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Danielle's Trip to India and Singapore
26/03/1999
As promised, below is a long overview of my trip. I started the trip by arriving in Singapore just long enough to eat, nap and join Aunt Dotty, Stacey and Sheila Roy for our flight on to India, where we would meet Kim. After my quick nap, Seightly, the driver, drove us to the airport while a taxi followed us with all our luggage. By the looks of things you would have thought we were traveling for a month. Aunt Dotty was fully equipped with every antibacterial product on the market. Germs were not going to be a problem for us on this adventure! As we entered the boarding area for our Singapore airlines flight to New Delhi, the fumes of body odor and curry were already clouding the air. Thank goodness Aunt Dotty had her "Air Supply" contraption that she hung around her neck to ensure a clean air bubble around her. Apparently this black box on a string is the latest product endorsed by the fabulous Oprah herself! Once boarded, our flight was smooth, odorless and peaceful. We slept and watched such movie classics as The Water Boy and Rounders. We arrived in New Delhi at 10pm, stinky, sleepy and in a daze. We get our bags and eagerly search for our guide to help us brave the mass hysteria of Indians clinging to the fences outside the customs exit. These rowdy onlookers are eagerly awaiting their beloved family members to arrive home from overseas and all they get is 4 white women with terrified expressions toting 8 large suitcases desperately searching for a sign that says "Sheila Roy and Party". We finally find our guide and we enter a very large bus that takes us to our first destination: The Kapurs, a very lovely family that were kind enough to embrace us into their family unit. DAY 1: Old and New Delhi and The Embassy Our first day was an exciting one, we boarded our big bus and headed to Old Delhi. India is a strange place to be a motorist because there doesn't seem to be any road rules. Every man or cow for themselves. Old Delhi was very crowded and filled with beautiful colors and shops and cows. Did I mention the cows! They roam around everywhere; entering houses and shops unannounced, eating vendor's foods without asking. We took ricksaw rides through the old streets and Kim and Stacey were hit with a Holi balloon. Holi is the festival of Colors and a day for mischief and mayhem. Holi is a holiday where balloons are filled with water and colored dyes and thrown at everyone and everything around. Holi technically didn't start until Day 2 of the trip but Kim and Stacey were such cute targets some of the kids decided to practice their aim early. DAY 2: Varanasi This was quite the adventure. We met our guide at the airport and he was covered head to toe in Pink. He was bombarded by Holi balloons and looked like a freak. He took us to our hotel via another bus, this one a little smaller than our Delhi bus that sat 20. The streets were filled with red and blue cows, green children, purple men and no women. At least I didn't notice many. Perhaps I was too busy looking at the dead chickens and other unidentifiable animals hanging from the shanties. After a quick nap, lots of starch and a much needed shower, we headed off to the sights. Our guide, Aman, was very stern with us in the beginning and warned us about talking to the beggars and street people. "Do you understand what I am saying" was his big phrase and kept us on a tight rope. We visited the temple and places where Buddha gave his first sermon. It was very peaceful listening to the monks chant on a beautiful lawn overlooking the ruins. Aunt Dotty was forever giving us antibacterial lotion for our hands throughout the day and made sure to remind us to put some up our noses because that is where the germs tend to hide. Knowing that she never gets sick and that Oprah probably did a show on it we listened and did exactly what she recommended. DAY 3: Varanasi and Agra We rose at 4am, dressed in grungy clothes and boarded our faithful bus. Aman was eager to show us the Ganges river at sunrise so we could see the holy Hindu city at its best. As we walked down to the river as the sun was still set, it felt as if we were walking through a town that had just seen a war. The pollution in the air made it thick to breath and left an odor of burnt grass. Varanasi is considered the holiest city for the Hindus and many people come here to die or pay respects to the dead. It was an eerie feeling walking down to the river knowing this and seeing the crippled and dying lining the streets begging. We saw cremations in a big fiery pit and Holy men giving prayers under their umbrellas that lined the river. Once we left the boat we took a walk through the tiny city streets that were littered with cow