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IndiaDelhi |
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I can remember as a kid growing up being told by my parents, "If you can't say anything nice about somebody then you should say nothing at all." If I was to follow this simple rule today it would be hard to write about India. We planned on going to India for two weeks with the primary goal of seeing the Taj Mahal and experiencing as much of India as we could in two weeks. This meant we would need to fly into New Delhi and we arranged our flight to depart from Bombay. This would leave us with two weeks of travel time between India's two major cities, New Delhi and Bombay. We discovered that India is a large and diverse country with much to offer the adventuresome traveler. Our itinerary would be a combination of air and land travel beginning in New Delhi to Agra (Taj Mahal), Rajisthan, Bombay, Bangalore and Goa. Most of the travelers we met along the way recommended Kashmir, Goa, Darmasala and Varinasi. It would be impossible for us to visit all the travel highlights of India, so it would be fair to say our final impression of India may be entirely wrong but we will remember it well. As we did our research for India we came across a discussion session on the Lonely Planet web site on travel in India. A traveler who had been in India summarized perfectly, what you will find in India. "If you look to the left you will see something so amazing that you will never forget it. If you look to the right you will see something so disgusting you will never forget it." India is not for the first time traveler, it does offer a wide array of historical and cultural sites but in order to experience the positive you will come across a lot of negative.
India is reported to have a population of over 935 million people. I would imagine this number could be off by at least 50 percent in any direction. Everywhere you go people are in the streets living, eating, going to work and using the bathroom. It was really hard for me to comprehend as we traveled how so many people could setup a roadside structure consisting of nothing more than a pole and tarp and call it home. This scene was common throughout the many streets in New Delhi, Bombay and remote villages we encountered. With this kind of overpopulation, the government of India could not even begin to count it's citizens and it would not surprise me to find that there are over 1.5 billion people living in India. India is separated by over 300 languages, 24 of these languages are each spoken by over one million people. English because of the British influence has become the common language spoken for business and travel in the many different regions of India.
India is a post World War II country that was established on August 15, 1947 as a country that was ready for self-rule after so many years of British control. The major religion of India is Hinduism at 80 percent and Muslim at 14 percent. Pakistan on the northern border of India, with a large majority of Muslims, was to be part of India but on August 14, 1947, one day before the birth of India as a nation, Pakistan declared itself a separate and independent country. The conflict between Hindus and Muslims has created much unrest in India. Currently, Pakistan and India are on the brink of war over disputed land in Kashmir and an overall dislike for each other. The tension is so great that both countries have recently decided that blowing up a Nuclear bomb would flex some muscle. The region of Kashmir a popular tourist destination for trekking but will be filled with unrest for sometime to come.
We had flown into New Delhi three weeks earlier when the temperature was a record 120 degrees Fahrenheit. We fled to the mountains of Nepal to the East of India and a short two hour flight from New Delhi looking for some mountain air relief from the heat. We returned from the outdoors of Nepal, relaxed, smiling and ready for anything. It turned out to be a no contest, the polluted and depressing city of New Delhi defeated us in less than two hours. Customs into India is simple although they do seem to be very thorough. Our last experience at the YMCA in New Delhi, three weeks earlier, would not be repeated so we were going to upgrade. Based on the guidebook we chose Hotel Nirula at $50 a night and in the center of town at Connaught place. While Scooter picked up our luggage, I called the hotel from the airport tourist desk. They had a double room available, the phone connection was lousy so I was unable to give my name for a reservation. We had previous experience at the New Delhi airport so we walked confidently to the prepaid taxi counter and purchased our ticket to the hotel. The antique looking taxi dropped us off at Hotel Nirulas, we thanked the driver and we went inside to find out they were sold out. It was all starting to fall apart again. I roared at the hotel manager because I had just called thirty minutes ago. He informed us that we did not leave a name and he had just rented the last room. Scooter was gracious and requested some help in securing other accommodations. We had to grab our bags and return to the very dark and foreboding streets. We carried our big green bags through the maze of people at 11:00 PM trying to find another hotel for the night. The hotel manager made a reservation for us at the Hotel York one block away. It turned out to be three blocks away and a little difficult to find.
We entered the Hotel York through a dark, dank staircase which is always a bad sign for a hotel. We check in for 2300 Rs ($50), walked outside to a room that was not really that bad but was a total let down to my expectations of what a $50 room should be. Big spender expectations got the best of me, I was tired and not feeling too well. I did my usual pull the bed spread off the bed to make sure the sheets are clean, then check the bathroom, which had a strong mildew stench. The window in the bathroom was a large hinged metal door that looked out onto the hallway and it did not close. That was it, all I could take, I through myself on the bed and sobbed. Scooter was mad that I was so upset, he inspected the room, I told him just to leave me alone - I would get over it. I didn't even know why I was crying, except I couldn't stop. I took a shower, cried some more because the big metal window-door wouldn't close. There was no hot water and the cold mildewed water drizzled out of the shower head. This was a $50 hotel in the main downtown district of New Delhi. If we had been paying $10 a night, the room would have been perfect but we were on a splurge and the room sucked.
