Saturday16 April 2016
Delhi
If I were to attempt to write all I have seen and experienced in just the past two days, I would be spending all my time at the computer instead of adding more incredible moments. So I must confess that while I hope other readers are enjoying this blog, my main purpose in writing is keep a journal for myself that I can look back on after the trip is over. Without these notes, my mind would be a blur. Admitting that, I will also have to be more abbreviated in my descriptions and just stick to the itinerary if I am to get through this at all.
So I travel back two days to
Thursday 14 April 2016
Varanasi
After the overwhelming experience of the ghats last evening, I have an extraordinarily sound and sweet sleep—the best I've had in days. Could be that all this moving around is catching up with me, or it could be the effect of the Hindu ritualistic atmosphere. But I am currently enjoying another buffet breakfast after last night’s dinner at the hotel which offered a surprising number of selections on the buffet, including Indian, Italian, Chinese, and some strange things with which I am unfamiliar, but taste very good, like Hawaiian noodles (with, strangely, no pineapple). Service is very obliging, but as soon as I answer yes when the waiter asks if I am enjoying the food, he brings me yet another new dish to taste. And yes, I am eating more Indian food that I find very satisfying (although I supplement it with European and Chinese items), especially the black dal, which has to cook for at least 18 hours. I won't be making that at home!
It is easy to escape the horrible reminders of this country’s third-world status in the pristine cocoons of the fine hotels (except for the occasional brief power outages), but the streets are an instant reminder of how the majority of people here actually live.
I have arranged an additional tour this morning on the recommendation of the Audley agent. Rather than visiting Saranath, the site of the Buddha's first sermon but not much else, I arrange to return to the Ganges at sunrise with the same guide who led me there last evening. Again we hire a small boat to take us out on the river. The two visits--at sunset and at sunrise--provide the most interesting contrasts between the night-time rituals and the more mundane early morning activities of washing laundry, bathing, exercising, and preparing for the day. This visit also gives me an opportunity to focus more on the details of the ghats and the temples themselves, seeing (and photographing) the colorful details in daylight.
I return to the hotel for breakfast at 8am. The most unusual and tasty item is the freshly-squeezed watermelon juice. I am probably eating more fresh fruit on this trip (watermelon, pineapple, papaya, mango, melons of all kinds) that I ever have. I have time for a two-hour nap before packing and the drive to the airport. All the local guides and drivers have been outstanding. I feel well taken care of and safe everywhere I go.
There is lots of security at the Varanasi airport (as there is all over India, including hotels), and I arrive with plenty of time to spare. I successfully and easily use my new chip-enhanced credit card to get more rupees at an ATM at the airport. Jet Airlines, India's second largerst, allows me to make a lunch choice when I check in on line. The flight to Delhi is just over one hour and we arrive a few minutes early. The Delhi airport, brand new, has to win the record for the longest trek from the gate to luggage pickup--and this is just in the domestic terminal. Fortunately, there are moving walkways for a good part of this very long hike.
A turbaned Audley agent is waiting for me as I emerge from the luggage area and we are soon on our way to the hotel. It's abouj a 45-minute drive, the last part of it through the beautiful embassy district, with trees, gardens, and flowers lining both sides of the wide boulevard. There are more embassies gathered here than on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, DC. The drive is shorter and more pleasant than yesterday, my guide tells me, because today is the first day of an alternate odd-even license plate number driving plan. On each day, except for taxis and other public vehicles, only 50 percent of Delhi's autos will be on the roads. The air is already clearer than the newspapers have been reporting.
I am staying at The Claridges Hotel, a pseudo-colonial three-story structure, built in the 1970s. Once on the grounds of the hotel, I am transported back to the world of the British Raj--fun but not very authentic. I have a story to tell about my unhappiness with the room I am given--the first problem of the trip--but since it is time for dinner, the full story will have to wait for the next blog. I will say that the problem was resolved very quickly when I complained the next morning, and it was entirely the fault of the hotel not Audley Travel or any of its people.
On that note of suspense, I leave you with pictures.
