Eating Without English

   Without the assistance of a young person to enthusiastically translate orders for you (the young generation all seem to have a good grasp on English in Hong Kong), eating at a local vegetarian place was an experience.  First of all, to find the restaurant recommended by the concierge, we had an X on a map because there was no English name for the restaurant.  We arrived at the block with the X and were confronted with five different restaurants.  Luckily, we remembered that a lotus flower was a Buddhist symbol and we chose the one restaurant with that symbol.  Upstairs, we pointed to dishes and savored every bite of the delicious fake meat.  We figured out how to wash our chopsticks and tea cups with our tea prior to eating and we learned how to eat our dishes from the tiny bowl we were given.  But, the most striking experience of our visit to a local restaurant was the absolutely genuine smiles from the other diners and the owner.  The diners waved goodbye after we had learned how to eat from them with the same happy faces as the people in the street from whom we asked directions as we wandered the city for three days learning what a truly wonderful city is.


Here is the vegetarian place, note the pink Lotus Flower on the right:

Bowel Movements + Hong Kong = Relief

   About ten minutes ago I used the bathroom across the airport concourse successfully.  About 2 hours ago, prior to breakfast, checking in, going through security, going through immigration, finding two different breakfast foods for Michelle and myself, and traveling from another island to get here, I used the bathroom inside the hotel.  Last night, I used one of the dozens of free public bathrooms stationed all around the city.  Every one of these bathrooms was cleaner than any bathroom we had in India or Africa. I describe to you these details for two important reasons: 1) Hong Kong has returned to me my digestive tract's proper functioning, and 2) the cleanliness and efficiency of everything in Hong Kong is awe inspiring.  Please note that all of our morning activities took only 2 hours!  There were no lines anywhere, the free airport shuttle bus arrived at exactly 7:10 to our hotel doors per its schedule, the transfer to the airport train including a ticket purchase and a refund for unused money on the public transport money card (yeah, the REFUND) took only 3 minutes.  At the train station to go to the airport there were kiosks for each airline to check in and to check your luggage (this is prior to a 20 minute train ride to get to the airport).  Finally, when I needed the restroom here I went to the nearest one, found it occupied, but then noticed the map on the door that showed the directions to all other toilets and gave the walking time to the next bathroom...wow.  McDonalds doesn't need to say customers only on their toilets because there is likely a cleaner public bathroom right outside.  Hand rails on escalators have signs that they have antibacterial coatings put on every 4 hours, all buildings and bathrooms have automatic hand sanitizer dispensers, and heaven forbid there would ever be a bathroom here with soap that had run out! 


This is a picture of a toilet for you and your child!

Hong Kong Is Glorious

   I can't help wondering if it is possible to create a better city in the world than Hong Kong, our most recent destination.  From the free internet terminal in the airport of which I am now availing myself to my satisfied stomach that has feasted on a multitude of wonderful Buddhist vegetarian foods for the past three days without fear of reprisal from the stomach gods who must not be able to reach the Hong Kong islands from their homes in India, Hong Kong is amazing.  While here, we have seen many strange a fascinating markets full of dried fish, traditional medicines, birds nests, cheap clothing, tea, goldfish, flowers, sex toys, jade, and more.  We have seen a skyline without compare and a light show made of the lights on the buildings that compose the skyline set to music at 8 pm every night.

 We have visited a Buddhist monestery at the foot of the world's largest statue (255 tons) of a sitting Buddha (yes, now there is a larger statue of a standing Buddha) inside of which sits a small fragment of the neckbone of the cremated ashes of the Buddha himself.  We rode on a 3 miles skilift (not seeing much of anything because of the pollution that travels over from mainland China) and traveled on what is undoubtedly the most wonderful public transport system in the world.  Hong Kong is a wonderful place to travel, and was a needed rest point in our travels. 

The Beauty of India

  India's architectural heritage must be unparalleled in the world.  From the Taj Mahal, which took 60% of the tax wealth of the entire Indian empire and 20,000 people working for 22 years to complete, to the streets of Jaipur with miles of characteristic terra cotta architecture, India is full of fairy-tale beauty that plays on the imagination in an array of different colors.  No words can describe first entering the Amber fort of Jaipur (the former trading center for spice and fabric) on elephant back, and no picture can show how the four outer pillars of the Taj Mahal were constructed 3 degrees off the perpendicular so that from a distance, parallax did not make them look like they were tilted.  The hand-made intricacies of the buildings and the semiprecious stone inlay of the precursor to the Taj Mahal, the "Baby Taj", are as breathtaking as the abandoned palace of the third Mogul emperor, complete with a room set aside for debate about religion (eventually resulting in the emperor creating his own religion).  India and Indians should be very proud of their heritage and with its spirit so vibrant, the future of India is definitely bright.

