Our final morning in Turkey was spent enjoying our cave hotel in
Cappadocia. From there it was an hour
drive to Kayseri airport, a quick flight to Istanbul, and a flight to
Delhi. With the exception of a lost bag
in Venice way back in September, we have had remarkably good fortune with
flying. Call me crazy, but I love the
traveling with the kids. They have
become quite independent in packing and carrying their stuff. To the dismay of porters around the globe,
they love pushing the luggage trolleys.
They have a level of energy, tolerance, and stamina that I hadn’t
anticipated and the transfers, airports and flights have been unexpectedly
enjoyable.
The 5 hour flight from Istanbul to Delhi or New Delhi was a tough flight. We left around 7 p.m. local time, and boarded
a fancy new airbus 330 that had an entertainment console in the back of each
headrest. Internet connectivity, games,
and movies oh movies. Traci and I had
no control as the kids very subtly started with playing brain games (chess,
card matching, brain teasers) but as soon as we were settled into our books the
kids were settled into the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie and laughing
embarrassingly loud (they still haven’t realized that when one is wearing
headphones, what comes out of their mouths is approximately 300% louder than normal). After movie #1 they weren’t tired. They were so wired that sleep wasn’t an
option, so we thought what the heck and they enjoyed a second movie. So we landed at midnight which was 3:30 a.m.
local time in Delhi, and breezed through customs and baggage. We made it to our guest house at 5:00 a.m.,
the nearest the Janssen clan has come to an all-nighter. After about 5 hours of sleep we enjoyed an
early afternoon breakfast then met our amazing guide Manjeet. We toured Delhi (old and new….read ancient
and British) and it was an amazing contrast.
Old Delhi was pure chaos, narrow streets, crowded markets, cars,
rickshaws, bikes, trucks, animals and pedestrians. New Delhi was vast green spaces, wide
boulevards, roundabouts, parks, and relative calm. It reminded me of the grand spaces of
Washington D.C.. We visited some of the
key attractions then returned to our bed and breakfast (Saubhag Guest House) where
our hostess Meera treated us to an Indian cooking lesson. Her humble bed and breakfast was one of our
favorite places we’ve stayed to date, largely due to her energy, optimism and
generosity.
Our stay in Delhi, like many places, was far too brief, and we boarded
a plane for Varanasi. Varanasi is in
North Central India, and is said to be the oldest, continuously inhabited city
in the world. It is also one of the
holiest cities in India, the religious capital of Hinduism, with millions of Hindus
making the pilgrimage to bathe in and cremate their dead on the banks of the
Ganges River. It is also a very holy
place for Buddhists, home of the place where Buddha gave his first sermon after
his enlightenment. We did some brief touring
of a few important sites, but what will remain seared in all of our memories is
the almost incomprehensible squalor. The
streets are packed with vendors selling every possible item imaginable. The noise and crush of people is unreal. Cows are sacred to Hindus (who make up about
75% of the population) and they roam the paved streets, eating garbage and
resting where they like, roaming through traffic, in the alleys, etc.. Cows rule.
I think the cows have it better than the people. Our first afternoon was spent roaming the
alleys of the old town and it was pure, unadulterated sensory overload. The smells ranged from a vile mix of sewage
from a wide variety of animals (humans, cows, water buffalo, donkeys, cats, dogs,
pigs, goats, sheep, monkeys and birds)…to incredibly sensuous spices and
incense. Human sights ranged from lovely
ladies dressed in incredibly bright colors, with ready smiles to grubby men
urinating in the open every few hundred feet, to dirty children begging at the
command of their parents, to young boys happily playing cricket, to corpses
being cremated at the river’s edge; their ashes swept into the river. Monkeys topped many buildings, goats ran
free, water buffalo were herded along the main streets, filthy dogs were
everywhere, and the cows, oh the cows strutted along like the kings and queens
they are. As if the smells and sights
weren’t adequately stimulated, our ears were filled with the bustle of
thousands of people, the sound of voices, engines and horns of every make. Whether one travels by bus, van, car,
rickshaw, motorcycle, moped, or bicycle, the horn blaring was incessant. Rather like being a non-smoker in a room full
of smokers at the end of the day. The
noise pollution is almost unbearable. If
I never hear another blaring horn, it will be too soon.
