Eye-Opening India

After a difficult departure from Egypt, complete with nearly missing our flight, a late connecting flight and a confusing pickup in Mumbai (you'd think we'd be good at this by now...), we arrived in India exhausted to the bone but wide-eyed and eager. We began with family in Mumbai for 5 days of pampering before flying to bustling Delhi, making our way to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, then leaving city life behind for the villages of Himachal Pradesh. India is a place of extremes and everything in between: light and dark, busy and quiet, a breath of fresh air and overstimulating. The more we saw, the more there was to see and still is to see. We could write endlessly about the different aromas on one street in Delhi...instead we'll settle for a few of our highlights.

Highlights Reel:

- Trains: chorus of snoring men and, of course, getting in the wrong box car every time.

- Hostel Downtown in Delhi. The upside: it was $4 a night for 2. The downside: the amenities reflected the price. Backstory: upon arrival in Delhi at 1am, 3 hours later than anticipated, we haggle for a rickshaw and try to explain that we want to go to Hostel Downtown, only to be misunderstood by the driver who thinks we want to go downtown. "We want to go to Hostel Downtown.""Yes yes, downtown!""HOSTEL Downtown!" "'Ok, downtown!" Used to the language divide, we give the driver our street name and drive up and down the street until we find the hostel.

- Humayan's Tomb in Delhi. An estate covered in tombs. Going to the wrong tomb and being wholly impressed, only to find out that we had not yet reached the real tomb. Stumbling upon the site's namesake and realizing our mistake.

- Getting lost in Old Delhi and being bombarded by all that is India. Visiting Jama Masjid and the Red Fort.

- Staying with Anya in Sidbhari. Cooking together, hanging out, dancing, taking walks, celebrating Holi and Devon's birthday.

- Finding prunes.

- The 2 bus, 1 truck journey to McLeod Ganj, home of the exiled Tibetan government and the only place to grocery shop.

- Trying to walk the holy kora around the Buddhist temple in McLeod Ganj only to be deterred by the river (and we mean RIVER) of poop exploding from a sewage pipe. Devon is jealous. TII moment.*

- Devon buys her first sari in Agra and bargains down the price.

- Visiting the Agra Fort and It Mad-Ud-Daulad, aka Baby Taj and the Taj Mahal. Devon almost falls out of rickshaw upon first sighting of Taj.

- Seeing a Bollywood movie called "3 Idiots" in Hindi in Mumbai. The message we take away is ''All is Well". Message to AMC and movie conglomerates in the US: Add reclining armchairs, intermission for pee break and waiter service to theaters everywhere.


Top 10:

1. Best place to stay: The best places are always with family. Anya's cottage in Sidbhari, Jay and Madhavi's apartment in Mumbai and house in Alibaug.

2. Best restaurant: brunch at the Lodi Gardens restaurant in Delhi

3. Best new taste: pani puri, a DIY Indian snack sold on the street, and momo's, an Indian/Tibetan dumpling also sold on the street

4. Best adventure: navigating Old Delhi and train to Himachal Pradesh

5. Location to return to: India. We've hardly skimmed the surface.

6. Best cultural experience: bargaining for everything and hearing the Dalai Lama

7. Best "we're so American"experience: every time there was no TP. "What do you mean I just use water?!"Also bucket showers, 15 people in one Jeep and no one bats an eye, "we're ALL in the backseat???" Squat toilet. "Wine and beer" shop everywhere translates to bad whiskey. Another legacy of the British...

8. Best bar: Anya's house with us as bartenders. 5pm sharp, Happy Hour! Thank you, Maria Hurdle.

9. Best local fashion: nose rings, all jewelry, glitter sweater worn by males and females alike, saris and matching salwar kamis.

10. Best "we're so lucky"moment: We had people to stay with and show us around. We won the genetic lottery and never had to experience poverty.


Sensory India:

Sounds: "chai chai chaaaaaai"hollered every 5 minutes on train and constant honking.

Smells: spices up the nostril, bugs up the nostril, potent scent of urine (imagine someone pissing up your nostril...), frying dough, curry

Sights: palatial forts, trash everywhere, people everywhere, animals - especially monkeys - and rikshaws everywhere

Spacial India: crossing the street sidestepping debris in road, almost getting hit by rikshaw, bicycles, people on foot, bullock carts, cows, water buffalo and/or elephants and horses, not to mention cars

* This Is India