It’s been awhile since we’ve had a good Japanese mystery to investigate. A couple weeks ago, workers began installing long white boards all over town with squares numbered 1-50. A large date—April 26—appeared at one end with a whole lot of indecipherable Japanese surrounding it.
The election poster board, called kouei keji ba (公営掲示場) or public posting area
A few days later, nearly all of the boxes were plastered with election posters from all of Japan’s major political parties. It’s time to elect our local mayors (kuchō/区長) and assembly representatives (kugikai/区議会)! I say “our,” but as foreign citizens, we don’t get a vote. At least we have plausible deniability if it all goes south… “Not my kuchō!”
In addition to the posters, candidates ride around in vans with loudspeakers, sharing their message with the people. They wear white gloves as they wave out the window, apparently a symbol of honesty.
The posters themselves were pretty standard fare, although I did notice a couple of trends. First off, several candidates seemed to be taking the theme of “fighting for you” literally. I counted six posters with candidates raising clinched fists, ready to punch the opposition right in the face. Some of my favorites…
This guy will not only fight for us, but might also organize a pickup basketball game!
The next candidate had comic-style posters of him fighting for the people of Kawagoe on his website during the election. Kinda cool.
Manabu-san looks way too happy for someone who has spent 25 years working in Kawagoe City Hall (25年間川越市役所勤務の経験を市政に生かします！).Misao-san took a slightly different route with the “Who has one finger and wants your vote? This guy!” themeOdaka-san has a bit of a “Um, I’ll fight for you?” look about him, but as a local fire chief, and PTA president, he’s got the goods.
The other prominent theme is the use of cartoonish representations of the candidates. It says “Look, I’m fun!” Some of the best…
Maki-san is bring “a new wind to Kawagoe” (川越市政に「新しい風」を)Tetsuya-san is a “53-year-old working in full bloom” (働きざかりの５３歳)Kirino-san has doubled-down with the fist-pumping cartoonI’d say this is actually a fairly good likeness of Yamaki-sanMizuyo-san loves Kawagoe and apparently loves to bicycle as wellSekiguchi-san looks a lot happier in his caricature than in his actual picture
We stepped off the boat, climbed a steep set of crumbling stone steps and entered the city’s dark back alleyways. The always-fragile electricity failed and everything went pure black. A few long seconds passed before the lights flickered back to life. Re-illuminated, several men carried yet another dead body past us, chanting “Ram Nam Satya Hai”… The name of God is truth
The chaos of a Varanasi evening as seen from the back of a bicycle rickshaw
We followed one of the boat’s crewmen toward the center of the market, the narrow alleys filled with eager shopkeepers trying to get your attention. A motorbike pushes through the crowd. We get stuck between a group of people—faces marked with colored powder—and a large bull. Whispers of “Hasish?” come from the shadows, preying on those looking for an additional perk on their spiritual journey.
It sounds like a scene from a thriller movie, but this was very much real life. Welcome to Varanasi, India—the world’s oldest city.
A City of Death
Varanasi is one of Hinduism’s three holy cities along the Ganges River. When a Hindu person dies, the family will transport the body to one of these cities for cremation and the ashes will be brushed into the Ganges. Hindu’s believe in reincarnation and that placing the ashes in the river will allow the soul to escape the cycle of reincarnation, setting the spirit free to move into the afterlife.
Varanasi’s ghats, stone steps leading to the Ganges, are used for ceremonial bathing and cremations
In most Western countries, death is something to be hidden away. But in India, it’s very much a public affair. After a preparation period in the home, the body is transported to the city. The body is wrapped in a shroud—most that we saw were gold in color—and carried through the streets to the ghats alongside the river. The eldest son is in charge of the preparations and leads the processional.
Our tour guide gave us the option of visiting Varanasi’s famous ghats (stone staircases leading down to the Ganges) to view the cremations, which take place all day, everyday. I’m glad to have seen it as it offered an important look into the country’s culture, but it’s not something that you can really prepare to see. It’s simultaneously beautiful and disturbing.
Smoke from the previous day’s cremations still smoke while piles of fresh timber are stacked for the next grieving familes
Out of respect to the grieving families, we were requested not to take photographs—and I believe human decency dictates this as well. The body is laid upon a wooden funeral pyre and covered in clarified butter (ghee), which is both a cleansing ritual and a practical method to help the body burn. The eldest son—who has shaved his head in a sign of respect to the deceased parent—lights the fire and performs rituals. He stays with the body until the fire has burned out. The ashes are brushed into the river and several more days of ritual follow.
