Documenting Our Trip to India Part 2: First Days

Part 2: First Days

The pool at our first hotel.

We woke up about lunch time and went to explore our hotel. This would be a down day for us to get adjusted to the time change. We found the restaurant and had our first Indian food in India! It was delicious! We went back to our room, rested, checked in with family and friends, unpacked what we would need for the next couple of days, and got prepared for our visit to the Taj Mahal the next day.

The view from our room of Delhi.

Indian food in India!

We woke up early and eager to get started. We had breakfast and met our agency guide in the lobby. He helped us arrange a car and we headed off to Agra. The drive took a couple of hours and it was our first chance to really see India. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this country and with the resiliency of her people. Everywhere we went there was evidence of people taking the worst life could throw at them and turning it into a way to survive. I saw what looked like small villages built rising from a swampy shallow riverbed, homes made from billboards, and people everywhere doing the best they could with what they had. I have never seen as much diversity in financial status, religion, creed, etc in my life as I did in a single mile traveling in India. Truly a fascinating country. Another thing that blew my mind was to see peacocks and parrots flying around wild! I had only ever seen them in zoos!

The drive to Agra was long (about 3 hours), but amazing! There was so much to take in! We saw the Indian equivalent of NASCAR and so many different villages dotting the open areas next to the highway. There were many open air bus stands along the side of the highway between Delhi and Agra. Each one brought my mind back to our daughter and her beginnings. I ached to finally hold her and I couldn't believe that we were finally so close.

When we got into the city of Agra, the traffic was overwhelming! The streets were narrow and tightly packed with cars, vans, busses, trucks, tuk-tuks (both bicycle and motor), hand carts, oxen-pulled carts, horses, pedestrians, and a myriad of motorcycles! Indian traffic is like a massive game of Chicken combined with a real-life version of Frogger. The vehicles weave in and out of lanes, sometimes headed straight for each other and swerving at the last second. The motorcycles carry not just 1 or 2 passengers, but entire families of 4 or 5! A man would be driving with 1 or 2 kids on the seat behind him sandwiched in by a woman riding side-sadle in a sari and sometimes nursing a baby! Incredible!

We got our first glimpse of the Taj as we crossed over a bridge and it was breathtaking! When we arrived, the guide hired by the hotel met us and walked us through buying tickets an we took the shuttle to the main gate. This was truly a bucket list experience for me. I have wanted to see the Taj Mahal in person since I was a little girl and reality did not disappoint. It was hot and packed, but amazing! We explored, listened to our funny guide, and took a ton of pictures. 

After the Taj our guide took us to see how the marble was made. We declined the offer to purchase some, but were very impressed at the process. We decided to head straight back to the hotel with a brief stop at the red fort for a photo op. Jet lag was still catching up with us.

Red Fort

The next day was spent packing to head to Bangalore. We met our agency rep in the lobby that afternoon and headed off to the airport for our domestic flight. It ended up being very delayed and we arrived in Bangalore very late in the evening. We made it to our hotel and had a frustrating time checking in mostly because of language differences.

Our meal on our Air India flight.

We chose to stay at the hotel recommended by the orphanage director as it was very close to the orphanage. It was a bit of an adjustment from what we are used to at home, but it ended up being perfect for our needs. When we got to our rooms, there was an open living area with a kitchen and four doors off of this central room. Each door had a number and locked with a key. Our room had a double bed, wardrobe, and desk. There was also a bathroom with a western toilet and a shower which held a bucket and cup. So we had our first experience with a bucket bath! Much more pleasant than I would have guessed! We set up our suitcases, updated friends and family via facebook and prepped for our meeting at the orphanage the next day. I must have packed and unpacked the gifts and papers in the diaper bag 150 times! We sat on the bed and eventually tried to sleep.

Jason's solution to the lack of Frosted Flakes.

On our way to Bangalore!!