India Reflection

Because I had such a profound experience in India, I figured it's only appropriate to write an actual reflection on the whole thing. I really wasn’t sure about going to India in the first place, and I’d been debating with myself about it for a while, especially after I decided to take my trip around the world. There was even a point where I decided that I wasn’t going to go and it wasn’t going to be part of the trip. Then, after speaking with a few people about it who had been there before and had some interesting views about their experience, I had a change of heart. I think I was in Israel when I made the decision to finally go, and began to plan my entry into Asia via India. I think the main reason why I decided to go was to challenge myself. I heard from people how challenging it can be to travel in India, with the aggressive touts and beggars and overall quality of life there. But I had decided that I was gonna be up for the challenge, and I wanted to further grow from this experience and see if I could do it.

Flying on the Mumbai local trains

Boy was I glad that I decided to go. People honestly told me that “for the first two weeks, you’re going to hate it, but give yourself some time to adjust and you’ll learn to really enjoy it there.” I took this advice to heart without knowing what to expect, and I think I approached it with a mentality that did not allow myself to be unpleasantly surprised by some of the initial sights and sounds of India that slap you across the face when you first arrive. I’m going to be truthful when writing this post because I think it’s more important than just trying to make India seem like a traveler’s paradise, which it is, but in a different way.

When I first arrived in India, like most people, I was pretty overwhelmed. I arrived in Mumbai but I think if you arrive in any big city it’s impossible to ignore all the horns, tuk tuks, litter, people, heat, and just overall life that hits you. You notice a lot of things when walking along the streets that aren’t sanitary at all, and you see and smell things that would be mostly unacceptable in our Western culture, but you take it all in as part of the experience and you just move on. India de-sensitizes you in this way, but these are all external forms of the busy and overpopulated society that exists here. With the right perspective you can look past these things that might initially appear to be negative and begin to see the true essence and beauty of what lies in this country’s culture and lifestyle. That’s how it works and that’s how you have to look at it if you want to get the most out of the experience.

What's an India reflection without a picture of the Taj?

But India is not all about the external material pleasures. I mean when it comes down to it, it’s the people and the internal qualities that you feel when you’re exposed to this kind of environment. As a foreigner, I had never been to a place with people like this. I know that other people have had very different experiences when it comes to this aspect of India, and unfortunately scams and horrible things still happen so I’m not saying this is all fact. But from my experience, I had never seen people so interested in where I was from or what I was doing. I had people coming up to me to ask me where I was from, shake my hand, and then try to continue holding conversation even though they couldn’t speak another word of English. There’s this irresistible urge that they have to meet you and learn about you and what you’re doing even if they can’t properly express their curiosity verbally. It’s still magical. In my opinion, it’s the ultimate place for human connection. The waves, smiles, hellos, and shaking of hands from all ages and walks of life in this country is something special, and I think it was my favorite part about visiting this place.

Happiness

And of course, India challenges you. I think in general you just have to be more vocal and verbally aggressive in trying to get what you want, especially the price you want. I found myself growing quite a bit in this department. Yea, I had been social enough when traveling, but I found myself having to develop a little bit more character when interacting with people in order to get what I wanted, the price that I wanted, or to just have fun with each interaction; because there’s a lot of interaction going on in India with the amount of people saying hello to you or trying to sell you something. It’s very important to try to have fun with each interaction or else you’re gonna lose your patience real quick.

India tests your patience more than any other country I’ve been to, especially when it comes to traveling within the country. As I’ve mentioned before, depending on where you’re going of course, I would say that wherever you go you’re gonna be spending at least 10 hours on average getting there. If it’s a major trip, you can spend up to 30-40 hours on a single train or 50+ hours in transit from one side of the country to the other (if you’re not flying) and you’re going to have people constantly trying to talk to you during and after your exhausting travels. Overall, it’s not a bad thing, your tolerance for travel time increases exponentially and just about any other country you go to will seem like a breeze when it comes to transportation. But again, it’s all part of the experience, and you treat it as such.

Overall, India has allowed me to grow in a way that no other country has. This is of course based on my own personal experience, and there are plenty of people who might think otherwise based on their own individual experience. I can talk for hours about my experience here, but I will always remember it as one of the more memorable and life-changing trips I’ve taken. I would recommend to anyone to come to this country and challenge themselves and see what life is all about. In my mind, this is the holy grail of backpacking and the traveling experience. There’s always more to be seen and explored but for the time being, for me, India is the final frontier.