I can remember vividly the sight of the body on the pyre. My stomach soured and clenched with the feeling of seeing something you shouldn’t see. The top of the head and the bottom of the feet were visible, reminding you that a person is inside the blazing fire.
A City of Life
As you move away from the Ganges, the city comes to life. Like most of India, tourism is a critical part of Varanasi’s economy with more than 3.2 million visitors—mostly Hindu pilgrims—coming through the city every year.
CW from Left: The famous Blue Lassi Shop serving yogurt-based drinks; the bustling city streets; a street vendor was making dosa from scratch
The first permanent settlements in the area date to the 12th century B.C. You can feel the history as you get lost in the narrow alleys packed with shops and food stalls. Varanasi grew in importance in the 6th century B.C. thanks to a burgeoning silk manufacturing industry, an enterprise that is still the city’s dominant industry 2,500 years later.
Our tour group sitting amongst the various scarves and blankets in Ganga Handlooms, a shop in the alleyways of Varanasi
Our tour leader took us to one of the silk shops. Not unlike a carnival barker, the show is part of the sales experience. They bring out piles of beautiful, colorful fabrics. Your uneducated hands and eyes try to decipher which is rayon and which is silk, but guess completely wrong (hint: both scarves are rayon!). Burning the thread is the only way to tell the difference (silk singes like hair, rayon melts like plastic).
They pull out the silk and the cashmere and the really-nice cashmere, known as pashmina. Pashmina comes specifically from the inner wool of high-altitude Pashmina goats who shed their thick winter coats every spring.
Getting what’s left of my hairs cut at an open-air Varanasi barber shop
On our free day, we wandered the streets and eventually were befriended by a local shopkeeper. He gave us the nickel tour of the lesser-known sites along with his myriad of opinions on the state of the city and India as a whole. Along the way, we passed a barber shop set up in a tiny alcove in one of the alleyways. I mentioned wanting to get my beard trimmed and he offered to help orchestrate the transaction.
Granted, I don’t have many hairs left to trim, but the barber did a nice job, polishing off the experience with a variety of face creams and a post-trim face massage. When he finished, I asked our new friend how much I owed the barber. They bickered back and forth for a bit… the barber said the haircut was 25 rupees, but because I was a tourist, he felt like he could charge 50 rupees.
We encountered this many times along the way in what I considered to be a “win-win-win” situation. The barber feels like he can get double his regular fee because I’m a tourist. His “double” fee is about 80 cents USD, so I win because I just got a haircut for less than a buck. He wins because I think an 80 cent haircut is ridiculous and give him 100 rupees (because a $1.60 haircut is somehow not ridiculous).
He wins.
I win.
Everybody wins!
Animal House
A little animal fun…
This dog and monkey were playing along the ghatsThis cow was waiting for the bakery to open, but the shopkeeper strong enforced the “No shoes, no shirt, no service” ruleBulls and goats just hanging out along the ghats on the Ganges
Mornings in Varanasi
And finally, the peaceful side of Varanasi can be found at 6 a.m.
Fire ceremonies called Aarti take place along the Ganges as a form of worship to Hindu’s many deitiesThe sunrise on the Ganges was magnificentThe morning sun cast a beautiful light on the ghats and buildings along the GangesFishermen are out before the sun, getting ready for their day’s workColorful boats along the banks of the Ganges wait for the sunrise
For two magical weeks, spring boldly announces its presence all over Japan in the form of sakura—the blossoms of the Japanese cherry tree. Families and friends come together for viewing parties and everyone has a bit more pep in their step. Then, as quickly as they arrived, they begin to fall like snow, replaced by green buds and the promise of warmer days. Enjoy the view!
Part of the large cherry tree grove at Kawagoe Aquatic ParkOur own private hanami (cherry blossom viewing) at Kawagoe Park included homemade vegan sausagesSakura-inspired beverages come and go as quickly as the blossoms themselves. Pictured are two sakura-flavored beers and a sakura-flavored rosé wine.This fancy cat dressed up in her best pearls for the Nakameguro Sakura Festival in TokyoTri-colored “sakura” dango—mochi balls on a stick—at Tokyo’s Nakameguro Sakura FestivalThe sun sets behind the sakura in Kawagoe Aquatic ParkLanterns and blossoms at the Nakameguro Sakura Festival in TokyoWatch the video in full-screen mode to get the full sakura experience
Over the course of a month of traveling, you’ll end up using a lot of different types of transportation. Obviously, there’s a bunch of taxis and buses, but southern Asians use a variety of different transportation methods as part of their daily lives. Here’s a sampling of how we got around India, Nepal and Thailand.
