ok, OK. I know. I haven't blogged in FOREVER. But what is a girl to do when she is sharing her laptop with 5 other people and is living in hotels and trains for two and a half weeks straight??
Ok, I know, still not acceptable. Well if it helps... here's a map so everyone can see where we've been the last couple of weeks! When I said living in hotels and on trains, I wasn't kidding. We took a trip up north and traveled all over the place!
Our itinerary was as follows: Starting in Visakhapatnam (Vizag, aka home) --> Chennai (ok this doesn't really count, it was just a layover. but STILL) --> Delhi (capitol of India) --> Agra (Taj Mahal) --> Jaipur (AKA the pink city.. a place I have always dreamed of visiting!) --> back to Delhi --> Amritsar (Sikh Golden Temple + India and Pakistan border) --> Haridwar and Rishikesh (the birthplace of yoga, up in the mountains closer to the mouth of the Ganges) --> Varanasi (oldest and holiest city.. another place I have always dreamed of visiting!) --> Bodhgaya (where Buddha achieved enlightenment) --> back to Delhi --> 36 hour train ride back to Vizag
(keep in mind, India is about 1/3rd of the size of the US, so I guess you could compare this to traveling from Arizona up to Oregon, Washington, and Idaho)
The trip was long but successful. Besides having a terrible cold the entire time (seriously, I blew my nose at least 10 times a day. That's not exaggerating.) and getting sick and throwing up on the train ride home, everything went smoothly and we saw some amazing things! Before our trip up north we got a very special visit from some of my very special mission friends Kristina and Jami :) (see photos below) and before that we went to a YSA conference for 3 days in Rajahmundry. This post is basically just a catch-up to some of the things we have been up to (sorry so many photos... I haven't posted in awhile ok?!).. the next posts will be about some of the things I have been thinking about and learning during this last life-changing month!
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| The 3 of us at the Ba'hai lotus temple in Delhi... one of my favorite places. It was amazing. |
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| beggars |
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| a mosque that we didn't go into because they were trying to charge us 300 rupees.. only because we're foreigners. gah. |
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| I asked the kid on the right if I could take their photo and then later he came up to me and asked for a photo with me, haha |
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| nap time! |
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| the famous Red Fort of Delhi |
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| dun dun dun dunnnnnnn! yes. this happened. |
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| I never wanted to go to the Taj Mahal to be honest. I thought it was overrated and too touristy. It was worth the trip though.. it was beautiful and will always have personal meaning to me now |
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| Jami, Prashant, Emily, me, Bharat, Becca, Kristina |
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| my very close friend Bhar who made this whole trip possible |
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| Becs and I showing off our Kuchipudi (the indian dance form we started to learn) |
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| The 4th country we have been in together! Argentina, USA, Mexico, and now India. Companions for life! |
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| the. taj. mahal. |
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| why is Emily so cool?? |
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| look at how far she can go now! (compare this to the first pic I took in the palm tree forest our first week here) |
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| I think this is like the 3rd time we have attempted this photo. haha |
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| in 4 short months the 3 of us have become really close friends... as you can see :). I love these 2 so much!! |
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| story of our lives. seriously. hahaha |
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| once again... why is Emily so cool?? |
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| inside the Taj Mahal where photographing was prohibited. oops! ;) |
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| some beautiful people we met! they all asked for photos with me so I asked to also take their photos |
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| the Jal Mahal in Jaipur... halfway under water! |
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| me with some cute indian boys, haha |
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| the people feed bread to the fish because it is supposed to give them good luck. Bhar happened to take the photo right as someone was throwing bread.. haha |
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| Kris and Jami proudly riding a camel in Jaipur! |
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| Rajhasthan (the province where Jaipur is located) does camel tours in the desert |
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| a musician outside of the Amer Fort |
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| walking into the Amer Fort |
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| Kris and Jami all cute! |
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| us 3 being awkward. typical. hahah |
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| look at that little girl's attitude! |
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| part of the amber fort.. so beautiful! |
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| some detail.. it was such a beautiful place! one of my favorite places in India |
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| This place was just FILLED with hundreds of staircases, hallways, alleyways, courtyards, and rooms. It was like a maze... we could have spent days there exploring. It was INCREDIBLE! |
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| Becca Boo just being her adorable little self! |
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| some model getting her picture taken. I won't lie.. it's a great place for photos. Engagements someday...? I wouldn't complain. |
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| Becca and Prashant threatening to jump, haha |
