Hello from New Dehli
My second week in Goa was even better than the first. I got to celebrate Diwali which was amazing. They make these huge paper mache demons and then blow them up with fireworks.
The day before I left we went to the anjuna flea market and somehow stumbled across this amazing acoustic duo and ended up staying and listening for 5 hours, and so did this giant bull that was standing in the doorway.
Leaving Goa was HARD. I could easily have spent a year there with no regrets. Stayed in a few different hostels and every time just met the most amazing people who had incredible stories and were always up for an adventure.
I flew in from Goa to New Dehli last Thursday, and was only going to spend a couple days here but my cousin Peter invited me to the Marine Corps Ball on Thursday which sounds like a fun way to spend my birthday!!
I’m currently sitting on a rooftop in Delhi and for the first time since I arrived in this city five days ago I can actually see the buildings that are more than a block away… The smog in New Delhi is the worst in the world hand over fist, and on days where there is no wind you can really tell the difference. I was at the Presidents house the other day which was disappointing because from the gate you could barely even make out what shape it was.
Delhi is a lot. Of everything. Thankfully it’s a lot of fun though as well as everything else, and again I’ve met some really awesome people at the hostel I’ve been staying at.
I found a guitar the first day in the common area that was so sad looking, no G or D strings and the rest were rusted, with dust plastered on every conceivable crevice.. So I went on a little adventure the next day to find some strings and polish. In the States you can just Google music shop and click the link for the closest one and your GPS takes you right there. That’s not how it works in India. I Googled music shops in Delhi but came up empty handed, two had closed and the third was a store that only sold ridiculously expensive baby grand pianos. So I just started walking around, and after about three and a half hours of asking people and wandering aimlessly I finally found a little music shop down the street from India Gate that actually had what I was looking for. Turns out the guitar just needed TLC because it plays beautifully now!
The hostel employees were so happy they gave me 3 free nights stay and arranged an acoustic open mic night last night which was a blast. Seven or eight people got up and played, mostly huge hits that everyone knows the words to. I hadn’t played guitar regularly for a while but I could still remember how to play a few singalongs so got up and played House of the Rising Sun, Wonderwall, and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.
I went and saw the Red Fort today which was incredible. The smog actually helped give it a bit of mystery and allure which was a nice change cause its usually just a suffocating suckfest. I’m very quickly realizing that I really don’t enjoy big cities (Chicago being the exception) so the rest of the trip after Delhi will be spent in places with fewer people and more natural wonders.
I’ll post again next week in Kathmandu!!
Starting in Mumbai
The first thing I noticed when arriving in India was the extreme poverty. Even driving from the airport to my hotel in the dark, you could tell that the pictures of India that you find on the internet are basically a lie. I’ve found that any picture on the web, whether its of your hotel room or a public landmark, are staged to make it look nicer and cleaner and newer than it actually is. The same thing happens everywhere I guess, but here the differences are staggering.
When you start to walk around in Mumbai you immediately realize how lucky you are to live in a country that has clean streets and a basic standard of living that is far above places like this. I only spent four days in Mumbai and at the end of those four days I thought I was going to HATE India. Everything in Mumbai nearly turned me off India altogether. The trash everywhere, the people sleeping and defecating on the street , the stray dogs that look like they will give you rabies just by standing near them.
The only thing I really enjoyed about Mumbai was the traffic. The traffic here is INSANE. And not insane like in LA where you are parked on the freeway for an hour, insane like there are absolutely zero rules on the road. Cars and tuk-tuks and bikes and mopeds and ox carts and pedestrians and buses going in every direction, cutting each other off, stopping for no reason, driving the wrong way down the road, making random U-turns, and there is no such thing as a “lane” you need to stay in.
Oh and I can’t leave out the cows that are EVERYWHERE. Random bulls that will decide the middle of a busy six way intersection is a good place to lie down and have a nap for a while. It is a miracle that more people don’t die, even though India has the highest number of traffic related fatalities per capita in the world it feels low after driving around for a couple days.
I really didn’t start to enjoy India until I got to Goa. The past five days have restored my faith in my India adventure. I checked into a hostel on Monday after the most miserable 15 hour bus ride of my life and have since started to actually enjoy the country. The food is fantastic here, even though every “restaurant” I have been to would immediately be shut down in the states after even just a cursory heath inspection.
I rented a Royal Enfield yesterday (Basically India’s version of a Harley) and have since toured around most of Goa, even did a little off-roading with some friends yesterday to get down to a secluded beach that was straight out of a movie. I am really enjoying the beach vibe here so I’m going to stay for another couple weeks, after which I will be heading North to Nepal to trek some of the Annapurna Circuit.
I will post again soon now that I’m in more of a normal routine and not bouncing around like crazy, also pictures and videos will be uploaded later today after i get some good footage on the Enfield, but right now i have to figure out how to unlock my phone for an Indian SIM card which proved impossible in Mumbai.
Check out the photos that are posted.
Later for now,
Jesse
On My Way
I’m off to India for 6 months – or however long the money holds out.
I’ve been saying goodbye to family and friends all week – this was the last one (other than goodbye to my mom).
And – at the MSP airport, prior to boarding Qatar Airlines. Let the 24 hours of travel commence!
D5 Creation