Incredible India

Incredible is defined as "extraordinary" or "hard to believe". So when the India tourism campaign claims "Incredible India" -- I would definitely agree! Last Sunday we returned from our two week trip in India. Those two weeks were full of travel, relaxation, new discoveries, fun, and gratefulness!

In those two weeks we started in Mumbai, India and then flew down to the Southern India state of Kerala where we spent about half the trip, before heading back up to the north to Delhi, Agra & Varanasi. The weather was great while we were there -- it was sunny almost every day and we didn't see one raindrop! (However, that was part of the plan by going during the dry season) Although it was "winter", in the south it was hot and humid (highs that were 30+ C/90+ F) and in the north it was very comfortable during the day with just a jacket needed at night (highs that were 25-29 C/80-90 F). All the warm weather was a welcome break from the Canadian winter.

Rather than describe each day of the two weeks we were in country, I thought I would just highlight some of the main parts of the trip. For more of a chronological look of our trip, you can follow our travels through my online photo album.

FIVE SENSES:

In the travel books, they describe India as a place that will succumb all five of your senses. The two weeks in India my senses were heighten to a whole new level -- there was a constant bombardment of sights, sounds, feels .... and most definitely, smells! There were the good smells of incense burning and food cooking, but then there were also the smells of cow dung, human urine and a wide variety of other "interesting" smells. Unfortunately, the last two days we were in India, Alex got sick, followed by me the next day. It was during those times that the smells became even more magnified and potent.

Part of the reason it smells... Street side Urinals (Delhi)!

Cows in the alleyway, also make for interesting smells.

The spice market also brought a rush of smells to our nose! After a few minutes inside I was sneezing!

A SENSE OF GRATITUDE & CASTES:

After spending that time in India, I really gained an appreciation for the life and opportunities we have in North America. Although Alex and I don't live in the most magnificent neighborhood of Calgary, compared to Indians it feels like Beverly Hills.

Personally, I think what was hardest for me during the trip was seeing the extreme poverty of some of the people and the conditions they lived in. We saw people living on the streets where it looked like they claimed a portion of the sidewalk and then put their remaining household items on the sidewalk and hung their laundry from lines along the street. Plus there were those people who basically lived in a makeshift tent, that would barely hold up if there was a gust of wind. Of all the third world places Alex and I have been so far (mostly Asia), this was the most impoverished.

Tent residences setup against half demolished buildings.

However, due to the caste system within India, there are also those Indians who are very well off. We went to a couple of places in Delhi that exhibited that side of things. Connaught Place and Khan Market were both retail shopping areas that housed a variety of western based stores and high-end restaurants. In both areas of town, it was distinctly separated by either a fence or a main street from 'normal' India. Often times the things in these stores would be just as expensive, or more, than back home. The underground subway system in Delhi almost seemed like a completely separate world than the streets above it, as it was mostly a transportation system for the middle to upper class.

Upscale District - Connaught Place

LANGUAGE:

We were really surprised with how much English we found in print and spoken. Almost all the signs were in English, except for some remote areas of the country. Although Hindu is one of the main languages of India, not everyone speaks it, so English has become one of the common languages among the people. But if there is a new word in the Hindu language, sometimes they'll just use the English word -- to create "Hinglish". In places, like domestic airports I especially noticed Indians using English even with one another. Normally when we travel we try to learn a few key words of the local language, but that wasn't the case in India as we were almost always able to converse with someone in English.

CRICKET - TRULY A NATIONAL OBSESSION:

Before arriving in India, we knew cricket was big there! But it was fun to observe how many cricket games took place in a wide variety of places. We saw one cricket game in the middle of a Mumbai side street, lots of them in a Mumbai park, and then even more in the fields of the Alleppey backwaters, plus almost any time you saw a sports television, it was cricket. It didn't matter the caste or age, cricket is a truly international pastime!

Shivaji Park full of cricket games

Locals playing cricket in the fields.

BACKWATERS OF ALLEPPEY:

One of the first rules of traveling in India is not to drink water that does not come from a sealed bottle. However, this certainly isn't the case for the locals, who have built up their immunity over the years! This was especially obvious when we were in the backwaters of Kerala. The area of Southern India is full of little canals that weave in and out, with the locals making their residence along the edges. The water is not only a livelihood for their transportation and jobs, but it served as a main part of their household -- as bathroom & kitchen! They would wash their dirty dishes and laundry in the water, and then use the same water to brush their teeth and bathe. However, probably what is the most repulsive is that the same water serves as a toilet and sewage. On the local ferry boat that we took from Alleppey to Kottayam they had open air toilets at the back of boat, where the toilet was basically just a hole in the floor that opened up to the water passing below. Needless to say, we didn't swim in any waters in India, except the ocean.