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| one of the many staircases |
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| so beautiful |
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| the snake charmer who changed my life!! haha |
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| Bhar holding the cobra |
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| bangles bangles galore! this is India in a photo... color, beauty, variety, energy |
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| the Indian cobra |
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| bathing in holy waters is very common here in India. This a Sikh bathing in the pool surrounding the Golden Temple |
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| the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar. I have been dreaming of going here for years! It was amazing. |
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| the Sikhs are incredible people. Every day they serve meals to anyone and everyone for free... all of the work they do in preparing and cleaning is service. They feed thousands of people each day and here they are cleaning up after lunch |
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| some details outside of the golden temple--it is made of pure gold (photos weren't allowed inside.. sorry) |
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| waiting with all the other women to go into the temple |
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| our Indian pride!! |
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| So on the border of Pakistan and India each night they do this little rivalry festival. They have a small program where soldiers do a little march off and they kick their legs as high as their heads. Everyone dances and cheers for their country. We thought it would be dangerous to go to the border... turns out it is just one big party! Hah. It was so much fun supporting our country and watching the program there |
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| Jai India! (Amritsar is full of Sikhs... all of Punjab is. So when you see a turban you can almost always assume that it is a Sikh) |
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| the River Ganges! |
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| searching for money and other things in the Ganges |
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| a family pouring ashes of a loved one |
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| Haridwar was such a joyous place! It was full of families just bathing, worshipping, and having fun |
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| this is where all the genealogy of the area is kept... Bharat's family's records are kept here because his dad is from Haridwar |
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| this man does this as his job, as did his father and his father's father, etc. |
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| shaving heads with a straight blade |
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| beautiful Haridwar! |
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| me touching the most polluted river in the world! hah (luckily we were more near the head of the river so it was a lot cleaner at this point) |
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| Haridwar had an awesome market |
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| every morning and night they do puja here... they light fires and candles and worship the river |
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| more shops at the market. you betcha I spent some time shopping... |
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| Rishikesh and Haridwar were full of monkeys!! |
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| I was learning on the rail of this bridge photographing and I pulled my camera down after I finished to find this mother and baby literally INCHES from me.... like, if I barely would have moved my arm I would have touched her. Hah! It scared me so bad that I jumped, I had no idea they were there!! I love the way the mother monkeys care for their babies, it is so adorable! Aren't they just so cute?! |
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| Rishikesh is absolutely beautiful! It was cool and breezy because it's up in the mountains. Also, the Ganges is much more beautiful here because it is closer to the head which is up in the Himalayas, so it's a lot cleaner and more clear here |
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| Rishikesh is the birthplace of yoga, so although it was lovely, I didn't like spending too much time there because it was full of foreigners and tourists.. haha. Sadly enough the town has become kind of washed over because so many foreigners go there to study yoga |
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| is that a cow crossing the bridge? yes, yes it is. ohhhh India. p.s. also check out the monkey just above |
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| Varanasi is said to be the oldest city in the world! I was so sad that we only had half a day there, but someday I will live there for at least some period of time. There is something about Varanasi that has always called me... I never really quite figured out what it was while I was there, I just knew that I needed to be there and I need to go back. It is one of my very favorite cities in India |
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| adorable kids, running towards me to take their photo |
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| hahaha. I don't know why, but I love this |
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| I love the kids in India |
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| OHMYGOSH who could not love him?? |
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| this, is Varanasi. All of the people are constantly going to the Ganges to bathe and worship. It is so colorful and old, and incredibly beautiful. There is such a feeling of devotion and connection to God here. |
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| it is said that if one dies in Varanasi, they will automatically be granted resurrection. The people burn the bodies of their deceased loved ones in these fires near the river and then send the ashes into the river |
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| we happened to get there right as they had this special festival for Diwali... these women would stand in the water all through the night to show their devotion to one of the goddesses! |