Wickets in Calcutta

It was hard to believe, but after just over two months of traveling in India (I really only thought I would be there for maybe a month) I had reached my final destination before moving on to the rest of the world. I booked a flight from Calcutta to Bangkok while I was in Darjeeling, but gave myself a few days in Calcutta before leaving to get a taste of what this city was about. I really had no idea what to expect as I really hadn’t heard a whole lot about this place during my travels. I heard it was a bit more Western than some of the other big cities in India because it was, after all, the capital of India during the British Colonization.

The Howrah Bridge. One of the busiest in the world.

I immediately noticed this westernization not long after I ventured out to get a feel for the city. As I did, I was joined by a new Dutch friend, Ernest, whom I spent most of my time seeing the city with. We began walking down the streets of the city admiring the various forms of architecture that were still noticeably remnant of the powerful British influences. This gave the city a much different vibe from other big cities I had been to in India, but one that I was still able to easily enjoy.

It was funny because I had come to Calcutta alone, much like I do anywhere I go, but I just knew that I would run into some people that I would be able to enjoy the city with and even get to show me around. And it wasn’t long after meeting Ernest that we both had run into a local. As we walked along the street, an Indian gentleman began speaking to us, asking us the basics and starting some friendly conversation. It was his weekend off work and he was with a friend about to get some lunch, so we graciously joined them and he offered to show us around after that. So once again, things had continued to work out with finding good company. A fortunate thing that tends to happen more often than not during my travels, and one that continues to strongly reinforce the positive idea of humanity in the world for me.

St. John's

Our new friend, Tom, took us to some of the main sites around the city, all very impressive. He left us off at one of the oldest churches in the city, and since he didn’t have work the next day he offered to take us to a village outside of the city to get a feel for some of the more rural village life in India. I was more than willing to do this, so we arranged to meet up the next day at the train station and he would take us around the tiny village of Begampur.

The village life provides some of my favorite sights in India. This simple life always highlights the lack of need for complications and material wealth that is always so overemphasized in our current society. Of course luxury is a privilege that we can enjoy, but when we attach ourselves to these luxuries too much it creates a lot more unhappiness than actual happiness. These people don’t need much to be happy or content because it’s all internal. When we got to the village we saw the simple life firsthand when Tom invited us into his Uncle’s house to hang out for a while. He lived in a single room that had everything he needed. Even a small portable DVD player that he used to watch all kinds of movies, Hollywood and Bollywood alike. There wasn’t a lot to do in the village, so after hanging out in the small, cozy village house we made our way back to the train station to catch our train. More stares from the locals ensued as I observed everything as closely as I could, with a deep appreciation for this way of life. However, like most small villages here there is a lack of opportunity and a struggle that you can see amongst some of the inhabitants, which is always part of the consequences of living in these conditions. So like all things there’s pros and cons to these lifestyles, but lessons to be learned and perspectives to be gained in any case.

Cricket with Friends

As we made our way back into the city and wished Tom farewell, my time in India was coming to a close. After spending my last day of India walking through the massive urban park of Calcutta and playing cricket with some of the locals, I had one night left and Ernest had met another Indian friend who had arranged for us to have some fun. We met up with Conrad, our other new Indian friend, and he treated us to the perfect celebration for my last night. We went to a club in the city and I saw a whole different side of India that I had never really seen before. This was the Western-heavy side, where I nearly felt like I was partying back home or in Europe. It was a blast, and we all had such a great time together. It was definitely a highlight for me and it was really the perfect send off to what I’ve called a life-changing trip within a life-changing trip.

Up in the Clouds

Like with most cities, there’s always more to do and see, but I came to Varanasi to see the Ghats and to experience the power of life and death on the holiest river in the world. I was thoroughly satisfied and after a couple days was ready to escape to higher elevation and cooler temperatures. This meant Darjeeling. Nestled in the lower Himalayas in an area between Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, I was somehow still in India. After a 10? hour train (it’s hard to get anywhere in India in less than 10 hours so this is my default) and a 3 ½ hour jeep ride up the very narrow and winding road to the densely lush, pristine, tea-laden hills of West Bengal, I made it to Darjeeling. I arrived to a familiar place. Very reminiscent of Dharamsala on the other side of the Himalayas, Darjeeling is one of the oldest hill stations in India, set up by the British during the colonization and served as the starting point for the first Everest expeditions. I came here, as previously mentioned, for the cooler temperatures and for a better glimpse of the Himalayas. From Darjeeling you would have to be blind to miss the astonishing view of Kanchenjunga, highest mountain in India and third-highest mountain in the world. And on a clear day you can even see the tip of Everest. I had pictures in my mind of these behemoths, rising high above the horizon like clouds in the distance. Never stirring. Too colossal to flinch. The only thing that moves is you beneath them.

