Passage to (and from) India

We had originally been planning on travelling to India in October or November when the monsoon has run it’s course and the weather has cooled down. Our friend Khen Rinpoche invited us, however, to come visit him in his village in Ladakh in August. Ladakh is in Northern India, high up in the mountains (12,000 feet above sea level) and is much cooler than the rest of India (and too cold to visit in November). Very sadly, however, about a week before we planned to go, huge flash floods hit Ladakh, a dry, high-desert area unaccustomed to so much rain. The main city, Leh, was terribly damaged, many people were killed and hundreds more are homeless. (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gLb2kMuLUyJJ_gkmLQfqKyfvNDuA) . Khen Rinpoche and his village of Stok were reportedly okay as they were on higher ground. Given the situation, we decided to postpone our visit, but that wasn’t until we had already arrived in New Delhi.

Delhi was a major challenge for us. Maybe it was because we had just come from Japan, or that we had forgotten what living in Egypt was like, or that we had over-estimated the trickle down of economic growth of India, or the state department warnings about travel in India, but it was major culture shock! Our hotel was in the heart of New Delhi. In contrast to Old Delhi, New Delhi was a city planned out by the British in the early 20^th century and was completed only shortly before Indian independence. The hotel was actually part of the New Delhi city design. It was beautiful and had a colonial feel to it – white, opulent and palm trees everywhere. A high wall also surrounded it with armed guards at the entrance who inspected our car as we arrived (the kind of thing that both does and does not put you at ease).

Our first outing from the hotel was just a walk down to Connaught Place, a large roundabout with a shopping area around it only about a half-mile from the hotel. I thought it was strange as the concierge wished us good luck as we exited the hotel, but thought he was just being nice. We needed it!

Unbeknownst to us, all of Connaught Place was under construction for the upcoming Commonwealth Games (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/CWG-2010-Dug-up--delayed-CP-down-in-dumps/articleshow/6310025.cms) . The facades of the building were half chipped off and being repaired, the streets and sidewalks were dug up, and there were giant pits and holes everywhere (completely unmarked). On top of this was the insane traffic pouring through the now dirt streets, the street hawkers and beggars and sticky heat (about 90 degrees and 95% humidity). We lasted about an hour in the chaos.

The hot weather made sightseeing more challenging than it might have usually been. The heat just zapped our energy. We did manage to go out to see Humayan’s tomb (the inspiration for the Taj Mahal) and visit the Gandhi museum.

Emma and David At Humuyan's Tomb

Assending the stairs to the top of the tomb and inside in front of the carved windows

Walking in Gandhi's footsteps...

We also made the huge trek out to Agra to see the Taj Mahal – 8 hours of driving to travel about 70 miles each way – but we made it. It was Indian Independence day so it was pretty full, with tons of security, but it was spectacular nonetheless. It is situated on a hill with a big river behind it, so it always has that look of “floating”. We kept hoping a monsoon would hit to cool us down as we could hear the thunder booming in the distance but no such luck.

One of the nights we were in Delhi we were invited by a guy in the Delhi chapter of Dylan’s entrepreneur group to come to his son’s birthday party. Emma and David had a great time – they had ice cream and candy galore and a bouncer. Everyone we met was so nice and welcoming. Emma was especially excited because another guy and his wife were there with their 10-year old daughter and she and Emma really hit it off.

Off to Singapore!