The Soul of India

Religion.

Religion.

Religion.

Everpresent in India is the fervent worship of Hindu gods.  We arrived on a festival day and saw the entire bustling populations of Delhi going to temple (which was blocked off for a square mile) and celebrating with Christmas lights and music throughout the city.  The temples are feats of magnificent architecture and are beautiful.  We have visited a Sikh temple, listened to them chant from their holy book after which we went to see volunteers at the Sikh temple preparing a free lunch for the 20,000 people they feed everyday.

At a Jain temple, we saw a bird hospital full of hurt pigeons and an animal ambulance for hurt animals that highlighted the Jain's belief in the sancity of all life.

There are 100 feet tall bright red statues of the monkey-faced king, and bright blue Krishna statues adorn many temple facades.

In a religious conversion center to a branch of Hinduism we were invited to meditate by looking at a white down with a diffraction pattern that was almost hypnotic at its center, and we have seen the birthplace of Buddhism, where Buddha gave his first sermon.  Varanasi it the holiest religious city and even besides its crush of people and smells, the devotion of those who go to greet the rising sun with song, insense, lotus flowers for offerings, and bottles to keep the holy Ganges water for their return home to places far away from Varanasi, this city is full of spirit.  For a religion that is very individualized, it certainly seems that the Hindu religion serves as a glue for the Indian people and defines its character (perhaps this is supported by the government office of the Festival Secretariat that we passed in Jaipur).

For all of the outside trappings that bear witness to its burgeoning population, the soul of India is in its religious connection, and the respect that people from its various religious backgrounds have for the other religions that make up India. 

(snake charming is an important ritual in Hinduism to be able to thank one specific god)

The Holy Cow

   As cows are holy in Hinduism, they roam free in all of the cities, act as a serious traffic control on the highways, and are fed as offerings by local townspeople.  To avoid the flies that huddle around the people and food on the sidewalks, the cows congregate in the center of the road, and according to the guides, sometimes the news reports of people being found taking the cows away in a truck to be sold for food elsewhere in the country for which the stealers are arrested.  Beef is illegal to be sold here, and the cows look happier here then anywhere I have ever seen in the world.

Unfortunately, the presence of cows in the streets, dogs on the sidewalks, monkeys on the roofs, and other animals creates a health issue with the amount of waste and dirt on the streets, but it is a truly unique experience seeing such large animals all over the place.


A true traffic mess:

The "Non-Smoking Hotel"

India often has a see no evil type of attitude toward breaking rules that I find very interesting.  For example, smoking in hotels is prohibited by law.  When we entered a very smoky room, we mentioned that it was smoky and asked if they had a non-smoking room.  The porter quickly removed the ashtray (yes, there was an ashtray), ran to get some fruity spray, which he spritzed all around the room and then declared that "all our rooms are non-smoking."  They eventually switched our room, but without ever admitting that the first room might have been smoked in.

Value of Service

   India truly knows how to do service well.  While I might cynically say that they often do it by putting as many cheap employees on the payroll as possible, I think that it is a good thing that in restaurants that may have only us as customers in a 2 hour timespan would have at least 8 employees...they are all trying to make a good living.  Maybe because the jobs that deal with tourists are high paying or maybe because India knows what customer service is, everyone tries their very hardest to do a super job in all of their dealings with us.  For example, our car drivers always get out to open our doors and one guide even tried to put the seats in an auditorium that automatically folded back up down for us unsuccessfully.  Those porters waited two hours to carry our bags.  If we showed any sign of displeasure at anything, there was always a manager present to ask us what was wrong.  They don't seem to do anything about it if for example our food tasted bad, but they are genuinely concerned.  When our sheets were dirty in the room, a man with a tie from the front desk and the maid came to fix it.  To top off everything, Michelle lost her trousers in Africa and we needed to get some pants.  In the middle of the street in a market, we saw a display of sweat pants each for $1.50.  We purchased a pair but it was too long.  The man at the stand told us that he would hem them if we bought them.  He took our pants, ran around the corner and in 5 minutes had them hemmed to her length for no extra money.  Talk about service!


Here is a man cutting gemstones:

This is a picture of a man testing the quality of a rug with a torch.  If someone used anything that wasn't silk to weave it (in their homes, which is the normal place of rug making), the rug would go up in flames!

