SLIDESHOW-India's First Impressions

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India…what to say, it is beyond words. It is everything we thought India would be and more, we’ve seen it all in just 3 days; snake charmers, lepers, elephants and cows in the streets, ever-present chai stands, dread locked sadhus, pollution infested air, inquisitive looks, ultra-spicy thali’s, garbage filled streets, bustling bazaars, technicolor Hindu posters and statues, and the list goes on and on. It is so raw and in your face the entire time you are out on the street, the only time you get a rest is when you are in your room. I had many ideas and visions of what it would be like, but it is so much more intense when you are actually there living it, standing in the street and surrounded by the vivid detail of it all…If I had not warmed up to it by traveling in Bali, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand for 3 months leading up to it, I could easily see myself being totally overwhelmed by it all and having my first ever panic attack, but it has been alright, in fact I have even been able to enjoy the frantic craziness of it all. We were expecting this and were ready for it.
Arriving in Delhi, it was great to stay with friends from Santa Cruz, Jessa and Mike, instead of having to stay at the dirty guesthouses in Old Delhi. It was calm, cool, clean and after spending our first days exploring Old Delhi it was very grounding to come back to a real apartment
One of the tough things has been the fact that we have been told to be skeptical of everybody that we encounter here as there are so many scams, thieves, and desperate people looking to make money off of unsuspecting tourists. Many of our friends who have been here have told us stories of being ripped off, stolen from, and even drugged. This is an unfortunate reality as we have tried to travel with open hearts and minds, but have had to wizen up and gotten used to watching our backs all the time. The trick will be being careful but not overly paranoid.
The food has been magnificent, it is a vegetarians dream here, and a vegans nightmare. There is barely any meat here, but everything is made with copious amounts of milk, butter, ghee, and sugar, but seeing that neither Malcolm or I are vegan, we have no problems. Sipping on the 3 rupee (10 cent) Chai that is everywhere (even on the buses and trains), and eating the taste bud invigorating 75 cent all you can eat veggie Thali’s has been awesome. Some highlights of our time here so far has been being surrounded by eager Indians wanting to know everything about you (where are you from? How old are you? What do you do? How much do you make? Are you married?), navigating the crowded bazaars, especially the Muslim Mena Bazaar at night where I was able to find a legendary music stall known for its enormous record collection. Also rewarding was visiting the musical instrument stores in Old Delhi, where the Punjabi owners were eager to share with us their skill on the tabla and sitar, and to take us to their warehouses stacked to the ceiling with instruments. Some of the unpleasantries have included the noise pollution, Indians have no qualms about using there horns and literally beep their horns every 5 seconds or more, it is headache inducing and these people are surely on their way to losing their hearing. We spoke to one man who said he has to replace his horn 3-4 times a year!!!! I have never heard of anyone in America having to ever replace their horn. The garbage and pollution is also very intense, my allergies have been acting up due to the amount of dust and fumes in the air. Garbage cans don’t exist here, if so, I haven’t seen them so garbage is everywhere. Cleanliness does not seem to be of a high priority here, which is funny because when we were in Thailand, we were always the dirty smelly foreigners as the Thai are obsessed with being clean, however, here we stink and we are the cleanest around, that’s cool though because we will save money on laundry now that we don’t need to be concerned about getting funny looks for our stank or the spots on our shirts. Personal space is also different here, there are no lines, you just crowd around wherever you need to get to and whoever gets to the front first is the man who gets served, when you are in a line, the person behind you will be pushing and leaning on you even though you can’t go anywhere. These have been annoyances that we will have to get used to, but they are far outweighed by the multitude of offerings India has for us. We are now on our way to Dharamasala/Mcleod Ganj in the foothills of the Himalayas, home of the Tibetans in exile and his holiness the Dalai Lama. We are looking forward to the cold weather as we have been in 80-95 degree heat for the past 3 months and are ready for a change. Until then…