Like many cities I’ve visited before, Pushkar came highly recommended to me by numerous other travelers making their way through India. After spending the last few weeks in the chaotic cities of New Delhi and Jaipur, I was in dire need of a break from it all. Even after living in NYC for years, I am still not capable of dealing with large Indian cities for extended periods of time; all it takes is a few hours of walking around outside before I’m completely drained of energy, covered in dust, and thoroughly dehydrated. I was told the city of Pushkar was a tranquil little escape in the middle of Rajasthani desert and I have to agree with them, it was a breath of fresh air!
The typical vacationing tourist who visits India for a week or two usually does a lap around the “Golden Triangle” that consists of New Delhi (map), Agra (map), and Jaipur (map) before heading home. When I began my trip in India, I was told great things about the Golden Triangle, but now that I’ve seen all of the cities in this famed tourist circuit, I must seriously disagree with my fellow travelers. Not only are the three cities not an accurate representation of India, but two of them - Agra and Jaipur – are actually my two least of favorite cities in all of India.
Since arriving in India I’ve learned a great deal about my self and question a great many things in my own life. To see firsthand a culture and environment so drastically different than the one I’m familiar with back home is a tremendously eye-opening experience. A few posts ago I told you about the 10-day silent meditation retreat up in Dharamsala at Tushita. I only have glowing reviews about the course, and it inspired me to sign up for another, far more intense, 10-day silent meditation retreat through Vipassana.
It’s now been two months since I arrived in India, yet at every turn I am surprised by what this country has to offer. Every city I visit in India is unlike anything I’ve seen before in my life, but unless you manage to escape into the mountains like I did in Dharamsala, Indian cities are a never-ending bombardment on the senses full of horns, dust, heat, people, and general chaos. I’ve slowly managed to acclimate myself to the environment here and now feel I’m capable of dealing with most things India throws at me. When I first arrived in New Delhi, walking around the city was an utterly exhausting experience, but I thought I had seen the worst of it until I visited Varanasi.
Of all the questionable and otherwise disturbing images I’ve seen over my lifetime, none is more ingrained in my mind than the first cremation I witnessed at Manikarnika Ghat in Varanasi. I’ve long since given up on holding expectations of what I will see, do, and experience on my travels, but I never imagined that one day I would watch a man’s body burn to ashes before my very eyes. After my trip to Auschwitz a few months ago, I was curious what a cremation was like since I only knew about it in theory. It was merely a passing thought at the time, but here in Varanasi, my wish was unexpectedly granted and it’s an experience I will never forget.
The northern state of Himachal Pradesh, in India is a wonderfully relaxing piece of heaven at the foot of the gargantuan Himalayan Mountains. In the middle of it all is the small town of Dharamsala where the current Tibetan government-in-exile resides after they were expelled by China (or as the Chinese say, “liberated”) back in 1959. I was told by my fellow travelers that where wasn’t much to do in the quiet town of Dharamsala, but I ended up spending the better part of a month there specifically for that reason! Set along the backdrop of the Himalayas, Dharamsala is a world away from the overcrowded, congested cities like New Delhi. I stayed specifically in McLeod Ganj located in upper Dharamsala was just the perfect rest bit after the Holi celebrations in Vrindavan. From a ten-day silent meditation retreat at Tushita, to hiking at the foot of the Himalayas, to sliding down the side of a mountain on melting snow bank, to watching a Tibetan opera performance, and even seeing the Dalai Lama himself, I had a wonderful time in Dharamsala!
Back when I was a student at The University of Texas at Austin, I heard about this strange new Indian holiday known only as “Holi.” I saw the colorful advertisements plastered around campus and everyone was talking about how much they were looking forward to the even, but coming from Katy, I had no idea what the celebration was for much less why everyone was so excited for it. For those you who are in a similar boat, Holi is Hindu festival celebrated in the month of March to commemorate the victory of good over evil. There is a long Hindu mythological story behind it that you can read about here, but all I cared about was that it was an excuse to throw brightly colored powder at strangers, dunk people with buckets of water, and dance to lively Indian music. What more can a person want? From that first year at UT, I fell in love with the holiday, so when I found out that I’d be in India, the land where it all started, there was no way I was passing up the opportunity!
Without a doubt, the most iconic building in all of India (and poster child for anything tourist related) is the one and only Taj Mahal. Unless you have been living out in the African Serengeti disconnected from society, odds are you’ve come across this building either in a textbook, online search, or any travel related commercial on TV. This enormous monument is right up there with the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the clock tower housing Big Ben in London, or even the Empire State Building in Manhattan and I was not going to pass up the chance to see it in person. Just like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, I never thought I’d ever get to visit in my lifetime, but my dream finally came true!
I’ve been completely out of my element since the day I arrived in India a little under a week ago and I’ve been wandering the streets of New Delhi like a toddler lost in a shopping mall. I’ve been staring at all the pretty lights, putting strange foods in my mouth, completely at the mercy of kind strangers, collecting a variety of new illnesses, abjectly lost the entire time, and generally just trying not to die. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to catch up with an old friend from college, Kanika, who was in town visiting family and friends in New Delhi. The timing couldn’t have worked out any better and thanks to her, I learned the ropes of how to get around India, saw the dynamics of an Indian family, and got to finally up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in years!I’ve been completely out of my element since the day I arrived in India a little under a week ago and I’ve been wandering the streets of New Delhi like a toddler lost in a shopping mall. I’ve been staring at all the pretty lights, putting strange foods in my mouth, completely at the mercy of kind strangers, collecting a variety of new illnesses, abjectly lost the entire time, and generally just trying not to die. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to catch up with an old friend from college, Kanika, who was in town visiting family and friends in New Delhi. The timing couldn’t have worked out any better and thanks to her, I learned the ropes of how to get around India, saw the dynamics of an Indian family, and got to finally up with an old friend who I hadn’t seen in years!
I’ve been in India for a little over a week and a half now and it’s been a remarkable learning experience for me. I’ve traveled halfway across the world over the last 10 months and visited numerous exotic lands, but never in my life have I seen a country and unique as India. People may bicker about whether or not they enjoyed their travels through the country, but there isn’t a traveler on this earth (or even a local Indian) who can say that India is a “dull” experience. I’ve been in India for a little over a week and a half now and it’s been a remarkable learning experience for me. I’ve traveled halfway across the world over the last 10 months and visited numerous exotic lands, but never in my life have I seen a country and unique as India. People may bicker about whether or not they enjoyed their travels through the country, but there isn’t a traveler on this earth (or even a local Indian) who can say that India is a “dull” experience.
