Raj Graeme Heads to Delhi, India

Clean India campaign

Tet Holiday came quick this year.  Only a few weeks after we had returned from Laos we were back at the airport and on our way to New Delhi, India - a new and exciting country and city for us to explore!  Planning to visit and stay with our friends Paul and Sepi (who Erin worked with our first year in Vietnam, they now work at the American Embassy School in Delhi) while we took in the sights of Delhi and Agra.  

In prepping for our trip we asked around a bit about what to expect, what to do, etc.  Much of the insight we got made mention of the pollution and the disparity in class between upper and lower.  Well, to be expected since it is technically the most polluted city in the world and having read the book Beyond the Beautiful Forevers (I highly recommend the read), we set our expectations a bit low.  What we found was not what we expected.  Yes the air is polluted.  Yes there is trash and yes there is a large gap between the "haves" and "have nots", but we don't live in the cleanest city in the world and watching shiny high rise apartments displace corrugated steel shacks is very common for us here and we saw the sun shining every day we were there.  I was also expecting a bit of an odor considering some of the sanitation scenarios but there was none.  What we did smell was wonderful aroma's of spices and street foods that left our mouths watering.

This was a great vacation for us because we got to spend a lot of time with our friends and mix in some adventure along the way.  Some things just as simple as sitting in their house playing word games with Graeme or playing with Delilah (their 70 pound "puppy" black lab who things she is a lap dog) and Allister (her older brother)  made us really happy, kind of like hanging out with family and friends at home which we don't get to do often.

Paul and Sepi had us set up in style.  Our own room, our own driver (slash bodyguard - more on that later) and cook.  Not a bad way to visit!  Believe it or not our first adventure was a visit to the American Embassy.  It is the one of the larger US Embassy's in the world and we were able to check out the recreation area's (watched some kids playing little league baseball!), down some pancakes in the restaurant and log some lane time in the bowling alley.  Ahhhh, the beauty of spending some US tax dollars....

Delhi is not short of history and places to visit as a tourist.  There are ancient forts, mosques, mausoleum's, street food, street art and shopping.  Enough so you could really over extend yourself trying to do it all.  We chose a slower pace and took in a few sights a day giving us more time with friends...and to eat.

Wow, did we eat.  At home we enjoy Indian food but pretty much stick to ordering the same things over and over primarily because that is all we know what to order.  What we discovered in Delhi is we like so much more then what we were limiting ourselves to!  Our meals typically took up the entire table and we rarely knew what we were eating.  A good idea would have been to keep notes so that we can reference it at future Indian restaurants but that would have taken up valuable time spent eating.  India is a large country and the food is regional, so depending on what type of restaurant you were in you were eating food from a different region.  They are all very different in taste, texture and presentation.  This made us realize that at home what we call "Indian Food" is really an overall generalization of a very varied and distinctly regional group of foods.  The only other place we've been to that I can actually compare the amount of eating we did to was to New Orleans.  I recommend elastic waist-banded pants in your luggage if you ever head to Delhi!

A highlight for us was a walking tour Sepi set up throughout some really hip and cool neighborhoods that are a bit off of the tourism radar screen.  Starting the day with a monsterous Southern India breakfast we set out to check out various street art projects where artisits from all over the world are invited to put an installation on a wall in the neighborhood.  Some taking a political stance while others combining Indian culture with the artists own.  It was really cool to see and stroll around while looking at it all.  We also cruised through some urban villages - where a village theme takes over an area of a cities alleyways and streets.  We went to the designer village - custom made clothes primarily (especially if you were getting a wedding dress).  Really cool to see the "dyers" dipping and dying the fabrics right in the alleyways.

A trip here would not be complete without seeing the Taj Mahal.  About a 3 hour drive on nice roads, we enlisted our man Nathaniel to get us there and back safely all in one day.  People we spoke to before had prepped us a bit when we asked if we should even go to see it for fear of being disappointed.  Most said it is a site that you think will underwhelm you or you think will overwhelm you, but either predisposition will be dispelled once you enter the gate and the most beautiful building in the world looms in front of you.  It's majestic.  It's mesmerizing.  It's amazing.  It is really difficult to put into words.  Driving through Agra to get to it (in my opinion the craziest city we've ever seen and all we did was drive through it) you are surrounded by dusty, dirty chaos.  Then you enter the vicinity of the Taj (cars and other motor vehicles are prohibited in order to lessen the pollution effect on the building - battery operated or animal powered only) and your breath is taken away.  Essentially a monument built for Emporer Shah Jahan for his deceased wife (#13).  Using white marble and employing Turkish artisans to undertake the intricate decorative carvings - today the families involved still exist and are the only people allowed to work on the marble, the 11th generation is carrying on the tradition.  In today's dollars this building would have cost close to $1billion usd.  Over 1,000 elephants were used to haul materials and 28 different gems and semiprecious stones are inlayed throughout.

In an ongoing theme of "I don't get it, you are looking at a wonder of the world and you want to take my picture?" we had a bit of a hassle while visiting.  I made the mistake of letting someone pose for a photo with me.  Apparently being 6ft tall, white with blonde hair and blue eyes trumps the Taj Mahal.  Well, if you let one person do it be prepared for the masses to expect the same.  Then once Graeme was noticed the flood gates were opened.  Luckily for us, our driver, Nathaniel came in with us to check out the site and he saw what was happening and immediately stepped in as our bodyguard "politely" shooing away those who were mistaking us for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Finishing our adventures with a rickshaw tour through Old Delhi - the original city dating back over 1,000 years old.  It's a maze of tight alley's, bustling business, goods being transported by bike, hand cart and back.  Dizzying and dazzling, filled with robust aromas of spices and street foods being prepared to feed the masses.  We live in a pretty busy place but Old Dehi was next level.

Living in HCMC we are privy to a few farm creatures on the streets from time to time.  Usually in the form of roosters and chickens, we've also seen a goat or two and water buffalo aren't unheard of in some parts of town.  Delhi, a city of 25million people, has us beat.  Driving down the road you may see a stray elephant.  Or camel.  For sure you will see stray cows.  Many cows.  But stray elephants and camels?  Wow.  It's actually the first time we have seen "wild" camels or elephants and it was in a major global city.  Pretty impressive!

Never easy to leave such a fascinating place but even harder when you are leaving friends behind.  We had such a great time visiting and exploring (and Graeme showing them where all the ice cream spots are) it was tough to say goodbye.  Already making plans for our next rendesvous we look forward to catching up with Paul and Sepi soon!

Glad to have finally tapped into India and we are looking forward to exploring more that it has to offer in the future!

Back at home now and there is a bit of a stretch before anymore travel adventures for us.  That's just fine as we've got some great new worlds opened up by Graeme's new found ability to ride a bike "All by myself!".  Here's the video proof:

Hòa Bình,

The Hawken's in HCMC

#thetaoofgraeme