India

Like it is with every port, I awoke in India to the disembodied voice over the intercom telling us “we are now welcoming the “x” sea (each floor and section of the ship is designated a “sea” to which we can be identified by.  My sea is the Red Sea) to receive your passports and do the face-to-face diplomatic briefing in the Glazer Lounge.”  Once I realized that this voice was not part of my dream and in fact reality, I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and walked the three steps it takes to get to my bathroom to shower and wake up in preparation for the adventure that was India.  Knowing that it would be hot and muggy – not to mention smelly – I dressed accordingly and headed straight to the Glazer Lounge, which was originally a bar/dance floor but SAS turned it into the “Teacher’s Lounge.”  I walked in, received my stamp and walked out ready to meet up with my friends.  We walked down the Gangway where a long line of SASers was awaiting us.  After an hour or two we finally got through security and jumped on a couple Indian rickshaws.  These rickshaws were fun.  They consisted of a three-wheeled motorbike with a big box around it, accompanied with three small seats in the back.  These rickshaws were fun yet scary; the drivers are gutsy and crazy and I’m actually quite surprised we didn’t get in a crash.  It would take forever for the driver to finally succumb and take you to your final destination.  They told us they were taking us to a “cheap” store of Indian handicrafts and goods, but in the end we realized that they get commission for taking us to certain shops.  That’s why it takes so long to get where you wanted because the driver would take us to these stores where we did not necessarily want to go to and after awhile it just became one after another.  I didn’t mind going to these places because we didn’t really have any other plans and I believe it was an experience, but some of the others did not feel so inclined to oblige by the drivers desires and became a little cranky.  I urged them to keep their spirits up; after all, we were in India.  Soon we arrived to our destination, Spencer’s Plaza, and began shopping for many of the same goods we just saw but at a lower price.  Spencer’s was a giant mall (more of an indoor market than a mall) with narrow hallways down the sides that gave the mall an added maze-like quality.  All of India seemed to be a maze; because of all the people (population of about 1 billion) it made it difficult to get around.  There were people literally everywhere.  In addition to a rather unstable government, an enormous population that is affected by a caste system left countless of people homeless and poor.  The meager life style was palpable by many and the more traveling I did it became rather prevalent.

I signed up for an SAS trip to see the Taj Mahal, which left on our third day in India.  We had to catch a flight from Chennai (formerly Madras) to Agra early in the morning.  Our group met in the Union (our largest classroom) and left by bus in preparation for a 45-minute bus ride to the airport.  By the time we reached the airport the sun was barely visible on the horizon.  With sleepy eyes and tired legs we walked through the already crowded airport with eyes following us everywhere we went (Indians like to stare.  Even if you look back at them they will continue to stare.  To some this became bothersome, but to me I knew that they were only doing this because we look so different than the vast majority of the population.  But still, when you catch the eyes of someone and smile to him or her and don’t receive a smile back it can become a little unnerving).  When we arrived in Agra, another bus was awaiting our arrival to take us to our hotel.  A two hour bus ride may seem like a long time, but when you are sitting there listening to your favorite music and looking out into a foreign land as if to study it, two hours goes by quite fast.  Driving along the countryside made it clear to see how India’s major sector is agriculture.  Our bus had to stop once in order to not hit a crossing cow.  Cows are holy in India and many have the ability to literally do whatever they want.  A cow walking along the side of the street became a common site as the trip went on.  We arrived at our hotel just in time for a late lunch, which actually felt more like dinner.  We had the evening to ourselves and walked around the area a little bit with rickshaw drivers haggling us everywhere we went.  They would follow us but in order to not fall into the same trap we told them that we would just walk this time.  We eventually went back to the hotel as the sun was setting went to the roof and sat in the viewing terrace to chat and learn things about our new friends with the silhouette of the barely visible Taj Mahal off in the distance.  We went to bed knowing that we would see that grand structure early the next morning.

