India 2017

Namaste everyone....when traveling to other side of the world it's always good to be grateful for the little things.  Such as after an interminable wait for  your baggage it does indeed arrive and then you find your name on one of dozens of signs being held by expectant drivers.  So at 3am you are off into the New Delhi night under the weight of a 3 pound lei made from carnations and marigolds. …Leela Palace Hotel New Delhi I will be wallowing here for 2 days before starting to see the sights.
Into the cacophony of noises sights and smells.  Traffic is as dreadful as you can imagine but the day was clear and sunny.  Towers-- Temples--mosques.  Our bus driver narrowly avoided a collision with a policeman on his motorcycle and this is only day ONE!  Today markets and a few more temples then off to the Ganges.
Group of 30 is mostly jolly and well travelled...a nice mix of Aussies with several couples from Singapore the rest made up of Americans...Guide is great and will keep us all in hand with a firmness gained from having lead dozens of tours.....at least that's what he tells us.

Temples mosques  and beautiful gardens that just happen to be in full bloom right now....Delhi is so much more than I thought.  Luckily the smog/fog/ inversion that plagues the city has dissipated and the last 2 days have been gorgeous!!  Ventured out on my own this afternoon since the tour gave us a free afternoon ....a little shopping plus some sightseeing.....what amuses me no end is that people come up to me and want to take a  picture of me  with them....LOL like I am the novelty i.e. Old white woman ....what can you do but comply and smile....I could take pictures all day long of the beautiful women in their saris...the colors all so vibrant against the backdrop of so much history.   Up at 5:30 AM then airport for flight to Varanasi...where we will learn how to put the Ganges to sleep at the end of the day
Seems as if Varanasi is more real than Delhi.....crowded streets...poverty......cows....and dirt......but for reason I got a suite today.....happy to oblige......except it's a little like saying you have the honeymoon suite at the Best Western in Glendive Montana
Left the hotel to go to the Ganges to visit the ghats (crematoriums) and witness the ceremony for the Ganges.  We all pile into several boats of questionable sea worthiness ( with 100% certainty that there is not a life jacket with 100 miles of us) and join the hundreds possibly thousands of other boats heading up the river.   The sun is setting as we approach the ghats...several pyres are already burning.  The scene is otherworldly....hundreds of boats collected on the river watching the drama of a professional mourner enter with the body.  Our guide (who is Hindu) is commentating in a way that reminded me of a baseball game.....i.e. "They are placing the body on the pyre...now the priest is circling 5 times around the body....watch closely as the ghee is placed on the head......." (you get the idea).  Not all of our group were expecting such an intimate moment to unfold in front of them.  Truly spectacular....shocking....astounding all at once and yet you sensed that everyone there (locals) embraced this celebration and somehow you could feel that karma/energy/chi.   I don't think I will ever forget that moment or be able to describe what it was actually like.
Further down river 20-25000 people on the banks and in a flotilla of boats watching 8-10 priests perform the ritual of putting the river to sleep.  A riot of colors and lights. The air is full of the sounds of chimes, gongs, conch shell horns, drums and the voices of thousands of people ...incense burning ......all while the priests are chanting .
Up at 4:30 am to return to the river to watch the sun rise and watch people bathing in the river.  Swarms of pilgrims wandering the banks.  BTW the banks are mostly stairs so that everyone can access the river.  Back in the questionable water craft for more views.  Amazing to hear that when the Ganges floods it can rise 100 or more feet during flood stage....and this is a BIG river to begin with.......off to Agra and the Taj Mahal later this morning.

