(A continuation of Travel Thursdays recounting some of the best stories and photos from my #growthyear)
India is a massive country, home to 1.3 BILLION people. It’s impossible to see the entire country, even the highlights in a few weeks, so we decided to confine our travels to a northern section. We landed in Delhi and linked up with my friend Julian who was living there at the time. He proved to be the ultimate tour guide, helping us navigate not only physical terrain but local customs as well. Over roughly 3 weeks, we attempted to take in as much of this beautiful, vibrant culture and country as we could and…
Saw the Taj Majal.
Hiked in the mountains in Dehradun.
Met new friends from Kashmir.
Learned how to cook classic Indian dishes like paneer and paratha.
Completed a yoga retreat in Rishakesh, the yoga capital of the world.
Wandered the streets of Jaipur, the Pink City.
And drank more masala chai in 3 weeks than the average Indian person does in a whole year.
Unknowingly, we also happened to be in India for a huge Hindu festival called Holi, a celebration of the victory of good over evil. The festival lasts for a night and a day, with prayer and other religious rituals being focus that night, and the following day everyone makes their way out to the street for a free-for-all festival of colors, where people smear each other, stranger or friend, man, woman or child, with powdered color paint.
As seen here, we fully embraced this tradition. Our clothes, our skin, and our hair were stained for weeks. Hannah’s hair turned weird-ugly-bright yellow, and she literally had to soak it in a bucket of vinegar every night for 2 weeks straight until all the dye came out. That said, being in Jaipur for Holi might be one my top 5 days of all of last year.
India isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a country of wide extremes — but what place wouldn’t be with that many people? (Also……. America, anyone?!) But don’t let any of that dissuade you. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, with LITERALLY THE BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD, and some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met.
Next up: Malaysia
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