I awoke to a 5 am wake up call and crawled out of the refreshingly fluffy bed and made my way to the lobby.  We arrived to the Taj Mahal parking lot at around 6:00, where more “hawkers” awaited our arrival and bombarded us as we walked off our bus that was adorned with a large “TOURIST” sign over the front glass.  We walked to the back of the line while avoiding people trying to sell us dangles (Indian bracelets) and magnets.  There was a large, grand entrance building that you have to pass through to get to the Taj Mahal.  As you walk up to this entrance, the distant Taj Mahal comes into sight; I began to walk faster.  Wide-eyed and anxious, I passed through this entrance building and stood in awe as my jittery legs came to a halt before the gardens that lay in front of this magnificent masterpiece.  I felt like I was looking at a postcard, yet at the same time pictures do not do it’s beauty justice.  We spent about an hour walking around the gardens and taking pictures from different angles and viewpoints.  I would try and try again to take a picture that would personify its splendor, but in the end only a few would come close to representing its warranted brilliance.  The Taj Mahal is completely symmetrical and made entirely out of white marble.  Its amazing how something so big and beautifully complex was made in the 17th century.  As the story goes, the Taj Mahal was made by Emperor Shah Shajan and built for his wife, Taj Mahal.  They had 14 kids together and on her death bed she had a few wishes for him, two of which I remember.  One of them was to never love another again, and the second was to build her a lovely tomb to remember her by.  And thus the Taj Mahal was built.  In fact, the only thing that is not symmetrical in the tomb is the white marble coffin of Shah Shajan resting next to his beloved wife in the center of the structure.  There was also a mosque built to the left of the Taj and in order maintain the symmetry, a “guest house” was built to the right of the Taj with the same exact dimensions.  During our sunrise visit, we did not have enough time to go inside the Taj but we made another visit that night where we were fortunate enough to see the inside.  I was expecting something grand because the outside was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.  But the inside was simply a dark tomb with giant ceilings, beautiful nonetheless.   Between our visits to the Taj, we saw the Agra Fort, which welcomed a distant view of the Taj across a giant river.  We also stopped at a white marble factory and saw how Indian semi-precious gems were embossed into white marble.  This store was adorned with many gorgeous tables and small little handicrafts with each being more coveted than the last.  My trip to the Taj Mahal was an amazing experience that I believe is reason enough to make a visit to India.

After one more day of seeing Agra, we left for Delhi and stayed in the nicest hotel I have ever had the pleasure to stay in.  It was quite an odd feeling staying there because the whole time in India we constantly saw poor and underprivileged people walking the streets and begging for money or food.  One time on the rickshaw, we were stopped in traffic and a mother no older than 15 yrs old was carrying her infant child and with her free hand was gesturing towards her open mouth asking for food.  This was just a weird experience staying in this 5-star hotel knowing that there were people outside who had never slept in a proper bed in their lives.  At the buffet I looked around and noticed that every person eating there was wearing a suit.  I asked the people at my table, “how many of the people staying here do you think are here for business or for vacation?”  We looked around and only noticed one couple who appeared to be on vacation.  A resounding “business” was the response.  My last day in India we had a large group and rather than getting in rickshaw this time, we got a large taxi where all 7 of us were able to fit.  As we drove off, our driver pulled down a screen and started playing a Bollywood movie that depicted a robot saving a damsel in distress and right when the movie was starting to get good (it was quite entertaining, reminded me a little of Terminator) as the robot’s creators began to use him as a weapon, we had to get out in order to make it to our on-ship time.   At least I got to see part of a Bollywood film!  I thought that India was an incredible experience and I can totally see it becoming a powerful player in the world economy in the near future.  With it huge population and driven people (all of the rickshaw drivers I met had a college degree) I will not be surprised when I hear about India making strides towards a greater economy.

The ports are coming quite rapidly now and it seems that we had no time between India and Singapore, only a couple class days.  Singapore was a great place that I will write about after Vietnam, but we were there for only day (a good day at that: Halloween) which made it hard to fully appreciate all that it has to offer.  We left Singapore yesterday and will be arriving in Vietnam tomorrow morning.  I’m really excited for Nam and I can’t wait to eat pho everyday!  I’ll talk to everybody soon and I love you all!