Have no idea of the day of the week...go where I am told....well mostly!!   Airports have never been so easy....several members have had to get attention from doctors for a variety of reasons....one woman ( who frankly shouldn't have come on this trip) fell on the second day and smashed her face...she is very colorful now and draws plenty of looks from the locals.  Every hotel property seems to be better than the last....Udaivilas is exceptional...only down side it is fairly large.....but happy days...will be here for 3 nights.....spectacular grounds on Lake Pichola.   Small city by Indian standards...only 650K....toured the city palace....unbelievable .......very well preserved.....palace took 400 years to build.......22 generations...hard to fathom.  Dinner tonite at a private residence...dinner itself wasn't the Main entertainment......imagine 30 "gringos" walking single file on the edge of a VERY busy road ....AGAINST traffic...dodging motorcycles...puddles of very questionable origin....too good to be true...especially if you were in the back....really wish I could have seen the faces on some of the other woman
Headed to spice market in auto rickshaw...think tuktuk ....traffic is a fluid being...motorcycles....tuktuks...pedestrians....hand drawn carts...bicycles......everything all at once...if there any lane designations they are ignored and everyone simply goes where they mean to go...horns blaring constantly.....beyond comparison.....the market itself was extraordinarily crowded today as it was the holiday Holi.....festival of colors...and colors it was......check to jowl and not just with other people...sometimes you are inches from a motorcycle or tuktuk...the next moment you are surrounded by woman in line to buy vegetables....colorful saris vie with fruit vegetables and candy stalls....your eye doesn't know where to focus....LOVED IT!!!  Difficult to manage camera...phone...trying to watch where you are walking ......hazards abound.
Tomorrow head to southern India...temps hovering around ....90+....time to dig deep in the suitcase for items we haven't needed as yet.....Henna happens.....when traveling with other women especially women that are big shoppers ...one can get caught up in the moment....so instead of drunk sailors getting tattoos....old white woman get henna. LOL LOL.....needless to say after a couple of drinks we all decide to get one BUT turns out that only two of us are brave enough....when in Rome etc....
SIGH....the tropics....coconut palms ...banana trees...plumeria....lipstick palms and Brazilian rain trees that are hundreds of years old.....lush vegetation....old colonial style hotel right on the water.
Long travel day yesterday...up early 2 flights plus hour bus ride....then jumped in ANOTHER boat to cruise the harbor...lovely sunset....really large interesting looking Chinese fishing nets .....some members of the party starting to fray at the seams...could be the heat 97 with 100% humidity ....hoping I won't have an outburst at anyone's bad manners.
Old Cochin is a wonderful mix of a pink house next to a yellow house with turquoise shutters across the street from a red house that has orange trim that is located in front of a lime green house with the second story painted turquoise .....absolutely amazing palette of colors...wandered through street markets.  Last night  we went to the home of Nimmy Paul.....utterly charming Indian woman that hosts private dinners and cooking lessons in her home overlooking the Arabian Sea.  Learned so much about spices and layering of flavors.....and of course a wonderful dinner.
Today a cruise on Lake Vembanad in rice boats...apparently you can rent these and stay on the lake for several days...some have with 2-4 bedrooms plus kitchen staff and captain......heavenly....lunch served while we drifted towards our hotel.   OMG OMG OMG....Kaumarakon Lake resort  -  think Kona Village on steroids with a definite Bali influence....we all have a villa that is fronted by a swimming pool lagoon....winner hands down took small boats down small canal and Visited some local rice farmers ...a blissful afternoon drifting in the lagoon and not galloping on and off a bus.....sunset cruise ....tomorrow Mumba

20 MILLION people live in Mumbai.....luckily it was a Saturday so traffic not as bad as a work day....hotel in "quieter" part of the city....if they say New York is the city that never sleeps then Mumbai must be the city that is never pauses to draw breath...hustle and bustle at all hours. In general the people were gracious and helpful and more than a little curious about us old white folk ambling along with our cameras.
Splitting off from group..which is officially over...changing to hotel by airport...one more night in Delhi then will be homeward bound.
Amongst all this travel and chaos...I got an offer on property I have been trying to sell (must have gotten good karma from the cow I fed)....so had a couple of hellish hours with bad internet to get contract signed..
Ready for a good steak and some salad.....see you all soon.

Hotels:

Leela Palace New Delhi

The Gateway Hotel Ganges

The Oberoi Amarvillas, Agra

The Oberoi Rajvilas

The Oberoi Undaivilas, Udaipur

Taj Malabar Hotel

Kumarakom Lake Resort

The Oberoi Mumbai