Delhi to Paris to Atlanta to Sarasota

Going home! Long waits at airports but heading home, where toothbrushes can be rinsed in tap water, where fresh vegetables can be eaten with skins on, where sidewalks are for people and not solely for cows and dogs and streets are for cars not cows and dogs and people. But how I will miss the colors and sounds and colors and devotion and colors and open hearts and colors of India!

To quote my luggage tag: See the world, Come home for love.

Back to Delhi

We took the expressway to Delhi and saw few cars few trucks between Agra and the outskirts of Delhi. Jaypee owns the truck stops (tuck shops?)--they are becoming as ubiquitous as Tata. We did see lots of buffalo, cattle, camels on the farm roads parallel to the expressway however. Best of all, the expressway was SMOOTH! No pot holes no speed bumps! New construction everywhere. India is growing by leaps and bounds. Economy expanding while rest of world stagnates.
We went back to Connaught Place for lunch and ate at the same restaurant as our first day. Got a magnificent plate of spinach crisps, which were like kale chips. Loaded with garlic. Yum. GI system healed!
And a final bit of shopping. Rupees cannot leave the country, after all. It is the law. Saw Rikhi Ram music store where Paul and George bought sitars etc but couldn't get Marcia interested. Best proof that she is worn out!
And finally a group dinner, sharing entrees (no one was really hungry) and closure conversations. Making preliminary plans for reunion at Convocation in August. Bonded tightly over past 30 days of spiritual highs, antibiotics and antidiarrheals, and hours of bouncing on the bus. We have become a family.

Agra

Okay, the JayPee Palace is shabbier than I first thought. And while I couldn't confirm that Trump stays here, I did confirm that Pres Clinton did back in 2000. But the chair has a large stain, the caulking is messed up on the tub, and the wires are beginning to detach from the lights. Still, the rooms are huge, and the marble and wood details are exquisite. But the marble floors and walls also make the long corridors into long echo chambers all night long. The luxury is very superficial!
Today is Taj day. We got up before dawn and entered the grounds at sunrise. As majestic as before. An amazing monument in so many ways. Our guide for the day was a local man who is Muslim and an authority on both the Taj. And on the Mughal Empire. Excellent guide. Learned a lot from him even though third trip to Taj.
After breakfast we ventured on to the Agra Red Fort. Same guide. This fort was the home of the family that built the Taj, and while it was louted many times over, enough of its original grandeur is still there to give a good sense of the style of the day. Fascinating day.
The Agra Fort is a UNESCO historical site. I have been very impressed by each UNESCO site I have seen, and this was no exception.
Later in the day we went to learn about making hand knotted carpets and marble inlays. Both processes required a skill level that few possess. Saw a small tray with so many tiny inlays that it was worth tens of thousands of dollars here in India, and hundreds of thousands in the US. And same with carpets: $3800 here in India and $38000 in the US. Great bargains, but resisted urges to buy! Next to glass blowing, probably the two art forms that interest me the most.
Lastly, we finished the day with a group dinner at Priyas.

Delhi to Agra via Mathura

On the road again--our song this past week.

After our open air dinner last night on the terrace at the grill, we slept in and had a leisurely departure for Agra at 9am. Things were going along just fine until after a tea stop (which was in actuality a coffee stop at Cafe Coffee Day, India's answer to Starbucks), we were easing back into the "flow" of traffic behind rickshaws and bullock carts when our van was pulled over. After much checking of documents and many beads of sweat upon our drivers heads, they were issued a ticket for speeding. Maybe compared to a snail. It was an Indian police shakedown, which is quite common. Has happened on other trips. Our guide several years back told us then that when they see a van of westerners, tickets are issued (the driver must pay on the spot) because they know full well that the fine while steep for the locals is not much in dollars and Euros, and the westerners will take pity on the drivers and usually reimburse them. So it is in fact a shakedown of the tourists. And of course that is exactly what we did.   

And on we went.

Next stop Vrindavan. Another bribe at a check point to get beyond a certain point, and then a short walk to the temple which was not going to reopen for four hours. But wonder of wonders, there were dozens of stalls selling ribbon garlands. All sizes. I had been looking for these for three and a half weeks, both for myself and for our circle's Last Smile picture. At last! So I was more than satisfied with the outcome of this outing! And none more were to be found the rest of the day.

Mathura. Krishna's birthplace. One of my favorite places. We we able to loiter for awhile in the prison cell area, and then spent a good amount of time in the temple which with its beautiful muralled ceiling one of our group called the the Sistine Chapel of Hinduism. Truly spectacular. Very sacred space.

And I discovered that if you treat the kids hocking their wares like monkeys (without the foot stump) they will leave you alone.

And now we are at another Jaycee hotel which is obscene in its opulence. Way beyond my comfort zone. Keep expecting to run into The Donald. Had to Clif bar for dinner rather than pay another $25-30 US for a meal I would only eat 25% of. They actually gave us a map with our keys so that we could find our rooms.

Now bedtime for a predawn departure tomorrow.

On the road again

Spent the day driving from Rishikesh back to Delhi. At the very end of the drive our driver lost it and shouted at a motorcycle. We did not get an exact translation from our guide. On tortuous mountain roads and in city traffic our driver remained so cool and calm, but Delhi at 5pm put him over the edge. I would have lost it days ago!

Day was a success. All bodily fluids remained in their intended compartments. Cannot ask for more than that!

Rishikesh and shopping

It is not much fun shopping when you have a queasy stomach and are weak. But I did it with the group and did find a couple of little souvenirs. Cheap but meaningful, like a rudraksha bracelet. No pictures. Monkeys on bridge. No longer cute; more like the Wizard of Oz. Had images of swinging at them with a long stick and knocking them all off, as I hummed to myself the Angry Birds theme. So much for nonviolence!

Haridwar

Sick sick sick again, this time GI. Two imodium day. Went out with group but whoozy and weak. Think it might have been the carrot dessert last night.
Visited two old temples, both by cable car. The views were spectacular, but in temple one the monkeys were incredibly aggressive. I had several close encounters of my own but thanks my shouts and foot stomps, and those of Fred and an Indian gentleman, I remained the proud possessor of my coke. I saw several other people who were not so fortunate however as the monkeys grabbed and ripped open their puja offerings.
In the second temple, the people were caged in and the monkeys watched but couldn't get to us. The priests however could, and they were just as aggressive. Nothing like the serene ashrams we have been visiting.
Would not return to either, despite  the wonderful rides up and back.