Well too bad because I was blind the entire time. With nothing but hopes of clear weather, that’s about all I had to hopefully catch a glimpse of the higher Himalayas. Unfortunately, India simply did not want to reward me with these views, and decided to keep the hovering clouds intact for all 4 days I was there. This was unsatisfactory but the misty movement of the ghostly, elegant clouds of vapor provided for a relaxing atmosphere regardless, and gave the bustling hill station a sense of serenity. I didn’t mind, but if I could have had one clear day of massive mountains I also would not have minded. On the other hand, this was the first time in about a month that I wasn’t sweating, so that made up for everything.

The days here consisted of local sightseeing (not mountains) which included a beautiful tea estate/factory, a zoo featuring native animals of the Himalayas (and yes, I saw a tiger), and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, which was maybe the best sight I came across. It covered a lot of the history of the first expeditions and ascents of Everest and had inside some of the original equipment used by the first two climbers to conquer the highest point on Earth. I had recently finished Jon Krakauer’s "Into Thin Air" before coming here (which covered a crazy Everest expedition in the spring of ’96) so I was able to somewhat relate to the amazingness of the preserved artifacts this small museum held.

View from the roof of my guest house

Aside from these highlights, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Darjeeling. It’s hard not to enjoy the atmosphere there regardless of what the actual weather is like, which is always a clear sign of a genuinely pleasant destination. I didn’t mention much about the people there but they were all extremely friendly. Most are actually of Nepali origin, which is actually the language of choice in this part of India. And like Dharamsala, it was hard to believe that I was still in India at this point, as you see a much different side of the country here. But further exploration of the diversity of this amazing country only continues to impress upon me just how incredible India continues to be.

Life and Death

Varanasi is the holiest city in India and one of the oldest currently inhabited cities in the world. It’s important. It’s mostly important because of the Ganges River that passes through it. The Hindus and Jains believe that when someone dies in Varanasi and is cremated on the shores of the Ganges, they will achieve Nirvana and be liberated from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. Because the river is holy, it’s only necessary to further wash yourself in it and bathe in the holiness that rids you of your sins. This is what the world famous Ghats are for. Most people have heard of these things, but seeing them in person is definitely an experience and the obvious highlight of this place. As the steps lead down from the city limits to the river itself, there’s something to be said, and seen, for the juxtaposition between life and death; and Varanasi is the place where this contrast is emphasized more than ever. Seeing the public cremations happen on the shores of the Ganges gives you a new perspective on death and gives you a firsthand look at how death is viewed on this side of the world, which is of course in an entirely different view.

The Ghats

Death is merely part of the cycle, another step in the process of continuing your seemingly never-ending suffering, as the belief of rebirth is emphasized to reinforce this cyclic existence. It’s not a sad event when these cremations occur, rather it’s quite the opposite. The people are said to be liberated from this cyclic existence when they die here, thus no tears are shed during this event. The atmosphere remains grim, but in a different light. A subtle sense of hope and contentment fills the air as the ashes are thrown over the holy fire in which the cremations occur, and Nirvana is achieved. This is the belief, and it’s powerful in its own right. It’s a very real place, and the washing and bathing that happens is also a powerfully positive experience for people. I was surprised with the amount of positive energy and overall happiness there was here. This is not a city of death or destruction, this is a city of salvation.

On the Railroad

My journey from Hampi - in Southern India - to Varanasi - in Northern India - was so long that I think it deserves to be mentioned in a post. The total travel time was around 53 hours I think. Three trains, two moderately long layovers, and an entire experience of its own.

I started in Hampi on the morning of Thursday, May 7th. I left my little meditation hut I was staying in and took a small boat to cross a river, took a rickshaw to the nearest train station, and got on my first train to Londa, India; a small village just outside of Goa about 5.5 hours away. I had about 3 hours to kill in Londa before my next train. To be honest, I was looking forward to these two layovers that I had on my long trip north, as I figured them to be places where not a lot of tourists tend to go - off the beaten path - and I had definitely never heard of them.
 

