I haven’t updated about India yet because there is just so much to say. India really stole my heart. I saw so many things that I did not expect. Really, I didn’t know what to expect. I saw children that were working instead of attending school. I saw cars dodge cows in the middle of the street. I saw whole families sleeping on the street. I didn’t have any expectations for India, so none of what I saw was what I expected.
I visited Agra, which is where the Taj Mahal is. I went to Varanasi, which is a holy place for Hindus because it is situated on the Ganges River. I visited Delhi and then returned to Chennai, where the ship was docked.
The Taj Mahal was amazing. It was so beautiful. It was literally a huge slab of marble. To see it in real life was just incredible. I have seen pictures and all sorts of depictions of the Taj, but to see it for real was awesome. We arrived there at sunrise and were able to stay for a few hours for pictures and exploring. There were Indian tourists there as well and they were very excited to see us and eager to take pictures with us. Several families stopped my friends and me for pictures. It is also interesting that the children wanted us to take pictures of them so that they could see themselves on our digital cameras. Later that day, we visited the Agra Fort. It was a large building and was once ornately decorated. There were also many Indian tourists there. It was funny that in each place the other tourists would take pictures with us in the background instead of the Taj Mahal or Agra Fort. It was quite obvious that they wanted pictures with foreigners.
Another interesting thing is that outside of the Taj Mahal, there is a dirt road and a few street vendors. I expected it to be heavily developed and very tourist-friendly. I found it quite funny that the exterior was just a dirt road like any other place in India. There was a large cow in front of the entrance when we were there. The term “holy cow” really does come from India. I rode down many streets in India where the cars dodged out of the way so that they would not hit the sacred creatures.
One thing that I noticed in India that I did not expect was the beautiful traditional dress. The women wore beautiful saris in a variety of bright colors. I knew this was traditional dress, but I did not realize that it was daily dress, as well. It was one of the most beautiful parts about India.
I also really enjoyed Indian food. I was afraid that this food would make me sick because we were strongly warned about water quality and health standards in India. The administrators on the ship basically implied that most of us would get sick. I did not, which was great. I ate a lot of local food, too, so this was surprising. I am excited to try Indian food when I get home because this was my first experience with Indian food, so I am interested to see how authentic the food is in America.
I have so much to say about India, so I am sorry that this blog seems really random, I will write some other, more direct entries soon.
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