Are we the tourists or the attraction?

  In Africa, people stared at us.  In India, people try to surreptitiously take our picture!  On 6 separate occasions, while visiting Hindu temples, the movies theater, and Ghandi's memorial, different groups of Indian tourists have asked to take our picture with them after unsuccessfully snapping them in private (and by private, I mean they have their children go really close to us with our back turned and have them smile).  An old lady, a group of teenagers, and a family are all examples of those who thought that we were the sights of India and were overjoyed to have our picture.

Food...Awesome for the Mouth, Bad for the Stomach

   Eating in India is AMAZING.  Starting with our very first breakfast that was complete with a spicy Indian potato dish, some deep-fried bread, and eggs marsala, I was in food heaven.  Everything is marked with a vegetarian sticker so that Michelle and I know what we can eat and the creamy, oily, spicy sauces are delicious.  Yes, American Indian cuisine does come pretty close, but we are going to some of the finest restaurants in India, and nothing compares to them.

  Unfortunately, eating here has its dark side...the inexorable toilet stop after eating.  Since day 2 of our tour here, our stomachs have been in tangles.  No amount of Pepto-Bismol seems to assuage our stomachs' wrath.  It actually hasn't been that bad, but we are really ready to feel healthy again.  The stench of sewage in the streets and the 90 degree, 90% humidity doesn't help.  But, I am glad that at least our pain was rewarded with some darn good food!

City Hiking...The Indian "Sidewalk" Experience

   Moving along sidewalks is more like hiking than walking.  You must be continually vigilant to avoid the weaving cars, bikes, rickshaws, horse drawn vehicles, camel drawn vehicles, ox drawn vehicles, autorickshaws, and trucks which treat you more like a cone on an obstacle course to avoid than a moving and breathing fragile being.  Then, to avoid twisting your ankle, you must avoid the missing bricks, the missing stones that lead to underground wiring, the people fixing the missing bricks, the girl painting the cracks between the bricks red even in the rain (yeah, this one was very confusing), the men serving soup out of small thermoses to hungry market goers, the goats, memory stick hawkers, the monkeys, and the cows.  Oh, and if it's raining, gd forbid that you step in and deep and murky puddle...who knows whether it is rain water (more men pee on walls here then I have ever seen in urinals).

  Often, our guides felt less like information givers, and more like protectors as they keep a sharp eye on both the bulls and aggressive monkeys that we try to avoid on the 4 feet wide paths of the old city of Varanasi.  Walking is an adventurous experience that is not for the faint of heart :)

Western Culture Taking Over India? Not Anytime Soon

   Beyond the many Hindu idols that exist in the form of 100 feet statues or small shrines in the streets and men who wear dress like outfits, India has no doubt been influenced by the west, but is in no danger of losing itself.  

   Let's begin by considering the two restaurant chains that most typify America that have been brought here: McDonald's and Pizza Hut.  Yes they are here, but a McDonald's ice cream is very small, the top item on the McDonalds menu is the McVeg for $2 (an item missing in America).  Also on the menu is the Chicken Maharaja Mac and the Paneer Salsa wrap.  In Pizza Hut, teens congregate with their Dolce and Gabbana fashionable clothes, but order the spicy and popular Paneer Masala Pizza.  

India sells more movie tickets than America.  But, their theaters normally only show one movie, and typically it has lots of singing an dancing in it.  The popcorn is tiny, they serve veggie burgers, the coke is a kiddy size, and the movie that we saw contained zero plot and a whole lot of fluffy mush.  The singing was awesome, but far too happy and flamboyant to ever appear in America.  Also, the stench of the man sitting beside us and the dozens of cell phones that not only rang but were picked up in the theatre would never have been tolerated.  

   English is interspersed with Hindi sentence by sentence in the Hindi TV stations and in the Bollywood movie we saw.  LEET such as "UR" is used in professional business advertisements and cell phones abound.  While a person may not have a shirt that is one piece or may not be wearing a shirt, they do have a cell phone. Notable was the time when I tripped on some stairs and even beneath the glow of the American McDonald's sign, three people reached out and caught me before I fell, a very non-American reflex.

   While modernity was complete in some areas of India, there was still a striking contrast in other areas.  Most notable was the donkey carrying a man with vegetables to market outside of the India Center for Brain Research.  

D is for Delhi, E is for Entrepreneurship

   As I wrote earlier, I felt that in Africa there were various factors that worked to stifle an entrepreneurial spirit.  In India, the overriding feeling I have is of people trying to better their station in life by being adventurous with their business, or at the very least, trying very hard to earn the money that is in short supply to most in Indian society. 