In younger times, before kids, I think I could have roamed the streets
for many hours; not that it was that enjoyable, it was just SO different. We stayed at a decent hotel, which was a
nice retreat from the chaos with a swimming pool and incredible food which
minimized our chances of getting sick. I
felt the hypocrisy of traveling so far to see the depths of brutal life, and
then spending most of our time protected from it, yet our tired kids could only
handle so much and visitors are known to easily get sicknesses that can be
debilitating for days. The poverty is
brutal and we want our kids to be exposed to it and recognize it, but I
honestly don’t know how much is sinking in.
It is a very strange dichotomy in that we want to expose our kids, yet protect
them at the same time. A fine balance
indeed. As a good friend mentioned after
his visit here 6 or 7 years past, at the end of his visit he felt like he
needed “a Purell bath” and I couldn’t think of a more apt description.
Our itinerary in India is basically a series of 5 hour drives between destinations,
then spending 2 nights at each place.
The drives are comfortable, in a clean air conditioned van, and the
sights are fascinating. Driving in India
is like a video game. The users of the
roads seem to have a supernatural sense of spatial awareness. Every few minutes I’m sure we’re going to be
in an accident but at the last second the situation is avoided and no one
worries the least bit about it. Horns
are used incessantly, not out of anger, but to let others know where you
are. Whichever vehicle is in front of
another, no matter how miniscule the amount, has the right of way. I think we’re the only passengers in India
who wear seatbelts. Most cars on the
road are full of people, and I don’t mean 5 people. A small SUV type vehicle will have 4 in
front, 5 or 6 in the rear seat, and 3 or 4 in the back. There are small, 3-wheeled motorcycle taxis
that have a bench seat and a small cargo area.
It is not uncommon for 15-20 people to cram into one of these, an
everyday occurrence that westerners would see as an outlandish attempt for the
Guinness Book of World Records.
After Varanasi, we returned to Delhi, and boarded a van for a 5 hour
drive south to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.
With Varanasi’s reputation for filth, I was expecting Agra to be much
more pristine. Au contraire. The poverty and filth from the crush of
humanity were the same. Perhaps a trend
was becoming apparent? One trend breaker
was the Taj Mahal itself. Yet another
“wow” or “Aha!” moment for the Janssen clan.
Much like the Acropolis, the Great Pyramids, or the Colloseum, the Taj
Mahal is jaw-dropping. The immensity,
the symmetry, the lush gardens, and the incredible splendor of a building that
is so huge yet has every square foot bedecked with incredibly fine
materials. I don’t think its
ostentatious display of wealth has an equal.
We enjoyed a few other sites such as the “Red Fort” where the Moughal
rulers lived in splendor with their thousands of servants, dozens of wives, hundreds
of concubines, and thousands of soldiers.
We toured a small local village across the river from the Taj
Mahal. Our guide was from a US-funded
aid program. They taught the locals how
to farm and harvest various crops, obtained clean water from several wells, and
started a primary school. Despite the
progress they’ve made (without them the kids would have zero chance for an
education), it was still so vile that we could hardly stand it. Every step was greeted by hundreds of flies,
grimy animals and dung…and this village was a model of progress. We were truly thankful to have a clean hotel
as a retreat, with the kids enjoying their first swimming in several
months. It was incredible to see the Taj
Mahal, but man oh man the poverty is incessant.
