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Aymanam (4/28/19-4/30/19)
Before we departed the country we got to spend a couple of days back in Aymanam to visit and say good-bye as well as to pack our life away.
Through out my travels and my education I have picked up a few ways to say these words:
English: Good-bye
Spanish: Adios
Danish: Hej Hej
Malayalam: Ta Ta
What's funny is we, English speakers have a "good bye phrase" that is a Malayalam cognate (the same word, the same meaning, in different languages). That phrase is "Ta Ta for now".
Now since I am a long standing fan of the TV show NCIS as well as a follower of Gibbs' infamous rules, I bring to your attention rule number 39.
There is no such thing as coincidences.
That being said I am not convinced that the aformentioned cognate is a coincidence, I think it is fate. We live in a small world and who knows where life will take me in the future. So that is why I leave Aymanam saying "Ta Ta... for now"
Mumbai (4/24/19-4/27/19)
To be honest by the time we got to Mumbai we were TIRED, worn out, and hot. You can spend a month here and still not see everything, these two facts considered we didn't see too too much. We did enjoy hanging around the city after being in the desert for some time. Plus we got to see Avengers Endgame in one of the most historic movie theaters in India.
Rajasthan (4/19/19-4/23/19)
TO THE DESERT (which sadly is very different from dessert... the English language, man, it makes no sense). The next two stops on our itinerary are the beginning of the end, the final count down, the first two of the final three. Both of these felt truly touristy more then any other stop on our grand tour, maybe it’s because we saw many monuments or it was the prolific mass of foreigners who tend to be easy to spot. Rajasthan is a beautiful state, mostly known for two cities, "the pink city" of Jaipur and "the blue city" of Jodhpur. Both were beautiful and extremely hot, but we just considered it as prep for our upcoming return to the summer season in Aymanam.
Due to the touristy nature of this particular destination most of my documentation of this leg is reliant on photos
Jaipur
The Pink City
The monkey temple, yes we got to feed monkeys, do not advise unless under the supervision of an elderly temple man
Cultural expierences: a puppet show and a food tour
Jodhpur
The Blue City
The overnight camel safari - completed with a few French friends we met along the way
We slept on cots under the stars
Amritsar (4/17/19-4/18/19)
Truthfully we went to Amritsar for one reason... FOOD! Punjabi Food! And boy did it exceed our expectations in cuisine but also in the area of things to do we only wish we stayed longer then we did (a common sentiment on this trip). Somehow I managed to not take a single photo of my delicious meals in the state but I did get some good photos of the Golden Temple (if you go, go at night).
The major religion in this area is called Sikhism which in my opinion has a the right idea of how to treat people. It is my understanding (limited as it is) no matter your walk of life, your religious beliefs, or any other detail that you may think would matter... doesn’t, they’ll feed you and give you lodging if they can manage, blankets and floor space if they don’t have a bed... all free of charge. Seeing this in action in a place as magnificent as the Golden Temple was quite astounding. We did however miss something quite important to the Amritsar experience, we arrived soon after it had finished, leaving before it began, it was a celebration held daily on the Pakistani border. It was explained to us as almost a pep rally on either side, something like my high school’s battle of the houses, if I were to go to Amritsar again I would make sure I could attend this event.
Other Amritsar photo opts
Jammu (4/16/19)
Down and around the mountains we went to our next destination of Jammu city, a city still within the state limits of Jammu Kashmiri, but oh it was like stepping into another world. Despite still being in the state the army men were gone and women’s heads could be seen completely different from our Srinagar experience. As it turns out, there is no cell reception in the state... womp... and for the time being there (apparently because of the elections) the government had cut the WiFi lines in the city... alrighty... two facts that made navigating Jammu a tad difficult. But alas we prevailed and spent the majority of the day in a beautiful park in the city, reading books and taking pictures with people (it’s easy to feel like a celebrity here occasionally).