Clockwise from left: Waiting for the metro train in Kawagoe; The Delhi Metro; Bangkok Metro (MRT)We had five flights on our trip: Tokyo to Delhi, Kathmandu to Bangkok, Bangkok to Koh Samui, Nakhon Si Thammarat to Bangkok and Bangkok to TokyoWe took a pink taxi in Bangkok similar to this one (Photo by Ilya Plekhanov, Wikipedia Commons)Tuk-Tuks or auto-rickshaws are a common way to get around in southern Asia. We used them frequently in India and Thailand.Business class seating in a passenger train from Agra to Jhansi in India. Pretty comfy and clean.Only electric vehicles are allowed near Taj Mahal as the pollution was beginning to turn Taj’s marble yellow. We rode a cart similar to this one to the gates (Photo from jotarofootsteps.blogspot.com)In India and Nepal, our tour group used private buses and vans to move shorter distances. Usually our luggage was tied to the top and usually someone climbed on top of the van to get it down.Inside the horror show that was the sleeper train from Orchha to Allahabad in India. A group of men argued loudly all night in the bunk across from us. (Hey Farren!)On the Ganges River in Allahabad, we drifted in sailboats to a remote beach where we camped and played cricket.In Varanasi, India, we used motor boats to watch the sunrise opposite the city’s famous ghats.Riding a bicycle rickshaw in the streets of Varanasi, India. We felt bad having another human being peddle us around, but it was better than having to walk back to our hotel.We rode a bus to the India/Nepal border, then crossed the border on foot before boarding another bus to our hotel in Lumbini, NepalIn the Narayani Zone in Nepal, we toured the local village on bicycles. We both got a “Hero Queen” bike.Our group loaded into two canoes and paddled our way to Chitwan National Park in NepalIn Chitwan National Park in Nepal, we saw one-horned rhinoceros and crocodiles from our safari jeepIn Koh Samui, we rented a scooter for the day and poked around the east side of the island. Later, in Nakhon Si Thammarat, we rode on the back of scooter-taxis to our songthaew to Kiriwong Village.To reach Thailand’s Angthong National Marine Park, you have to catch a ride with a tour boat. We camped on Angthong’s main island for a couple nights and returned with another boat.Both days we were on Angthong, we rented a kayak and paddled out into the Gulf of ThailandLong-tail boats are widely used in Thailand by fishermen and tour companiesWe finally pried ourselves off of Koh Samui and took a large ferry boat to the mainland. Dozens of cars sat below deck. Above deck, comfy seats, televisions, massage services and a convenience store were available for passengers.Songthaew‘s are one of Thailand’s primary public transportation methods. The modified pickup trucks stop along fixed routes and have padded benches in the covered truck bed. People hop on and off along the route. Twice we rode in the back of a pickup truck. In Kiriwong Village, Thailand, a Thai from Krabi helped us set up our homestay lodging and gave us a ride to the house.In Nakhon Si Thammarat, a woman named Joon helped us make change for our songthaew fare, then went out of her way to give us a ride to our hotel in the back of her pickup truck. Her mother was driving and stopped for a snack along the way while her two daughters enjoyed their 7-11 Slurpees.In Kiriwong Village, we hired a local guide to take us hiking to the waterfalls in Khao Luang National Park. He picked us up on his motorcycle. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see my wife again when I snapped this picture! 🙂In the old part of Bangkok, water taxis run up and down the Chao Phraya River, dropping passengers at the big tourist spots. They’re crowded and the boat attendants do a lot of yelling and pushing.
What’s the craziest method of transportation you’ve ever taken in your travels? Leave a comment below!
We came home from our month-long adventures in southern Asia to a mystery box with a handwritten note in Japanese. Inside were two pairs of nice chopsticks and chopstick rests and a box of Kawagoe sweet potato cookies.
A gift from our neighbors indicated that they’d moved away… sad!
Sadly, the note indicated that our downstairs neighbors had moved away while we were gone. While the majority of our interactions with Tomoko and her girls consisted of a simple “Konnichiwa” (今日は – Hello) in passing, the kids had warmed up a bit after we gave them the traditional New Year’s gift of otoshidama.
They were great neighbors and we wanted to figure out a way to thank them for the gift. We headed to our rental company and asked if they had a forwarding address. Unfortunately, they did not, but thanks to cell phones, a person’s phone number doesn’t always change with a move. I left my e-mail address with the rental company who promised to try and contact Tomoko for us.
