A virtual assault on the senses, India has been an interesting, incredible, and incomparable experience for all of us. From the moment we landed in New Delhi, we had the stark realization that we were in a land like no other. For the past 46 days we have seen and done a lot, and have shared it all with you, our readers! I know we’ve seen a lot of the country from north to south on the western side…but until I plotted all of our destinations on a map I didn’t really appreciate how much area we covered.
Nor did I really appreciate how big India truly is!
As Tourists
We visited a number of the common tourist sites around the country, starting in the north and working our way south.
Amristar – our first venture out of Delhi, where we visited the Golden Temple and saw the very interesting Wagah Border ceremony between India and Pakistan.
Jaipur – The tour of the city itself was very interesting, along with an Ele-Fantastic experience at the Elephant Village where people can interact directly with rescued elephants.
Agra – Does it get much better than the very romantic Taj Mahal?
Mumbai – visit by night, tour of the city by day and a short ferry ride to Elephanta Island
Goa – Beach time! And a visit to the old city!
Kochin – touring the town, and in particular the Chinese Fishing nets; taking in a Kathikali performance
Memorable Moments
We did a number of memorable things which were somewhat off the beaten track…
Our visit to the Barefoot College near Jaipur was an eye-opening and inspiring visit for all of us, showing us that anything is possible.
Just outside of Kochin, Katina and the girls had a “Girls day out”, and took a tour in an “Indian Gondola” – a small boat propelled by a pole – through the narrow channels of the Kerala backwaters. Their guide, Peter, was exceptional and really brought the peace and beauty of the backwaters to light.
In Alleppey, Kerala, we were considering taking an overnight cruise on one of the well-known and somewhat ‘touristy’ houseboats. Katina found “Our Land Backwater Resort“, and we thought it would be an interesting alternative to houseboating, and we have no regrets in taking that approach. The resort was fantastic, with more of a family feel than that of a typical hotel or resort. and we had a fantastic sunset cruise.
Foodies!
And the food! Our food experiences have been terrific!
We had one, two, three, four days of cooking classes (plus dessert!) with Anju!
Celebrations
Wedding crashers – who shows up to a wedding uninvited…and then gets invited?
In Kochin, Kerala (south India) we somehow got invited to join in a Hindu Temple festival, and before we knew it we were walking in the procession with people and elephants alike!
Celebrations of fire on the River Ganges – Haridwar and Rishikesh proved to be both interesting and moving, as we roamed the towns by day and watched the Aarti – fire ceremonies – by night.
Haridwar…
Rishikesh…
Holi – an incredible celebration with a bonfire to start things off the night before, and then colour…and water the next day! We were all stained a variety of colours for days afterwards, which gained some interesting looks from some of the locals when we moved on to Thailand.
The People
However, what has made our travel to India so exceptional has been the people we have met along the way. The people here have been kind, generous, and helpful, usually with a big smile. English wasn’t always an option, but hand gestures usually got us what we needed often ending in laughter!
Our time at the Jaipur Friendly Villa with Shveta and Kul was just like staying with friends.
We were staying in a small hotel in Kochin and one day Mikhaila was feeling a bit under the weather. I mentioned this to the hotel manager in passing, and later in the day he came by to see how Mikhaila was doing, and dropped off a small box of sweets for us. It was very kind indeed.
In Mumbai we reconnected with Utkarsh and Sejal, who we had met on our Mediterranean Cruise in December. They proudly shared their city with us, and gave us the “street food” experience of a lifetime!
Our most memorable time in India has been in New Delhi, where we were hosted by Anju, Ravi, and their son Pranav.
From the moment we arrived we were treated like royalty. Ravi helped us to navigate the world of the Indian Railways systems, and helped us to understand that even though the system says you’re waitlisted for a seat, you’re definitely taking the train because people cancel at the last minute all the time!
Anju was a terrific hostess and cook extraordinaire! We enjoyed her cooking, and more than that, loved taking cooking lessons from her! Anju’s goal was to make sure we were always comfortable, well fed, well rested, and enjoying ourselves. She helped us to find the right place to buy sarees, and when I was under the weather, made arrangements for me to see the family doctor.
Pranav was a pleasure to be around! He was ‘the inspector’ and staff photographer when we were doing our cooking classes with Anju. He was generous with his time, helping us to arrange transport to airports and train stations. Our celebration of Holi was that much richer as Pranav jumped right into the spirit of the celebration, starting off with handfuls of coloured powder and buckets of water to get us off to roaring start!
We already miss our Indian Family!
Our time in India has been a real eye-opener for us. I think that some of our blog-readers have had the same realization. In the West we are exposed to India really only through media or our interactions with new immigrants to Canada. We had preconceived notions before arriving in India as to how it was going to be. Some of it was true – particularly the crazy traffic! Our attempt to cover India from North to South exposed us not only to a huge country, but to a wide variety of cultures within the country itself. A country where 80% of the 1.2 billion (yes, with a “B”) people live outside the big cities. A country where the big cities make our biggest cities back home look like villages! Mumbai’s population of 25 million is almost the same as Canada’s entire population!
In 6 weeks we only scratched the surface…there is so much more to see, do, feel, hear, taste, and experience.
Comments
22 responses to “A Fond Farewell to India”
What a great recap. We enjoy reading everyone’s updates and are living vicariously through you!
Continued safe journey!
Hello Lydia and Pete!
We had an awesome time in India…add it to your bucket list!
