To visit or not to visit India? Tips and some of the quirkiness of India

Before coming to India some of my friends expressed concern about the heat, the dust, the beggars, the traffic, the diseases etc etc.

If you are considering India as your next travel destination, then I have to tell you that you should go!

Yes all of those things exist, but with some planning and consideration of what you want to see, India can be fabulous.

As you can see from these blogs we didn't do any backpacking or travel-on-the cheap so if that's what you're interested in then you won't find anything interesting in this blog.

What we did do was a carefully planned experience to show us the delights of India and it's complex and beautiful culture.

So here's some tips:

1. We went to Kerala first for good reason: it is beautiful, comparatively wealthy and has a range of cultural experiences and a rural feel. It has a 100% literacy rate for example. Then we visited large towns in Rajasthan in the north before arriving in chaotic Delhi. This graded experience was a great idea and gradually introduced us to the ever increasing population of India.

2. Indian food has an enormous diversity and is not full of chilli and inedible, as some people seemed to think. The complexity of the curries and the cooking methods was fascinating. However it is richer than the food many of us are used to, and consequently our digestive systems do protest at times. This is not a disaster or some form of terrible illness. Preventative action helps: consume yoghurt (or curd as it is called in India) every day and take a probiotic tablet to promote healthy bacteria in your stomach. It is wise to take anti-diarrhoea medication with you but don't rush to use it unless you really need it: read the instructions!!!
And if you request gluten-free, less chilli, etc your requests will be answered with a smile. Controlling the amount of food offered is a big challenge as everyone wants you to try everything. My best advice is to taste a small amount of everything, and eat less rice as the naan or bread is usually fresh-baked and fabulous. Try the masala chai as it bears no relationship to the supersweet chai we sometimes are served in Australia.

3. Responding to beggars is a constant challenge in cities and you have to establish your own rules. If you take a photo of someone and they ask for money then you should pay them a small amount I think.

4. You do need to carry small notes for tips for people who are helpful to you. Salaries are low and rewarding people who help you seems reasonable.

5. It depends on the type of traveller you are but you have to work out what your purpose is in coming to India (or any other country really). You could do a whirlwind tour of the sights, but if you want to experience how people really live then visit markets, go to the local shopping centres and supermarkets, and talk to anyone who is interested in talking to you. Many Indians have excellent English and are happy to answer questions and improve their English.

We also visited a number of NGOs established to maintain handicraft skills and promote economic independence, especially for women.

Make sure you visit some temples to help your understanding of the many religions that underpin the Indian culture. You need to check out the dress code first though: usually knees and shoulders covered, at least. Take a sarong wiht you as you can use it to cover any exposed flesh when needed (for both men and women)

Our tour included some of the modern features of India: a visit to a Cyber Hub with massive office buildings (probably call centres!) and of course Bollywood, so make sure you include that too!

6. If you want to be respectful of the culture and values then leave the singlets and very brief shorts at home. To me if you're a woman your clothes should be in keeping with the amount of decorum shown by the local women. Noone expects you to wear a sari but longer pants/capri pants and t-shirts which cover your shoulders seemed appropriate to us. If you get the chance to wear a sari, take it - it was a lovely experience to wear a sari for one evening as they feel very elegant and surprisingly cool.

7. The role of women in India is changing but you may experience some of the challenges women face in terms of being respected and gaining independence.

8. If you have blond hair and blue eyes you may be seen as rather odd in some places, especially isolated rural towns. Local people will want to take photos or the children will look enquiringly at you as if you are an alien. So be prepared and smile a lot! 

A trip to India can be a journey of self-discovery, a whirl of beautiful buildings and colours, and a diverse and amazing travel experience. Don't miss it!

Dianne


And the quirkiness......

As we travelled around India we enjoyed reading the signs as they indicate a lot about life here. I just had to include some more of our favourites:

Donate eyes Live twice

Hotel Loveland (we didn't stay there!)

English Medium Up School

Fair and Care (beauty parlor)

Lourdes Hospital

Johnston Tiles: Not Just Tiles Lifestyles

Kannath Sanitary Wares (had three signs on their shop and sanitary spelt three different ways: sanitery, sanitory and sanitary - had all of the options covered!)

Lord Krishna Builders ( I guess every bit of support helps)

Work is worship (outside a factory)

Handcrafted God Artifacts

Creative School of Oil and Gas Education (creative? really?)

And endless signs for matrimonial agencies making all sorts of promises!!

In Kerala christianity is common and there are churches and
church schools everywhere. The marketing slogan for
Kerala is 'God's Own Country' but it just seemed very apt for this location! 

We saw this bumper sticker on a number of taxis:
not sure whether to feel reassured or
concerned that it was needed!

And then there's interesting graffiti! Kerala of course!

That's quite a promise!!

