March 22, Saturday, the day before Easter
Yesterday was a very busy day with something going on every hour and some even overlapping. At 10 am there was a talk on Cairo and Alexandria, at 11 one on the caste system in India, at 11:45 trivia (we haven't won yet), at 2 a talk on the Holy Land (given by a very opinionated resident of that country but interesting), at 8 we went to the movies (Keeping Up with the Steins --cute) and at 10:15 the show----the 88s, a couple who combine humor, singing and wonderful piano playing. That doesn't count all the things we didn't do ---tai chi, exercise, swim, eat at every opportunity (although we don't miss many), Shuffleboard, Ring toss, Torah Study with Rabbi Bob, Mass with Father Bill, basketball, Napkin folding demonstration, cooking demonstration, walk a mile, Friends of Bill (probably should go), fitness class, Dance class, arts and craft and mah jongg. Whoops, forgot watercolor class and the chorus.
I keep forgetting to mention the great job Holland America is doing to raise funds for the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer fund. They have had two walks by passengers, a 24 hour walk by the cruise director's staff when at least one member of his staff was walking on deck for 24 hours, and in the desert of Egypt the Culinary Operations Manager is running 26 miles, 385 miles -the official distance for a marathon outside of Safaga. The temperature at this time of year can reach 105 so I hope he starts early in the morning.
Back as promised (or threatened) back to India.
I think I left off as we checked into our hotel in Jaipur. The hotel was very interesting. Originally a private home for some sultan or maharaja or something, it was converted into what is called a heritage hotel. Instead of checking in at the desk, we were lead into a room in the back, served a glass of juice, filled out the forms and surrendered out passports. Only then were we escorted to our room. Our first shock was the lock on the door. Instead of the usual key card the door had a heavy brass sliding bolt across the double doors. The bolt was fastened with a large padlock which was unlocked for us.
Once inside the room we slide a similar bolt across to lock the door. When we left the room, back on went the padlock. Believe me, the padlock was so heavy we did not carry it around but left it at the front desk.
The hotel had a roof top garden complete with waiters dressed as servants from the Arabian Nights. A group sat under a temple/arbor like structure and played Indian music. Later, a woman and child about 12 danced some sort of harem type dance. It restaurant was all very romantic and exotic with candles, turbans, swirling silk, stars and strange music.
I think I have said it before.....as I have said it for just about everywhere. There is no description to give. The tourist slogan of India is "Incredible India." If you look up the meaning of incredible there are good as well as negative synonyms. Take your pick. Dirty, crowded, hot, smelly, beautiful, different, wondrous.
Between Agra and Jaipur we visited the royal palaces at Fatehpur Sikari. The ruler, Akbar had 3 wives, a Muslim, Hindu and Christian. Motifs in the palaces contain symbols from all 3 religions. Akbar had no children and asked for guidance from a local resident who was famous for his spiritual deeds. Soon afterwards a son was born to Akbar's Hindu wife. Fatehpur contains 3 palaces, one for each wife. The first two palaces are a series of rooms (no doors) within the gates of Fatehpur. The third, for the Hindu wife and mother of his child is much larger.
An ivory tomb of the spiritual leader (and wish granter) is also within the walls of Fatehpur. It is said that if you make a wish and tie a piece of string through the lattice work of his tomb your wish will come true. Since I had just spent a dollar to walk around the grave in the tomb (the grave portion was about the size of a coffin), I passed on spending money to make the wish.
Once again, we were lead to a "cousin" or "uncle" who was selling handcrafted carvings. After negotiating, we bought a couple of pieces. How we will get everything home is a mystery.
Early in the morning it was off to the Amber Fort. There we mounted elephants and rode up the mountain to the Fort. Our course our elephant had to stop along the way to poop. Why us we asked as the elephants behind us crowded around trying to get past us. It was a very bumpy ride!
On the ride to Delhi to catch a flight to Mumbai our driver asked if we would like to stop at his village. He doesn't live there now but his grandmother, brother, sister-in-law and 2 year old nephew do. We drove along a long dusty road, not much better than a track in the middle of nowhere until we reached the walled village. Our car barely made it through the narrow streets, passing "houses" made of stone or cement. Children came running out to see us and Alan took a few pictures of them, much to their delight.
Ruju's family's home was the largest in the village, surrounded by a wall. A honk of the horn and the gate was opened and we drove into a courtyard. The interior of the house was cool and his family most gracious. The rooms were pretty bare.....the "living room" had a couch, chair, small coffee type table, and 3 "beds" made of wooden frames with ropes stretched across them. The little boy was very shy and didn't warm up until I gave him a mint!
The kitchen was simple. A counter with a two burner propane stove, a sink bowl attached to the wall, and a free standing cupboard. I didn't notice whether there was a refrigerator or not. Up a stone stair that split half way up were the bedrooms. One had a large wooden bed, an wooden free standing cupboard and a wooden chair. The other had the same wooden/rope type beds with quilts folded at the ends. A few clothes were stacked on another bed frame.
Another level up and we were on the roof where we could overlook the village. Outside the village walls was nothing but miles of sand and scrub bush. We could see that many of the homes had a three sided stone wall enclosure attached to them. These were for the family cow. And in several the cow was being hosed down.
On the way out of the village we saw a camel resting in the shade of a wall and several goats.