Wow! Once again I am overwhelmed by your brave & energetic travel experiences. I have been following you since the beginning & this was so far the most unreal episode. How wonderful to see it all through your eyes. It really proves that the more we are different, the more we are the same. You all certainly made a myriad of memories. Can’t wait to see what’s ahead. I’m sure you can’t either.
Travel safe
Sharon
Hi Sharon,
This really has been an amazing experience for all of us. I’m glad that you have enjoyed the posts. This experience has been a real eye opener for us all. You’re right, when it comes on down to it even though we live in different places and have different cultures, we all want the same basic things. To me one of the biggest was hearing the focus on education for the children…everyone wants their kids to do well and we heard that loud and clear from all the different parents we spoke to.
Been following yours posts since day 1. Sounds like you had a blast in India. Until you posted that map, I did not realize how many places you visited there. WOW!!
Hi Ted, I had a “holy smokes” moment myself when I did up the map! Doing this last post for India was a great recap for us of all the different experiences we went had.
It was very interesting to get a look at India through you guys, without the bias and mandate of the media. Truly exceptional what you have seen and done, wildly jealous…….waiting for the next adventure. Abby thinks the girls were crazy brave to see the snake charmed and at the same time cannot believe it was real!
Hi Nicole,
I can’t begin to describe how we feel about India. This has been the single longest place we’ve visited on our trip and I cannot imagine that anything we do from now onward is going touch our India experience!
You can assure Abby that the snake was indeed real! 🙂
Hi, Oliver, Opa and I enjoyed your heartfelt tribute to a beautiful country, it’s people, their customs and life style. This posting and the photos brought it all your travels experiences back, and I can’t think of anything to say, because . . . . you said it all: Just amazing. Dare we hope to meet some of your hosts here in Canada sometime in the future?
Hi Oma,
This trip was absolutely amazing, and it is certainly a must see on anyone’s bucket list. Our doors are always open and we are hoping that Ravi and family does come to Canada to visit with us…preferably not in the winter when it is frighteningly cold!
Thanks Oliver for the great recap, map, super photos and great insight into a wonderful country with wonderful friendly people! Special Thanks from us to Ravi, Anju, and Pranav for showing you such a god time!!!! Love, Mom P
Hi Baba,
Incredible India sums it up for us…I don’t think there’s anything else that I can write to describe this experience!
The most wonderful message I got from your recap; besides all the places, events and food experiences, is that you were treated as part of your hosts’ family; with much love, respect and a caring attitude. That speaks volumes. These things, above all, are, and will be, the most memorable for you and your family. Glad you were looked after so well!
Hi Aunt Mary,
You hit the nail on the head, and I can’t say it enough – our best experiences always involved somehow interacting with other people. This has been true whether in India, or anywhere else for that matter. We experienced kindness and generosity all along the way, and you’re right again – those are our best memories!
What an amazing experience!
Bev, this absolutely blew our minds! It was fantastic!
What a wonderful experience you had! Helen works with an IT team in India. She connects with them daily and gets to hear about the wonderful festivals all the time. Keep up the posts! We enjoy reading! Happy travels to all of you!!!
A big hello to Mik from Stephanie. She misses you in Sunday school.
Missing you all but enjoying hearing about your journeys,
Leo, Helen and Stephanie Lazaris
Hello family Lazaris!
India has been an amazing, life-altering experience for us. We’re glad that you’ve been able to join us along the way, and that we were able to share our stories with you through our blog.
The girls miss Stephanie too!
I have to say Oliver that I have enjoyed reading the blogs of your time in India, the most of all your blogs (and I have loved each and every one of them too but…). India came alive in your blogs, a place I had only heard about through new families at school, wonderful families and now you have enjoyed that friendship and hospitality first hand as you have explored the fascinating country. So glad you are feeling better….travel safely. Love to all, Doreen
Hi Doreen,
As we were writing our last few blog posts in India and getting ready to move on, we were really shocked when we stopped to think about just how much of the country we had seen, and how many interesting experience we’d had along the way. I remember helping out at your school and meeting a lot of the students and their families, but never really understood where they came from, how they got to Canada, and what they were leaving behind. Now I know, and do I ever have a new-found appreciation for these wonderful families.
I watched the documentary movie Monsoon at TIFF last fall, fell in love with India through that film. The canadian director said it was his “love song” to India.
Reading all of your blogs about India and seeing Chris and Bill Kennedy’s slides from their amazing trip there last year has made me realize that this is indeed a country I need to visit. I didn’t realize how diverse and beautiful the land and people are. How fortunate you could do it so intimately with the help of locals – who are now such good friends/family.
I can only imagine how much work these blogs are for all of you, know they are well appreciated !! I have so enjoyed being on this journey with you!! We will miss you all at the 17th annual Red Hill Ranch Easter Egg Hunt!!
Hi Gail,
We have heard of the Monsoon documentary, and we’ll have to somehow see it. India is a place like no other, and though I’ve tried to put in words what an amazing place it was, words are just not enough. You absolutely must add India to your bucket-list. If you can manage to go around the same time as we did – Feb/March – you’ll find the weather very pleasant for travel. I think we had one day of rain during the 6 weeks we were there.
Our hosts, Ravi and Anju, were terrific – exceptional hosts – and we’ve developed a new friendship like no other.
We will miss being at the Easter Egg Hunt – you know it’s our spring highlight! We have our fingers crossed that the weather is awesome for you, and that all the kids – young and old alike – have an amazing time!