Swimming in the canals.

Toilet in the back of the local ferry boat.

CRAZY BUS RIDES:

While in Southern India we spent a few days in the hills. Not only was it a welcomed break from the Southern heat, but it was a beautiful area with endless hills of tea plantations and the Periyar National Park. In fact, this was probably our favorite spot in India. We enjoyed spending the time at the National Park and seeing wildlife like elephants, monkeys, water buffalo and large squirrels, although we weren't lucky enough to see any of the 50 or so tigers who also call the park their home. Outside the park, we visited a tea plantation, a spice plantation (learning about all the various spices they grow in that region) and the natural beauty of the region.

Although it was our favorite, the transportation of getting to and from there, was probably our least favorite. The only way from the coast to the hill station was by bus. To get there, we were able to break up the trip by first taking a 3 hour local ferry for about 10 cents. The ferry journeyed through the backwater canals of Alleppey to Kottayam. It was fairly relaxing and provided some great scenery. When we arrived in Kottayam we boarded a bus to Kumily for a 2.5 hour bus ride. However, the bus ride was anything but relaxing; although it was entertaining....

We took seats at the front of the bus, which gave us a firsthand look at the events laying out in front of us. Even outside the hills, I don't think there is a straight road in Southern India -- we were constantly twisting and turning on the winding roads. As a result, there are blind curves about 90% of the time. However, this doesn't stop the buses or other road traffic from being slowed by the vehicle in front of them. In our long bus, we would constantly be blindly passing other buses! Although there are lines on the road, they aren't really adhered to -- so most of the time we were also across the middle line. There were about five times on our trip up to Kumily that I thought we were going to get in an accident, but all five times the driver avoided any type of crash! One of those times I thought we were going to take-out a mother and little boy walking on the side of the road, and another time I thought we were going to run right into a pile of rocks in the middle of our lane of traffic (although there was a warning sign, the driver didn't seem to reduce his speed for until the last possible moment). Meanwhile, the entire bus ride was filled with noises of honking horns! Although their driving seems insane by our standards, I do have to admit that they are very talented drivers. I don't think I could ever drive in India -- as city driving is basically done in the same manner.

Rocks in the middle of the road.

The bus ride on the way back to the coast was very similar; the difference being that it was twice as long! We were planning on just going back to Kottayam to catch the train, but bookable train tickets were sold out, so that just left the bus. In Kumily, the drivers of the bus told us that the bus would go directly from Kumily to Varkala; however, it didn't. The worst part was that this bus was more of a local bus, so the driver would stop often and for people on the side of the road. The bus filled up pretty full as we got closer to the coast. Luckily we had our seats, but many of the people were standing in the aisles (packed in like sardines) as we went along the winding roads. So by the time we got to the last stop of the bus (5.5 to 6 hours later) we found out that it wasn't Varkala; we had to get a taxi for another hour ride to our beach accommodation. After a very bumpy ride, the taxi driver couldn't find our resort, so we got out and had to get a local rickshaw driver to take us. Luckily, transportation in India is cheap -- our bus tickets were about $2 each, the taxi was about $14, and the rickshaw was $3. After starting our trip at 12:30 that afternoon, we finally got to our resort at 8:45 p.m.! At that point we were just glad to be at the beach for two full days!

The bus of our 6-hour ride.

THE TAJ MAHAL:

We couldn't go to India without visiting the acclaimed Taj Mahal. We visited the monument early in the morning right after the sun rose. When we first walked through the gate and saw our first glimpse of it, it was pretty breathtaking. It's just such a magnificent structure that is symmetrically balanced no matter how you look at it. We spent most of the time taking photos of one of the seven Wonders of the World before heading back to our hotel for breakfast. However, we probably only spent a couple hours there, as there's not much to see inside the grounds. It's a huge tourist trap, which is demonstrated by the entrance fees. For Indians it only cost 10 rupees, but for foreigners it is 750 rupees!!! (The price differences between foreigners and Indians is pretty common at most tourist sites in India) Once we were inside it was probably about 98% foreigners. However, it was definitely worth seeing!

INDIAN McDONALDS:

Although it's a very different place, you can't escape McDonalds while in India. However, it's not the same menu that you would find at McDonalds around the world. As a marketing major, I love to see how businesses have localized their product offers to meet the needs of a new international market. In India, McDonalds had to significantly alter its menu, as eating beef is not allowed by Hindus. So instead of the Big Mac, they have created the Chicken Maharaja Mac, the McSpicy Paneer, McAloo Tikki and the Vegetarian Pizza McPuff, with no beef at all on the menu. (Sometimes you will see beef on the menu, but it is probably buffalo meat instead.) We tried the Chicken Maharaja Mac, which had an Indian sauce on it to tailor to the Indian palette. The Mac was really cheap compared to American standards -- only about $1.80. However, like many other places in less developed countries, for locals McDonalds is often just frequented by the more well-off individuals, as prices are expensive compared to normal street food. But the ice cream is cheap -- only 20 cents per cone!