Srinagar (4/11/19-4/15/19)
Hopping from place to place city to city is exciting, it something that I do enjoy. But I also have to admit it can be very tiring business (even for someone with as much energy as me). So I was relieved upon entering Srinagar as it meant we were “settling,” even if it was just for a couple of days. If I were to explain Srinagar in two words, they would be “cultural experience.” In one of my first blog posts I mentioned what I had called “the tourist-zone.” This is the experience where you are living in the outskirts of the community, you are there to see the things, take the pictures and go. Since leaving Aymanam we have been living in this zone. This is not necessarily the worst thing, it can be kinda fun. It’s almost like you‘re drunk. You don’t quite know what’s going on you’re just enjoying yourself. In turn, when living like this, a lot of the cultural exploration is lost in translation or left to surface level evaluation. Something that can be hard to stomach after being so immersed in a particular community. India is such a culturally diverse place. It has been described to us, as if each state is its own country. In our travels so far, we have seen that in the variety of languages spoken, personal appearance and type of dress allowed. Each of these things supremely basic descriptors. Though we never left “being tourists,” visiting Srinagar for the amount of time and in the situation we booked ourselves we were allowed to see Indian diversity in a slightly deeper way. Upon arriving in Srinagar the first thing you will notice, off the bat, is that it is a militarized state. Military men with guns and batons are as easy to spot as a college blue light system. (Whether there was an increase in presence due to the recently lifted travel ban or if this is what they call “normal,” we are unsure.). Once recovering from military-induced shock you’ll then notice that it is primarily a Muslim state (where in India you are more accustomed to there being a majority of Hindus). Both of these observations not necessarily a surprise because of course we researched the area but actually seeing it was something else. In summary, taxiing from the airport to our home stay, I was already a little overwhelmed. Luckily, the homestay we booked did a good job of putting me at ease. As per Kashmiri tradition we sat on the floor (perfect for me, I know) in the main room and sipped Kashmiri tea, as our host welcomed us to his home and explained what services the homestay offered in addition to just a bed. Then up to our rooms we went. Picture the inside of The Burrow, (also known as the Weasley’s house for you uneducated muggles), going off the main staircase were a variety of hallways and doors leading to this room and that. When we asked our host how many of his family members were staying at the house his answer was that he wasn’t completely sure, maybe 10 to 15. As for food, the weekend was filled with home cooked Kashmiri dinners that were delicious and well balanced yet they also made me nostalgic for Sophy Aunties’ cooking and coconut-based curry.
In sum we very much enjoyed our time in Srinagar, as not only did we do a full city tour but also a overnight trek were we got to see some snow!
Gardens!
City tour
Everything is possible on Dal lake
Kashmiri Handicraft
Trekking
He wanted to build a snowman
My rain “ponjo”
The clay house where we slept for the night
Did you go hiking if you didn’t take a picture of your boots over the edge?
Agra and New Delhi (4/9/19-4/10/19)
Despite the fact these two cities were intended to be two different destinations on our trip I am bunching then together for the sake of time and my own attention span. Agra Upon walking around Agra I found myself relating the “city” to a college town, specifically Storrs, CT, because just as people go to Storrs for one reason and one reason only (UCONN, GO HUSKIES!) people tend to go to Agra for just as many reasons, any guesses? That’s right my friends, it’s the Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world and perhaps one of the most Insta-worthy destinations on our trip (if only I was on the gram... is that what the kids say?). The story surrounding the Taj is an old one, and can easily be found on Wikipedia or on this link: https://www.tajmahal.gov.in/taj_story.html How to do the Taj Mahal
go when they open, meaning 5:30 am, if I can do it after only an hour of sleep I promise you can get up as well and that it will be 1000% worth it. Not only are the crowds and Qs significantly less but you also get to see the sun rise over the Taj and the lighting is picture perfect
You don’t need a tour guide, though you will be asked by several seemingly official humans if you want a tour. Despite the badge hanging around their necks, they are not part of an agency or the Taj itself. On the other hand, from what we overheard, they tend to be skilled BaeDecker guides, able to tell Taj-related stories and architectural points of interest as well as take good photos
Don’t have crayons in your bag they won’t let you take them through... weirdos
The monkeys: look but don’t touch
It’s closed on a Friday but we went Wednesday so it’s okay (R.I.P Patna)
New Delhi
So unfortunately I think that New Delhi might be the first place on our trip that we wish we could have stayed just a day longer as we manage to really only be there for one night and we weren’t able to see much of anything. New Delhi can be very intimidating at first glance hence our original hesitation to stay for a couple days but upon arriving you see one of India’s most bustling cities with much to see. I do however advise keeping your wits about you. Delhi was probably one of the first places that I really appreciated traveling with a guy. On the upside, we are very content with New Delhi Zostel as it was our first night spent in a real bed in a couple of days.
