Holi $h!#

Day 256- Our early morning flight took us from Kochi to Delhi. There was no time to waste so we went straight to the train station, after some Subway of course, to catch a train from Delhi to Mathura. 

Mathura is not on the tourist beat but it is the birthplace of the Hindu God Lord Krishna, which makes it the top spot for Indians to go and celebrate the world famous Holi Festival. Even if you have never heard of the festival, I am sure you've seen the photos of people throwing powdered paint at each other in the streets. That, is Holi and I had been waiting a long time for this moment. 

Mathura is definitely, in no way, a touristy destination and lacked a lot of the common amenities that the more well visited locations in India have. It was quickly apparent that we had found ourselves in the 'real India' and it was definitely more in line with some of the feedback we'd received from others before arriving in India. 

We were extremely tired from our long travel day, so we found some food and got ready for an early night. But first we had a happy reunion with one of our friends and guides from Breathe In Life who was on a scouting mission to see if Holi in Mathura would be a good addition for their next guided trip. 

Day 257- We woke up early and excited with anticipation for Holi festival. We dressed in ready to throw-out clothing and joined the madness of the colour celebration. 

Our experience was one of conflicting contradiction. What I mean by this, is that we would have moments of fun and joy mixed with moments of appallingly offensive behaviour that scarred my view of this controversial festival. Straight out of the gate I realized what I had to look forward to for the rest of the day. As we hailed a tuk tuk, a small group of Indian boys came over to share their colours with us. While we were trying to get into the tuk tuk, one or two of the boys literally smashed me in the face with the colourful powder. Afterwards, the same guy furiously rubbed some black ink on my face. I grabbed his hand, twisting with all the force I could muster and told him to 'never do that again!' I will admit that this didn't start me off with the best impression but I was ready to get to the temple to take some pictures. As we walked down the long street towards the temple, the festival was in full swing. All around us colour filled the sky and people could be heard saying 'HAPPY HOLI' to one another. I had read a lot about holi prior to going and although I read many warnings about women and their experiences at the festival, I still wanted to see it for myself. However, I did take some of the cautions to heart and made sure to cross my arm over my chest when hugging the locals. You see, as a custom of the festival, people who are playing holi, take the coloured powder and wipe it across another players face, they then hug the individual who was blessed, twice, moving their head on one side, then on the other. (similar to how the french kiss on each cheek)

Although my arm crossing manoeuvre gave me peace of mind, it didn't stop locals from trying to aggressively grab a feel when they hugged me. You could feel the wild mob mentality of the place and it had our senses on full alert. We realized that we would need to be careful and secondary to my defensive arm crossing manoeuvre, we quickly developed another defensive strategy. As I had mentioned before, Indians love taking photos of themselves, so this was our second defensive tactic. Anytime things would get too aggressive or the group surrounding me was too large, I would hold my camera out and say 'stop stop let's take a photo'. It worked. 

Okay, let's take a selfie everyone... it worked again. Although the man beside me squeezed my backside while taking this photo... no not Mike, that wouldn't be so offensive. 

Our third defensive manoeuvre was used when we needed a break from the festival. By standing with Mike and staying with our backs against the wall, we were able to take small timeouts as we tried to make our way down the street. It was the only way to keep from getting attacked with powder as the 'bad ones' would always come from behind while you were surrounded by a large group of locals. I was still trying to enjoy myself and not let the inappropriateness ruin a day that I had long awaited. I was definitely happy to see how colourful we'd become. 

Baby, that is one BADASS beard!

I didn't know cows play holi too.

             

As we would step back out into the street, it wasn't long before I'd disappear amongst the crowd and left Mike looking around anxiously trying to spot me within the coloured group. It's crazy how quickly you get separated with so many people and it was unnerving. Everyone gets powder rubbed in their faces... that is part of holi... but it was very clear that women, especially foreign women, got more than the usual treatment. Mike and I would get stopped by some men who would begin by throwing/rubbing powder in our face and within seconds we would be surrounded by a mob of locals, all taking their turns much more aggressively forcing the powder into my mouth and eyes and passing me from man to man to get hugged, sometimes with ill intentions. The issue is that some of the locals are not inappropriate so you want to keep playing but that would just leave us open to more poor behaviour... We had had enough. 

