No Idea About India

So. India.

If you’ve ever been to India, you’ll understand that it is impossible to explain. The thought of completing this blog makes me a little sick to my stomach because I know there is no way I can even come close to giving you all a real taste of this country.

Day 1: Our ship was docked in Southern India, in Chennai. Chennai is the dirtiest place I’ve ever been. Everything is dirty, from the ground under you to the sky above you. Some friends and I went shopping courtesy of a rickshaw. Never ridden in a rickshaw? You should—see how the rest of the world drives. Our driver kept taking us to expensive stores that would give him kick-backs if we bought something. Finally he understood that we were looking for cheap market shops, and he took us to a great store where many of you will be getting gifts from! My friends and I also went to two temples. The Hindu religion is so complicated, ornate, beautiful, strange. I prayed to some cows in an enclosure/altar!

Then, we went out to dinner at a nice vegetarian restaurant where the waiter assured us that the food is “Not Good!” Hmmm… Then our rickshaw drivers said they would take us to a cool hookah bar. Forty-five minutes in a rickshaw later, we were in a residential area where the drivers said we could buy hookah from the man in one of the houses! We wanted a cool bar where we could hang out; they were trying to sell us hookah among other drugs, I’m sure.

Day 2: Well, technically this was still part of Day 1? After dinner in Chennai, I stayed up all night packing for my trip. After no sleep, at 4am, I hopped on the bus for the airport to fly from Chennai to New Delhi in pursuit of the Taj Mahal. I slept through the entire flight, from before we took off until landing. Then, we toured some forts in Delhi before boarding the train for Agra. The train was delayed over 2 hours and due to some sort of confusion we didn’t have seats on the express train. This train ride was almost 5 hours long and was “first class.” I really hope that is enough said because I truly don’t even want to remember that train ride ever again. We got to the hotel a 1am. That day I ate breakfast at 3:30am, lunch at about 2pm, and then had dinner at 1am. Not my favorite day. To say the least.

Day 3: Is this still part of Day 2? I certainly don’t know. After 3 hours of sleep, we woke up to see the sunrise at the Taj Mahal. I don’t think I could or should describe the Taj Mahal. It is not something words, photographs, or films can accurately replicate. Go to the Taj Mahal. Nothing has ever taken my breath away with such magnitude.

After the sunrise, we went to the Red Fort at Agra and then went shopping at a local market. The aggressiveness of the sellers and hawkers in India makes Morocco and Ghana’s street markets sound like a cake walk.

Then, we went back to the Taj for the sunset. Sunrise was better because the Taj was virtually empty. By sunset, it was so crowded one could barely walk. My pictures from the evening are littered with other tourists, from other parts of India and from all over the world.

We took the express train (thank god!) back to New Delhi. Waiting in the train station was the hardest part of the entire trip. We were sitting ducks for beggar children. “Slumdog Millionaire” may not accurately represent a great deal of India, but it sure got it right in its depiction of the beggars. Many had deformities that were obviously self-inflicted. Well, one can hope they chose to have limbs cut off. The truth is, many of those children’s limbs were mutilated in hopes for their parents or guardians or gang-leaders to make more money.

Then, we settled into the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. Flat screen TVs in every room, two queen size beds, huge shower with a seat, etc. If I could have even processed anything at that point, the contrast between the children beggars and my hotel room might have bothered me. But India is so overwhelming, it’s literally impossible to even make connections like that.

Day 4: We left New Delhi for the ship in Chennai, but not before stopping at an amazing Hindu temple. It was built in the 12th century and had been built and re-built as Islam reigned, then various families took over the land. I’ve never been in front of anything as old as these captivating ruins. Our flight was inconsequential, and we finally, finally, finally made it back to the ship.

Day 5: Today I went to an Indian Film studio. India produces more films than any other country in the world, including the USA and China. They know their movies. Still, their cinema is not reputable in film studies outside of India and many of their post production techniques use antiquated technology. I enjoyed our tour and discussions with Indian directors immensely.

Now, I’m back on the ship and we’re about to sail away, headed towards Vietnam. One cannot even begin to grapple India in only six days. I certainly will not pretend to know India. It is a wild beast. I loved it and I hated it. I never want to come back; I need to come back. Maybe in a few days I can better describe my trip. This may just be my least descriptive blog yet, which is ironic because India is the most complex country I’ve been to yet. There’s nothing really to say though except maybe that you all need to see India for yourselves.