A few days later, an e-mail from Tomoko popped up in my inbox. I thanked her for the gift and asked her to say hello to the girls for us. I figured that’d be it… maybe we’d exchange e-mails occasionally.
Over the weekend, I received another e-mail from Tomoko. She invited us to join her for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) at the park near our house. We accepted the invite, albeit with some nervousness about having enough Japanese to carry on a conversation.
A few of the hanami goers in our neighborhood park
The day came and we headed down to the park armed with brownies, potato chips and some grocery-store sushi. Although it was a Tuesday, the park was packed. Turns out it’s spring break week, so all of the kids are out of school and families are taking advantage of the good weather to get their hanami on.
After a few minutes of scanning the crowd, Tomoko’s oldest daughter Kano came running over to us. We soon saw Tomoko and the rest of her group. We’d been invited to the family hanami!
Tomoko (back middle) and her wonderful family… and us!
Admittedly, I didn’t catch how everyone was related. The older man is an English teacher at a local high school and clearly had been giving some lessons to the rest of his family. Everyone took turns asking questions and we were able to have some really nice conversations as everyone bounced between English and Japanese.
The picnic spread
Hanami picnics are like ground buffets. Everyone brings a lot of food and share it potluck style. Tomoko’s mom made sushi rolls and pickled gobou (ごぼう). Gobou is the Japanese word for burdock root—which we weren’t familiar with at all before coming to Japan—and is included as a side dish in a lot of meals. Inari sushi (seasoned rice wrapped in tofu skin) is a popular snack, and they won the day bringing “sakura inari,” colored a dull pinkish color by adding cinnamon. The kids were enjoying the corn dogs, of course.
Little KenKen jumping rope with his mom
After lunch, all the kids—young and old—took some time to play. The little boy, KenKen, was adorable, serious and adept at finding the camera with his chubby, round face. At just 18 months old, he’d already figured out how to swing a jump rope and play with his cousins.
Clockwise: Tomoko and Hasumi; Kano and Viktoria playing badminton; KenKen, Kano and Hasumi playing in the park
Tomoko’s youngest daughter, Hasumi, sat quietly during lunch, asking us to read her English flash cards. While she learned English words for her vegetables, we learned some new Japanese words at the same time.
KenKen cleaning up the picnic area
After a couple hours, with full bellies and full hearts, it was time to go. Japanese children learn the custom of cleanliness at an early age. As we packed up the tarp, KenKen grabbed his little towel and started cleaning up the loose grass from the tarp.
Tomoko’s mom loaded us up with leftovers which provided two more meals. We made them take the brownies, which they gladly did.
We started towards home, the group waving and saying good-bye. It’s not always easy to put yourself out there in Japan, but there’s yet to be a time where it’s failed to become a great memory. We’re grateful to Tomoko and her family for accepting us into their family tradition.
Video: Kawagoe Spring Festival
Kawagoe Spring Festival kicked off on March 28 and will continue until early May with events sprinkled throughout the month of April. We took our new GoPro camera along for opening weekend to capture some of the sights and sounds. Enjoy!
The morning after our visit to Taj Mahal, the breathtaking experience still fresh in our minds, we woke up early wondering how you follow up something like that.
We started the day with a taste of an authentic Indian breakfast: brown bread and hard-boiled eggs, curry and fry bread. The British influence showed as well with the ubiquitous beans and toast. And coffee. Sweet nectar of life at the early hour.
The rest of our group joined us at breakfast; a fellow Cascadian from Washington, two Aussies and a Canadian (sounds like Cascadian!) from Toronto. After breakfast, our now-complete group hopped aboard a bus toward Agra Fort.
Agra Fort is one of India’s many UNESCO World Heritage Sites, added to the list in 1983. Our local tour guide was excellent—a man in his 80s with encyclopedic knowledge of the fort’s long history. While the original structure dates to the 11th century, the Mughal Empire rebuilt the Fort over several years in the 1500s, turning it into a palatial castle. The Indian military still uses a portion of the fort for training.
Openings in the outer wall provided protection for archers from outside invaders. Larger openings at the top of the wall were used to pour hot oil on those who dared make it that far.
I couldn’t help but have flashes of The Wall from Game of Thrones as we entered. The front of the castle, built from towering red sandstone, is fortified by layers of security. A drawbridge provides a crossing over the old moat, which was once full of hungry crocodiles. Once inside, the gate is protected by a “dry moat” of land between two walls. Openings along the top of the wall provided openings for crossbow fire or the pouring of hot oil or boiling water on enemies waiting at the gates.
