29 Mar – I have been back in Kazakhstan for over a week now. I am still trying to readjust to living in southern Siberia. I miss the trees, flowers, and warmth of the sun. The first few days of last week marked the holiday “Nauryz” to celebrate the beginning of spring. I only wish it felt more like spring here!

Well, India was crazy, wonderful, and frustrating, sometimes all of those things and more at once. It really was quite an adventure, albeit one I was not as prepared for as I thought I was or would have liked to have been.

Highlights

I loved seeing the women in their beautiful, colorful saris. They always look so elegant even when working or doing chores! And they manage to ride on the back of a motorcycle, both legs on the same side, perfectly content to hang on to nothing as if oblivious to all of the traffic whizzing by.

Bodhgaya was the smallest town we visited and my favorite. Buddha attained enlightenment here. Visiting the main temple and observing the many pilgrims and monks makes for quite a sight. We saw temples built by Buddhists from several different countries. The best part, though, was staying at the guest house of the Bhutanese monastery. The place was so quite and serene. I awoke early every morning and sat outside to enjoy the cool, fresh air and listen to the birds. I spent quite a bit of time reading outside too. This was my peaceful abode in the chaos that is India, which is almost too overwhelming for me.

Thank goodness Sean is an extrovert. Without his propensity to talk we likely would not have met the few wonderful people who helped to offset the negative impressions left by the touts, rickshaw/taxi drivers, and other potential scammers.

  • Elena – A young Russian lady who gave us some insight into Varanasi after we arrived at 5a.m., were give the run-around by our taxi driver, found our guest house full, and finally found ourselves unable to enjoy the sunrise directly in front of us as we sat on the bank of the Ganges River.
  • Rattam – A tailor in Varanasi who introduced us to a tabla (traditional Indian drum) player and the best apple pie in town from the pizzeria below his shop. Sean really wanted a traditional Indian outfit to bring home and Rattam had one custom made for him.
  • Goban – The tabla player who gave us a demonstration of his music and answered our many questions about traditional Indian music. (Sean wants to go back and take tabla lessons from him!)
  • Jigme – A driver for the Bhutanese monastery in Bodhgaya who cooked a delicious traditional Bhutanese dinner for us and educated us about his tiny Himalayan country.
  • Mr. Pradeep – A travel agent in Agra who arranged a taxi for us to return to the Delhi airport. Solely a travel agent he is not. He suggested, and then made, a dish called “kichri” to calm my ailing stomach. He prepared peanut butter and honey sandwiches for Sean to eat on the road. He made fresh peanut butter for me to bring home! He lived in the U.S. for some years working as a research assistant to a professor in North Carolina. And when he asked why we were living in Kazakhstan, we found out that he used to teach Hindi to Peace Corps Volunteers in India during the 60s and early 70s!!

Had we not met these wonderful people our perceptions may have been drastically different upon our departure from India.

Frustrations

There are people everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE! One young man told us that Indians are proud to be in a race with China to claim the title of the most populated country. We met several people who claimed to have six children.

The relentless touts. Most of them refuse to take no for an answer, at least not until you have said it for the fifth time with steadily increasing volume and agitation in your voice. They work diligently to persuade you to visit their shop (or their cousin’s shop.) Or to take their rickshaw at a ‘cheap’ price. I think the most effective tactic in dealing with them was to pretend we did not speak English, speaking to each other in Russian instead. (This also came in useful when discussing matters directly in front of a shop keeper or other locals!)

Traffic at first seems to be a chaotic mess. But observation reveals there is a sense of order amongst all of the pedestrians, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, cars, and trucks. All of the honking also has a rhyme and reason to it once you pay attention. As long as you keep next to the shoulder you will not be run over. Nevertheless, it is still a frightening experience. Did I mention that there are very few sidewalks?

Transportation challenges

We had transportation issues from the get-go. We could not take the train from my city to Almaty because the line was closed due to snow. We had to take a 4-hour bus ride to another city and then get on the train. Our flight leaving Almaty was slightly delayed. Our first train ride in India was delayed by four hours en route. Our third train segment in India was delayed by seven hours. There were no spaces available on the trains from Agra to Delhi, meaning we took a taxi direct to the airport on our last day. (Which actually turned out to be a blessing.) Our flight leaving Delhi was slightly delayed. All train lines in eastern Kazakhstan were closed when we returned due to heavy snow and blizzard conditions. And there was only general seating available which would have meant 37 hours in a wooden seat to get to a nearby city, and then a 4-hour bus ride home. Finally we decided to pay the extra money to fly home, only to have that flight delayed by an hour!

This does not even take into account the scare factor of riding in rickshaws and auto-rickshaws on the busy streets and roads. And even though we tried to avoid it, we had to take a couple of auto-rickshaws in the evening after dark. Not recommended!

Final thoughts

It did not take long for us to realize that we needed to revert to our Peace Corps training when we were frequently told to “lower our expectations.” Most of us chose to modify that statement to “manage” our expectations. Some things went as expected, lots of things did not. Acknowledging that we had to manage our expectations and make the most of every situation helped us to appreciate the experience despite the challenges.

This was truly an awesome cultural experience. Not only did I learn more about the Indian culture, but also about Buddhism and Hinduism. I am not quite ready to return to India, yet I would not have missed this trip for anything.