Hanging out with my new friends in Londa, on my first layover of the long journey.

Londa was a cool little place. Not much to do, so I had lunch at a small hotel by the train station that I was happy I wasn’t staying at and then I just decided to walk around and check the place out. The usual stares from the locals ensued. A few waves, hellos, and smiles here and there, and then I came across a more active living space. This one had a group of young children playing cricket in the front yard with a middle-aged man standing outside passing the time. As soon as he saw me he waved his hand for me to come over, so come over I did. He introduced himself, asked me where I was from, and invited me into his quaint little home for some coffee. The kids were enticed by my unexpected visit and proceeded to stare and smile, a couple of them introducing themselves and having fun with it. I had some great coffee and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality that my new friend was providing. We had basic discussion about his home and family, and although his English wasn’t perfect it was enough to have an enjoyable chat. Shortly after our chat he had to go to church and left me with the cricket-playing kids. They saw me whip out my phone to see what time it was and asked if I had any games on there, so I opened one up and they were enthralled. It was priceless watching these kids surrounding each other trying to figure this game out, and there was plenty of excitement and enthusiasm during that stint of entertainment.

Alas, the three hour layover flew and the next thing I knew I had to struggle to remove myself from the highly entertaining situation, only tempted to just stay for another day in Londa, India of all places. The kids walked me to the train station and I hopped onto train number two, nearly 24 hours long, which would take me further north to a town called Itarsi in the dead center of India.
 

A small glimpse of the extensive market in Itarsi, on layover number two.

I got into Itarsi for another threeish hour layover and immediately noticed how busier things were in comparison to my previous stop. This appeared to be a decent-sized town, with an astonishingly massive market encompassing the immediate exterior of the train station. It was slightly overwhelming, but again, I just wanted to take things in and explore. I think I got more stares here than just about anywhere I had been in India. I don’t know of any foreigners who had been to this place and I’m not sure the locals did either. It was a cool experience though, and when I decided to sit at a small shop for some chai (Indian tea), I went to hand over my money for it and the local man declined my payment, offering the chai to me as a gift, and I was already impressed with the hospitality here. Not long after that, as I continued my aimless walk of exploration a gentleman who appeared not much older than me stopped his scooter shortly ahead of me and motioned for me to come over. He spoke little English, but asked me the basics and then invited me to hop on and drive me around. After feeling for the situation I accepted the offer, hopped on, and he drove me through the streets of Itarsi. We stopped at a local food market nearby and he offered to buy me a chai. I had my second free chai and once again took in the great hospitality. He drove me back near the train station and dropped me off at a restaurant so I could get some dinner. I ate dinner, continued walking around to kill time, and actually found a bar nearby, knowing that this is where I would be until my train arrived. As I was sitting alone at a table having a beer and enjoying the journey so far, two younger Indians sat with me at my table and of course we began to chat. They were really nice guys and I even gave them some foreign currency that I was looking to get rid of as a souvenir. It was yet another very successful layover in Itarsi, and I boarded my third and final 15 hour train for Varanasi, which of course would prove to be the most challenging part of the journey.
 

My friends I met at the bar in Itarsi, showing off their foreign silverware I gave them.

The third train would be about 15 hours long, and it was no short ride. I booked my ticket in the lower, cheaper sleeper class. It was packed, cramped, hot, and by no means comfortable. I think there were 15 of us crammed in an area built to normally accommodate half the amount of people. The only comfort I received on the train was from my fellow passengers, of which one spoke basic English and even taught me how to write some things in Hindi. The company was good and the views of rural India passing by briefly provided distraction from the lack of comfort. You see the villages and farms and workers and it gets you thinking, embracing appreciation for the life we lead and the opportunities we have. India does that of course, but more on that at a later time.

I finally made it into Varanasi on the afternoon of Saturday, May 9th. Over two full days of travel had passed and things were still just as hot as they had been when I left Hampi. Was I going in circles for two days? I got off the train and immediately began to sweat.

Temples and Chillaxation

Hampi is probably known as one of the chillest places in India. It’s also known for its beautiful landscapes and just serene atmosphere. Again, I was coming here at the beginning of low season, so things were even more quiet than usual, but I still really wanted to check it out. It’s a lot of people’s favorite destination in India, and for good reason.