The post post-conference tour (otherwise known as Jenny's holiday) Not India, Singapore

Friday 5th October to Sunday 7th October: Crowne Plaza Changi Hotel, Singapore

After the group arrived at Singapore Airport looking tired after an overnight flight, everyone caught the next flight and headed for Melbourne, except Jenny, Dianne, Jan and Anne. We headed to the end of Terminal 3 and kept walking until we walked into the reception of the Crowne Plaza Changi Hotel. For two nights we enjoyed staying in rooms situated between the tarmac and one of the Air Traffic Control towers!  The idea was that Jenny, the organiser ‘extraordinaire’ could have a rest from keeping us organised and healthy and happy and well-fed.

It is a beautifully designed hotel and the rooms are completely soundproof so despite being right next to the tarmac we heard nothing!

Here’s a few of the highlights:

1.       Gardens by the Bay. This extraordinary park is situated on the water and is manicured within an inch of its life! The lawns are perfect the gardens beautifully controlled and there's not a scrap of rubbish anywhere. 

We visited two of the features: the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest . They were both stunning, and incorporated vast numbers of plants from all over the world into gardens enhanced by lots of sculptures: some funny and others contemporary, some primitive and others for children.

Hundreds of flowers from one dahlia
 plant in the South American garden

 

Travellers sculpture by a
French sculptor

Why do my cyclamen never look this good!

   

   The Cloud Forest took us up winding ramps and walkways through the clouds and beyond the waterfall. 

We were fascinated by this tourist who draped herself in
front of any display for photos. We were particularly
taken with her pale pink stiletto scuffs
decorated with ostrich feathers.
 Just the thing for tramping around the gardens!!

  Jenny didn’t appreciate the heights as the suspended walkways were high and not very wide.

Even Lego sculptures amongst the impressive
display of carnivorous plants: The sign said
'Do not touch or you may be eaten!'

Don't miss this if you go to Singapore.

  
2.       A visit to Raffles and then Chicken Rice – the traditional Singaporean dish

Half of an Alaskan crab with ginger and spring onions.......

...And the other half with a sweet chili sauce

3.       A Chili crab dinner at Jumbo Restaurant East Point overlooking the water. Absolutely superbly cooked sweet Alaskan crab: easy to shell and lots of meat. Half of the huge crab cooked with ginger and spring onions, and the other half cooked with a complex chilli sauce. Superb (and dare I say it …just as good, if not better, than Ministry of Crab in Colombo!). Put it on your bucket list I say!

I’m writing this on the plane homeward bound, so that means that the W&P journey is officially over for another two years.

Fascinating discussions, friendships renewed and forged, learnings to be gained from other cultures and beliefs, self -discovery…..and loads of laughs and good times.

Thank you to Jenny for providing all of this yet again.

Thank you to the guest bloggers – Thelma, Marianne and Linda.

Farewell from your correspondent...until next time

Dianne 

Headed for home....farewell India!

Thursday 4th October: Delhi to Singapore

The last breakfast proved a challenge for all as we tried to have all of the best of the food here: more smoked salmon, perfectly cooked eggs, stuffed paratha, a last masala chai, and warm danish pastries just about finished us off!

With much packing of bags and sorting out of purchases we checked out… or rather we all checked in to one room for the day as we were heading for the first leg of the flights home in the evening. But before we left there were a few remaining activities and a last traditional lunch to consume.

Firstly we went to see Neeta’s company which she set up with a friend Nina. They have vast experience and an obsession with producing textiles and homewares of the finest quality. Their range of superbly embroidered and beaded cushions, bags and homewares were overwhelming. As we sat and discussed women in business in India and the evolution of their business with them, I could see everyone’s eyes roaming around the room taking in the beautiful handcrafted homewares they produce.

They are not interested in mass production but focus on using both traditional and contemporary patterns in their products.

Their craftsmen work in a range of settings and produce the designs and fabrics which are then converted into the cushions, bags etc that we saw. A very inspiring story of commitment to an ideal.

Then it was onwards to Cyber Hub, an example of the contemporary Indian workplace. Huge multi-storey buildings filled with offices and businesses towered above us as we strolled along the array of restaurants below, developed to feed the thousands of workers.  We had to go through a security gate on entering the precinct which we found interesting, and every worker has to do the same every day.

Food from every corner of the world was available, but we had to have a last Indian lunch. As usual it consisted of about 6 small starters followed by an array of delicious curries and hot Naan bread to mop them up with. 

Rachna knew we had developed a taste for gulab jamon for dessert, so she made sure it was on offer, but we also tasted honey bee for the first time. We had seen these delicate fried dough shapes being deep fried in the market but hadn’t tasted them before. Crisp and sweet and dipped in a creamy nutty yoghurt, they were a big hit.

To top it all off, a set of small wooden drawers appeared on the table. Each drawer contains a different mouth freshener. Crystallised ginger and mango were included. We had chewed fennel seeds and sugar lumps before, but the best choice here was fennel seeds coated in brightly coloured sugar - delicious. 

