Dispatch from Shirak: Week One in India

Barbara and I (confusing to people as both our names were the same) arrived in Delhi on a Wednesday at 2 am after a direct 4.5 hour flight from Yerevan. We had decided to take a six day tour called the Golden Triangle (Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra) after realizing that neither of us had the time to do the thorough planning I’m accustomed to. It turned out to be a most fortunate happenstance. A car and driver met us at the airport and drove us to our hotel, the Good Times. The hotel was a shock; on a crowded tiny street undergoing major construction, with people sleeping across the street under tarps, and rickshaws (cycled), auto-rickshaws (motorized), taxis, bicycles, cars, buses, people competing for space, a tiny storefront said “hotel.” I immediately regretted my 3-star (air-conditioning guaranteed) decision (out of 5), but once we stepped inside it was fine to my amazement. We laughed on room inspection because the bathroom had a bucket bath which we had looked forward to escaping from on leaving Armenia, but it turns out that Indians like bucket baths and all our rooms had one (and sometimes a shower option also.) In the afternoon we toured Delhi with a car, driver, and guide provided by the tour company.

Delhi is the capital of India and was undergoing major construction projects to prepare for the Commonwealth Games which the city was hosting for two weeks beginning October 3rd. The newspapers were full of stories of games-related corruption, reports of delays, reports about team preparations, etc. The metro was being extended out to the airport, major road construction and landscaping operations were underway, and it seemed as if tens of thousands of people were working feverishly. In a way it was exciting. But I asked several people how this could possibly be pulled off with the crazy crowds. Not to worry! Trucks can only enter the city from 9 pm to 7 am. Only commercial vehicles will be allowed on the streets (busses, taxis, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, government cars, etc.) No personal cars will be allowed. Schools will be closed, and government offices and businesses will be closed where possible. Somehow I think it will be a success.

I was impressed by the national government buildings (and by the monkey families running around the grounds), monuments, temples, mosques, etc. Delhi is a city of incredible contrasts, and wonderful vitality. People were very friendly, most spoke English, though Hindi to each other, and whenever we hesitated or stopped there were many people asking to help us.

The next morning we took a second tour and at noon headed off to Jaipur. The drive was crazy. It was about 120 miles and took about five hours. There were improved toll roads but bicycles, rickshaws, three-wheelers, and motorcycles, entered for free. Along the way were numerous broken-down trucks, walking religious pilgrims (carrying water from the Ganges to Shiva temples), other walkers, cows, and water buffalos on the roads. The next day we toured this “pink city”, rode an elephant (it was too hot to walk), and shopped a little. I loved the city.

The following day (4th) we headed to Agra and visited several monuments on the way, another five hours through mayhem. On the way we saw:
Working camels pulling carts with greens, bananas, wood, etc.
Working elephants carrying greens, pulling carts, used as transport by people, etc.
Monkey families playing in the trees.
Water buffalos bathing in rivers, clogging the roads, and groomed and mustard-oiled for the market.
Peacocks on the loose.
Brahmin bulls and cows herded down the main roads and hundreds of single cows or bulls just lying in the middle of the roads. (I kept asking why someone didn’t shush them off.)
Pigs, donkeys and oxen, everywhere.
And lots of carts carrying dried animal dung to market. The dung is used for fertilizer, cooking fuel, as a mosquito repellant, and for heat. So the ground was not as dirty as one would expect!

The previous day we had had a late lunch in an Indian restaurant. Within a few hours I was nauseous and suffered all the following day. The next day was our scheduled visit to the Taj Mahal, India’s exquisite mausoleum dedicated by a Mughal emperor to his third wife who died during childbirth with their 14th child. I woke up terribly nauseated and would have stayed in bed except that I realized that this would be my only lifetime opportunity to see the Taj Mahal. It was also 104 degrees with dripping humidity. The building itself was larger than I expected only because I had so often heard how small it was. It appeared to be about three stories. We were told that we were fortunate because the air was clear and the view was good. In normal tourist season, the air is often polluted. We were asked to take off our shoes to enter, but I could not as the marble was too hot to walk on, so we got footies to cover our shoes. The mausoleum was crowded with Indian tourists. Suddenly I was overcome with nausea, ran to a corner where five Indian men were gathered, and promptly vomited on the flour of this pristine white marble building. I was humiliated, told myself that I would never see these people again, asked my friend to find the maintenance crew (no such thing), and I limped out feeling much better than when I entered. I’m attaching a picture, and while I’m smiling, that is not what I was feeling!

In the afternoon we visited a few more monuments and rested from heat exhaustion. The following morning we left for our six hour drive through mayhem back to Delhi and another day of sight-seeing.

The cost of this whole tour including out own private touring car and driver, guides, hotels and breakfasts, admissions, airport pickup and return was $611 per person. It was money well spent especially as I think about the crowded trains that passed us with passengers riding on the roof. (www.indianholiday.com)

Sikh gurdwara in Dehli