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Published: August 23rd 2008
me at the Taj!
yup! same outfit! =)I made it safely to India! I LOVE QATAR AIRWAYS!! My flights from Nairobi totally rocked! The planes, the movies, the fod, the service--all excellent!
I arrived into Delhi airport & was greeted by my friend Muriel's childhood friend Subodh. He is this awesome guy who is 75, very friendly, a real 'thinker'. He has a very scientific mind and analyzes life situations & then synthesizes this information into 'knowledge'. I learned so much from him in 3 short days! I did a fast & furious bus tour of Delhi. It is an interesting city of which I did not spend too much time as I was staying with Subodh & his family in the suburbs.
I did a quick day trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G. I know that I mentioned I was dissappointed in the Sphinx (it was small & totally falling apart)--they was the opposite! I was blown away by it's beauty--it is HUGE! Nothing at all like that bad Hollywood backdrop they used in 'The Bucket List'. No wonder it's a wonder. =)
Anyway, the train trip to Agra was nice & comfortable (had a seat on an air conditioned car and
they gave me water & fed me too!), however, I didn't plan too well & had to take the 'sleeper class' on the way back to Delhi. Hmmm....how to describe this adventure? Have you ever been stared at for 3 1/2 hours? Well, it's not as awesome as it sounds. I was definitely the only white person/foreigner on this car & luckily found a piece of the floor in the hallway/door section where I could sorta squat/sit. It was an experience that I will never forget & have no desire to repeat. I wanted to take photos but it seemed rude--as if I would be exploiting their poverty for my 'trip memories'--just felt weird so I didn't.
I am currently experiencing a combination of homesickness & 'why the heck am i travelling for so long?' syndrome. It has something to do with making plans to stay in India for 6 weeks. For the previous countries, I was there max 12 days & felt that it was long enough to get a taste of what they country was like. Now I feel like I have inadvertantly ordered some giant entree when all I wanted was an appetizer. Now I'm starting to
doubt my hunger at all. Too far with the metaphor?
Anyway, I arrived at Parmarth Niketan Ashram yesterday. I decided to splurge from the train to take a cab here since it was pouring down rain. It is monsoon season afterall. I have definitely learned a thing or two about picking seasons to travel & the risk of just going whenever (like this trip!). So I had planned on being here for 2 weeks. I had imagined a calm, peaceful, spa-like yoga retreat where I would be meditating, doing yoga, gazing out at the Ganges river & just feeling 'spiritual' for 2 wonderful weeks! In reality, I have discovered that it is more of a city-like atmosphere--loud, moist (mold everywhere), a few other foreign yogis & beautiful hills. I did see this awesome Hindu ceremony where people light candles & put them in the Ganges as an offering--it's called Ganga Aarti & was very cool! There is one yoga class each day & one meditation class--went to both today & they were ok--nowhere near the magical experiences I thought they'd be. I have also discovered about myself that I cannot 'force' myself to feel things--like here I am not feeling
'spiritual' & it's ok. So to get to the point (finally!)--I'm leaving after 3 nights! I just don't feel like being here. I am going to continue on with a few other places in India & maybe head off to Bangkok early. Appetizers are definitely more my style--screw this entree/staying in a country for weeks on end thing! I ate, I prayed & I'm leaving =).
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Vivek
non-member comment
Photos on train
Next time, go ahead and click. People in India don't take offense as they would in the West. In fact, they would probably have been amused that you were taking photographs of them. This is probably applicable anywhere in rural Asia.