Patna (4/8/19)
Buckle in my furry friends because the last couple of days have been a prime example of the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry... but that often things workout regardless So let’s begin where we left off, Gangtok. When we originally booked our departure from Gangtok it was a 230pm departure from Pakyong airport (about an hour outside Gangtok), with a 2 hr layover in Kolkata to then land in Patna. A few days following the booking our flight was changed to earlier in the day 11:15am, meaning we were in for a longish layover in Kolkata. Still with me? The day before we depart our airport was changed. Yes, you heard me our airport, we were now leaving from Bagdogra airport which was 4 to 6 hours away. To compensate, we left Gangtok at 5 am the next morning. We were able to make our flight with no issue. We land in Kolkata at noon to find out our next flight was delayed by three hours, short story we spent the day in Kolkata airport. Thankfully, a nice restaurant in the airport let us hang out on their couches so we could rest. We arrived in Patna with rave reviews from our previous hostel mates but sadly we hit a little bit of a road block. So here is a little known fact, if you ever plan to visit the interesting and historic city of Patna, don’t go on a Monday, everything interesting and historic is closed... There is however a really cool restaurant on the 15th floor of a building, the floor of the dining room rotated so we were able to get an amazing view of the city. Also if you ever plan to go to Patna please be prepared. So far on the tour we have been spoiled with beautiful and modern cities like Bangalore and Gangtok, Patna was not quite able to level up. To be fair it is one of the oldest still operateing cities in the world filled with many sites of pilgrimaged for both those who are Muslim and Hindu. But it is also a very poor city. The amount of men, women, and children living on the streets of Patna was astounding and horrifiying Feeling slightly defeated at the end of our Patna tour we go to train station excited for our AC sleeper train and the prospect of seeing the Taj Mahal in the coming hours... As it turns out our train had been cancelled with no notification or rescheduling... India... There was also no train going to Agra until 4am the next morning and no sleeper car available... So yes we spent the night at the train station, luckily for us they provided a well lit, fan-conditioned room with a nice desk attendant. We were able to get on that morning train, find seats where we could lay down and sleep and spend our 20 hr train ride. Lucky for us our hostel was open at 3:30 in the morning. So yes, not quite perfect, and admittedly very difficult at times but it all worked out as it always does.
Our Bagdogra to Kolkata flight
The one photo I took in Patna
There was an adorable little boy on the train and I asked if he wanted to draw in my notebook
Gangtok (4/3/19-4/7/19)
It was time to slow down a bit in our tour around India so we spent 3ish days (with bookended travel days) in Gangtok, Sikkim, India. A.K.A. we finally made it up north, close to the Himalayas, and to one of the rare places of India that is considered “cold.” (High of 65F/22C and a low of 61F/16C, yes my USA friends I can hear you laughing from here). Our journey began in the best way with an earlyish flight into the small airport of Bagdogra, where we booked our six hour taxi ride to Gangtok. Along the way we managed to pick up a cool German to share a cab with. His name was Ronny and boy has he lived, traveling all over world, the stories this guy had definitely kept us entertained as we sped and weaved through the winding roads up to Gangtok.
Upon arriving we came to the quick conclusion that we really could have spent the entire month here and we wouldn’t have been bored, the entire state of Sikkim being full of breathtaking views and incredible trekking spots. We did however do the best with the time we had. We managed to see a lot: Got some good views of the town center and the greater Gangtok area
Went to some Buddhist Monasteries
Waterfalls
Some guy wanted to take a picture of Trey looking at the waterfall... he said why not
Exhibit A of how blonde I’ve gotten on this trip
Trey often finds new friends like this one
Temples
And while all these things were really cool, what really made this trip a success was the quick and easy friends we made with the other people staying at the hostel. Each member of the group had their own sets of experiences in life and in India. We had some entertaining and occasionally in-depth cultural discussions as we were almost all from different countries (in addition the the two Americans of our group, we had a German, a Brit, a Russian, an Italian, and an Israeli). And in all I give a lot of credit to the backpacking community as it really does enhance you experience wherever you go.
Finally, one thing that was particularly interesting about this area was that it was strikingly more Nepali in people, food, language, and culture, then what I would describe as Indiana and so we continue I the journey to see just how diverse the country of India can be.
Kolkata(4/2/19)
Next stop Kolkata! This is probably comparable to a layover more then anything else as we spent almost exactly 24 hours in this city. You may have heard of it before in reference to Mother Teresa. Now unfortunately because we spent so little time here. I don’t have so much to say, except that so far Kolkata is in the lead for the superlative of where your most likely going to get hit by a car. Our experience with India has included auto-rickshaws, motorcycles and scooters as the mode of transportation. In Kolkata however it is definitely more a place for the cars and Uber is perhaps the best way to get in , around, and out of the city. We mostly spent the day walking my watch reading about 20,000 steps but the end of the day. We got to see some beautiful sights most of them dating back to the time where the British were ruling India. For example:
St. Paul Church
And Victoria Memorial Hall Gardens (also known as a great place to nap)
We ended the day walking along one of the off shoots of the Ganges and enjoying a show at the planetarium opting to watch the show in Bengali (local language) instead of English because why not. It was however particularly interesting because we got to see how different the local languages are, Bengali sounding completely differently then Malayalam.
