India is terrib….ly fascinating!
India is everything all together as one. It’s hard. Its complicated. It’s simple. It’s the most quiet. Most loud. Most accommodating. Most frenetic. Most trashy. Most opulent. Most impoverished. And the most beautiful place you’ve ever witnessed.
I haven’t posted as much as I’ve wanted (I’ve been soaking everything in) but I look forward to filling in the info gaps upon return.
For now…know that I survived my first travel tour. (I am not a fan of guided travel but had to try it at some point) Two of the ten of us were not as lucky. 4 hospital trips but thanks to our amazing guide it didn’t damper the trip. We were all troopers and didn’t miss a beat. Those of us who remained upright, at least.
I was a little nervous only once during the trip. At one mountain top town i saw barbed wire around one of our hotels. My American reaction was …oooh must be a lot of crime here. But no! It was to keep jaguars and monkeys out.
Its been wonderful to see India through the artisans that maintain the foundation of culture here - silk dying, tye and dye (it isn’t as easy as it seems), indigo dying, weaving, fabric making, spinning fabric, bell making, mirrored embroidery, stone work, castor oil painting, miniature painting and more…and we got the chance to try our hand at it all.
I’m at my second to last stop - Varanasi. I’ve only been here for 10 hours but it’s truly magical. The city of 5 million people, that you’ve probably never heard of, is one of the oldest and holiest cities of the world and has had 4 different names. Originally Kashi.
The Ganges river the city flanks is currently flooded - a common occurrence this time of year. Unfortunately that meant, we weren’t able to take the boat that normally takes you to the front of the hotel when I arrived at midnight. So a hotel car picked me up at the airport. The hotel bellman met me with a bike rickshaw until that also was too large to navigate the circuitous streets. Then, I followed a security guard with a stick in one hand to fend off monkeys and a flashlight in the other to make sure I didn’t fall in a hole. We arrived at the back door of an enormous building. It sits on the banks of the Ganges river and is flanked by temples to each side With each doorway within the hotel you must step over the bottom of the door and duck under the top. Stone carving everywhere. It’s truly a site to behold. Not to mention the feeling of the ancient heartbeat of this amazing place. I was awakened by bells and a shofar-sounding horn at sunrise. Then around 7 - there was chanting and clapping right out my window. Not sure if this was a random group of people on the steps of the temple or sanctioned by the temple in some way. Awesome way to rise.
As I sit in the lobby writing to you…I’m watching an old Indian man wait for the security guard to scare the monkeys away with a kids mini-handheld sling shot so he can go smoke a clove cigarette.
**this was an email sent to friends and family late October 2022.
India is everything all together as one. It’s hard. Its complicated. It’s simple. It’s the most quiet. Most loud. Most accommodating. Most frenetic. Most trashy. Most opulent. Most impoverished. And the most beautiful place you’ve ever witnessed.
I haven’t posted as much as I’ve wanted (I’ve been soaking everything in) but I look forward to filling in the info gaps upon return.
For now…know that I survived my first travel tour. (I am not a fan of guided travel but had to try it at some point) Two of the ten of us were not as lucky. 4 hospital trips but thanks to our amazing guide it didn’t damper the trip. We were all troopers and didn’t miss a beat. Those of us who remained upright, at least.
I was a little nervous only once during the trip. At one mountain top town i saw barbed wire around one of our hotels. My American reaction was …oooh must be a lot of crime here. But no! It was to keep jaguars and monkeys out.
Its been wonderful to see India through the artisans that maintain the foundation of culture here - silk dying, tye and dye (it isn’t as easy as it seems), indigo dying, weaving, fabric making, spinning fabric, bell making, mirrored embroidery, stone work, castor oil painting, miniature painting and more…and we got the chance to try our hand at it all.
I’m at my second to last stop - Varanasi. I’ve only been here for 10 hours but it’s truly magical. The city of 5 million people, that you’ve probably never heard of, is one of the oldest and holiest cities of the world and has had 4 different names. Originally Kashi.
The Ganges river the city flanks is currently flooded - a common occurrence this time of year. Unfortunately that meant, we weren’t able to take the boat that normally takes you to the front of the hotel when I arrived at midnight. So a hotel car picked me up at the airport. The hotel bellman met me with a bike rickshaw until that also was too large to navigate the circuitous streets. Then, I followed a security guard with a stick in one hand to fend off monkeys and a flashlight in the other to make sure I didn’t fall in a hole. We arrived at the back door of an enormous building. It sits on the banks of the Ganges river and is flanked by temples to each side With each doorway within the hotel you must step over the bottom of the door and duck under the top. Stone carving everywhere. It’s truly a site to behold. Not to mention the feeling of the ancient heartbeat of this amazing place. I was awakened by bells and a shofar-sounding horn at sunrise. Then around 7 - there was chanting and clapping right out my window. Not sure if this was a random group of people on the steps of the temple or sanctioned by the temple in some way. Awesome way to rise.
As I sit in the lobby writing to you…I’m watching an old Indian man wait for the security guard to scare the monkeys away with a kids mini-handheld sling shot so he can go smoke a clove cigarette.
**this was an email sent to friends and family late October 2022.
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