Delhi
If I were to attempt to write all I have seen and experienced in just the past two days, I would be spending all my time at the computer instead of adding more incredible moments. So I must confess that while I hope other readers are enjoying this blog, my main purpose in writing is keep a journal for myself that I can look back on after the trip is over. Without these notes, my mind would be a blur. Admitting that, I will also have to be more abbreviated in my descriptions and just stick to the itinerary if I am to get through this at all.
So I travel back two days to
Thursday 14 April 2016
Varanasi
After the overwhelming experience of the ghats last evening, I have an extraordinarily sound and sweet sleep—the best I've had in days. Could be that all this moving around is catching up with me, or it could be the effect of the Hindu ritualistic atmosphere. But I am currently enjoying another buffet breakfast after last night’s dinner at the hotel which offered a surprising number of selections on the buffet, including Indian, Italian, Chinese, and some strange things with which I am unfamiliar, but taste very good, like Hawaiian noodles (with, strangely, no pineapple). Service is very obliging, but as soon as I answer yes when the waiter asks if I am enjoying the food, he brings me yet another new dish to taste. And yes, I am eating more Indian food that I find very satisfying (although I supplement it with European and Chinese items), especially the black dal, which has to cook for at least 18 hours. I won't be making that at home!
It is easy to escape the horrible reminders of this country’s third-world status in the pristine cocoons of the fine hotels (except for the occasional brief power outages), but the streets are an instant reminder of how the majority of people here actually live.
I have arranged an additional tour this morning on the recommendation of the Audley agent. Rather than visiting Saranath, the site of the Buddha's first sermon but not much else, I arrange to return to the Ganges at sunrise with the same guide who led me there last evening. Again we hire a small boat to take us out on the river. The two visits--at sunset and at sunrise--provide the most interesting contrasts between the night-time rituals and the more mundane early morning activities of washing laundry, bathing, exercising, and preparing for the day. This visit also gives me an opportunity to focus more on the details of the ghats and the temples themselves, seeing (and photographing) the colorful details in daylight.
 |
| My Local Guide |
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| Sunrise on the Ganges |
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| Washing Sheets from Hotels |
 |
| Young Monks at Morning Prayer |
I return to the hotel for breakfast at 8am. The most unusual and tasty item is the freshly-squeezed watermelon juice. I am probably eating more fresh fruit on this trip (watermelon, pineapple, papaya, mango, melons of all kinds) that I ever have. I have time for a two-hour nap before packing and the drive to the airport. All the local guides and drivers have been outstanding. I feel well taken care of and safe everywhere I go.
There is lots of security at the Varanasi airport (as there is all over India, including hotels), and I arrive with plenty of time to spare. I successfully and easily use my new chip-enhanced credit card to get more rupees at an ATM at the airport. Jet Airlines, India's second largerst, allows me to make a lunch choice when I check in on line. The flight to Delhi is just over one hour and we arrive a few minutes early. The Delhi airport, brand new, has to win the record for the longest trek from the gate to luggage pickup--and this is just in the domestic terminal. Fortunately, there are moving walkways for a good part of this very long hike.
A turbaned Audley agent is waiting for me as I emerge from the luggage area and we are soon on our way to the hotel. It's abouj a 45-minute drive, the last part of it through the beautiful embassy district, with trees, gardens, and flowers lining both sides of the wide boulevard. There are more embassies gathered here than on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, DC. The drive is shorter and more pleasant than yesterday, my guide tells me, because today is the first day of an alternate odd-even license plate number driving plan. On each day, except for taxis and other public vehicles, only 50 percent of Delhi's autos will be on the roads. The air is already clearer than the newspapers have been reporting.
I am staying at The Claridges Hotel, a pseudo-colonial three-story structure, built in the 1970s. Once on the grounds of the hotel, I am transported back to the world of the British Raj--fun but not very authentic. I have a story to tell about my unhappiness with the room I am given--the first problem of the trip--but since it is time for dinner, the full story will have to wait for the next blog. I will say that the problem was resolved very quickly when I complained the next morning, and it was entirely the fault of the hotel not Audley Travel or any of its people.
On that note of suspense, I leave you with pictures.
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| What's Wrong with This Picture? |
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