Our driver dropped us at the Delhi airport where we had about 4 hours to wait for our flight on Lite Air to Mumbai. We were pushed and shoved at the check-in counter....there was nothing polite about any of the people trying to check in, nor was there any orderly que like we experienced in many countries.
Arriving in Mumbai after dark we were meet by a driver from Voyager's India. He retrieved the car from the parking lot, we loaded the luggage and off we went. Just around the first corner he stopped and said, "where to?" We had no idea where the ship was docked and thought he would have been told. Nope. After much discussion we finally got him to understand that we needed to go to the cruise ship dock. Guess what? He didn't know where that was. After asking several people on the street we still were at a standstill. Finally I remembered that the ship was docked a few miles from the famous Taj Hotel. The Taj he knew, so off we went. About an hour later, after many hair raising miles and more of the backside of India we arrived at the pier. We'd missed dinner so room service it was. At last a meal we felt safe eating.
Monday, March 17 Mumbai
People, people, people. the city is hot, overwhelming and crowded. (so what's new?) Mumbai (formerly Bombay) is the site of Victoria Terminus, the railway station that stretches for blocks. More than a million passengers pass through the station everyday. The trains are so crowded you could not fall down in them. The train doors are open the entire time and people are hanging out and some even ride on the roof. Even in 2008 there are separate compartments for men and women. It is also home to the Taj Hotel, an extravagant, expensive hotel in the midst of chaos. the Taj was built by a wealthy Hindu who was not allowed into the British hotels so he built his own. Soaring ceilings, marble bathrooms, curtains of water falling in the gardens....you can't imagine.
DON'T READ THE NEXT PART IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH.
Mumbai is also home to the Pharisees, a religious group who came to India from Iran. They do not believe in burying or cremating their dead so the dead are taken to a large park like area called the Towers of Silence. There the body is taken by the person in charge. In years past, bodies were placed on tall wooden towers for the vultures to pick clean. You can see the vultures circling the area. As Mumbai grew and high rises were built, people realized their view was of the Towers of Silence. I guess if you're paying millions of dollars for an apartment you don't want to look down something like a horror film. The bodies are now placed on racks just about ground level. The dense tree cover makes it impossible to see what is going on. It takes a flock of vultures abut 4 hours to pick the body clean.
There are eight racks....men, women, children and those who died of disease are kept separate. After there is nothing left but bones, the bones are put into vats of a chemical solution and dissolved. We were told they were then given back to the families of the deceased but if they are dissolved, how can that be?
Next to the Towers of Silence (which are off limits to everyone) are the hanging gardens. The park-like area, with mounds covered with grass and flowers contains the city's reservoirs. They were once open at the top but when people started to get sick from contaminated water officials discovered that the vultures were dropping body parts into the reservoirs. Hence, the covering and planting.
I told you not to read this. I also told you India was wonderful but strange.
Another religion that is difficult to understand are the Jains. They make up a very small percentage of the population but control the diamond industry and most of the commerce. Jains do no harm to any living creature. They sweep the street in front of them so they do not step on bugs. Some wear masks so they do not breath in insects. The eat nothing that lived, including root vegetables which they believe are the soul of the plant.
Of all the religions we've seen and heard about Hinduism seems to make the most sense to me. I wonder if they take converts?
After haggling with several taxi drivers we an Indian woman latched on to us and insisted that she would get us a clean, air conditioned car, not one of the thousand small, dirty cabs that we were seeing. We finally agreed on 350 rupees for the two of us to go to the dhoby ghats and then the ship. She took us to her shop and said to wait while she went for the car. Of course we were expected to look at and buy carpet in the shop. By this time, Alan and I were both hot, tired and frustrated and probably not a good example of polite, gullible American tourists. Alan even made the woman initial the agreed upon price on a piece of paper.....fat lot of good that did.
She returned to the shop and out we went and there was a dirty, non air-conditioned cab. By this time I had had it and said we either get in this cab or go directly back to the ship. In we got, down the street we went, the cab driver turned around and said where do you want to do. We said dhoby ghats, then the cruise terminal. He said 500 rupees. Alan said, stop the cab we’re getting out. Finally the driver agreed and off we went. We later found out almost everyone had the same experience. A price would be agreed upon and when they reached their destination the price was raised or they were told the price was only for one person.
Another hair raising ride and we arrived at the dhoby ghats. This is the laundry of Mumbai.
Out in the open it has hundreds of concrete tubs where laundry is soaked, soaped, boiled and rinsed. Hotels, restaurants and individuals use the services. The tubs are passed down from generation to generation and the work is done entirely by men. After the washing process the sheets, towels, etc are then beaten on the sides of the tubs and hung out to dry, then pressed and wrapped for delivery.
Finally back at the ship, after refusing offers from the cab driver to take us to several other sights and shops Alan paid him the agreed upon 350 rupees plus a 50 rupee tip. The driver then turned and said, I want two American dollars. At that point I would have done anything to get away from him so fool that I am I gave him the money.
Many of the people on the ship had the foresight to take the little bottles of body wash, shampoo and the like ashore to give to the beggars. Some also took the foil wrapped chocolates we get each night on our pillows. One fellow took all the clothes he has outgrown on the cruise!
And so ended our journeys in India.
I’ve written about Oman so the next entries will be about the Suez Canal and Egypt! We are constantly reminding each other of all we are doing and seeing and learning.
A couple of street scenes....not uncommon