  Firstly, people selling things to tourists are EVERYWHERE.  They are industrious and will approach you when you get out of your car no matter where you park.  At one second they are in a market buying goods for themselves, and then they see you...the tourist...and just like a lion stalking prey, they slink over to your side.  You meet the gaze of shifty eyes (I am not actually joking about the shifty eyes...without a permit to sell they are trying to be careful) and right before you think that you are going to get mugged, they reach into their pocket a quickly pull out a Kingston flash 32 GB memory card for "a very good price." DUM DUM DUUUM! 

   If memory cards aren't your thing, then with your purchase of four Michelin tires you can get a cell phone for free.  I replaced my watch that I traded to a Massai warrior with a $2 name brand Adidas watch.  I was very tempted to enter the clothing store that enticed me to shop there with a real life clown that was handing out fliers to the crowd in the market that had fully taken over the road with its enormity.  But I didn't even have to leave the comfort of our tour van to purchase Indian goods, for my local cell phone SIM card carrier kept calling me with what our tour guides laughed and called a "callertune."  When I picked up these telemarketing calls, there was no person, just some Indian music that I learned I could buy for my ringtone.  When I used the ATM, I could recharge that very same cell phone, truly entrepreneurial!

   But, money is precious and apparently I tip well, because at one hotel, the two porters who brought our bags to our room camped outside of our room starting at 7:30 in the morning waiting all the way until 9:30 when we checked out to offer to carry our bags back to the car.  They really earned their $2! 

   The most industrious thing I saw though was definitely the elephant picture racket.  While riding an elephant to the top of a fort in Jaipur, some kids were taking pictures of us.  One our later, as we exited the fort, there was a gentlemen holding our pictures (he found us) and trying to sell them for $6.  He settled for $1 for one of the pictures.  Then, four hours later, in the street outside one of the other tourist attraction on the street, another man came up to us with one of our rejected pictures (he seemed only to have our picture) after having found us in a crowd to ask us to buy it for 50 cents!  He followed us for about 10 minutes until our car picked up enough speed that he could no longer walk beside it.  For all of his tenacity, we might just have bought it had he or our guide had change to pay for it.

Overview of India

   India is an enormous place filled with over 1.2 billion people and many states that are far more different than even Texas and Massachusetts, so needless to say, our visit only scratched the surface.  We visited four major cities in Northern India; Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Varanasi.  Each of these cities had a hugely different character and feel. 

   Delhi: Delhi had almost none of the stereotypically elements of what people say India is like.  Its modern building facades, beautiful government buildings, institutional yet completely livable government apartments (all government employees get housing if they want it), and an absolute abundance of gorgeous greenery including many old trees and multiple acre gardens flew completely in the face of what I thought India would be.  Our hotel was in an area that upon our arrival looked very sketchy; there was rubble we dodged in the street to arrive and no other lights around.  But, in the evening, we saw the neighborhood come alive with thousands of people wandering one of the many markets that surrounded our hotel.  Even among this mass of people, we felt comfortable.  Old Delhi housed a winding bazaar and market, that, while crowded, still was modestly clean.  Truly a spectacular city.

   Jaipur: Also unexpected, Jaipur is a very ancient city with unique terra cotta architecture, forts, a palace on a lake, and elephants roaming the streets, which made the place feel like the embodiment of some Arabian fairy tale.  While the old city holds approximately 10 times more people then it was originally planned to hold, the separate sections of the city for the spice market and the textile market and the jewelry market felt full of life and did justice to those city dwellers who were very proud of their home.

   Agra: A normal city that happens to be home to many mausoleums including the incredible Taj Majal.  Besides the chaos of the streets which was more of what I was expecting from India, Agra did not seem such a shining modern city as it was full of insurmountable traffic, disgusting smells, trash heaps, and dirt.  The city itself stood in the starkest of contrasts to its old relics including the palace of the Mogul's, and multiple pieces of architecture that have no rivals even today.

   Varanasi: Wow.  Small streets, huge crowds, a throbbing pulse of Buddhist and Hindu spiritualism, cows, dogs, pigs, goats, feces, people, people, more people, crematoriums, holy pilgrims, and non-stop chaos.  Varanasi is the spiritual center of India and the oldest continuously lived in city in the world, and no words can properly describe the experience.

  Countryside: More rural than Africa, the India countryside is full of farms and small villages to house farmers.  These areas exist directly outside each major city and are striking in their lack of people.