Whilst the others returned to the Hotel for some last swims and showers, Rachna took Jan and I for a quick shop to the Top Bazaar super supermarket in the enormous Ambience Mall. It was a hoot and we came back with some last-minute purchases: saris for a goddaughter, multiple pairs of bright coloured leggings, boxes of Indian sweets and other treasures.

 

A last G&T (as we hadn’t quite used all of our duty-free gin) and then it was on to the bus and many farewells to Ash and the Hotel staff.

We had left plenty of time for the bus trip to the Airport but really it was only 15 minutes away……..well, that is when the traffic is actually moving! In one part of the road there are 16 lanes in each direction to try and get the Delhi traffic moving but alas, it doesn’t always work!

Who'd want to be a traffic person in this traffic? Not me!!!

Our bus had to traverse quite a few lanes as you can see, and squeeze into the left hand lane across at least 8 lanes of traffic, much to the fury of some car drivers who whacked the bus and yelled at the driver. The bus driver's assistant got out of the bus and had a rather heated exchange with a furious car driver. We had to restrain Marianne from joining him and saying a few words too! 

A 15 minute trip took 45 minutes but we managed to get to the Airport on time, and with the necessary passports and luggage, and finally caught our flight headed for home.

You sad to be going correspondent

Dianne

Delhi in all it's glory

Wednesday 3rd October: The Trident Hotel Gurgaon - Delhi

Our day started with a bang at the breakfast buffet. The food was fabulous : the yoghurt was pronounced delicious, there was smoked salmon and eggs en cocotte, and the pastries divine. Of course NONE of us ate all of that!

Before long we found ourselves on the bus embroiled in seven lanes of peak hour traffic all headed into Delhi. It was a long slow trip as the bus driver Sunil tried to weave in and out of the almost stationary traffic. Huge shopping malls and multi-storey office buildings and hotels contrasted with the rickshaws and tuk tuks that competed with us for space on the road. Clearly public toilets are not a focus of the infrastructure here, as a number of young men were urinating on the side of the road nonchalantly.

Eventually we made it to Gandhi Smitri which is now a memorial on the site of his assassination in 1948.

We traced the footsteps of his last walk from his bedroom in a private guesthouse to a small pergola where he was to meet with hundreds of people. A young man who was a radical pushed his way through the crowd and shot him three times. 

There was lots of information about his life and his many achievements. It was a very moving experience as we remembered and learnt more about this amazing man.

Then it was time to focus on the present achievements of Delhi as we drove around the boulevardes where all of the embassies and government departments are accommodated in huge buildings with wide streets and lots of greenery. 

We saw the India Gate, a huge memorial arch which commemorates the 90,000 Indians killed in the first World War. We passed the Prime Ministers house protected by multiple security men and gates. We can all recognise him as he features on multiple billboards everywhere we've been.

Then, heaven forbid we hit the shops for an hour of quick shopping. the Khan Market is actually a small few streets of nice shops mixed with smaller stalls. Good Earth and Fabindia were favourites as they sold beautiful indian products from cushions to clothes to candles.

Next was Havemore restaurant near the embassies, one of our guide Jessica's favourite places to eat. Again it was lovely food and the signature dish was butter chicken, enjoyed by all. We were also served small bowls of red pickled onions that were delicious.

Then it was back to the Hotel which I have to say is one of the loveliest I've ever been in. Swims and some relaxation were in order before preparing for our final dinner together before we fly out tomorrow.





Three of us decided that as the dinner was to be held in an Indian family home we would attempt to put on the saris that Jenny had given the presenters at the Conference. 
The first step was to look up saris for dummies on Youtube. I found one about dressing yourself in a sari to make you look slimmer. I unravelled the 5 1/2 metres of material and got into a terrible mess, much to Karin's entertainment!  The doorbell rang and I had to struggle to the door with a long train of purple material trailing behind me. Jan and Anne arrived clutching their saris and with no better idea than me about what to do with them.

Mission accomplished

The very elegant result!

Then Jan had a brilliant idea: call the Housekeeper and request assistance! A lovely young woman called Mapta arrived and within minutes, and with the application of a number of Marianne's safety pins, we were dressed! Then she told us that we needed to have a bindi on our foreheads and she dashed off to her room and arrived with three stick-on bindis and her bright red lipstick, which was exceptionally kind of her.

Trying not to trip over, and trying very hard to look elegant we headed for the bus and the home of the Maliks: Ash, Neeta (his sister), Dachna (his wife), their daughter Ashna and her grandmother.

Their Tour company Destinations Unlimited has been integral to our wonderful trip and Jenny has become close friends with them.

Very kindly, they hosted us in their beautiful home to a very wonderful multi-course dinner. Dachna had been with us through Kerala so we were all very pleased to see her again.

The food was sensational and the company was great: the perfect end to our tour.

your too well fed correspondent 

Dianne