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India with Kathy and Alec Wightman
India with Kathy and Alec Wightman
The Ganges at sunrise.

athy and I just returned on January 25 from two weeks in northern India. We visited Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthambore (looking at animals), Agra (home of the Taj Mahal), and Varanasi (the “spiritual capital” of the Hindu religion).
We have traveled internationally a lot over the last 20+ years, but we hadn’t been to India. We love different cultural experiences and this trip certainly satisfied that goal!
The travel is not for the faint of heart. We took a 15-hour non-stop flight from JFK to Delhi, after an overnight stay in New York City. We came back straight through to Columbus, a 27-hour journey including a 16-hour non-stop from Delhi to New York.
DELHI
Kathy negotiating to buy tea in a Delhi marketplace…with the help of a guide.
The food is special. We ate at Indian Accent, one of the great restaurants in the world, and (with coaching from guides) sampled street food in the marketplaces. On a day to day basis, it is…Indian food! Lots of spices. Chicken and lamb. Many vegetarian meals. No red meat! And do NOT drink the water. Bottled water only for everything.
Opulence and extreme poverty. Hundreds of miles of open highway between densely populated cities. And from the quiet of the temples to the sensory bombardment of the marketplaces.
JAIPUR
We just happened to be in Jaipur the night of an annual kite festival. Thousands of people on rooftops…flying kites.
The Amber Fort outside of Jaipur. We traveled with John (the “Moose”) and Lori Collins from Dallas, John being a best friend since we met the first day of college at Duke in…1968!
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Traffic is simply “organized chaos.” And the honking of horns is constant!
I was surprised at the apparent lack of British influence notwithstanding their rule for 100 years. The architecture is much more reflective of the Mughal empire of which India was a part for 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. And contrary to my expectations, English does not appear to be regularly taught in the schools as it is in Western Europe these days, Outside of the hotels and other touristy places, English was not regularly spoken, even among the young people.
A Jaipur marketplace.
COWS
Yep, cows are everywhere.
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RANTHAMBORE
Kathy making friends.
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We spent two days bouncing around in open air jeeps looking for “big cats”—tigers and leopards. We saw every kind of animal except….
TAJ MAHAL
Check one off the bucket list. The Taj Mahal!
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HINDUISM
India is a predominantly Hindu culture, but with more Muslims than any country in the world other than Indonesia.
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VARANASI
Varanasi is the “spiritual capital” of the Hindu religion. It defies description—in words or, really, pictures. Every night at 6 PM, tens of thousands of Hindus gather on the banks of the Ganges for the Aarti Ceremony,
Every morning, thousands of Hindus walk to the ghats along the Ganges for prayer and bathing (“taking a dip”) in the sacred river.
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I’m not sure it’s suitable for “publication,” but, truth be known, seeing the burning funeral pyres on the banks of the Ganges in the accompaniment of a well informed and sensitive guide was not traumatic. For the Hindus, this is the ultimate way to go…having your ashes laid to rest in the Ganges at Varanasi.
India is a fascinating part of the world and, at least for Kathy and me, the visit was a real eye opener to a culture about which we learned very little in our school days, when the emphasis in our world history classes was on Western Europe.
I would highly recommend the trip. It is one we will continue to think about and talk about for years.
I would highly recommend the trip. It is one we will continue to think about and talk about for years.
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GO India with Kathy & Alec Wightman Issue XLIX
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