Hampi's impressive Virupaksha temple

It’s a pretty small town situated on a small river with guesthouses and things to do on each side. The main side of the river consists of most of the guesthouses and an impressively large temple complex. It’s really nice there but there’s usually too much going on, so people had suggested that I stay on the other side which has a more relaxed atmosphere and better vibes. So I took a small boat to cross the river (the only way to get across without taking a long and expensive 40km detour) and went to a place that my friends stayed at and had recommended. I had my own little hut and I was paying about $2.36 a night to stay there.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Hampi was the landscape. Just amazing. It’s a hilly landscape, but instead of these hills being covered in vegetation they were shielded by large boulders. These boulders provided an aesthetic quality to the landscape that uniquely reminded me of a national park you might encounter back home. It was beautiful, and I was excited to do some exploring here.

The popular thing to do on this quieter side of the river was to actually rent a scooter and explore some of the temples and small villages nearby. There were temples everywhere. Hampi is full of them and they complement the landscape. On the precipice of a boulder-strewn hill you might see a small temple capping off the top of it like a cherry on a perfectly constructed sundae. There was one popular temple in particular that provided an above average view of the surrounding area, the ‘monkey temple,’ which of course came with monkeys. I rented a scooter on this day and rode over to the base of the hill that the temple sat on top of and began hiking to the top before 11am. By the time I reached the top I was completely drenched in sweat. Hampi was even hotter than Goa, which made it even more difficult for daytime activities (this is a big reason why it was considered ‘low season,’ as temperatures began to steadily rise this time of year).

But the view was worth it. I got a great panorama of the surrounding boulder-infested valley, and it was quite a sight to see. After the monkey temple I picked up a couple little kids that were hitchhiking to the next village, dropped them off, and continued on to another village called Anegundi. It was a really nice little place with a beautiful temple complex situated on the upper banks of the river. It was such a cool feeling to be cruising around in a somewhat remote village in which I was probably the only Caucasian person at the time. Everyone waves at you, saying hello and just enjoying your presence of being there and exploring.

I spent another day on the busier side of the river seeing the main temple and doing some exploring on my own when I discovered some (ancient?) rock paintings nearby, followed by another temple complex that I never knew existed, in which I was the only person there at the time. It was a lot of fun just walking around on my own and exploring the surrounding area.

I had a lot of time to myself during my near one week stint in Hampi, and it was much needed after traveling with a group of people for the previous couple weeks. But after that week in Hampi I was ready to move on to a busier city setting. I wanted to be back in the craziness and instability that is an Indian city, and I felt the craving to immerse myself in that atmosphere once again. So I was determined to get to Varanasi, and it would be no short journey..

Going to Goa

Beautiful church in Panjim, Goa

After a couple long stints of transportation, including a very bumpy 10 hour bus ride and a 25 hour train ride, I finally made it to Southern India and the famous state of Goa. Goa is known as the party capital of India. With its majestic beaches, bars, electronic music, and cheap drinks, it’s easy to have a fun time here. What was nice though was that low season was starting up, so I experienced a much more quiet and ‘watered-down’ version of Goa, which I was totally content with after still trying to slowly ease my way back into reality after my Buddhism course.

But the main reason why I decided to come to Goa was because I was visiting a friend. Antoine is my French buddy whom I met in Tel Aviv, just as I was leaving for the airport. We both had the same flight back to Istanbul and ended up staying in Istanbul together for about a week while getting our Indian visas, since we were both coincidentally planning on going to India at around the same time. Since I was the first to arrive in India, we knew that we were gonna plan to meet up once Antoine got here. So we made some plans after my course, and since he was headed to Goa I decided to come join him. When I arrived I was welcomed onto the beach by Antoine and several other friends he had made during his short time in India. We actually ended up having a great group of people with us for nearly two weeks in Goa, and it was such a fun stint of the trip.

The daily life consisted of waking up, getting breakfast, hanging out on the beach all day, getting dinner/drinks, and then calling it a night. This is how most of the nearly two weeks were spent in Goa. But I really need to mention the food and music festival we went to one night. It was perhaps the funnest night I’ve had in India so far. We were in the capital city, Panjim (really beautiful Portuguese-style town) and there was a big food and music festival going on. Our group decided to check it out and we showed up to a massive stage surrounded on all sides by incredibly delectable food stalls. The food was incredible, but the highlight was the music. A classic rock cover band from India performed tremendously, playing all the classics, and then we decided to dance. And boy did we dance. We congo-lined ourselves onto the dance floor and joined the fellow Indians rocking out. It was so hot, I don’t think I’ve sweat that much in my life. We just kept moving and rocking out so hard. There was sweat exploding of off my face and I felt like I was melting. We jumped and ran around and played so much air guitar. It was the best. And the Indians were the best.

