in their strong accents. Couldn’t have done India without asking Goldie 9 million questions, so thanks to her for being the best ever.
When on SAS, early wake up calls are just part of a normal day. We left at 330am the next day for our field program to Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. By 345 am, I had already dropped my ship ID and lost it on the floor of the terminal and spilled an entire bag of my sweet potato chips into my bag, that my friends called my “diaper bag.” We flew from Cochin to Delhi, made a quick stop at a Starbucks in the airport, and got right onto a 5 hour bus ride to Jaipur.
After arriving in the late afternoon to Jaipur aka the Pink City, we walked through a bazar (market), bought more things I definitely don’t need, drove past the famous beautiful buildings on the main road, and went back to the hotel.
In pre-port before India, they told us multiple times to take 2 pepto before every meal, not eat vegetables and be very careful with water. At dinner that night, I had vegetables, drank from a pitcher of water rather than the unopened bottle, and had 3 bowls of ice cream.
It just so happens, that we were in India in perfect timing to celebrate Holi. Holi marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated kind of like we celebrate New Years Eve, except for the throwing of vibrant color powders on people in the streets. They brought us to a field- think mini Coachella and Color Run- and that’s exactly what it was. As a tradition, you rub color on people’s face and say “Happy Holi.” Of course this turned into squirting each other with water guns, throwing the powder, and dancing along to local Indian music and dancers. It was all fun and games until we got back to the hotel and had an hour to shower and eat lunch. Our bathroom floor looked like a crime scene and Maggie and I couldn’t get the red color off our faces for close to three days.
That afternoon we took jeeps up to the Amber Fort, an ancient Mughal castle. Another special Holi treat is a marijuana milkshake. As we drove up the winding streets and dodged cows in the middle of the road, our jeep driver pulled over so we could watch them make the drink. Men were mixing two big metal vats serving out a green milky liquid. Little kids were running up with cups waiting to get some of their own. Mia and Sage, 2 ship kids, were fully fascinated by the young boys their own age trying some.
The next day we woke up for a 3 hour train ride to Agra to see THE TAJ. Avery and I decided we want to live there, the intricacies and architecture is just as stunning as I thought it would be. After taking pictures and walking through the inside, we sat on the platform in the middle and just took it all in. One of my favorite moment so far.
Our last night, we arrived in Delhi and hung out in the rooftop bar of our hotel for little. The next day we basically just did a bus tour of Delhi, stopping at Ghandi’s memorial and a replica building of the Taj. We drove past the President’s house and parliament building. Delhi is definitely the most modern city we visited, clearly very influenced by colonial ruling.
I think this brings us back full circle, to the last day of the trip. India was a crazy, wild experience. Had I come from the US just to India on a trip, I think I would have had a different reaction to what I saw, smelled and tried. Yes, we spent much of our time traveling, but given India’s size and incredible culture, its impossible to see everything in the 6 days that we had.
Stay tuned for the next installment, which will cover the exciting events of Neptune Day and our one day stop in Mauritius.
No comments:
Post a Comment