My week of travel has been off to a very interesting start. When arriving in Delhi, I was greeted by a very nice man who walked me over to meet my driver, Ajay. After some discussion in the car, I was informed that what I thought was a group tour...ended up being just me. And while I thought I would have a guide, I in fact only have a driver. So that was a bit daunting and misleading to say the least. But I was in Delhi and with Ajay in the car so I sucked it up, took a deep breath, and braced myself for the next 6 hours alone in the car with this total stranger. Awkward Amy was gushing with excitement.
The ride, however, was really not bad. While his english definitely needs a lot of work, we were able to communicate quite a bit. I learned all about marriage in his country and his life, and he learned the same of mine. At one point, there was an average size turtle crossing a major road. So he stops right in front of it, runs out of the car to grab it (which at this point I am thinking “oh my God he is the sweetest thing ever”) and then runs to the side and just hurls that turtle so hard over the little barrier. I was so shocked that I just started hysterically laughing. He came back and said “why you laughing?” and I couldn't stop. It took me a minute to realize their was a river far beyond that little wall but man was that funny. He was confused but started laughing at me laughing which ended up being a great ice breaker.
The scenery was also amazing. It was such a change from Kolkata. So much less congested and there were cows everywhere and greenery. It felt nice to have some space.
We arrived in Haridwar approximately 6 to 7 hours later. Though there is terrible poverty in Kolkata, it presented itself much differently in Haridwar. There were small tents made of tarps everywhere with families either sleeping inside them or sitting around outside. Especially near the Ganga river, it was packed with people sleeping outside. Our first stop was to see a bunch of different temples. I apologize if I offend any Hindus here but the temples were super weird and creepy to me. They have over 30 gods and their statues are like large dolls with loads of sequined fabric. Some temples were very plain and simple while others were embellished with mosaics from the floors to the ceilings. I had many people say blessings over me, rub some red ink on my forhead, and pat my shoulders with a padded paddle. It was cool at first (even though I had no idea what they were saying) until I realized that everyone that did that wanted money. So I learned quickly to say no and speed away. One of the temples looked like the rainforest cafe in steroids. I went through a maze of small caves, there were moving animal exhibits, and just very scary paintings. One of which was a woman whose head is cut off and both she and the other women around her are drinking the blood that is squirting out from her neck. Gnarly.
After that I had to say a hard no to anymore temples. But he insisted I visit one more since it was high up on a hill with a great viewpoint if the city. Ajay then brought me to the path and waited in the car while I walked to my death. I say this because he neglected to tell me that I would be hiking the steepest switchbacks for the next couple of hours in the blistering heat. Luckily I was distracted by all of the free roaming cows, pigs, peacocks, and monkeys I saw. It was so cool! And once I got high enough and looked back, it looked like the land in the lion king. Just green land with some random trees and lots of animals roaming around. You just had to be careful where you looked because the monkeys were very sneaky and would snatch anything they could from you. I heard a woman behind me scream so I turned and found her getting robbed by a monkey. He had snatched her water bottle and was tangled in her scarf. Part of me wanted to be a hero...but not that day. I had gotten bit by our monkey in Ghana one too many times to know that I no longer mess with them. Sorry lady.
That evening, Ajay and I went to visit Har-ki-pauri for the Ganga Aarti. This is a ritual that attracts Indians from all over just after sunset. It involves praying, singing, and sending floating dia down the river. Dia are these little bowls made of leaves and filled with flowers and candles. They light them and send them floating down the river to pray for the salvation of their departed elders as well as their families. The ceremony was really cool but just crazy crowded. Standing out like a sore thumb, I was “lucky” enough to be brought to the very front of the action which meant I was standing on the steps in the water. And with the crowds growing thicker as the ceremony was about to start, I got pushed further in to where the water was above my knees. One more nudge and I would have been caught in the super fast current and vanished. It was a close call. Ajay tried to convince me later on to “shower” in the water like all of the people were doing around me (basically submerging yourself to cleanse/bless yourself while holding on to chains so you don't get pulled away by the strong current). That was another hard no. I laughed at first thinking he was kidding and he just gave me a confused smile and said “I don't understand.” My B.
I retreated that evening back to the hotel since I was crazy exhausted. The guys who ran the hotel were definitely so excited to have me there and knocked on my door every 2 minutes. “Mam, your towel.” “Mam your water.” “Mam, your name please.” “Mam country please.” I think they were also excited to show off the little bit of English they knew which was funny until I had to say “enough.”
Day 2 of the journey was just as long. We hit the road at 7:30am and drove for 9 hours! After our 6 hour drive the day before, our conversation was much more sparse. What the heck else could we talk about!? But we shared our music tastes with each other and enjoyed the views. The drive was through the mountains and it was wild. The mountains are where he is used to driving so imagine little roads right along the cliffside with small little cement blocks every 10 or 15 feet as “protection from falling” and blind turns every 100 feet or so. Dude was flying! And because the driver seat is reversed, when I looked out the window it didn't even look like we were on the road. All I saw was the thousands of feet below me. I told Ajay that and how I trusted him with my life. He laughed and said “It is okay. It is habit” meaning he knows what he is doing. It was bit more frightening seeing as we had to stop a few times because their had been landslides and the rocks or trees needed to be moved. But an adventure none the less!
On the journey we passed by 5 different prayags. These are known as meeting points which means they are where 2 rivers converge. They all had small cities built into the mountains surrounding them with very colorful homes and buildings. I never knew such beautiful cities existed in India. It looked like something you would see somewhere in Italy or Europe. Well, they looked like that from far away across the river. When you drove through them it looked like India. There were cows laying all over the road, horses and donkeys roaming around, and stray dogs everywhere.
At one point we were discussing birthdays and he shared that his was 7-7-84. I then responded with “July 7? As in today? Your birthday is today?” He quickly looked at his phone confused and then was cracking up when he realized. He had completely forgotten. He kept insisting that he never celebrates his birthday and that he is a simple man but I couldn't have it. So I treated him to dinner and a drink which made him really happy. I also was able to touch base with his birthday twin, Lauren (my sister) to wish her a happy birthday as well. But just to reiterate...HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOLO!! LOVE YOU!!!
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