Inside the Agra Fort palace grounds
But if you’re lucky enough to be invited inside, paradise awaits. Imperial palaces open into living spaces that were once adorned with silk curtains, ornate carpets and beautiful marble carvings. It’s easy to imagine people living a life of comfort in these places.
Left: Semi-precious stone inlay work appears as vibrant as the day it was set. Right: Paint and gold leaf has faded over the years, but is still visible in areas protected from the weather.
The gold leaf and paint has long since faded, but the inlay work remains as vibrant today as it was 400 years ago. Onyx, turquoise and other semi-precious stones are laid in intricate patterns in white Indian marble. Indian marble is more porous than Italian marble, so the light shines through, creating a translucence that brightens the space.
The emperor had an excellent view of Taj Mahal from his throne, especially in the pre-pollution days
Atop the palace, the emperor’s throne platform sits in the middle of the public audience space. Taj Mahal fills the distant sky, although only a ethereal outline was visible in the morning haze.
Agra Fort and Religious Symbolism
In Muslim tradition, gardens complete every open space. Outside, the fort’s mosque shines a bright white, built with the leftover marble of Taj Mahal.
Agra Fort’s mosque was built using marble leftover from the construction of Taj Mahal
Religion plays a major role in the customs and behaviors of Indian society. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion which helped spawn Buddhism and Jainism among others. But, while religion seems to create divisiveness in our modern world, it wasn’t always the case.
Symbols from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity adorn one of the Agra Fort palaces. Can you spot them all?
The reign of Akbar the Great during the late 1500s was a time of religious unity. Disillusioned by Islam, he created Dīn-i Ilāhī, bringing the best elements of all the major religions of the time together. As such, many of the buildings of the era are adorned with the symbols of Hinduism (swastika), Buddhism (lotus flower), Islam (arches), Judaism (Star of David) and Christianity (cross).
The Hindu swastika vs. the Third Reich swastika
The swastika is prevalent throughout India, but not for the twisted meaning it holds in Western culture today. Originally, the swastika was the Hindu symbol of unity and peace. In artwork, it joins different symbols components together, creating an infinite flow. Unfortunately, it was given a different meaning in the 1930s when it was rotated 45 degrees and became a symbol of Germany’s Third Reich.
Agra Fort Fun Facts
Agra Fort was originally built from bricks. The earliest recorded reference of the fort is from 1080 AD.
Agra was the second capital of India (1556-1658) and Agra Fort served as the headquarters of Indian government.
The walls of the fort are 70 feet tall or about seven stories.
Agra Fort plays a key role in the Sherlock Holmes’ novel “The Sign of the Four.”
More than 1.4 million workers participated in the “remodel” during the 1500s.
Photographs are a wonderful medium. They can be a passport to a world you’ve yet to see or a visual supplement to your memory. But they often fail to capture the magnitude of the real thing.
We’ve all seen pictures of the great Taj Mahal, but even the most realistic photo is no replacement for the firsthand experience.
Darwaza-i Rauza, the gateway to Taj Mahal
The road to Taj is lined with pedestrians, rickshaws, horse-drawn carts and electric buses making the pilgrimage to the world’s greatest memorial. Non-electric vehicles are no longer allowed in the area as the pollution was beginning to yellow the white marble. Once inside the complex, a path leads to Darwaza-i Rauza, the main gate. A wall separates you from the garden, but you catch a glimpse of the famous dome and minarets. “Neat,” you think to yourself.
The first glimpse of Taj Mahal through the Darwaza-i Rauza gateway
But then, as you approach the main gate, you see it for the first time. A noise emits from your insides; something like “Wow” but not quite forming any actual word.
Viktoria watching the sunset
The word “breathtaking” is used frequently to describe beautiful things, but Taj slugs you in the heart, steals the wind from your lungs and replaces it with a new understanding of beauty. It was intentionally built with nothing in the skyline behind it, meant to resemble heaven… Paradise. And it does. The glowing white marble of the perfectly-symmetrical monument to love sits in front of a blue blanket, beckoning us home.
Side view of Taj Mahal from the front of the guesthouseSunset view from the front-left minaret. The marble took on a yellow-pink hue.Standing at the back corner of Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal Fun Facts
Taj Mahal was commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in the 1630s in honor of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died while giving birth to the couple’s 14th child. Her tomb is in the exact center of Taj Mahal.