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| the other side of the Ganges |
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| "I can't believe I'm here" was constantly running through my head while we were in Varanasi |
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| these fires are VERY special. I am going to talk about them in my next blog post... stay tuned to find out why! :) |
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| a foreigner watching the special festival for diwali |
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| the candle we lit to send off into the Ganges |
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| these were actually people from the south. they were circling these lights and worshiping the fire |
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| we went and saw some of these workers who do embroidery.. it was amazing! |
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| the little kids were so shy and so cute! |
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| and now to Bodhgaya! |
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| this man LOVED having his photo taken!! |
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| so most of the people at Bodhgaya are from Tibet. A lot of the monks have these beautiful religious tattoos |
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| this guy just sat in meditation in a really crowded place in front of the tree... it was so beautiful |
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| right outside this temple in front of a tree is where Buddha achieved enlightenment |
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| the young monks are the cutest thing in the world!! |
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| that leaf that he is holding is very special. It came from the tree where Buddha achieved enlightenment. You can't pluck leaves from the tree, but when one falls they don't let it fall to the ground... everyone runs around chasing it because they want to keep it. Getting a leaf from the tree is a symbol of enlightenment (don't worry, we all got one!) |
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| devotion is a great word to describe India |
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| it was such a peaceful place... I loved it |
These next photos are from a festival we went to in Vizianagram before our trip up north
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| the little girl is blowing a kiss.. they were so cute!! |
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| Kris |
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| Jami |
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| Em |
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| Becs |
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| is she not the most adorable thing you have ever seen?! PLEASE. |
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| we met this sweet girl on the roof where we were watching the festival and she taught us a dance! |
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| another girl we met at the festival |
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| this is a girl. don't be fooled. (sometimes I get confused here.. haha) |
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| learning a dance from her |
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| the festival was CRAZY crowded |
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| Krishnayya! Our program director and little indian grandfather :) haha. we love him. |
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| Doctor Ramalingaswami aka Dr. Salami... hahah. He is the astrologer for the king and gets us into everything because of all his connections. He also has the ability to give us a full report of our past life. |
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| the beautiful Sunita! |
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| so many people |
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| so basically all this festival was was kind of a parade... this guy who was sitting up on top of this wooden contraption was pulled up and down this street 3 times as people cheered and threw fruit at him, hahaha. It is a symbolic tradition of this town that comes from a story that happened a long time ago. I would recount the story but it was so long and detailed that all 3 times that I heard it I had already tuned out halfway through... hahaha, oops! |
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| our view from a rooftop. I love that one guy looking up and the 2 behind him |
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| hahaha |
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| yep. another cow. #thatssoindia (did I really just hashtag on a blog??) |
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| my good friend Santosh on the train to Araku valley, the second time we went (this time with Jami and Kristina) |
and a few random 35mm film shots from the past month!
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| all of these plant ones were shot at a place near our house called the Sacred Trees Grove... a small peaceful place! |
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| these were on the YSA trip... we hiked up to the top of this mountain |
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| the view from below |
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| we did a service project near a home for some elderly |
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| at a cathedral we visited when Kris and Jami were here |
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| a dog stealing some of the food offered to the Virgin Mary... hahaha |
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| it's pretty cool to see Christianity in an Indian context |
WHEW. You made it!!! There you go, a 200-photo recap of the last month or so that I have slacked on blogging. Haha. In less than 2 weeks I will be back in the states :( :( (booooo) so my next few posts will be more of my thoughts and feelings. It has been a crazy 3+ months but I have enjoyed every minute and I have learned so many life changing lessons... most of which I have not even been able to scratch the surface of on here. Someday I will write them all down. :) Until next time!........ chauuuuuuu
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