Attitude is Everything

This is the longest post yet so please plan accordingly. Because it’s kind of long, I’ve bolded the key sentences that highlights the main points of the post so my lazy friends have a higher chance of reading this thing. Set aside some time during your day, grab a cup of chai to drink, and then you can read about our time in Jaipur, Agra and Delhi; as well as a section about how to drive in India. I also have a section with a few random thoughts at the end.

While traveling in India for an extended period of time, I would say it is almost guaranteed that you will feel like you have hit a wall at some point during the trip. While in Jaipur and Agra, we hit our wall and felt quite challenged by the Indian culture. What we have learned most from these past few days however is that our attitude is very important and it is imperative to not let these difficulties get to us.

 

Three Nights in Jaipur

The first day of our three-day Jaipur visit was decent where we had cheap and good food and later visited a textile and carpet store/”warehouse”. We weren’t necessarily looking forward to this visit because we knew it would consist of more, “yes…it’s very nice….no, we’re not going to buy it…no, we don’t want to pay to ship it home…we don’t want to carry it for the next 11 weeks…yes, it is very nice but no, we are not going to buy it.” Chacha did tell us that we could get Indian outfits made for us here though so we were looking forward to this aspect of the visit.

After much conversation, we eventually put in our orders for our clothes. Stephanie got two full Indian outfits with the shirt, pants and shawl and Caroline got one shirt and pants set as well as another shirt.

Our second day in Jaipur was the typical sight-seeing day. We were luckily able to get the foreigner student ticket price because I still had my MSU ID with me and it only cost 200 Rs each for us to see up to five sites. Even though we tried to tell Chacha that we only wanted to see two sights that day, we ended up seeing five in total.

The first site we didn’t want to go to but I think we’re glad we walked through it. The name of it was Albert Hall and it was a museum that even had a few Egyptian, Turkish and English art pieces and artifacts. I mostly liked it because the name reminded me of my Grandpa.

Outside of Albert Hall

Proof that the place was named Albert Hall

 

We did want to go to the second site which is named Janta Mantar. It was a place where astronomers use to measure various constellations and such in the sky and it was cool to see all of the massive instruments. We didn’t quite understand how they were all used and probably should have hired a guide to understand it all, but we were too cheap to do that. This was probably my favorite site of the day. Even though the palace was adjacent to this site we were luckily able to convince Chacha that we didn’t want to go to this site, mostly because it cost 300 Rs to get in and we were tired of visiting sites.

The largest instrument of the lot

Most of the instruments

The sign says to not climb on the instruments

We think this tracked the movements of various stars

A sun dial

 

The next stop was a jewelry and precious stone “warehouse” which just meant that they made all the stuff in the back area and had a fancy showroom for us to see all of their work. While the prices really weren’t that bad, we didn’t want to spend any more money. Especially after dropping more money than we expected with our clothes the night before. So we yet again played the “yes…very nice…no, I’m not going to buy it” game.

Over $40,000 on my hand

 

Next we drove just outside the city to see the fort. We enjoyed the location of the fort because it was surrounded by hills and it did look nice on the inside, of course, but it was littered with touts (obnoxious people trying to make you buy crap or pay for a guide, etc.) at the entrance area. This is where our frustration really began to heighten. We were getting tired of getting stared at more, having more people try to take their pictures with us, and people trying to scam us into buying crap just because we’re foreigners.

The surrounding wall of the fort over the surrounding ridge

Details within the fort

 

The last stop of the day was a place we don’t even know the name of and we didn’t want to go there anyway. Chacha brought us there without us really being able to say no. We had to pay 30 Rs to get in and it was more of the same stuff we’ve already seen. When we left though, Stephanie got henna on her hand at a little stand outside the sight and it was cool to watch.

Stephanie with her henna

 

After a long day, we finally had lunch at the same cheap and tasty place as the day before, rested, and returned to the shop where we ordered our clothes. We tried on our clothes to make sure they fit correctly and then one of the workers insisted that I try on some of the jumpsuits that they make. I only wanted to try them on just for fun to see how they would look and then fortunately or unfortunately, one of them spoke to me. It fit me just right and it was as obnoxious as some of the other outfits I wear at home so I decided to get it even though it was more than I wanted to spend. Look out America, I’m bringing the jumpsuit back!

We continued to have more conversation at the shop, saw the sunset from the roof and then we were shown more shawls even though we told them that we have already seen plenty of shawls. We were having a good time though so it was okay.

The following day grew to be frustrating throughout the day. In the morning, we messaged the travel agency who we booked the Rajasthan tour with and asked them to look at train tickets for us to go from Delhi to Shimla on Monday. They told us it would cost 2500 Rs for two tickets which was about 2.5 times the price we knew it should be. This made us quite frustrated because we originally trusted this company and were annoyed that they were trying to rip us off that much.