Following Agra, our travels continued southwest to Jaipur. Jaipur is an area that was ruled for hundreds
of years by the Maharajahs who were basically uber wealthy “kings” who ruled
vast tracks of land, similar to a medium-sized U.S. state. The forts and palaces of the Maharajas are
spectacular. We also visited the
observatory, where a brilliant Maharaja established a “park” containing dozens
of astronomical instruments for calculating the positions of constellations,
stars and the sun. It has a massive
sundial that can display the time down to 20 second intervals. As in Agra, the senses were overwhelmed with
too much exposure, so the afternoons allowed a bit of time swimming and
studying.
Next stop was Shahpura, halfway between Jaipur and Udaipur, our final
destination. We stayed in a guesthouse
of the former Maharaja of the area. 6
years ago the son and widow of this man converted a 50 acre estate into some
really nice guest rooms. We were able to
get a bit of exercise for the first time since leaving Austria, and enjoyed a
respite from so many scheduled activities with some biking, running and lots of
pool time. The grounds are swarming with
wild peacocks and peahens. First time I
heard that distinction but our guide is a naturalist and I will defer to him
rather than fact check. Very cool as
these magnificent birds are very common.
Last stop...Udaipur. After
another 5 hour drive (which despite the jostling we all really enjoyed as we
were able to sightsee and each person read for at least 4 hours) we arrived in
Udaipur. The southernmost point of our
trip, Udaipur is a relatively small town.
Everyone thinks it is small as it only has a population of around 1
million people! Udaipur is in an area of
small mountains and lakes, and we splurged to stay at the renowned Lake Palace
Hotel. Probably the nicest place we’ve
ever (or ever will stay), it was the summer palace of the local rulers and was
built around 250 years ago, almost entirely of marble. Incredible rooms, facilities and
service. When we arrived we were
showered by rose petals from off of the roof, and Traci can’t get on the
shuttle boat without a man escorting her with an umbrella to save her about 15
seconds of obviously unneeded sun exposure.
We had 2.5 very relaxing days, exploring the markets, biking and
enjoying the hotel. We had dinner and a
cooking lesson with a local family and the kids enjoyed some cricket and soccer
in their yard.
The disparity between rich and poor here has to be so much greater here
than anywhere in America. America’s poor
have access to food stamps, education, cell phones, televisions, and healthcare
even if via the emergency room. Many of
our poorest are our least healthy, most obese and heaviest smokers. I can’t remember the exact figure for the
United States, but I think the poverty line for an individual is around $14,000
with a family around $20k. In India, the
poverty line is drawn at about 65 cents/day.
One of the most striking things I noticed, both here and in Africa, is
the great disparity between the rural poor and the urban poor. The rural poor live really hard lives; they
have no choice but to work hard and eke out an existence, yet in doing so I
also think that they are mostly content. Their family units are strong. Their
small villages are relatively clean and orderly. They walk miles to crowded schools and
churches, walk miles to gather dirty water, and work on simple farms/plots for
a meager living. They are mostly clean, proud
and almost all are very quick to smile. The urban poor on the other hand, are so much
more destitute. Families are
broken. Living conditions are
filthy. There is little work and what
work there is doesn’t offer much of a future.
Children slip through the cracks and educating them is even more difficult. There is a huge dependency on government, and
with rampant government corruption, the cycle of poverty worsens. I’m so thankful to be living in a country
with the freedoms and opportunities that we have. While I think that most levels of our government
are inept and inefficient, I don’t think there is much corruption. Here, despite high levels of taxation, the
level of capital projects and services that is returned to the people is
dismal.
Of interest to me is that many if not most of the Indians that work
abroad want to return here. Despite the
filth and corruption, there are incredibly strong family bonds. Our guide here lives in a series of
apartments with 75 of his family members (parents, brothers, sisters, nieces,
nephews). He is a very happy, content
man, and like almost everyone we met is quick with a greeting and a smile.
I still can’t get out of my head the depths of the contrasts. On a recent morning there was a small dog,very
recently killed by a vehicle, lying in the middle of the road. Out of its nose poured bright red blood. The next vision of red is the fluttering rose
petals against the blue sky as we were greeted at the over the top luxurious hotel. Tomorrow we depart for Nepal. It will be good to hike more and think less.
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