dung, some of it quite fresh and lose I might add. Again Aunt Dotty came to our rescue with the disinfectant. Aman,the guide, introduced us to a Holy man that led us to his "umbrella by the beach" and he said a special prayer to remember Duncan. It was an emotional moment reciting the prayer and we all felt touched by the experience. That is until he told us to talk into the Ganges barefoot. We all looked at each other in horror at the thought of our manicured toes touching the foul water of the dead. We became brave or may be just completely embarrassed that we were acting like Zsa Zsa Gabor and we ventured into the water up to our ankles. We cried over the special moment then ran back to our shoes and disinfectant. After the River experience and 100 photos later, some black and white, we flew to Agra for a quick tour of the Taj Mahal. This was an awesome sight. Too big to describe and too beautiful to comment. After a few hours staring at the Taj and daydreaming that we too can find someone to build us a monument, we headed to the Agra train station. DAY 5 and 6: Udaipur We awoke to the sounds of prayers, boarded our bus and headed again to the airport. This time we were going to Udaipur. This was a relatively clean city and quite westernized compared to Varanasi. Our days in Udaipur were our relaxing days. We got to slow down and shop at a much more leisurely fashion. We laughed and cried, got drunk and got mendhi'd. Aunt Dotty was a little reluctant at first to get henna on her body but after seeing all of us making fools out of ourselves, she softened up. Kim got her hands, Sheila and I got our feet, Stacey got butchered on her arm and had her foot done as well, Aunt Dotty got her thigh done. DAY 8: Oberoi and Singapore Our last day in Delhi was spent lounging at the pool and getting massages at the gym. I was in heaven listening to Dave Mathews on my walkman, sitting in the sun and having a man bring me Evian water and cold towels every half an hour. DAY 9: Singapore We arrived at last at the Singapore airport and Aunt Dotty was secretly hoping Uncle Steve would meet us. As we disembarked the plane she explained to me the special treatment the Ambassador gets when he arrives at the airport and was peeking around the special access doors in hopes he was hiding on the other side. Unfortunately he wasn't so we went through customs like everyone else. As we are on our way to collect our bags a woman equipped with a walkie talkie and clipboard is chasing us down. I immediately think I unconsciously spit my gum on the floor and that I am being arrested until I realize I don't chew gum. It turns out that Uncle Steve had missed us at the special access door and was in fact going to surprise us. Aunt Dotty's face lights up and Uncle Steve was disappointed that his plan was foiled. I was happy that I wasn't being arrested and we all went home. Uncle Steve had a big dinner party for some executives from Oracle so Peyman and I spent the night at Boat Quay for dinner and saw the Night Safari. Seighty took us all around and was a true tour guide. The Night Safari was amazing and we saw all sorts of lions and tigers and giant anteaters. I was personally fond of the anteaters especially since I was practically goosed by one as it tried to board the tram. Luckily Peyman my hero was there to scoot it away like Felix Unger. DAY 10: Singapore Today we met Diane and she was our tour guide for the morning. We learned all about Singapore history. We saw museums and the wet market then decided that instead of going back to the residence we would spend the night on their boat. Uncle Steve was in Indonesia for the night so Peyman, Aunt Dotty and I spend the rest of the afternoon swimming at the marina in a fabulous pool then trying our hand at the private bowling alley. Unfortunately, I stink at bowling and had to watch Aunt Dotty get strike after strike while I guttered for an hour. DAY 11-12: Singapore and the Herbal Restaurant Today Bernie Janice arrived and we all went to the Herbal Restaurant for an interesting lunch of scorpions, fried ants and black chicken soup. Quite tasty! Afterwards we went to the famous Raffles hotel to look around but we passed on the Singapore Slings. Peyman and I decided to do some last minute shopping and bought Indonesian dart guns, a must have for any city apartment. Our last night, we were off to a quick cocktail party for two Ambassadors that were leaving posts and then to Planet Hollywood for a dinner party and screening of Elizabeth's brother's movie called Liang Po Po. The next day we had breakfast together and said our farewells. After lunch a huge thunderstorm came and seemed to signal the end of my amazing trip. I said my good-byes and I was off to the airport.
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