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Date: March, 2004
Location: India
After stopping in London
for a day, I landed in Delhi at 2 AM on
March 10. Luckily, I had already reserved a room and an airport pickup.
Driving to the "hotel," I was a little surprised at how terrible the
area looked, and when I went outside the following morning, I was shocked
to see almost every street PACKED with trash, feces, people, trucks,
buses, cars, motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, rickshaws (bicycles with an
attached seat for two) and autorickshaws (motor-powered, three-wheel
taxis), as well as freely roaming bulls, cows, pigs, dogs, horses, goats,
monkeys and camels! If that wasn't shocking enough, I often saw people
urinating and defecating in the open. According to one Indian guy I spoke
with, "Left hand wiping, right hand eating."
I went straight to the Government of India Tourist Office, and for a VERY
reasonable rate, I hired a driver to take me through Delhi, Jaipur,
Agra, and Varnasi.
The highlights of my India journey were definitely the latter two.
After spending a night in Agra, I was the FIRST person in line to see
the Taj Mahal open at 6 AM. I took the middle seat of a bench directly in
front of the fountain and watched the sunrise change the Taj Mahal's
colors almost every ten minutes. Again, ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I spent the greater part of that day watching the India-Pakistan cricket match with Sushil and other Indians. Due to MAJOR tension between the two countries, it was the first time they had played each other in 14 years! I picked up the rules rather quickly and was pleasantly surprised to find myself as into the game as those around me.
That night, I took a train to Varnasi, where Hindu pilgrims go to
bathe in the holy water of and cremate their dead at the Ganges River.
When I took a stroll down the river, I was a little surprised to not only
see Hindus bathing in the river but also rinsing their mouths out with and
sometimes swallowing the water (known to be some of the filthiest and
most bacteria-filled in the world). Again, as if that wasn't shocking
enough, I came across a corpse floating in the river. According to an
Indian I spoke with, if one cannot afford to cremate a dead relative,
he/she is put in the river as is.
That night, the train I was taking back to Delhi was delayed FIVE
hours, apparently quite normal in a third-world country that has 10
million train passengers every day. As a result, I had to rush to the
Delhi airport only to find out that my ticket had been written wrong! The
next day, I went to the agent who had booked the ticket, and he
apologetically issued me another for that night. Obviously not trusting
him anymore, I went to the airline office in person, and sure enough, I
was not confirmed on that flight because it was already overbooked!!!
Luckily, they were able to confirm me on a flight the following night, and
I somehow made it to Kathmandu,
Nepal.
As of tomorrow, I will be in the Himalayas for four days of canyoning,
rafting, and taking the second-highest bungee jump in the world (500
feet)! My next tentative plan is to trek in the Himalayas for two weeks
and possibly go to Tibet, although I have heard that the latter is rather
difficult. Tensions in Nepal are high at the moment, as there have been a
handful of Maoist bombings, but I have been assured that the areas I will be going to are very safe.
- Greg
For the next leg of Greg's around the world trip, click here... Or if you want to see what he was up to before
India, click here...
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