While the origins of the name are sketchy, “Taj Mahal” is usually translated as “Crown of the Palace” which is a play on the translation of Mumtaz Mahal’s name (“Exalted One of the Palace”).
Construction took 22 years. More than 22,000 workers and 1,000 elephants participated in the building process.
The building is perfectly symmetrical with one exception. Upon his death, Shah Jahan’s tomb was constructed to the right of his wife’s tomb. It is the only non-symmetrical permanent structure in Taj Mahal.
The minarets appear to be straight, but they actually tilt outward slightly. If they collapse, they’ll fall away from the main building into the open grass on the front side or into the Yamuna River on the back side.
Identical red sandstone buildings appear on the east and west side of the main structure. A mosque is located on the west side, facing Mecca. A guesthouse was built later on the east side to provide symmetry to the grounds.
Taj Mahal was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983.
It was a clear, cold and quiet morning in the Tokyo area. As we rode the train to Narita International Airport, we could see Mt. Fuji in the distance. Our flight to Delhi was 10 hours, but the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was like flying in a hotel… a couple meals, a couple movies (including a charming Bollywood flick) and wide, comfy seats. Easy.
Those would be the last moments of calm for awhile.
Flying over Mt. Fuji on our way to Delhi
We arrived at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport after sunset on a warm February evening, the modern Terminal 3 offered no clues to what was waiting outside. When we stepped through the doors, we were met by chaos. Dozens of taxi drivers hovered outside the terminal approaching aggressively while repeating “Where you going? Where are you staying? You need a hotel? You need a tour?” Fortunately we’d read that there’s one government-run taxi stand where you pre-purchase your fare so as to not be cheated by the driver en route to your destination.
We drove toward our hotel, the lanes painted on the highways serving no purpose other than decoration. Vehicles weaved in and out, announcing their presence with a series of honks. Pedestrians waited for an opportunity to cross the eight-lane highway, edging through traffic like a real-life game of Frogger. A man led his two camels alongside the busy road, likely to the nearest river to graze.
Our hotel was in central Delhi. The hotel porter immediately wanted to set us up with a tuk-tuk (auto-rickshaw) tour of the surrounding area, but we opted for sleep instead.
In the morning, we walked for a bit, trying to find one of Delhi’s many outdoor markets. Shopkeepers do their best to keep the sidewalks and gutters clean, but trash still piles up in the streets. Cows, considered sacred in Hindu culture, wander the streets as freely as people and do their business wherever they see fit.
A school marching band walking down Patel Rd. in Central Delhi.
Soon, Delhi began to wake. A marching band walked by—young musicians on their way to school. The temples began to buzz as people headed to morning worship sessions. One by one, the doors on the shops opened up.
A vendor selling traditional Indian sweets in a street stall
Lacking a good breakfast option, we bought a box of Indian sweets called barfi from a vendor near our hotel—the beginnings of “a banner day for nutrition” says my wonderfully witty wife.
These boys asked us to take their photo as they walked to school
While we waited for our barfi, a group of boys headed to school stopped to say hello. “Will you take our picture?” one of them asked. This was the first of many such requests. Not “Will you take a picture with us?” or “Can we take your picture?” but to specifically photograph them and show them the picture.
Experience the tuk-tuk ride for yourself!
We returned to our hotel and, in short order, we were approached by the local tuk-tuk magnate. His fleet of auto rickshaws were waiting around the corner and for just 200 rupees (about $3.20), he’d take us on a tour of the local markets. We jumped in the back and began weaving through the streets of Delhi.
Feeding day-old Indian bread to the rhesus monkeys
Along the way, he stopped in a park where rhesus monkeys sat along the wall. A nearby vendor sold bananas you could feed to the monkeys, but our driver pulled out some day-old chapati instead. The monkeys were clearly accustomed to being fed by humans as they reached down from the wall and took the pieces of bread from our hands.
Those 200 rupees were really a down payment for a lesson in Indian economics. The “tour” took us to three shops where, if I had to guess, the driver had a deal with the shopkeepers—”I’ll bring you tourists, you give me a cut of the sales.” But, he also gave us a nickel tour of Central Delhi and took our picture “driving” his tuk-tuk (see top photo).
The Shops of Delhi (from left): Viktoria’s new salwar kameez; magic carpets; local artwork
The shops are elaborate labyrinths with only one way in and one way out. To reach the exit, you must navigate through scarves, clothing, knickknacks and carpets.