As always, it ended too soon, so we continued the party at a small pub and made our own dance party out of it. It was a great ending to the night and we had a blast. The remainder of our time in Goa consisted of milder nights, with the exception of a night beach party at an outdoor club that was also a blast. But alas, the time came for our group to eventually separate, as we were all on different itineraries and different life adventures.

The majority of us separated, with myself and Michael (our German friend who had been traveling with Antoine before Goa) made our way further south to Gokarna. Gokarna is known as a quieter beach alternative to Goa and was recommended to me by some previous India travelers and friends. It’s also a religious destination (as seem to be most Indian towns) and is a big pilgrimage site. However, being that we were just in Goa during the low season for two weeks this place was comparatively quiet, actually even quieter. Almost a little too quiet for my taste. I only say this because after two weeks of sweating and swimming on the beaches in Goa I was personally just getting a little beached out and needed some change in landscape. So Mike and I split up after a night in Gokarna, and just like that I was back on my own. A couple days of staying in Gokarna led me on my next solo mission to the much-visited and apparently beautiful landscapes of Hampi.

On the Path to Enlightenment

I had a pretty good idea about where to go after Amritsar. From here I was getting close to the mountains in northern India. After some research prior to coming, I knew that northern India was the birthplace of Buddhism, and I had always wanted to do some sort of retreat while being here to learn more and get a new perspective on things from a tradition that hardly exists in the West. Not far from Amritsar (about 5 hours north) is Mcleod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama; so what better place to start? I got a ride with some friends and after showing up, finding a hotel for the night, and walking around the small hilly village of Mcleod Ganj, we found out that the Dalai Lama was giving a public talk at his temple the following morning. Not a bad coincidence. Also, that following day was the first day of a 10 day Introduction to Buddhism course at one of the meditation centers up in the hills, so things just got busy.

The Americans with the Dalai Lama
(me in the far back, behind his left shoulder)

We started the next day early in the morning scrambling, trying to get to the talk in time and figuring out logistics. But we made it, and the first thing they did was organize everyone into groups of countries so that the Dalai Lama could take pictures with everyone. We organized and he came out with all smiles and got a picture with our group. I touched his back so I can say that I’m now officially spiritually enlightened. It was a really cool and surreal thing to just see him all of a sudden and get a picture with him, when the previous day I was not expecting this to happen at all. He gave a nice little talk that we unfortunately had to leave early from to get up to the meditation center for the course. I was on the waiting list for the 10 day course, which would be a silent retreat in which they take away all electronic devices for its entirety, so I wasn’t sure if I would be cut off from the world until the last minute, but I think seeing the Dalai Lama that day brought me some good karma and I ended up getting in.

Boy was I glad I got into that course. Talk about a profound experience. We couldn’t speak to anyone outside of asking questions in class and one hour of group discussion each day. I didn’t have my phone or computer for the entire 10 days, so entertainment mostly consisted of reading about Buddhism, writing, thinking, meditating, walking around, and watching monkeys (which was the funnest thing to do). This was by far the most peaceful experience I’ve ever had. It’s so difficult in today’s society to go even one hour without staring at a screen, let alone using a phone or even speaking. Opportunities like this don’t come up very often but I had quite an amazing experience here.

Our course material was also incredible. I learned so much about the Buddhist philosophy (which I can easily talk about for hours) and meditation practice, and our teacher was phenomenal. It’s difficult to stop writing about my experience at Tushita Meditation Center, but I’ve got to keep it short and sweet and just say that everything here was absolutely wonderful and I would absolutely do it all over again. I highly recommend any sort of retreat experience like this (of which there’s centers and locations all over the world) to everyone. After the course, I stayed in the small village outside the meditation center for about 5 more days just relaxing and easing my way back into reality, finally being able to speak and catch up with fellow students in the course and doing a couple hikes here and there. This was such a beautiful area of India, and my favorite part so far.

