Last days in India and starting the long trip back


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Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Varanasi
January 16th 2017
Published: January 17th 2017
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As we head back home, 17+ flying hours, I thought for the sake of my memory, I'd put together what we did the last 2 days. The pace definitely slowed down after the Ganges experience. That same day we spent the afternoon in Sarnath, place where Buddha gave his first sermon 2500 years ago and where there is a stupa on that spot, and excavated ruins from Buddhist temples. This was the center of Buddhist learning under the emperor Ashoke. We went into a Buddhist temple that is currently in use. Kapil talked about the history of Buddhism and some of the beliefs. We also drove around the Varanasi Banaras University, the largest residential university in India. Wherever we drove we saw children flying kites, part of the festival day. There are competitions where they try to cut each others kites down, like in the book The Kite Runner. And we visited the Mother India temple which was inaugurated by Gandhi and had a room size relief map of an undivided India on the floor.
That night, Saturday, back in the hotel we had a delicious Indian barbecue dinner. Grilled paneer, mushrooms, veggie paddies were really good. It was considered the tour’s farewell meal, since Sunday we'd be traveling back to Delhi and starting the trek home. I've really enjoyed getting to know most of the people on this trip...We've been a pretty compatible group, and we'll see if it happens, but it would be nice to stay in touch. Email addresses were exchanged and promises made to meet up in NYC or Sydney or California. Considering I've always said I didn't want to travel with a tour group, it was a positive experience. And I learned a lot from the guide, Kapil, about the history and culture in the places we visited and about Hinduism in particular. He was very smart, and shared what he knows in an interesting way...A good teacher and also very experienced and professional in getting the group smoothly from place to place.
The last thing left to do was shopping. Again, not my favorite thing to do, especially here with the pushy, don't take no for an answer, but haggle over the price, salesmen. But there was a small mall a short walk from our hotel, only one I've seen in India, that had a Homemaker shop...Easy place to buy teas and spices since the prices are fixed. The group went to Mehta International, a silk shop and saw a demonstration of silk weaving and got another sales pitch to buy their scarves and other stuff. Beautiful stuff but not for me. Rochelle and I did find a nice shop. We went in because there was a woman standing out front. Unusual for sure. We got to talk with her and with her daughter who was practicing her marketing and English skills. She's goes to university and hopes to get her MBA. I bought a couple of small things and Rochelle got some scarves. Once the husband came in he took over showing us stuff but we enjoyed the conversations with mother and daughter and felt good about shopping there. The daughter has a Facebook page for the store. She asked us to comment on it. I have to remember to do that.
Sunday morning after packing once again, we set out to find rupees. Since we got to India that has been a problem for people. We lucked out initially cause Rochelle thought we should stand in a queue at the airport when we arrived and we did.Those rupees lasted until this last day but we still need rupees for tips and other small things. We tried 3 nearby ATMs but none of them had money. India is in the middle of a demonetization situation where the government has taken large currency out of circulation and hasn't yet replaced it with new currency. Their goal was to try to cut into the black market and corruption. We went back to the mall and a shopkeeper changed dollars for us, not at a great rate but we had no choice. And then used a Mac Donald's to change a 2000 rupee bill cause that's also challenging in this country these days.
Sunday mid day was our flight back to Delhi, staying at a beautiful hotel, Novotel, by the airport. In this area, with all the airport hotels on the road around us, it doesn't feel like we're in Delhi. The dinner and breakfast buffets were as big and varied as any wedding I've been to. Oh, and we did get to see an Indian ring exchange ceremony at the hotel. Since we were hanging by the door and watching, we were invited in to the room. The women were dressed so beautifully in saris of beautiful colors, outlined in silver or gold but the bride didn't look very happy as she sat up front and was given gifts (dowry?) of beautiful saris, bracelets and candy. She looked very young and we wondered if it was an arranged marriage. Kapil said 85% of marriages in India are still arranged by the mothers, mostly. His was. He didn't meet his wife until after the wedding ceremony and she moved in with him and his parents, as is also the custom. We had an interesting conversation about the challenges women faced in India and while he spoke in a positive way about the traditions, he did admit that he would want his daughter to be educated to a level that would prepare her to work in the US or Europe, that she would have a better life that way. But would hope his son would stay and work in India near the family home. Interesting...I do like the part of the tradition where the grandparents help to raise their grandchildren cause they’re all living in the same house or village…
A great trip for sure...Loved the food (if anyone is actually reading this, let me know if you want to go out with me for Indian food soon!) And getting to see the beautiful parts of history that are still standing from so long ago, but especially loved seeing/watching people live their lives in a culture that is so radically different from my own, and one with such great contrasts and diversity. Not loving this long plane ride, though! Thanks for reading my ramblings! So long for now...Until my next trip!


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