Each shop offers a riff on a theme. The scarf salesmen pull threads from the weave and burn them at the edges to prove they’re really cashmere/pashmina/silk (because they’re animal hair, the fabric singes where artificial fabrics burn like plastic). The carpet salesmen explain thread counts and show how the colors change depending on which direction you look at them. Elephants tchotchkes are carved from teak wood or camel bone and the symbolism is described by the shopkeeper in depth.
A vegetarian meal at a Delhi McDonald’s #JunkFoodVegetarian
The driver took us from one shop to another before we finally cried “Uncle.” We sheepishly asked him to take us to the McDonald’s restaurant we’d see on Google Maps nearish our hotel. He scoffed and rolled his eyes at the Americans traveling all the way to India to eat fast food, so I felt the need to explain. McDonald’s doesn’t typically offer vegetarian options (even the fries contain beef tallow), but since 40 percent of India’s population is vegetarian, the global chain offers up alternatives to meet the demand.
After lunch, we returned to our hotel to rest up before meeting our tour group for the first time. Our tour company’s promise of small groups was a big draw for us. We started as a group of six—joined by two teachers working in China, an American from the NYC area and an Australian from the Melbournearea. Four others would join us later, having toured Delhi as part of another tour.
Our tour guide was fantastic. A native Indian from nearby Jaipur (about 170 miles southwest of Delhi), he knew the history of the areas we visited and was willing to answer all of the questions we threw his way. After taking care of a couple paperwork things, we loaded into tuk-tuks and headed for Old Delhi.
Walking through the alleys of Old Delhi
Established in the 1600s, the area is considered the heart of Delhi. We wandered through the narrow alleys, past food stalls and more scarf shops, eventually exiting near the steps of Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India.
Note: Generic photos ahead. We tried our best to photograph the religious locations without capturing the people in the middle of their worship.
The main facade of Jama Masjid mosque (Photo by Muhammad Mahdi Karim, Wikipedia)
Although nearly 80 percent of the population identifies as Hindu, Islam is still a prominent religion in India. When India gained independence from Britain in 1947, it also lost a large portion of its land and Islamic population as Muslims moved west, creating Pakistan. The mosque still makes daily calls for prayer and closes to tourists during prayer hours.
Standing atop Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, the primary house of worship for the Sikh religion in Delhi
From the mosque, we made the short walk to Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Delhi’s primary house of worship for the Sikh religion. When you see the stereotypical depiction of an Indian man, he’s usually wearing a turban, one of the Five Ks of Sikhism.
Sikhism is unique among Indian religions for many reasons, but its treatment of women stood out to me. While women are treated as subordinates in Hindu and Islam, the scriptures of Sikhism demand that women and men are treated as equals.
We were given scarves to put on our heads prior to entering the worship area. The ornate, gold-laden prayer room had a scattering of midday worshippers with traditional music played live in the background. Sikhs don’t have ordained priests, so nearly any Sikh can lead the congregation as long as they meet some minimum qualifications.
Women making chapati (Indian bread) at Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib
The charity of the temple is on display in a large dining room alongside the main prayer hall. Anyone can join in the preparation and consumption of the meal. While men typically don’t participate in meal preparations in India, they were working alongside the women to prepare the large quantities of food for the congregation.
After a long afternoon of sightseeing, we had a group dinner back at the hotel and headed to bed. We’d be on an early morning train to Agra the next day to see what we all came to see: Taj Mahal.
Americans routinely use words like “broke” or “poor” to describe why we can’t go out with friends, take a vacation or buy a new car. We’ve coined the hashtag of “#FirstWorldProblems” to describe many of our daily trials and tribulations. We are spoiled.
India—or more accurately, Taj Mahal—was on our short list of “must visit” places in Asia during our time in Japan. An easy 10-hour flight from Tokyo, it was more accessible than ever. But you can’t fly 10 hours to see just one thing, so we looked for help crafting the perfect itinerary. In the end, we chose Intrepid Travel‘s Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal trip.
An alley in Central Delhi near our hotel
Our trip began in India’s capital city of Delhi. Before arriving in Delhi, phrases like “developing nation” and “extreme poverty” were buzzwords on Sunday morning political shows or keywords in a college thesis. But they weren’t real. They didn’t have faces.
Aside from well-known landmarks like Taj Mahal or the Ganges River, the reality of India is largely ambiguous in the minds of most Americans, myself included. India is an emerging power on the geopolitical landscape. It is a large landmass in the center of an unstable part of the world with an increasingly wealthy upperclass. As such, it’s an important national security ally of the United States in the fight against terrorism. It’s battling China for the title of world’s most populous country with more than 1.2 billion inhabitants.