I didn't have the patience or the ability to be ok with the behaviour... not that I should have needed to and I wanted to get out of there. I asked a store owner if I could go to the roof of the building overlooking the front of the temple and he agreed. 

Once upstairs, a woman invited us over to her balcony where we could watch the spectacle below. 

Loved seeing all the men drive by on their bikes just covered in colour. How they could even see I don't know. 

It was during our stay on this balcony that my opinion of Holi changed completely. We watched foreigner after foreigner get pounced by men and we saw their reactions each time they were groped. We were also able to pick out the men who would continuously target the women, waiting with paint in hand to strike. At one point, a group of beautiful Indian women, dressed in clean sparkly saris were making their way to the temple to celebrate this religious event. It was obvious that they were not playing holi but it didn't stop the men from dousing them in dyed water and coloured powder. The women literally ran for safety while trying to cover themselves with their scarves. 

In the next photo the women are huddled together trying to enter the temple from the ladies side and the boy at the bottom right is throwing blue dye on them. The truly alarming observation was that the locals adults were not reprimanding this behaviour. In fact, some of them were joining in. It is a very scary thing to see a large group of people acting in this way and an even scarier thing when they aren't even trying to hide their poor behaviour. It was clear that society had given a pass to its members on this 'Holi' day. 

The lovely woman, from the home we were hiding in, offered us some lunch while we waited for the madness to extinguish. This was a great surprise as we had not eaten the entire day and it was almost 3 in the afternoon. Most store owners close on Holi, which made it difficult for us to feed ourselves... so we just didn't.  

The woman was so kind to invite us into her home and wanted nothing more from us than a few photos! haha Indians love their photos. 

She also shared her opinion of the festival. She said, 'although the religious aspect is sacred, she does not partake in the colour portion as it is not safe'. She also mentioned that her son called her from down the street, where we'd begun our walk to the temple and said a foreigner had had her clothes completely ripped off and she was crying. That was it for us. We were done with Holi. 

It is very hard to write this post because by looking at the photos, it looks like a great, fun time. And I won't say that it was all bad. I love my photos and being able to capture this festival on camera was my entire motivation. However, after seeing how myself and others were treated, it makes it difficult to support such an event. If a woman asked me if she should go to Holi, I would say absolutely do not go to Mathura. I would recommend going somewhere more touristy and peaceful like Rishikesh or Goa. Unfortunately the authentic experience isn't always the best. In this case, Mathura doesn't see a lot of tourism. When you combine that with alcohol, drugs, a removal of moral standards and a reason to touch and hug women, the outcome will never be a positive one. This was only my experience and my opinion but I hope it can help others who have aspirations of attending Holi one day. 

Day 258- We took the train from Mathura back to Delhi and enjoyed the excitement of the general class seating for a cheap $5 ticket. 

                    

The locals on the train were just as excited to have us on there with them and many of the men sitting across from us took turns coming over to shake our hands. They even sent their youngest son over for a hand shake... Our celebrity made no sense to us but we were happy to hang out.

The men across from us were Muslim and handed out pieces of paper to those sitting around them. The paper wasn't in english but I had figured it had something to do with sharing their religious views. The men sitting below us were Hindu and the two groups engaged in a friendly conversation about religion. I would catch a word or three every once in a while, so I knew the reason for the conversation. At one point when Mike stood next to them, the muslim man grabbed his attention and asked "who was the first man on earth?" Mike responded with a carefully crafted answer, "well, in my opinion, the first man on earth was Adam", the muslim guy said "HA" with triumph to the hindu gentlemen he was discussing the matter with. Haha It was as if Mike was the aficionado on the matter and they turned to him to to settle their disagreements. Mike, knowing politics and religion can be touchy subjects always gave very politically correct answers but whatever he would say was accepted by both parties as 'the truth!' It was hilarious. 

 So.. a muslim, a catholic and a hindu walk onto a train... 

We thoroughly enjoyed our general class train ticket back to Delhi. Once we arrived, we went straight to the shopping mall in Gurgaon where we spent the day writing post cards and the blog and enjoying some other lovely amenities that can only be found at the mall. That night we hopped on a train to what would be our last taste of India.

