In the View from a Cycle Rickshaw

I'm sitting outside the hotel lobby, listening to Indian music from a wedding a few blocks from here, and drinking a cup of Masala. The life here is very different. The poverty is extreme, never before have I seen living conditions this bad, and this much of homelessness. We are walking the streets, or driving the bus, there are tiny tents, barely covering for any sun or rain, and the people are living their life and building their society around it. We would never consider it as an acceptable life, but they make it seem so easy. There are no stress, no rush, and no yelling. No one looks down on the poor people, but behind the gates you find luxury palaces where people are living a totally different life. The luxury is LUXURY! There are palaces à la Aladdin (we've seen the magic carpet!), multiple servers, wonderful architecture, beautiful gardens, and delicious food. After the dinner we are walking out on the streets again, facing the people begging for money, walking around barefoot, and cooking their food on a pan in the middle of the traffic. 

Pictures

Ganges river- Selling DVD:s to the tourists,
School bus
Lumes
Buying scarfs from an exclusive seller...
Cremation

Every kid has to wear a uniform. 

You see them everywhere..Holy Cow!

The cutest kids are Indians!

Welcome in to the shop, please sit down, have some tea, and we'll discuss business!

You Can't Describe it w Words

What we've been seeing the last couple of days is nothing I can describe w words. Everything is so different, unique, special, and quite. Tuesday morning we flew to Varanasi to experience the Hindi rituals of cremation, and the evening and morning prayers at the Ganges river.with 3.2million ppl in the city and an infrastructure far away from developed, you would imagine a place in chaos. But w/o any traffic rules, only some few recommendations, such as keep your vehicle to left on the road and it might be easier for u to come through, they are all collaborating to make the system work. The crowded streets, poor begging ppl, bargain, and the big cremeation industry gives you relaxation. I know it sounds weird but the whole time in Varanasi we all found this very nice feeling.

At 5am this morning, we woke up to view the ppl take a bath in the holy river. We wre out by boat, and saw the pilgrims and the inhabitants washing and praying.

More about this later. My internet time is out,

Namaste!

When Everything is Different

 Cables, cables and some cables!

Humayun’s Tomb

The Indian Gate

Lunch time! Dal, Nan, Kabab...Love Indian food!!

Time for a cycle rickshaw..an exciting tour in the Muslim part of Old Delhi

Market

The boys had probably ever before seen either a white woman's knees, nor blond ladies!

Time for dinner at the very exclusive golf-club, Gym Khala

Family Friends

All the ladies at the dinner

Grandpa!

Me and my cousin!

Arrival

 I'm so confused in my head... been traveling for hours and hours and hours. Began my trip Saturday lunch and now it's already Sunday night, 1am. Thought I would be totally bored on my long flight over, but guess what, I slept the whole time..! haha. so much for all studying I was supposed to be doing. Well well, I guess my Business Law can wait. When I arrived in Delhi I found a man w a sign "Ms. Beatrice Enckell", that must be me! He showed me to the car, gave me flowers around my neck and guide me through the city to my hotel. The traffic is CRAZY!!! Not only do they have left-lane traffic, they also drive as idiots. Three lanes are in some how equal to five and zic-zac:ing in between...their honking system is something above normal and I thought we were going to crash at least four times.

Our hotel is nice! I had to go through a security scanner before entering. I was welcomed with a drink and an orange dot in my forehead. Not until entering my room I met my sister, and later I found the rest of the family down in the lounge. Lovely to see them all again. Not that I'm tired, but our bus leaves in seven hours, I need to try to get some sleep.

Grandpa w his daughters

Le Meridien, floor 12

I'm in INDIA!!!

India next!

Delhi ▪ Varanasi ▪ Jaipur ▪ Ranthambore national park ▪ Agra

February 12th my trip begins. I leave the States for India. Don't know how I'll manage the long trip- flying MCO to CHI and then Chicago all the way to freaking Delhi. The last flight being more than 14hrs + a 12 hours time difference!! But who am I to complain. India here I come! How many times in my life will I get the opportunity? Just saying!! 

My schedule is crowded with activities. Ten days of discovery. Follow me on the blog, I'll try to update as much as possible.

pictures

stories

live

from another side of our world

from my eyes only!

(from http://www.rrindia.com/india-travel-packages.html)

Enjoy!