This move also confirmed a growing suspicion we had about the Bridge the World travel company. Throughout the trip, we asked other people who had also booked a tour through the same company, how much they paid for the trip and also how they heard about the company and we were able to develop some conclusions. We found out that they adjusted the prices between different groups and that they also used very good touts who would befriend people in the touristy area, have tea, maybe take them to one particular restaurant, and then go to the tourist office. This was a bummer to hear because we thought we really did have good conversation with our friend Pirota on the first day, but it seems like it was all just a ploy. Especially because Pirota kept messaging us and calling us throughout the trip as if he was a separate surveillance camera for the company. We can’t say that Pirota is 100% a tout (a person who tries to rip off foreigners with their own hotel, transportation, etc business) but everything seems to line up that he is.

Anyway, the only thing else we really did that day was see a Bollywood movie, Raja Nartwala. It was at a big theater in a mall and supposedly one of the best in India. To us, it was a movie theater just like home. We planned on taking Chacha but we also invited one of the guys from where we got our outfits made. Everything was fine and dandy but the guy from the shop kept up the game of trying to tell us riddles and jokes and it got tiring. Then we were surprised that he had us pay for his movie ticket and he insisted on sitting between us and his “two girlfriends.” He was especially leaning towards me and talking to me a lot and I was obviously growing tired of it. He kept bothering me with questions or other comments while the movie was playing and when he asked if I had a boyfriend I got really short. He proceeded to ask if I was a shy person and I shot back, “no, I just don’t like it when people talk during the movies and when people like you get too close.” Then he sat back in his chair and it was fine. It was another realization that all of the nice conversation we had was maybe another shot for him to try to get with a foreigner which is ridiculous. We then continued to drive back to the hotel, hear more jokes and riddles from the shop guy and then made it back to our hotel.

One Night in Agra

On the way to Agra, we stopped at the Hanuman Temple which worships Hanuman, the monkey god. Given that it worships the monkey god, it’s seemingly a requirement for the temple to have a bunch of monkeys running around and that’s exactly what it had. We enjoyed seeing the whole area, which was set in the valley of two big rock formations.

One part of the Hanuman Temple

Lots of monkeys around

And they love their bananas!

 

We then left for Agra and about two hours into the trip, we exited the state of Rajasthan and into the neighboring state. When crossing the state border, the driver has to stop to pay a tax so this is what Chacha did. He then came back to show us how he only had a little bit of money, maybe 300 Rs, to get him back to Delhi. He proceeded to ask for his tip a day in advance and while it did seem weird that he was doing it, we had trust him until this point so we decided to give the tip once we got to Agra.

Soon after we arrived in Agra, Chacha took us to a samosa (kind of like a mix between an eggroll and a dumpling) stand which was in a weird location but he insisted that they were the best samosas in Agra. As we sat in the car to eat the samosas we were amazed by how good they really were. I expected to hate it because I really didn’t like them last year, but this year proved to be different.

Later, we went to the ATM and then paid Chacha his tip of 4000 Rs for the 17-day trip. We gave him this amount based on a recommendation from our Scottish couple friends. He then gave a disappointed look and said that it wasn’t a good amount which we were surprised by. We then left to do more research on how much to give a driver as a tip and we read that 200-300 Rs per day should be fine. We also asked a friend from home to ask her dad, who’s originally from India, what we should do. We decided to give 2000 Rs more the next day so that it was around 300 Rs per day, but we were still pissed about the scenario. He shouldn’t have asked us for the money the day before and we felt like fools who fell for his trick, and especially shouldn’t have told us that the tip wasn’t enough.

The day ended on a better note though when we met two pairs of German travelers on the roof of our hotel. We drank a beer while watching another beautiful sunset which also had the Taj Mahal in sight from afar.

The following day was the big day; the last day of our tour and also the day we got to see the Taj Mahal. The only reason I was looking forward to seeing the Taj Mahal again was to see Stephanie’s reaction as she turned the corner and see the full view of the Taj Mahal. This is really the best part of the experience and everything else is just a game of trying to get a picture that isn’t interrupted by a person stepping in front of you. Overall, the Taj Mahal experience was just as I expected. Take some pictures, be impressed by the crazy amount of detail of the large thing, then go back.