Scooter was working hard to solve the problems in the room. He worked on the TV trying to find a movie, adjusting the rabbit ear antenna until the words sounded like English. He then went about fortifying the room because the window-door in the bathroom would not shut. His solution was to tie a rope between the bathroom doorknob and the front doorknob. Which meant someone could break into the bathroom through the window but they would not be able to open the bathroom door because it was tied shut. It also meant that if I had to use the bathroom I was stuck and in case of fire we were trapped. I didn't say a word and dreamed about booby trapping the place for the rest of the night. Welcome to India!
Today is my mom's birthday and we are thinking of her. We sent her flowers for Mother's Day via the Internet but Scooter tells me we are cut off from the Internet in India because IBM does not have any local access numbers. India has Internet access through a government monopoly which means we would need to find an Internet Cafe, so that I could send a Happy Birthday e-mail. We are meeting my mom and dad in Athens in a couple of weeks for a cruise from Greece to Turkey. I can not wait to see family and the comforts of a cruise ship.
I am anxious to get moving this morning - to see Delhi and figure out how to get to Agra (Taj Mahal) the next day. Even though it is 9:00 AM, the streets are quiet and the stores are closed. Scooter is convinced that we are on the shabby side of Caughnought place, so we decide to walk around the downtown city circle. Scooter is also convinced that Delhi has a Hard Rock Cafe and a Taco Bell. We actually overheard someone in Nepal mention that they went to Taco Bell in New Delhi. I think Scooter is becoming delirious and his mind is making him believe the impossible. There is no Hard Rock Cafe or Taco Bell in New Delhi. I really enjoyed watching him ask people if there was a Hard Rock Cafe. He would describe it as a big place with food and music. The only answer he would get is that we have Wimpy Burger and they play music. We ate lunch at Pizza Hut and he actually asked the manager if Taco Bell was in town and the manager responded that we do not have Taco Bell. He was slow to give up the hunt, only if he had something to look forward to he could continue on.
On our walk around Caughnought Place we never found the nicer side of town and it turns out we were in it. We were the only tourists on the streets and every rickshaw and taxi driver approached us looking for business. We would actually walk and repeat the words "no thank you" over and over. Then the scam began. A gentleman innocently asked about a rickshaw ride. "No thank you", we replied. Scooter asked him why all the business were closed at 10:00 AM. The gentleman explained that it was Ghandi day and all businesses were closed. He did have a friend who's travel agency was open around the corner. All we wanted was a tourist map so we agreed to walk with the man to the travel agent. The Indian culture produces some very nice but smooth talking hustlers. It turns out that Ghandi day is in October and this is June. I should of studied my India national holidays and we could of prevented the scam. We sat down with a smooth talking Indian travel agent at Merry Go Travels and within 15 minutes he had planned our next 14 days in India and we had purchased airline tickets, train tickets and hired a car for two days. Had we learned nothing in five months of independent travel?
Then Mr. Smooth talking Indian gets us to switch hotels. He is all smiles and service - "Get in the car we will drive you to the bank then we will take you to a couple of nice hotels to look at. Get in the car for a complimentary city tour." It happened so quickly that before we knew what happened our bill came to $922 US. Another sign of a scam is a travel agent who does not take credit cards. We did not have $1000 in cash on us so we convinced the travel agent to accept $400 in cash and the rest on Master card. If you put your purchases on credit card you at least have the ability to dispute a fraudulent charge. We are trusting souls and we were happy with the planned itinerary.
Mr. Singh, who works for Merry Go travel would be our driver for the next three days. We spent the afternoon sightseeing around Delhi. The highlights include India Gate, Lotus Temple, Red Fort and a whole lot of misery and despair living in the streets. Everywhere we drove people were living on the side of the road surrounded by trash heaps being eaten by cows. It was a viscous recycling process. Human throws trash in the streets, Cow eats trash and makes pile of shit in same street. Human waits for cow shit to harden and then uses it for cooking fuel and the process continues. This in theory looks like a nice way to recycle except the trash outnumbers the cow 10 to 1 and the plastic and paper products get avoided by the wise and knowing cow. The touring of New Delhi is worth it just so you have an excuse to see the street life. New Delhi is full of houses, apartments and condos but it is hard to get an idea how those people live with so many people living on the street blocking the view.
We were in India during the summer, which means it is hot and no foreigners. However, the rest of India was on summer holiday with the kids and we found most of the places very crowded with Indian tourists. It has been over 50 years since the British have left India making a white skin foreigner worth taking a picture. I spent most of my time at the tourist sites posing with families for a picture. I would be walking along and someone would approach and hand me their baby for a picture. It was odd but a lot of fun. The entire time I was posing, Scooter was video taping the locals lining up for a photo and laughing his head off. Most of the people were young families from remote cities and villages, they had simply never see a white person before.