On my last day here, there was a very high-up and well known Buddhist nun visiting the meditation center to give some talks for a couple days. She spent 12 years in a cave in the Himalayas on retreat so I was definitely interested in seeing what she had to say. She had some pretty great ideas to share and it was a perfect sendoff to what was one of the greatest experiences of not just India but my entire trip. But sadly, it was time to leave and hop on an 11 hour bus back to Delhi, and then a 25 hour train the following day to Southern India to meet up with a friend. But as Jack Kerouac says, “we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”

The Quest for the Golden Temple

It took some time for me to figure out where to go after Delhi, and I had quite a few options. In the end, I decided to head to Amritsar, capital city of the Punjab region in northwest India. I’ve heard several good things about Amritsar and it was recommended to visit by a couple of friends who’d been there. So there I went, and I sure was glad that I did.
 

The main highlight in Amritsar is the Golden Temple. It’s the holiest landmark of the Sikh religion, so you have a ton of people making pilgrimages there all year long to visit the thing, and it’s a pretty incredible piece of gold. Surrounded on all sides by water with a promenade encircling the area, it also makes for a nice sightseeing walk around the temple. The first time I did it was with a couple friends during the day and it was beautiful. What was more amazing was how many pictures people wanted to take with us during our walk. It took us about an hour and a half to walk around the whole thing; not because it’s big, but because I think we had to stop once a minute because someone was asking to take a picture with us. I never had so many people want to take a picture with me in India. I think I got more pictures taken than most celebrities would on a typical day, which was fun for the first 20 pictures, but then it started to get old. But they didn’t stop, and it was picture after picture after picture before we were able to escape.

Later that day, we went to accomplish another popular thing to do in Amritsar. Every day in the afternoon there is a ceremony at the India-Pakistani border crossing. I heard about this before coming and heard about how interesting and bizarre it was, so I wanted to check it out. Before going there we went to a very strange Hindu temple in the city. The best way to describe it would be a hybrid between a funhouse you’d find at a fair and an actual Hindu temple. It was very popular and consisted of a labyrinth of staircases and crawlspaces, mimicking caves and mountainous passes that I think were supposed to resemble an actual Hindu temple in the mountains. There was also very elaborate tile artwork, mirrors, and sculptures of Hindu Gods and scenes, and just the line passing through it was entertaining. It was so packed we didn’t have enough time to get through the whole thing, but it was still an experience nonetheless.

After the funhouse temple we made our way to the border. We pulled in and joined the crowd of what seemed like a few thousand people and watched to see what this ceremony was all about. It was definitely interesting, and they basically built grandstands on each side of the border for spectators. Pakistan was heavily outnumbered by the amount of Indians there were on our side, chanting and dancing for what I can only presume to be their showing of national pride. The border guards then began their part of the ceremony, which consisted of a lot of marching around with excessively high kicks while wearing funny hats. Same deal with the Pakistani guards. Most of the ceremony consisted of what looked like a pride competition between participants and guards of each country, with each chant and march an attempt to beef up the mentality and crowd of each country. It was definitely entertaining to watch in a bizarre and comical way, and in the end I’m glad I went.

On our way back into Amritsar I got the chance to drive the rickshaw for a bit, which was really fun. We had a great driver, Vicky, who let anyone interested in driving it take it for a spin on the main straightaway. As we drove back, piles of young people in rickshaws and cars drove past waving and saying hello, making gestures and faces of excitement to see what all the white tourists were doing. It was so much fun seeing them on the road and waving, yelling hello, and smiling. It was probably my favorite part of that day.

We spent the following evening going back to the Golden Temple in a more organized group from the hostel, which came with a guide who gave us some more info about it and who led us into the mind-blowingly incredible public kitchen. Nearly all Sikh temples have a kitchen that feeds the people who visit it, for absolutely no price. This kitchen in particular, being at the Golden Temple, was one of the largest in the world. From my understanding this place feeds almost 100,000 people PER DAY, and is operated 24/7 on a complete volunteer basis. People just show up to help out with whatever they can and then leave whenever they need. We showed up and had some amazing food here while marveling at the concept of how this place could possibly be operating. It was one of the coolest things I’ve seen in India and it was such an incredible experience.

Volunteers helping out in the kitchen

Overall, I think the main take away from Amritsar was the people. The Sikh people were the nicest I had come across in India so far. They welcomed me with open arms and plenty of pictures, and the number of smiles, hello's, and waves was a constant overwhelming flow of warmth. I couldn’t get enough of it, and I left with comfort and happiness for this experience that India gave me, looking forward to more.