Chicken Maharaja Mac

ANIMALS:

Although we saw some wildlife in Periyar National Park, we also came across several animals, especially in the cities. As the cow is a holy animal for Hindus, it was common to see it within the busy intersections of the city. What always surprised me was how the cows would just be standing or laying down in the busy street traffic and not be phased by the vehicles passing by or the persistent honking of horns.

Also, we saw hundreds of dogs while we were in India. There is not much spaying and neutering so many of the dogs are street dogs. But for the most part, it seems like the dogs get treated pretty well and can find enough to eat, either from the trash or from people. The dogs too would just sit in the middle of busy sidewalks and for the most part seemed relatively calm. I'm not sure if they seem calm though because they've learned to do that, or they just don't have much energy due to lack of nutrition. However, we didn't come across many street cats. Later I read that Hindus regard the cat as even lower than the rat, so that might explain why you don't see many of them around.

Nursing mother dog to many of the puppies.

Cows loaded up in the flatbed of a truck.

Another thing that surprised me was the number of monkeys we say inside the city. Occasionally I would look up and see a monkey crossing an electric line to get to the other side of the street.

OLD & NEW NAMES:

Throughout India, and especially in Mumbai, you'll come across two names for the same place. The reason being was that most places were originally named by the British. However, after India gained independence from Britain they eventually decided to rename the places to have more Hindu names. Therefore, many of the streets and bazaars would have new and old names, but most of the time the locals still refer to those places as the old name. This was the same with towns or cities. For example, the old name of Mumbai is Bombay and Alleppey is now called Alapphuza.

WOMEN & DRESS:

For the most part, women are respected within India. In many situations you'll see women being treated with chivalry. For example, whenever going through a security line (which was at every subway station, airport and some tourist attractions) they had a separate line for women where a woman officer would use the security wand to scan you behind a curtained box.

However, the male is definitely still the dominant figure in the relationship. Whenever I was with Alex, people would always speak to him. Even when ordering food, the server would just take the order from him and then not even ask me what I would want, because it was assumed that he would be ordering me for me as well. At check-in at the airport for one of our flights, the attendant asked Alex, "Does she belong to you?"

But if I was ever alone and walking along the streets, I would sometimes feel uncomfortable. A couple of times I had some whistles or shout-outs by men and see their wandering eyes. Therefore, I almost always wore clothing that covered my upper legs and shoulders, which is how most Indian women dress. I was actually surprised how many women I still saw in the traditional sari and attire. There were a few girls I saw with more western attire like jeans, but it relatively few. However, what I loved the most was the very bright and beautiful fabrics of the women's saris.

In the north, the men would just wear pants and a shirt, but in the south many men would wear a long cloth that wraps around like a skirt. Then as it gets warm, they pull it up halfway and tie it around their waist.

Southern India man wearing the traditional garment that looks like a skirt.

FOOD:

The food we had in India was delicious! I was a little afraid that there would be some really spicy dishes that our tame North American taste buds wouldn't be able to handle. But we would often ask for a "medium" version of the dish. However, there were only a couple of dishes that were so spicy that our mouths felt like they were on fire. In the South, it was more rice based meals and in the North, it was more flour-based products like the chapatis, naan and roti. In the South, we had some really tasty curries -- I really enjoyed these because I could taste some of the cinnamon in them, which is one of my favorites!

One of our favorite meals was the Thali plate, which has about 2-3 curries and/or salads along with rice or roti or chapati. But the desserts are also tasty! Because they have spicy meals, they have the sweets to follow to counteract the spiciness. One of my favorite desserts was the Indian ice cream, kulfi. It is similar to normal ice cream but more creamy.

Thali Dish

Kulfi

The local way to eat in India is with your hands, although almost all the time the servers would provide flatware for us to use. However, it is a considered bad to eat with your left hand in India (due to hygiene reasons, as the left hand is used to wipe). Personally, I was okay at meals to just use my right hand (although you quickly realize how much you need your left hand) but it was when I was snacking while doing something else (like writing) where I would often find myself using my left hand by mistake. But I figured I used my hand sanitizer on both hands so I was okay. ;-)

We had a great time in India, and it will be a trip to remember. I think we would go back again someday, but probably not for a while -- there are too many other places in the world to see first! But we truly enjoyed the people and places of India.