At the end of our city tour we were dirty and exhausted. We returned to the travel agent to check on our tickets. Scooter wanted to see the tickets before we left the next day. The travel agent had booked us into a five star hotel which turned out to be a three star hotel in any other country. The travel agent quoted us a price of $100 based after much negotiating over the phone with the hotel manager. Scooter figured something was up, so when we checked in he asked how much for a room for the night. We could get a room for $80 even though our travel agent was only able to get a room for $100. A fool and his money are soon parted. We returned to the travel agent to get the difference. The travel agent gave us a refund on our hotel room which made him appear even more trustworthy. Maybe that was all part of the master plan of deception. Scooter asked to see our tickets and the travel agent pulled out an envelope from his drawer. We verified all the dates and made sure all the cities were in order. Scooter went to put the tickets in his bag and somehow our smooth talking friend convinced us they were not ready yet and they would be delivered in two days before we boarded our train. What made even less sense is that in two days we would be over 16 hours from New Delhi on our tour with Mr. Singh. Never leave the travel agent without all tickets in hand!
We knew we would be in for some killer travel days in India and this was one of them. Mr. Singh was to meet us at 6:30 AM for a drive of four hours to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Then to Sikri, a major historical site, and then on to Jaipur another four hours down the road. Mr. Singh was right on time, he is a 70 something wiry fellow dressed in a white safari suit- well worn but nicely pressed. He always has a ready smile, even if his English is not very good - we like him. The life expectancy of a male Indian is 60 years, so Mr. Singh had already beaten the system and it did not look like he would slow down for another ten years.
Driving out of Delhi is much like driving in Delhi, crowded, carbon monoxide in every breath, and generally crazy. Horns are used liberally here and I mean like every second. Painted on the back of every truck are the words, "Please Use Horn." On one crowded stretch of four hour driving Mr. Singh used his horn every five seconds. The locals are not content with ordinary pollution they have to created noise pollution to balance everything out. The horn process works because we did not see any accidents and everyone got out the way when you appeared in the rearview mirror blowing your horn. We are dodging trucks, buses, ox carts, dogs and mopeds. Mr. Singh was master of the road at 40 mph and we sat in our non-AC mini van trying to soak it all in.
About ten minutes drive outside Agra a young man on a motorcycle rides up next to us and is shouting for us to pull over. Mr. Singh mumbles something about "guide" and before we know what is going on the guide/rug salesman is in our van talking about Agra. He tells us he was sent by our travel agent and that Mr. Singh who he calls Uncle was suppose to stop and pick him up back at a rest stop. It turns out this guy was waiting on the side of the road for any tourist van and he would be our guide for the day, just so he could take us to the carpet shop, the marble shop, the jewelry shop and the fabric store. He was not from the travel agent and he had a relative in every store.
The Taj Mahal is truly a beautiful building, very elegant and delicate. India is taking great pains to make sure it is preserved. Cars are not allowed within one kilometer and all pollution related industry has been stopped to avoid turning the white marble black. The Taj is also under constant threat from terrorist Muslims who would rather see the building destroyed then allow a Hindu government to profit from its fame and glory. During World War II the building was covered with green vines to prevent it from being destroyed and being used as a landmark for bombers. Our guide was useful for taking our picture and that was about all. Based on reading our guidebook before we arrived we could of answered any questions are guide had.
The Taj was built by mogul Emperor Shah Jahan (Muslim) for his wife of eighteen years who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. Twenty thousand people work continuously for twenty-one years. It was completed in 1653 at a great expense to the local people and welfare of the economy. The emperor planned on building a second black Taj Mahal across the river for himself but his son saw the hardship that this would create and had his father put in jail. The Emperor Shah Jahan could only see the Taj Mahal from his prison cell. He died in jail and was buried next to his wife in the mausoleum in the center of the Taj Mahal.
Lunch was at one of those tourist restaurants were guides get a free meal for bringing in tourists. Unbeknownst to us, the area is surrounded by shopping and we wanted know part of it. We informed our guide that we had a long day ahead of us and were not interested in learning how rugs are made or looking at the Star of India at his brother's jewelry store. But somehow he managed to drag us to these shops and we spent the next couple of hours not buying anything and saying no a lot. We dumped our guide at his cousin's rug shop and paid him 100 Rs for his troubles. He questioned us, "Is that all?" We reminded him that he told us he was working for our travel agent and therefor he was already getting paid. His elaborate scam of deception had backfired because we did not buy anything and he got a lousy tip. Mr. Singh sat silent in the van and even though he didn't say anything you could tell he did like the guide either.
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