A main street in Central Delhi. Shopkeepers clean up the sidewalks as best they can, but the trash will pile up again throughout the day.
But it’s also a country with considerable poverty. Poverty unlike anything that exists in the U.S. and certainly unlike anything I’ve seen firsthand until now. According to World Bank, India has the largest concentration of impoverished people in the world. Delhi alone is home to 22 million people in an urban area the size of Jacksonville, FL. New construction dots the city, but not fast enough to replace crumbling residential buildings and spotty infrastructure.
Looking down at a typical Delhi street scene from Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Delhi’s largest Sikh temple
As tourists, we’re discouraged from giving handouts of food or money. There’s a larger strategy at play to quell the national poverty problem. But try ignoring a toothless grin from an elderly lady at the train station or the children, undernourished and dressed in dirty rags, wading through traffic begging for change from passersby who drive a new Audi or Mercedes-Benz. These aren’t the guys in a Columbia jacket standing on the freeway ramp with a “Why lie, I need a beer” sign. This is real, life-and-death stuff and it’s heartbreaking.
Government propaganda encourages a “green” Delhi, yet trash piles up in the streets. An editorial in The Times of India newspaper claimed (with tongue firmly planted in cheek) that throwing trash in the street is part of the national identity. The government is also encouraging the use of toilets instead of doing business in the open. Since October 2014, a government program has provided more than 500,000 toilets in homes across the country, but is fighting a perception that indoor toilets are unhygienic.
Yet, in a situation that seems unresolvable, India is trying to move forward. The country was still buzzing from President Obama’s visit the week before we arrived. When we told people we were from America, they’d reply with a big grin and say “Obama!” More importantly, they see that the U.S. finally understands the seriousness of India’s successful development.
Today’s India is a country breaking free of an imperial past. Despite its ancient history, it’s only been independent from the British since 1947. It’s a country resetting the expectations imposed by a caste system that determines a person’s lot in life simply by the family they’re born into. There’s unprecedented access to education, yet many are still not participating, young women in particular.
My goal is that this is the last of the “book report” posts about India… our travels through the country were amazing, inspiring and enlightening. But, to present India only through the lens of its natural beauty is to do a disservice to the realities facing its people and the efforts of those who have literally given their lives in the development of the nation (Mahatma Gandhi and his daughter-in-law Indira Gandhi to name a few).
The world is a big place. We’ve tried our best to take advantage of our current locale to visit parts of the world that previously seemed unreachable. In August 2014, we spent two weeks traversing Australia. Japan on its own could fill years of travels, but we’ve started chipping away with trips to Kyoto and Osaka, Fukuoka and Mt. Fuji among others. However, our latest adventure has been the most epic yet. Spanning 33 days, three countries and every transportation method imaginable, we’ve had a taste of southern Asia that’s left us hungry for more.
From Tokyo to Delhi, Kathmandu to Bangkok… our 2015 tour de Southeast Asia. Click on the image for a closer view.
Beginning in Delhi, India, we toured the northern part of the world’s seventh largest country before crossing into Nepal. From Kathmandu, we flew to Thailand, where we lounged on amazing white sand beaches, explored national parks, lived with the locals and wandered through one of the world’s greatest cities.
A couple on vacation from Krabi helped us get settled in Kiriwong
Along the way, we met amazing people with both heartbreaking and heartwarming stories. We experienced the “real” India, Nepal and Thailand, but could also see the impact that tourism is having on the identity of these cultures. We ate what the locals ate and what the tourists ate—spoiler alert: they’re not the same.
The streets of Delhi
This trip was not only a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but also a perspective-altering one. The reality of seeing developing countries in different states of progress trumped anything I’ve ever read in Time or Newsweek. Our eyes and minds opened as we struggled to understand a way of life that flew in the face of what we know to be “right”—arranged marriages, extreme poverty, access to education and gender inequality.
Our made-from-mud duplex in Nepal
It also brought new opportunities. I can now say that I’ve played cricket (on the banks of the Ganges River, no less) and I generally understand this sport that mostly remains a mystery to Americans (despite being the second-most popular sport in the world). We slept in overnight trains, mud huts and bungalows—the latter included a 5 a.m. wake-up call from both a crowing rooster and a flying chicken landing on our roof with a thud. We gained a better understanding of Hinduism as well as the role it played in shaping Indian society and many of the world’s religions. And we learned a thing or two about toilets around the world (“squatty potty” anybody?).
Enough with the teasers. Let’s dive right in with a look at some of the best food we’ve ever eaten… anywhere! Meet northern Indian cuisine!
