So after arriving back to Delhi, I decided to spend half a day further exploring it and visited (played a diva and got a car with a driver which is very normal for here) Kutub Minar, the ancient and tallest minaret, and the Lotus temple and spend a few hours in a car enjoying the Delhi traffic which brings me the final post on my Indian trip.
In India, Hindu and Muslim (and Christian) cultures, architecture and presence are interlinked all over and when you add the Jains and Christians etc, you see an amazing collaboration and influence of styles and cultures on each other. Visiting India is a must and I hope this trip is the beginning of my exploration (there are many other countries to visit though) but at least I got a good taste of India
The cows. You realize the meaning of a “holy cow” when you are in India. Once the driver had to get off the car to chase a cow away because it was not moving at all. Cows are everywhere, cows are not really disturb and if you kill a cow by mistake or have an accident (e.g., car) and a cow dies, you go to jail for 2 years! Cows are everywhere – literally! Cows are sacred and holy!
Garbage. Garbage and waste are also everywhere especially along the roads. In some towns and villages, they clean better than in others but garbage collection is not really existent in India. People throw everything on the streets – drinking coffee, just drop the cap.
Traffic. Oh, Man! It is chaos! It is so chaotic, it’s unbelievable. You really don’t see the rules the drivers and bikers follow. Like a driver told me about Delhi, but it might be applied to all India I guess, all you need is good breaks, good horn and luck! This is what it is.
Shops. Tourists are totally harassed by shop owners – come visit my shop, oh you have beautiful earrings, come here to see more, see shawls, best quality and price, come visit my shop; you enter by mistake and the it continue, see this and this.. you say 10 times that this is not the color you want or what you are looking for and they continue to pressure you. Absolutely tiring and horrifying. People with souvenirs at bus stops and parking lots and some monuments – all the time. It is truly horrendous and bothersome.
Great monuments and place, colors but in many cases the final touches are missing the and it feels like people don’t really care about the overall perception; a light bulb missing or wire hanging or something broken, dust – big deal… it is not the case everywhere but often.
Coffee. It’s a NO. I had coffee only 1-2 times and never repeated. Coke with most of the meals to prevent gastro intestinal problems and the and rum and coke for dinner was a tradition.. Wine was mainly Indian – not too bad and how you feel in the morning depends on the quantity (haha)
North India in the winter is cold.. real cold! Desert is even worse. And what makes the condition worse is the lack of heating – if you have minimal heating, the situation would be better but without, it is cold!
Colors and people – this is the overall melody of this trip though. Rajasthan is truly amazing and colorful and the food is always spicy and often hot and vegetarian. It became one of my top destinations and it needs longer than 2 weeks to visit and explore.
In India, Hindu and Muslim (and Christian) cultures, architecture and presence are interlinked all over and when you add the Jains and Christians etc, you see an amazing collaboration and influence of styles and cultures on each other. Visiting India is a must and I hope this trip is the beginning of my exploration (there are many other countries to visit though) but at least I got a good taste of India
The cows. You realize the meaning of a “holy cow” when you are in India. Once the driver had to get off the car to chase a cow away because it was not moving at all. Cows are everywhere, cows are not really disturb and if you kill a cow by mistake or have an accident (e.g., car) and a cow dies, you go to jail for 2 years! Cows are everywhere – literally! Cows are sacred and holy!
Garbage. Garbage and waste are also everywhere especially along the roads. In some towns and villages, they clean better than in others but garbage collection is not really existent in India. People throw everything on the streets – drinking coffee, just drop the cap.
Traffic. Oh, Man! It is chaos! It is so chaotic, it’s unbelievable. You really don’t see the rules the drivers and bikers follow. Like a driver told me about Delhi, but it might be applied to all India I guess, all you need is good breaks, good horn and luck! This is what it is.
Shops. Tourists are totally harassed by shop owners – come visit my shop, oh you have beautiful earrings, come here to see more, see shawls, best quality and price, come visit my shop; you enter by mistake and the it continue, see this and this.. you say 10 times that this is not the color you want or what you are looking for and they continue to pressure you. Absolutely tiring and horrifying. People with souvenirs at bus stops and parking lots and some monuments – all the time. It is truly horrendous and bothersome.
Great monuments and place, colors but in many cases the final touches are missing the and it feels like people don’t really care about the overall perception; a light bulb missing or wire hanging or something broken, dust – big deal… it is not the case everywhere but often.
Coffee. It’s a NO. I had coffee only 1-2 times and never repeated. Coke with most of the meals to prevent gastro intestinal problems and the and rum and coke for dinner was a tradition.. Wine was mainly Indian – not too bad and how you feel in the morning depends on the quantity (haha)
North India in the winter is cold.. real cold! Desert is even worse. And what makes the condition worse is the lack of heating – if you have minimal heating, the situation would be better but without, it is cold!
Colors and people – this is the overall melody of this trip though. Rajasthan is truly amazing and colorful and the food is always spicy and often hot and vegetarian. It became one of my top destinations and it needs longer than 2 weeks to visit and explore.
India, a set on Flickr.
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