 

 

AC

Day 245/246- We had an early flight out of Delhi and it was off to Goa. Just a quick flight, however, due to some lazy planning on my part, we only found out once we landed that our final destination of Arambol was still a two hour drive away. Right from the start of the day I wasn't feeling well so I was anxious to get to Arambol. 

We arrived in the early evening and began to check out the town. It gave off a really cool vibe and there was no question that we had arrived in a hippy haven. We hadn't booked anything yet but we had word from our Breathe in Life friends of a nice hotel with AC. Now here's the thing about AC. You don't know you need AC until you neeeeeed AC. We don't always splurge for AC but when it's 35 degrees outside, humid as a steam room and you feel like a sack of jelly mixed with mashed potatoes, you should probably get a room with AC. But first, we had to find our AC hotel room. Our casual approach with the taxi driver drop off upon our arival, left us walking through town for an hour with all our bags on. The combination of my illness and the heat almost killed me. When we finally made it to Teremok (our hotel), I melted on our bed and didn't wake until morning. 

The next day was spent entirely in our room. We enjoyed the constant cold air of the AC, watched TV, ate soup and used the wifi. My illness was just in the beginning stages, so I wasn't interested in doing anything. 

Day 247- We finally made it out of the room and into the sweltering heat of the town. 

We were looking for yoga but because of the heat (mid march), everything was closing up for the season. Many businesses move up north to the Dharamshala region for the summer then come back to the south when things cool down in the winter. It was a little disappointing because we'd heard such great things about Goa. I guess the drum circles, sun worshipping and yoga classes just weren't going to happen. Although we did find some fresh fruit bowls and we had a potential lead on some yoga so we weren't giving up yet. Check out these steps below. Where do they go? Nobody knowssss? 

                     

We also ate some delicious fresh greens at a restaurant called Blue Pyramid. 

The heat made everything so much more difficult and just sucked our energy. It also made me feel more sick, so we returned home and I took a nap. We spent our evening in the shelter of our hotel, with the AC turned to high. Mike bought some paan (local indian chewing tobacco) from one of the guys at the hotel because he had been interested in trying it ever since listening to the book Shantaram. Paan is the red juice that covers most indian sidewalks from men spitting it out at their feet. I had read about the power and intensity of the tobacco online perviously and knew Mike was in for a shock. Although I didn't like it, I bit my tongue and let him experiment. Straight away he said it was potent tobacco... Within 15 minutes I noticed he was sweating profusely and soon after he tried to excuse himself to go to the bathroom. I knew what he was doing. You can't fool me! The effects were too strong and he wanted to get away from me so I wouldn't be upset. We'll I got news MK, you can't get away! Cuzz I'll fiiiiiind youuuuu! <crazy eyes> I mentioned to him that I knew how strong the stuff was and told him to sit still until the feelings subsided. He admitted that he was light headed and just wanted to lay down. Eventually the dizziness went away and Mike was able to go upstairs to lie down. Although I kept my opinions to myself, I think perhaps Mike could feel the wrath of my anger and fear burning through my eyes, so he threw the rest out. 

Day 248- So our first attempts at finding yoga had failed due to the fact that Goa was turning into a GOA ghost town but we were determined to get things going so we hit the internet hard. I'm so happy we did because we found a gem that just so happened to be in their final week before they closed for the season. The place was a sanctuary and we were instantly in zen mode. 

This beautiful Ganesha greeted us at the front entrance. Namaste!

                

Yoga was outside, shaded by an overhanging cloth led by a fantastically outgoing teacher for only six dollars a person.

After yoga we enjoyed some fresh delicious food. Fruit, muesli and yogurt bowl, fresh kombucha, real coffee (very hard to find in india, it's always instant) and freshly squeezed orange juice. 

This is the problem with places like this.... we find these gems and then spend way too much money on good food. 

Mike practicing some post meal meditation. Is he floating?!

This outing pretty much drained me of all my energy as I was still pretty sick, so we went back to our home for the rest of the night and marathon watched The Bachelor... Bahaha I just re-read the last few sentences and I know what my father in law will be thinking... what have I done to his son? Healthy food, yoga, meditation....THE BACHELOR? Don't worry Johnny, your son is still in there. He'll be home in no time and you two can build stuff, eat Mcdonalds, listen to rock and roll, say inappropriate things that Maureen with ask you not to and he'll still crush a beer can on his head just to get a laugh. But until then, he's mine. 