It was my sister's 19 11/12 birthday on September 6 so I had to wish her a happy birthday. It's sort of an inside joke we have of wishing each other a fraction birthday each month

A few things about the Taj is that it was made by a guy who’s third wife died while giving birth to their 14^th child. This guy was so heartbroken that he decided the Taj Mahal had to be built as a tomb site for his wife. The big piece of marble and its surroundings then took something like 16 years (I could look for the exact amount in my book but it’s buried away in my stuff right now). The guy had artists ranging from Iran to other Southeast Asian countries to construct the monstrosity in a way that is perfectly symmetrical. Someone even told me last year that the guy demanded that each artist get their hands chopped off after they finish their work with the Taj to ensure no replica would ever be built. I could be wrong about that though and haven’t had the chance to see if it’s true. But later his son overthrew him while the Taj was being constructed and sent him to the prison in the Agra fort which could be seen from the Taj Mahal maybe 1 km away. When he eventually died he was also placed in the Taj next to his wife. How romantic.

We were looking forward to our drive home because we just wanted to be done with the tour. Chacha ripped us and made us pay for the toll for the highway when he shouldn’t have but we didn’t care. It was the equivalent of $6 and we just wanted to get back. Once we got back to Delhi, Chacha got stopped by the police who fined him 500 Rs because something was wrong with his license plate. He then blamed us because we asked him to drop us off at a different spot than we originally planned but we didn’t buy it of course. He then dropped us off where we asked and I then asked for the USB drive that we paid 500 Rs with a lot of Indian music on it. He was seemingly surprised that we asked for it and asked if he could have it as a gift. We couldn’t believe it at that point and we said that we wanted it because we paid for it and also because we had already gave him the extra 2000 Rs from the day before. It was believable and not at the same time and we were ready to just leave. It’s unfortunate how we left on bad terms with Chacha but we it’s not our fault so we have to move past it.

Two Nights in Delhi

We do feel a little bad because we did lie to the owner of the tour company, Rishi, but it was because we were tired of dealing with their schemes. Throughout the trip we had planned to stay with Rishi’s parents when we got back to Delhi from our tour. This was at the time when we thought they were a great company that wasn’t a scam. Like I said before, during the last few days of the trip, we realized the lies that were given to us and did not want to be affiliated with this company any more. So we told them that we changed our plans and would be staying with the Srivastavas for two nights. We didn’t actually ask to stay with the Srivastavas because we didn’t want to spring that on them with such short notice. So instead, we booked a cheap hotel in Delhi that ended up working out fine. We felt much calmer when we arrived to the hotel, paid our $10/night price, and relaxed.

Even though Rishi kept insisting on having him pay for our train tickets we didn’t want to deal with him ripping us off any more. Instead, the goal for Saturday was to book our train tickets to Shimla ourselves. We were on our way to the train station when we ran into a different friend we met last time we were in Delhi and he actually helped us book the tickets easily and for a reasonable price that was a much cheaper price than Rishi. It all worked out in the end and we had a relaxing two days in Delhi.

Our time in Delhi concluded with a revisit with the Srivastavas. We sat at their home for a while to talk about various things, eat some snacks and then we went to a southern Indian restaurant which was quite good. That was Stephanie’s first time having southern food and she really liked it. We also had a great desert which we hope to have again one of these days. The Srivastavas were also so sweet because they gave us a few snacks for our train ride up to Shimla. These proved to be very helpful for the train ride up…but I’ll talk more about the crazy train ride in my next post!

Our Lesson from This Experience

***Friends who are only reading the bold sections, I think this is the most important part of the blog and I would bold the whole section, but that would be obnoxious. So please read this whole section…thank you J

While we do not regret booking the tour through Rajasthan we do wish it ended on better terms. I think this is because we got to see many beautiful areas of Rajasthan even though it wasn’t on our itinerary when we arrived in India.

We also don’t regret this experience because we learned a lot about the importance of patience and calmness during uncomfortable times. There was nothing we could do that would change Rishi trying to rip us off with the train tickets or Chacha trying to manipulate the amount we tipped him. There is also nothing we can do about the touts who will constantly try to make us buy crap and we sure as hell can’t stop the amount of people staring at us as they walk by. A few years ago, we may have been the type of people who would want to yell back at these people to feel some sort of justice but we know that we cannot change their behavior and there is no reason to take this personally. While we did express our frustrations to each other in the hotel room, we were glad that we did not completely ruin our experience nor have the trip leave us with bitter feelings. India is still a beautiful country with an incredible amount of diversity and we cannot let the people with bad intentions ruin our experience or outlook on life in general.

So with this, one of the key lessons we’ve learned so far is regarding patience and understanding. I think this will carry with us throughout the trip and also back at home. It also feels refreshing to recognize the importance of having a patient and understanding attitude at all times and how it can really make all other things in life more pure and lovely (there’s a different way I want to phrase “pure and lovely” but I can’t figure it out right now)

 

So that was a long explanation of our Agra, Jaipur and Delhi experience but thanks for reading through it. We’re in Shimla right now and it’s absolutely beautiful so that post will I’m sure be a lot more light-hearted and enjoyable to read.