(More pictures to be added when I have better WiFi)
Bangalore (3/31/19-4/1/19)
Alright first stop Bangalore. We got into the city by sleeper train, AC TIER 3. The only way to describe this experience is luxurious as I am pretty sure that train was nicer then most of our future hostels. Entering into Bangalore I knew embarrassingly little. I really knew two things. The first was what I had read in the book White Tiger, the trademark being “it’s a place for entrepreneurs.” The second thing was that we were going to meet up with a 3/2 program, Stonehill alum who is from India originally and is now living in Bangalore. (there in lies the awesomeness of knowing someone who lives in a city you’re visiting... no preparation necessary because they’re just gonna show you around) So all of that being said I was completely unprepared for what we saw walking around this city as it was so different from what I had come to picture as characteristically Indian. First, was that women my age were not wearing traditional Indian dress, most were in “western style” clothes some even sporting tank tops, crop tops, skirts and shorts. Secondly, drinking culture is accepted and in fact encouraged as the craft beer scene is really making its mark on the area.
Additionally, it was super easy to get around, most things accessibly by foot or metro. And this city’s metro was comparable to my experience with European rails. Color me impressed.
(The picture up top that refuses to listen to me) Needless to say I was a tad culture shocked. And even still beyond all that Bangalore is really an amazing city. Bangalore is really a place for entrepreneurs. It’s a place for start ups. It’s honestly a place for millennials as it’s such an up and coming area. Most people here will compare it to San Francisco in the promise that this city holds.
This was a start-up aid center that we found at the metro station
Lastly, something noticeably unique about Bangalore was the nature. The city was literally built around the nature, they didn’t feel the need to bulldoze the trees to make room for the city. Walking through the streets you’ll have giant trees splitting the sides of traffic, random parks that pop up, and holes in buildings with a tree branch going through it, it was so curious to see how it all worked around the natural beauty of the area.
Some more Bangalore Pics
Trinity Church
Samsung Opera House
We found a Dunks
Locals know where to find the dogs!
In summary Bangalore demonstrates an interesting dichotomy between the old and the new
How ya feelin' (As of 3/30/19)
Here we are about to start a crazy adventure. To put this in perspective a quick anecdote. One of the pervious SSC-India members, Dan, when the fathers talk about him, they always reference what a traveler he was when he was here, always going somewhere. Well when we showed Dan our itinerary he called our trip "ambitious." Needless to say I am nervous to the absolute craziness of this upcoming roller coaster ride.
For the longest time this trip felt so far away, always like oh yeah, were gonna travel for a month at the end of the school year... it was just kinda something you said, because we're in India... you gotta travel, when's the next time your getting here?
All of February we spent planning and planning and planning.
Planes. Trains. Automobiles.... Hostels?
Planning was difficult, there is so much to see, India being such a diversely cultural place, each state with its own food, language, social expectations.
And only four weeks to do it all.
Eventually we settled on an itinerary of 12 places, leaving the night of March 30th and returning the night of April 27th, spending three days back in Aymanam before headed to the airport on our way home (kinda)...
On this trip we will be seeing a range of destinations from mountains, to deserts, to bustling cities, and obviously the Taj Mahal.
All of it always felt like it was so far off and even now as I pack for the trip not really real... but here we go... it'll be fineeee...
P.S. This particular blog post is obviously little less reflective and more traditional travel blog, American tourist... my goal is actually to update as we go... pending wifi access and my ability to figure out the wix.com app... hopes are not quite high and it'll be pretty obvious from the beginning whether I can accomplish such a feat, but consider checking this link about once a week.
Packing for a month
Honestly, I am packing like I am going to summer camp... about a week's worth of clothes to be worn twice, washing my clothes at hostels about every two weeks. In my bag is a balanced mix of western clothes and Indian dress, some warm clothes for the mountains and active wear for the awesome trekking spots. My trusty pair of chocos will also be accompanying me as well as my hiking boots that I brought to India just for this occasion.
Due to the first rule of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I have also brought a towel, as we may have forgotten to see if all of our hostels will supply these... a sheet sleeping bag has also made it into the backpack.
I will obviously be carrying around my passport which contains my visa, my residence permit, and copies of all the official paperwork you can think of just incase.
Meds are standard issue anti-diarrheals, small first-aid kit (I've always been a boy scout), motion sickness meds, probiotics, heavy duty antibiotics, and last but not least daily malaria pills... fun! Let the vivid dreams begin!
(Now I actually have to listen to my travel doctor... Cook it, Boil it, Peel it... or Forget it... So much bottled water and bug spray)
The rest is mostly boring toiletries and some granola bars my mom sent me from home :)
AND OF COURSE A BANDANA!
to be posted when we have better WiFi