Day 249- Health meter is medium high. Finally took a day to hit up the beach and visit the fresh water lake nearby. 

                  

We enjoyed the refreshing water of Sweet Lake and watched the paragliders flying around the hillside above us. 

We jumped into the ocean looking for a rejuvenating cold shock but what we got instead was a warm bath. My health meter was slowly dropping, until... We were laying in the sand and an Indian lady selling scarfs passed by, she looked at Mike and said "you must have just arrived in India, because you are still very white". BAHAhahahhaa!!! Eight and a half months of travelling and that's what he gets! Too funny. Health meter rising. 

We went for lunch at Dreamland Cafe for another yoga session and more delicious food! Once again our evening ended with more Bachelor. Ben is just so darn cute and Mike thinks Olivia might be up to no good. 

Day 250- We spent most of the day at a really cute hide-a-way restaurant that could only be accessed by walking through a clothing store. I wish I could remember the name but it has left me. I worked on the blog and we ate more good food. I was still sick and it was getting the best of me. In the evening we caught a cab to the train station where we would board a train to our next destination. The car ride was brutal. 

Winding roads + plus 35 degree weather + me not feeling well = Breakdown! 

For the first time on the trip, I wanted to cancel everything and go home. I was regretting all of our future plans for Nepal, I didn't want to travel anymore of India, I was sick of being sick, I was tired of the food, the bathrooms, the people, the dirt, the heat, EVERYTHING! I didn't even want to say these things out loud because I knew I didn't mean them but in that moment, for the first time on the trip, I just wanted to be HOME! Luckily after we got to the train station, my stomach settled, the night brought cooler temperatures and I relaxed. 

We boarded our train and prepped for a 14 hour journey on the Indian Railway. The sleeper cars were a beautiful oasis amongst the maddness of India and it was just what I needed. Annnnnd exhale. 

                      

Next Stop, Alleppey. 

Much Love

Day 242- It was a short rest after the long drive from Dharamshala before we had to wake up and hit the road to Agra. For most on our group, their flight home was looming and there was no time to waste with a silly thing like sleep. Agra was a destination many of us had circled on our calendars. This is of course because Agra is home to the world famous Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was constructed by the reigning emperor, at the time, as a token of love for his favourite wife... no not for his least favourite wife, she didn't get a marble castle, only the favourite ones get castles. He had so much love for his favourite wife that he commissioned this costly project, which took over 11 years to complete and the equivalent of 827million US dollars! The emperor's wife was not even alive to see it, as she had died during their 14th childs birth. In her final moments, she requested that her emperor not take anymore wives as well as give her a grand gift to honour her life. He fulfilled both of these requests and this beautifully symmetrical structure stands as a testament to their love. All Mike ever got me was a ring and a few flowers. Then again, I am shy of the 14 children so perhaps I won't bring this up to him... yet.  

The bus ride to Agra was not terribly long but many of us were still feeling the affects of our long drive from the night prior, so we were all a little groggy. For Mike and I, our tiredness definitely affected our experience at the Taj Mahal. It was beautiful, magnificent in size and there's no question that it looks like a mirage in the sky but we found ourselves walking around too quickly snapping a few photos, here and there, as opposed to marvelling in the size and detail of this grand structure. Although, the amount of people present at the sight was also a little overwhelming. Combined with the hot weather and our tired eyes, it definitely wasn't as spectacular as I had envisioned. I was still happy to see it and if I could do it all over again the only thing I would do differently is to first yell 'Fire, FIRE' and then take my photo with just the two of us. <evil shifty eyes> 

Trying to catch it from different angles. 

Honeycombs.

Excited to finally wear my indian outfit.

                      

A view from below.

Mike and I are getting real good at taking selfies.

                       

                  

I needed to share this photo of Chris and Melissa on the back of the tuk tuk that took took us the rest of the way to the Taj. Their both just so darn happy! The guy to the right however... not so much. 

Another drive home with a quick stop for food left us sleepy and restless but we were glad to be back in Delhi. The streets were familiar and the hotel room was clean. We did a little main bazaar shopping and met up with the group at the hotel to go out for an extra special final group dinner at Metropolis restaurant. 

Not only would it be the last group dinner for us all but it also happened to be a special someones birthday. Chris smiled like a little kid when his cake came out and it was nice to celebrate with such great people when he was so far away from his friends and family back home. 