 

How To: Drive in India

Given that we finished a 17-day driving tour through Rajasthan, we have a bit of experience of being on the road in India. No, we did not drive at all during the trip (and would never want to) but the following steps are as if we were drivers in India.

1.       Maybe buckle your seatbelt. There probably aren’t seatbelts available for your passengers though

2.       Find your place on the road and battle your way between the other vehicles and animals. Know the following about each thing on the road:

a.       Trucks and busses generally have a priority but because they are so sluggish, they can easily be passed – just make sure there aren’t any opposing cars coming in the other lane. Also be sure to honk as you approach the truck to make sure they know that you’re about to pass them.

b.      Other cars are fair game. Honk as you pass them or honk at them if they moved in a way that was inconvenient to you.

c.       Bikes (motorcycles) are smaller and more maneuverable so they can adjust to how you are driving. Be sure to honk if you passed them or also if you’re pissed at them. There’s also no reason to be worried about passing a bike that has up to four people on it. They probably drive like that every day and are experienced driving as such.

d.      Cycles (bicycles) are on the edge of the road anyway but they will deal with the traffic as they see it. Unfortunately (or fortunately) they don’t have loud horns so they can’t honk at people to move out of the way.

e.      Camel or horse carts move slowly down the road and carry large carts of goods. There’s no use honking at them, yet people will still honk, because the camel can’t easily adjust its trajectory.

f.        Other carts pushed by people, usually full of fruit that are sold during the day, need to be a bit aggressive on busy roads but they still are towards the bottom of the hierarchy. There’s plenty of opportunity to honk at these people because pretty much any move they make will affect your path.

g.       People will cross the road or walk along the side and only need to be honked at for them to move because they know that if they don’t move, you’ll hit them.

h.      Dogs, goats, donkeys, etc. are dumb animals and need to be watched out for to avoid hitting them. They’re dumb though and won’t always move if you honk at them – especially the goats.

i.         Cows are holy. The cow can lay in the middle of a congested street and it will not be a problem. If there is a herd of cattle, you can honk at them and they will generally move out of the way because they are smarter than dogs and goats (according to Chacha). Never ever ever hit the cow or else you will be doomed for life with bad karma (I’m assuming).

3.       If a speed bump is ahead, carefully calculate how much you have to decelerate depending on the height and width of the speed bump. India is littered with speed bumps so you always have to keep an eye out for them. If you don’t notice them, you’ll send your passengers flying in the air. I really didn’t like the speed bumps throughout the trip but yet again, there was nothing I could do to change them so I had to get over it.

4.       If you are crossing through a hilly area that requires turns that don’t give you a good view, honk to let the opposing traffic know that you are coming around the corner

5.       There is no real speed limit. There’s a slim chance there will be police around to monitor the speed of vehicles so you may as well go as fast as you want. If you get pulled over, you can just bribe the policeman anyway so it’s no big deal. Just don’t go too fast in case an animal shoots out into the road or if you come across a speed bump

6.       If it’s down pouring rain and you can barely see, there’s no reason to stop. Just put on your hazard lights and pray to a few of the 330 million gods that nothing will get hit.

7.       If it’s been three hours, stop for some chai, feel refreshed.

8.       Honk some more, pretend that it will get you to the place you want to go faster.

9.       Arrive to your destination.

Various Thoughts/Comments

·         I love my hot showers at home and those are rare to come by here. The temperature of the water is similar to the temperature of a pool though so I have to convince myself that it’s not that bad because it’s just like being in a pool. So far it’s helped me not get grumpy while showering. It also helps justify me not showering everyday which I wouldn’t do anyway because again, I’m not here to impress anyone and if Stephanie thinks I smell bad she can suck it up.

·         The bathrooms in the hotels also rarely have shower curtain so water will get everywhere. The good thing about this however is that all the walls and floor are made of a hard surface which makes it acoustically pleasing for listening to music – I just have to make sure my phone is in a place that won’t get hit by the water

·         We’re excited that we have a confirmation from my friends at an NGO in Nepal to be with them for two weeks. We will go out to the eastern edge of Nepal from October 12-26 and see how the Namsaling Community Development Center (NCDC) NGO works. I’ve also contacted my Nepali friends as to when we’ll be in Nepal and I’m so excited to visit them and introduce them to Stephanie!

Caroline’s Song of the Day

2-Sept Hey Mama by Kanye West

3-Sept Lets Groove by Earth Wind & Fire

4-Sept What Is This Feeling? from the soundtrack from Wicked

5-Sept Something from the Across the Universe Soundtrack

6-Sept Something Good Can Work by Two Door Cinema Club

7-Sept Way I Know by Grouplove