incredible india
After leaving Doha, a group of us headed to India for one last trip before coming home. HOT is an understatement—the unrelenting heat and humidity are the top reason for not visiting in the summer, so I’ll remember to visit again during better weather. But, on the bright side, the food, clothing, people were amazing and we all had a great time. Here are a few highlights:
GOA: Goa is a beautiful beach state on the west coast and we spent our time there hanging out at the beach, eating omelettes for breakfast, and riding around in our scooters. There’s also a heavy Portuguese influence so we saw the Church of St. Francis of Assisi.
DELHI: We didn’t see much of Delhi, mainly using it as a base for all our sleeper train travels, but we did shop (my favorite packed market was Lajpat Nagar, I think I just liked to say the name)—everything was so beautiful: the women’s clothing, bracelets, shawls and scarves, I wanted it all!
JODHPUR: Jodhpur, in Rajasthan, is also known as as the blue city and it definitely was very blue. We saw the Mehrangarh Fort there, a colossal structure with hundreds of rooms and treasures. We also maybe had the best lassis ever there, a Rajasthani specialty called makhaniya lassis—delicious! Other Rajasthani food (such as desert vegetables) are not recommended however. This is also the place where Adam got something in his eye that was really bothering him and so somehow he ended up having emergency eye surgery. It was easily removed and cost a grand total of maybe 100 rupees
ALLAHABAD: Allahabad is where my friend Noreen’s family is from so we were lucky enough to meet her family and play with her cousin’s adorable children. We also had some amazing tandoori chicken, took a ride at Sangam, a holy site for Hindus where three rivers meet, and visited Anand Bhavan, home of the Nehrus and Gandhis. On our way to Allahabad we had an almost-mishap where for approximately 10 minutes we could not find Noreen at the train station. This finally ended up with me, Adam and Zack racing to the train and hoping she was there with all of the tickets—luckily we were right!
India is so giant and there so much left to see! It’s a lot like China in someways, most notably the vast numbers of people. I would love to go back during a (much) cooler time.