It was a bitter sweet moment to hear everyone's stories and take aways from their journey in India while knowing this was the end of our time together. Such an inspiring group of people that Mike and I are so grateful to have met. Life long friendships were made and unique experiences lived because of each and every person on the Breathe in Life trip. It was our first group trip experience and it definitely won't be our last. The trips success can largely be attested to the people on it.  This experience offered us a new way of travel that allowed me to sit back and enjoy each day without planning it. It also pushed us to try new things that we probably wouldn't have otherwise. 

We ended the night with a Bridesmaids movie slumber party in one of our hotel rooms, while sharing foot massages and watching Kailie mix G&T after G&T. Super fun last night. 

Day 243- After a long and wonderful sleep and a few goodbyes, the remainder of us spent the morning shopping and walking around Connaught place. Mike and I were supposed to book our flights and train tickets for the next leg of our trip but we were too tired and lazy to make the move. I think we had been spoiled over the last 3 weeks and we were not sure if we remembered how to plan for ourselves anymore. Eventually it was time to say a sad goodbye to the last of our friends but it was nice knowing we are all only a short plane or drive away from reuniting one day soon... Some of us live only five minutes away!!!! YAY!

Mike and I wanted to show our thanks to Melissa, Chris and Jordan for a great trip so we treated them to dinner back at the delicious Metropolis restaurant.

Day 244- This was a day of fun for Mike and I and it was much needed. We were in need of a western refresher, so we went to Delhi's nicest mall, City Select Mall. This need for a refresher materialized after checking out of our beautiful Breath in Life sponsored hotel and into our new, economically friendly hotel for the night. That's right, our nasty sheets, broken bathroom, blood on pillows, 'homely' hotel room. Yes, homely, it's even writen on their business cards, it's like their trying to make it less desirable. 

Rooms not as shown on business card.

Next we needed to book our life for the next 3 weeks. We had no real plans for the rest of our travels in India and it was time to figure it out. We booked a flight and some train tickets to get us to the south. That would have to be good enough for now. 

                      

The man in this photo was peering at me while we finalized the details with the agent.... he looked oddly familiar. 

                      

Get us to the mall!! It took some patience to get us there as our first taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong mall. It was not the western mall we desired but it had A/C, so that's pretty sweet right? 

                     

When we finally arrived at the correct mall, it was exactly what we'd hoped for. Clean white tile, soap in the bathrooms, air conditioning and best of all, North American food options. First up, Krispy Kream and Starbucks please. Can you taste the love...

                    

Next up, time to get pampered. Mike got himself a hair cut. 

                   

And I got something done that I grew up doing at the Indian hair salon in my neighbourhood, often with my good friend Meghan. I got my eyebrows threaded by an Indian in India. Mike was awe struck as the skilled beautician worked her two hands and head in perfect rhythm to manipulate the string with pinpoint accuracy. 

                   

Then Mike and I got our feet taken care of and I must say, I actually felt bad for the poor souls who had to touch our soles... 

We left the mall feeling refreshed and ready to head back into the craziness of Delhi. I was on a mission to find a fabric store for my mom and on the way home we just so happened to pass buy a store with a ton of fabric. 'STOP THE TUK TUK!' It was pretty funny to walk into the local store, in the non touristy part of town, and have eight Indian men stop what they were doing to look at us with their full attention. Mike broke the ice with some joke that no one got. But it did the trick because immediately after they all wanted their chance to help us and I had everyone suggesting fabric. In the end I chose a few that I thought my mom would like and the experience alone was worth it. 

                     

We got back to the Pahar Ganj (the area of our hotel) and finished our last task of the day. We sent a package home at some corner side shop. A shop that didn't take a list of our items for customs, gave us no tracking number, or receipt of any sorts, however, promised with extreme confidence that it would make it to Canada without issue. As I am writing this in hindsight I can happily say, my skepticism aside, the package arrived safely just a few days ago. Yay! 

                     

Now it was time to rest up before our flight in the morning. This was hard as our homely hotel room did not exactly invoke a sense of calm. We could actually hear plaster from the ceiling in the bathroom falling off during the night. 

Ok just going to tuck into these stained sheets for a cozy sleep...

                   

Goodnight.