#TTFI, etc.
Hi there,
Let me take you back a few weeks to April 30th...I spent the day at work ensuring that all of my projects would be set without me for the next week and hurried home. The most difficult part of the day was keeping myself busy until I departed for the airport to pick up Patrick at midnight.
I waited outside of the airport right in the middle of a crowd of over 100 people. Initially, I was worried that Patrick wouldn't be able to see me, or that I would not spot him. I then realized that I was the only Westerner and was wearing a hot pink kurti. It was not until Patrick came out of the door an hour later, however, that I remembered just how tall he really is and we had no problem finding each other.The biggest challenge was moving through the crowd fast enough to give him a hug! We headed back to my apartment to rest before our Indian adventure.
Words cannot fully capture just how incredible our Indian vacation was, but I will do my best! We spent a few days in Mumbai exploring the city and hanging out before traveling up north. The highlight from our time in Mumbai had to be the incredible meal that we had at a local vegetarian restaurant in Colaba called Samrat. It was Patrick's first taste authentic Indian food here, and I have to say it was the best I have ever had. The entire feast only cost $20 and was much better than the hotel meals we had later on in our trip. Another Mumbai highlight was taking P on his first rickshaw ride, where "Too tall for India" #TTFI was invented. We would learn over the next week that India is not made for people who are 6 ft 3.
After a weekend in Mumbai, we headed to the airport for a few days in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Our trip got off to a bumpy start...just ask the flight attendant on Jet Airways who was less than helpful when Patrick got sick. It is always an adventure with food in India because you never know what could make you ill and when it does you do not know what hit you. We spent our first day in Delhi in the hotel resting while Patrick recuperated. This was probably a blessing in disguise because the heat that day was off the charts and would have been unbearable outside. I am grateful we sprung for a nice hotel because we ended up spending a lot of time there!
The rest of the trip was absolutely amazing. We hired a tour guide, Mr. Pintu, to drive us around each city and he was with us all waking hours for the entire five days. He was knowledgable and kept us laughing along the way, all while weaving in and around oncoming traffic, cows, and goats. We spent a full day in Delhi exploring amidst the sweltering heat that everyone warned us about. The highlights from Delhi were our bicycle rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk market (thank you for the recommendation, Merrie!) and our visit to Qutab Minar. Although, our visit to Delhi was cut a day short by appropriately dubbed "Delhi Belly", we felt like we hit many of the key attractions.
From Delhi we embarked on a three hour drive to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. We first stopped by the Agra Fort and made the rookie mistake of not bringing water bottles for our tour. The fort itself was gigantic and very intricately designed, including influences from many different cultures. After two hours in India summer heat we were more excited to see a cold bottle of water than we were to see each other at the airport (just kidding...maybe).
We then headed to the Taj Mahal to catch it at sunset. This is an experience we will never forget. Our tour guide explained the history of the Taj and showed us all around. There is something so special about seeing the sunset on the Taj because it changes into a golden color and glows. In addition to many photos of the Taj itself, we were asked to take photos with some locals who were excited to see two foreigners in traditional Indian clothes. One of the funniest moments occured when a family had us take a photo with them. We were standing facing the Taj and I suggested that we turn around to get the Taj in the background. They insisted that the Taj did not matter, they just wanted a photo with us. Words I could have never anticipated hearing! The Taj closes after dark, so we then explored a few local shops and went to our hotel.
At our hotel and from the heat outside we learned that it was the off-season, which meant that we were treated with extra attention! The hotel was spectacular and had a view of the Taj, but it was strange to be greeted by at least five people each time we left our room. We are low-maintenance and would rather just do things ourselves, so such attention made us uncomfortable! The perfect example of this ghost town happened at dinner. Being the only couple in the restaurant, we made a game of trying to see who could grab a piece of naan without someone coming over to do it for us. Neither of us were winners.
Bright and early the following morning we drove five hours to Jaipur. The roads there were not as smooth as the ones that lead to Agra, so we tried to take our minds off of an inevitable death-by-cow traffic accident. We reached Jaipur safely thanks to Mr. Pintu! Some of the highlights from our two days in Jaipur are were our Elephant Trek dinner (shout out to Merrie again for the tip!) and our Bollywood movie at the Raj Mandir cinema, the most famous movie theater in Asia. When I was working with our guide to plan the trip he was confused as to why someone would come all the way to Jaipur to see a movie. When he met Patrick, however, he understood just how important film is to us. It was a wonderful finale to our trip!
We were sad to say goodbye to Mr. Pintu after such an exhilarating vacation. We flew Jet Airways again back to Mumbai and were able to enjoy the flight without any air sickness bags. A small win, really.
Our last few days in Mumbai were spent relaxing, meeting work friends, and enjoying each other's company. Living halfway around the world with a shaky FaceTime connection can make Patrick feel very far away, so having him come and explore India with me was truly the vacation of a lifetime.
Cheers,
B
Our feast at Samrat
First instance of #TTFI
Qutab Minar
Bicycle rickshaw in Delhi
Our view along Chandni Chowk
Agra Fort
Taj at sunset
It doesn't get much better than this
Our new friends
With Mr. Pintu
Meeting Lakshmi by way of banana snack
With Lakshmi, the elephant in Jaipur
Raj Mandir