Stepping out into the Indian sunshine - or, in which we are wrapped in bright fabric and our shoes removed...
Our first full day in India (keeping in mind that we landed almost exactly at midnight and it was 2 am before we were able to fall asleep) began by waking up at 5:30 am. Not much sleep, but plenty of excitement and that pesky internal clock which is not so easily reset. By 7 am the three of us were down in the dining room exploring our first Indian breakfast. When traveling with OAT the hotels are carefully chosen with Western sensibilities in mind. Beginning with clean rooms, flushing toilets, A/C where possible, and a breakfast buffet that includes both dishes authentic to the country and familiar to the Western palate – or at least that country’s best interpretation of Western dishes. I believe the idea is that as soon as breakfast is over we will be immersed in the local culture and many westerners find it easier to face the very full day if they have at least that one meal of familiar food. But we, beig an adventurous family shunned the western choices and tried a little of each of the many local breakfast items.
Asian breakfasts are pretty much the same fare that is eaten at the other two meals of the day - which is to say savory vegetable dishes, a variety of fried breads, and rice. In the case of India this list included a delicious potato stew, baked beans, and lintels. Each dish was labeled and sometimes even a few of the main ingredients listed but of course when the labels are Poori, Idli, Cambur, Aloo Parantha, Raita, Uthappam, Dosa, Chapati, and Pongal - well, the labels are not really much help. I didn’t have the camera to photograph any of these, usually just too bleary eyed to think of bringing it, but the internet is a wonderful thing and not only can you find good pictures of each, but recipes as well. For the first week we were game and enjoyed much of it, my favorite being Aloo Parantha which is basically a savory stuffed pancake which I spread with a spicy sweet jelly of some sort. Yummy. This first morning, after we were all three stuffed like ticks, our waiter asked if he could have the chef prepare his own personal favorite breakfast dish just for us. Sure, why not. So a short while later he brought us what was essentially a large crepe stuffed with spicy lumpy mashed potato and onion. Very good, but we were already stuffed to the gills so it was all we could do to get it down.
After the first week we really couldn’t face the spicy heavy food first thing in the morning. Keep in mind my normal breakfast is about a cup of plain Greek yogurt and a cup of fresh berries.
Following breakfast, which each of our group ate at their leisure, we all met for the first time for our orientation session. This is where we each introduced ourselves, gave a brief idea of who we were, and explained why we had decided to take this trip. I must say, this was the most seasoned group of travelers with which I'd ever shared a room. For the first time there were several who had been as many places as we have. Some to the same places, some to some different places - but all had traveled a lot. Several were looking for "spiritual growth" (more on that idea at a later time) - several were admirers of Gandhi and wanted to understand his country better, and then us. This was to be our last chance for a big, highly educational trip with the boy that could be undertaken during the traditional school year. Tours to India are suspended in the summer due to the heat so if we didn't go now, we'd never be able to take the boy. He will be attending public school for high school beginning in August.
Our tour leader, Karni, also introduced himself in a bit more detail than late the night before. He is quite young for leading a bunch of older Americans about (I learned later that he is 32) - keeping in mind that keeping up with a group of American women (female to male ratio 3-1 in the group) on the hunt for chotchkies can be a bit like herding cats - while dodging between cows, goats, running children, and persistent hawkers... Karni has a master's degree in tourism and during the hot summer months, when there are no tours to lead, he does on line marketing for his friend's backpacker hotel. Karni also told us that if any of us had a Dell computer and had called tech support in 2007 to be helped by "Joshua", it was him ( It was allowed as how we had now found Peggy in the flesh - but Karni is much better looking than Peggy, smarter too). He began to fill us in on several local customs and norms that would be important for us to know in order to survive relatively unscathed. Things like how to avoid being mobbed by children and beggars demanding money (basically, don't start - if you want to help them then please donate to the foundations that are helping), avoid being mobbed by street vendors (basically don't speak to them - "maybe" means "yes" - "no" means "maybe", and don't look them in the eye whatever you do), we'll have to take off our shoes at any active mosque or temple or place seen as particularly holy (i.e. Gandhi's cremation site), and expect to be stared at from a very close range. Of course several of us ignored the warnings as pertained to the vendors so we were chased pretty much the whole trip.
Shortly after the meeting we all gathered for a quick walking tour of the area immediately around our hotel in order to show everyone where the ATM was, where McD's could be found (they have a different sort of menu in India where beef is not consumed), and basically to dip our toes into the busy life that is India. We were to have lunch on our own this first day, but our own breakfast was so large, we elected to skip lunch and tried to rest a little and regain some degree of brain function.
This photo above was taken from the bus window as we made our way through Old Delhi to our sight seeing destinations for the day. It was Sunday and a big market day, this is sort of an Indian flea market. Though Sunday is not a holy day, it is not a work day either - unless of course you are selling at the markets.
Our first destination was the Jami Masjid mosque - I am not in this picture. Not only did we have to remove our shoes to enter the mosque (our first use of "temple socks") but all of us Western women were required to put on huge - brightly colored - one size fits an elephant - caftans.
Our first destination was the Jami Masjid mosque - I am not in this picture. Not only did we have to remove our shoes to enter the mosque (our first use of "temple socks") but all of us Western women were required to put on huge - brightly colored - one size fits an elephant - caftans.
This shot shows several of our group - I am in bright pink sans hat and that young man in the bright green shirt is the boy. The mosque is huge but mostly made up of an open courtyard with galleries around the outer walls. Worshipers for the most part gather out in this courtyard we are walking across. There are metal supports across the courtyard for spreading huge lengths of canvas across when the sun is intense and the pavement too hot for kneeling. Luckily for us, the temp was only in the upper 80s low 90s while we were there - plus it was overcast. A blessing really.
Though the large majority of Indians are Hindu, there is a healthy Muslim population as well. I will say, there was only one time on the trip when I felt any level of hostility or animosity amongst a group of Muslims - but that is much later in the tour. There were more Hindu tourists in the mosque with us than there were Muslims, though I understand that during prayer time that would not be the case and the courtyard is often filled with worshipers.
Those engaged in prayer at this mosque actually face west - as we are on the far side of Mecca. The area shown below is a large pool used for the ritual ablutions before prayer.
This mosque was also where we got our first taste of the curiosity of Indians, as Karni had warned. I think our group was probably doubly interesting to them as we had non-Caucasian Americans amongst us (the three Jamaican and the Cuban ladies). This curiosity manifests itself by way of locals standing right up against and even in between us, staring at us from about three inches away. No exaggeration. Mostly I thought it was funny. Particularly found it amusing that for the first time in our travels - we were being surreptitiously photographed with cell phones. Lord knows we've sneakily snapped our fair share of photos - more than our share on this trip. Turn about is fair play and it really didn't bother me. Probably would have freaked me out to have people getting that close to stare if Karni had not warned us though. They had no idea we might have felt it rude or might have been made uncomfortable by their behavior.
From the foot of the stairs up to the mosque we climbed into our first rickshaws.
Karni, our fearless leader, is there in the ball cap giving directions to our drivers. I'll save the rickshaw adventure for the next post.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
