Detour! (Part I)

Three days before I was supposed to leave for Thailand, I received an email from the hotel that I'd booked in Bangkok, asking me if there was anything they could do to make my arrival more comfortable and to provide me with a weather update. The forecast was solid rain and thunderstorms all week. I checked the weather for all of the places I was planning on visiting, and it was the same: rain and thunderstorms. When the coup happened, I'd looked into a Plan B for that week, and was actually pretty excited about it. So, when I got the weather update, I decided it was time to put Plan B into action. I cancelled all of my Thailand flights and hotels, and immediately booked new flights for LEH, a tiny city in the Himalayas of northern India.

While in India, I've asked almost everyone I know who has traveled in India where I should go. Those lucky enough to have been to Leh (including those who had only heard about it from other people), all unanimously recommended Leh as the pre-eminent place to visit in India. Having said that, it'’s also one of the most difficult and expensive places to get to in India. More on that later...

The only way to get to Leh is via Delhi. So, as this is where my friend Seth lives, I decided to spend the weekend with him in Delhi before flying out to Leh on Monday morning. Unfortunately, Seth found out on Friday night that he had to leave for an emergency in the US late Saturday night. Nevertheless, we made the best of our day, lunching on dosas, and then doing an abbreviated (yet completely fulfilling) tour of Delhi. Our first stop was the very serene Lodi Garden, complete with a little bonsai collection! Lodi Garden is this huge park with crumbling tombs of ancient Sayyid and Lodi rulers set amongst lush greenery. We leisurely walked the grounds, chatting, taking pictures, and exploring the tombs. Here are some snaps.

My favorite is this last one. It's truly one of those pictures that could only be taken in India. Where else in the world could you be strolling through a park and suddenly come upon an elegant, ethereal old woman, wrapped in a shimmering translucent shawl, mysteriously walking through a tomb, framed by an ancient, architecturally-stunning doorway? Not in Peoria, my friends.

Next, we swung by the Delhi Gate...which looked veeeeeery familiar. Oh yeah, it looks EXACTLY like our Gateway of India in Mumbai. Sorry Delhi, our Gate looks out to the Arabian Sea - your Gate looks out to a broken, swampy fountain teeming with mosquitos. We win.

Lychee martinis and mojitos at the Imperial Hotel (Seth's old home) and then dinner at Shalom. Although the day was organized around a countdown to Seth's departure, we had a great time, getting caught up and enjoying the sights of Delhi.

The next morning, I woke and made some coffee, read the newspaper, and enjoyed Seth's apartment. Although I love the Taj, it was nice to spend some time in a real apartment. I set out to do a bit more sightseeing of Delhi, but found most things closed since it was Sunday. The highlight of the day, however, was a trip to Bahai Temple. Bahai Temple is designed in the shape of an unfurling lotus. Now, I often find most buildings that are "shaped like something" to be a bit of a disappointment. This though, was spectacular. Although not made of precious marble (a la the Taj Mahal), the building is so beautiful that I would actually describe it as "moving." The Bahai faith (for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, as was I) touts elimination of prejudice and universal peace. Good stuff!

Seeing this building was an experience in and of itself. As I walked to the entrance, there were hundreds of people squeezed around the entry gate. As often is the case in India, there was no real instructions or direction as to what you were supposed to do. There were no discernible lines of people, just swarms of Indians kind of pushing and pulling their way through each other. After a bit of observation, I realized that I needed to take off my shoes and somehow get them in a potato sack and hand them over to a group of men in a "“shoe hut"” (my name for it). HOW this was supposed to happen though, was a mystery. I wound up finding this Brit couple and asked them what to do. Between the three of us, we figured it out. Next, you had to follow this very long walkway, through gardens leading up to the actual building. As you got closer to the building, things got very, very strict. "SIR! YOU NEED TO STAY IN A SINGLE FILE LINE! MAKE SURE YOUR CELL PHONE IS TURNED OFF! NO PICTURES INSIDE!" (I take a quick snap of the building as I'm walking up to it...) "SIR! YOU CAN TAKE PICTURES AFTER YOU SEE THE INSIDE OF THE BUILDING! NO PICTURES INSIDE! DO YOU HAVE A CELL PHONE? TURN IT OFF! SINGLE FILE LINE!" It'’s been awhile that I'’ve gotten in trouble for not being in a single file line.

Nevertheless, the inside of the building (which, as mentioned, I was unable to take pictures of) was glorious. The way that the lines of the lotus leaves (which you see from the outside) intersect on the inside was awesome. They crisscrossed all the way to the very top of the inside dome, culminating in a shiny gold star. I've never really considered myself much a "building guy,"” but after seeing this one, I wanted to know everything about it: how it was made, what the motivation and history was, etc. Absolutely stunning. Here are some snaps...

After I made it back to the shoe hut and retrieved my shoes from the potato sack, I wanted to check out the little stands set up along the road leading up to the temple which were selling all sorts of religious jewelry and offerings. The colors were amazing. Some of the stands had these huge bowls of tiny white sugar balls (which you're supposed to eat as part of a religious ceremony - I'm not really sure what the meaning behind it is) that were covered in swarms of huge wasps. It was SO SCARY. All I could think was, '‘who's going to put their hand in that big bowl of wasps to take some candy?'’ I should have taken a picture, but everytime I got close, I freaked out and had to scamper away to the next stall.

That night, a friend of a friend of Seth's who had been traveling throughout India, was stopping by his apartment for a few hours to shower up and pack before he went to the airport for a flight back to LA. The funny thing about living in India is that, although I had never met this guy before (even Seth barely knew him), it was a given that we would have dinner together. Its like, 'We're both in India and we'’re both from the US...we're going to dinner!'’ Turns out, he likes Stevie Nicks. So, needless to say, we had a great time.

The next morning, I flew to Leh. It'’s been awhile since I've had butterflies in my stomach getting on a plane. It'’s also been awhile since I'’ve been legitimately scared on a plane. It was the perfect way to start an amazing week...