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| Lotus Temple, Bahai House of Worship, Delhi |
While our families were gathered around dining room tables eating
home-baked apple pies and Easter ham dinners, Kirsten, Jenny, and I found
ourselves taking selfies in front of one of the seven wonders of the world. The
Easter holiday allowed our group the time to do a bit of traveling for two
weeks. While Sarah joined her family on a tour of India, Hadi made a trip to
Nepal, and Michael stayed in Agartala, the three of us became travel
partners. When planning, we debated
between doing the traditional tourist “triangle” or getting off the beaten path
a bit. We made our journey include the best of both worlds and it all started
in the beautiful capital city of Delhi.
Naturally, I will take you on our journey starting from our ride from the
airport to our “Smyle Inn” hostel.
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| Sarah Dillion (left) and Kirsten Arvidson (right) enjoying milkshakes in Khan Market |
For the first time
in months, we were halting at stop-lights; something that almost the entirety
of Agartala lacks. It seemed as if instead of flying only 4 hours away, we had
arrived back home because New Delhi is a very modernized city. We walked around
on fully paved sidewalks admiring blooming gardens that occupied multiple
blocks of land. We also enjoyed the helpful directions from the friendly
residents. For dinner, we dined in Khan Market, a very wealthy shopping area
that President Obama had visited during his time in the country. Childishly
sipping our chocolate milkshakes, Indians around us sipped Corona’s and smoked
hookah; two things which we almost forgot existed.
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| Jama Masjid from afar, India's largest mosque |
In the next two
days, we would scramble around the city to see as many historical sites as
possible. First and foremost, I want to give Delhi props for their clean, safe,
and easy-to-use metro system; they even have a women’s only section We were
lucky enough to have Sarah join us on our first full day in the city and we
began in Old Delhi. Our first historical visit was to the majestic Red Fort,
dating back to the time of Mughal emperor’s reign. It was fun to roam around and rewrite history
for each of the sites including the Pearl Mosque and royal baths. Still in the heart of Old Delhi, we enjoyed a
wonderful Indian lunch right outside of the Jama Masjid, India’s largest mosque
and waited for the day to cool down so we could explore it. After throwing on
giant floppy robes and surrendering our shoes, we stepped inside the ancient
place of worship constructed of red sandstone and white marble. After an
exhausting day in the heat, all four of us squeezed into a cycle richshaw and
with two of us dangling out the back, made our way back to the hostel. We
wished Sarah farewell and went to Sam’s Café for dinner. Yes, I said “Sam’s”
café and we soaked in the fact that we were no longer Indian residents, but
tourists, as we ate western meals.
Our last day in
Delhi, we visited Akshardham Temple, which was built only in 2005, and made us
all feel like we had taken a trip to Disneyland. However, the colored sandstone
and marble was beautiful and we walked around the gardens that featured statues
of important Indian historical figures and deities. Then we made our way to
refreshing New Delhi to visit Humayun’s tomb.
It was another example of the mesmerizing Mughal architecture and was
built by the second Mughal Emperor’s wife. We ended another tiring day watching
the sunset outside of the Lotus Temple, a Bahai House of Worship. We went back
to Main Bazaar and ended the day
with some low key shopping and a giant plate
of the best Tibetan steamed dumplings by the name of Momo’s. We hit the hay
early in anticipation of our Taj Mahal Easter Sunday.
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| You already know... |
We woke up before
dawn to catch an early train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. If you have ever
heard the rumor that this world wonder is in the middle of a wasteland, it may
have some truth to it, but we were also lucky enough to see a lot of the
positive things about this city. We hired a local rickshaw driver by the name
of KK for the day as our personal taxi and tour guide. We got to see many of
the overlooked Mughal wonders of Agra including the Baby Taj Mahal, which had
floral paintings more impressive than the Taj’s, private Hindu shrines owned by
families, the Taj Mahal museum, the Agra Fort, and more. The Taj Mahal was
OBVIOUSLY incredible but we were happy to escape the crowds that same day to
get on a nighttime train to Jaipur, Rajasthan—known as the pink city.
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| Hawa Mahal Palace, Jaipur |
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| View of Jaipur at Sunset |
Jaipur was Northern
India’s first planned city and the wealthy kingdom painted the whole city pink,
the color of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales. We got into Zostel
late but already noticed what quirky, fun lodging we would be experiencing for
the next few days. We were greeted in the morning to friendly staff that was a
huge help in helping us plan our day and even called their favorite rickshaw
driver to take us around for the day. Asif would first drive us to the Monkey
Temple and it is exactly what it sounds like; a Hindu temple full of monkeys
that loved to eat nuts out of our hands. In the Hindu religion, monkeys are
considered sacred and their presence in temples is highly accepted. Next, we
explored the Amber Fort which was even more amazing than the one in Delhi and
situated right on the water. We walked through the maze like structure and
learned about how the royal families lived hundreds of years ago. We then had
the luck of watching Jenny’s dream come true; Asif brought us to an elephant
farm and Jenny got to ride one.
Our last destination was a restaurant/fort on a mountain
that would allow us beautiful views of the entire pink city at sunset. We met
our friends that we made at the hostel there and all went back for the evening to
hang out and get to know each other in the common area. This is by far one of
my favorite things about traveling; spending time with people from all over the
world while sharing a little bit of their lives with one another. We bonded
with people from Australia, London, Denmark, Canada, Belgium and India.
The next day in
Jaipur we went to City Centre; famous for its shopping and palaces. After
exploring Hawa Mahal, a five story palace, us girls were eager to hit the
shopping plazas. We haggled and shopped until we couldn’t anymore and got some
great deals on real precious gemstones that Jaipur is famous for. Did I mention
the amazing street food that helped fuel our day? We indulged in pani puri,
kachori, and more. That evening, I would split up from Kirsten and Jenny for
only a few days and catch an overnight train to Rishikesh—yoga capital of the
world. I would hope to find a trekking group to join from there. However, first, I spent 5 days there and Jenny and
Kirsten met up with me.
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| After enjoying a waterfall in Rishikesh |
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| A view of Rishikesh and the Ganges from "Buddha Cafe" |
Rishikesh is where
we slowed down from the craziness of Indian cities and relaxed a bit. The
beautiful, mountainous city is set on the Ganges River. We would spend the next
few days relaxing in cafes, meeting new friends, swimming, hiking to
waterfalls, discovering mountain top villages, practicing yoga and enjoying the
scenery. After Jenny and Kirsten left, I was lucky enough to hire a local guide
8 hours north in the Himalayas for a two day trek.
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| View of gardens from Amber Fort |
Our two week voyage exhibits a taste of the immense
diversity that India has to offer; from snowcapped peaks, to bustling cities
and relaxing valleys set by holy rivers; we enjoyed it all. However, nothing
beat the feeling to coming back home to Agartala to see the smiling faces of
Mukta, Hadi, Michael and the local community. There is no doubt we were ready
to be back; there is no place like home.
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| Jenny and Kirsten enjoying the monkey's in Jaipur |
