Post #5: Dana and Allison come to India!

Safdarjung's Tomb

Dana and Allison arrived in Delhi in fog and smog and were instantly immersed in the chaos that is Delhi on the cab ride to the apartment.  Although Delhi is not a major tourist destination, we caught day one of the International Kite festival, Safdarjung's Tomb (we had asked to go to Humayon's Tomb but that was lost in translation so we saw a different tomb), and Lodi Garden, a huge park beloved by locals and tourists alike. They then skipped out for an overnight to Agra and the Taj.

Before leaving for "vacation" in Udaipur, we went on a tour of a Delhi  bast or slum coordinated by Hope Project. Inside the Hope Project building, it was all action. The Project's focus is primarily empowering women and children,  providing affordable health care, and literacy. Their values, mission and vision statements are very UU.

These children from the Project Day Care Center lived in the basti but spent their day here while the mother's worked. We never learned how long the waiting list was but they were certainly the fortunate ones in the community.

 Our two night stay in Udaipur was a mini vacation get-away for us. We all took the 12 hour overnight train with our own sleeper (prices: Dana and Allison were $15 each, Ken (the old man) was $11 and Caroline (the old woman) was less than $9. Older women are the poorest in general. A pretty exotic experience. Priceless!

Udaipur:

Udaipur is one beautiful city! It was one of about 500 separate "princely states" often controlled by local maharajas. The princely states stayed independent for hundreds of years while the Mughals ruled most of India. Even Akbar the Great could not tame the maharajas. The Brits also let the maharajas keep a semblance of independence during the colonial era. When India won its independence, most of the maharajas wanted to create their own countries, but Nehru worked a deal that brought them into the country: the maharajas got to keep their titles and palaces as well as a government stipend in perpetuity, and India got a unified nation and democracy for the citizens of the independent states. Many of the maharajas open their palaces for tourist revenues. Cool.

Udaipur is on a large lake --the first time we had seen a body of water larger than a pond in a month! It was very welcome.  We relaxed, enjoyed the sun, toured the palace grounds and took a 4-5 mile hike (see women's post) and enjoyed mostly window shopping.

Summer Palace

Restaurant at our hotel

The Maharaja's City Palace was grand:

This Indian woman requested a photo with us (very common)

Allison on our rural hike:

After Udaipur, Dana and Allison headed out to Kerala in southern India for a time in the tropics -- a welcome change from chilly Delhi. Sleeping on boats, cruising the canals, and enjoying the welcome, sleepy pace of the backwaters after experiencing uber-hectic smoggy Delhi.

Fort Kochi with Chinese Fishing Net in Background

 

D and A's Floating Paradise

Chowing Down on Typical Keralan Fare Served on a Banana Leaf

Local Scenery from the Hotel Balcony on Aleppi Beach

After Kerala, they flew back to Delhi for one more overnight and then back to the USA. A great vacation for them, and it was wonderful for us to have them with us in India. We miss them already!