India, October 10-15, 2011

After six days in India, Greg led a discussion where he asked students to come up with one word or phrase that described the most amazing aspects of their trip and another that described the most shocking aspects. A sampling of some of the words describing students’ amazement include beautiful, tasty, friendly, and spiritual. The shocking aspects were described as crowded, polluted, beggars, and hot. Almost everyone, including our family agreed that it was an intense and overwhelming experience.

We spent most of our time away from the port city of Chennai, which you may know by its former imperial name of Madras. While we were there, Greg led a field trip to a fair trade organization and we had time for a little shopping and dining. Greg is pictured in the auto rickshaw, a common means of local transportation. 

We tasted our way from South to North India, experiencing a wide variety of local dishes. Although we were familiar with many of the North Indian dishes, it was interesting to actually eat Indian food in India. A meal at an Indian restaurant involves all of your senses from the first odors of spices as you approach to the colorful décor to the delicious food. We found that the Indian food we eat in the South Bay is very authentic, although we have more options to turn down the heat than were offered in India.

On our second day in India, we took a four-day trip to New Delhi , Agra, and Varanasi. We started with a plane ride to New Delhi, where we toured the capital city. We learned about both the Sikh and Hindu religions and saw beautiful, majestic temples. The tour of the Sikh temple included a kitchen tour where we observed Sikhs making huge quantities of food to serve their members. 

Preparing to enter the Sikh temple

Hindu temple

The next morning, we awoke early to catch the train to Agra, the Shatabdi Express. The train station is one of those places where overwhelming is an understatement. We experienced a mass of people, beggars, vendors, and other activities that will go unmentioned. The picture, taken upon our arrival in Agra, captures the scene well. Where else might you see a relatively modern train station with a cow doing a mow and blow? 

Our trip to Agra included visits to three UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Fatehpur Sikri. The highlight of the day was the Taj Majal, which was every bit as magnificent as we had heard. The white, marble structure is an architectural wonder that words cannot adequately describe. It was built by Mughal emperor (the Mughals were Muslim dynasties), Shah Jahan, after his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, died during the birth of their 14^th child. Completed around 1653, the Taj Mahal took over twenty years to complete using materials from all over India and Asia, with a work force of about 20,000 people and 1,000 elephants.

Mosque at the Taj Mahal

Next, we traveled about 2.5 km to Agra Fort, a walled city originally built of brick by the Hindus that dates to at least 1080 A.D. Much later, the fort was captured by the Mughals and rebuilt with red sandstone.

Ruins at Fatehpur Sikri

We then traveled to the abandoned city of Fatehpur Sikri. The city was built by the Mughal emperor Akbar and served as the capital his  empire from 1571 to 1585 when it was abandoned due to an inadequate water supply. To put so much time and effort into building such a large and beautiful city and then to simply abandon it seems unimaginable. After 400 years, it is extremely well preserved with many of the buildings largely intact and exhibiting great detail in the artwork.

Scott playing cards with a friend and some college students

Lizzie and Louise with a hotel doorman

On the morning of the third day of our trip, we awoke early and boarded a plane for Varanasi. Varanasi is known as the "heartbeat of India" and , at 2500 years, it is one of the oldest, continuously inhabited cities in the world. It has strong spiritual roots for both Hindus and Buddhists and is well-known for its silk industry.

Upon arrival, we visited a silk factory and had some time to do a little shopping. At one stop, we noticed a group of children with a teenage boy hitting a stick against a wall. We learned that he was hitting cow patties that had been placed on the wall to dry. You can see the children holding the dried cow patties. They are used as fuel to heat ovens for cooking.

Several miles from Varanasi lay the ruins of the ancient city of Sarnath, where Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon. We visited the Buddhist temple as well as the actual site of Buddha’s first sermon.

On the fourth day, we awoke early (are you detecting a pattern here?) to walk down to the Ganges River. Varanasi is a holy city to which many Hindus make a pilgrimage. We walked in the earliest rays of sunlight down to the river where we boarded small boats, watching as people immersed themselves in the river in ritual bathing and prayer.




While on the Ganges, we purchased bowls of flowers and candles, which we lit and placed to float in the river. We also saw several cremation fires on the banks of the Ganges. It was a very spiritual and peaceful experience.

Sinking temple in the Ganges River

Greg talking to the young girl who sold us the flowers & candles

After leaving the river, we walked through the narrow, winding, crowded streets where we saw people going about their daily lives, on their way to work and school, praying, and selling their goods. A funeral procession passed by us on the way down to the river.

We returned to the hotel for breakfast and then headed to the airport to catch a plane and return to Chennai and the ship, exhausted and glad to be home.