moving on

i left mussoorie with anchal, josh, and zoe in a rented car - a 7 hour drive from mussoorie to delhi. i'm not sure why we took a car instead of a train...a train would probably be safer, much cheaper, and much more comfortable, but anyway we arrived at anchal's father's friend's house in noida, right outside delhi. this was certainly the most wealthy indian residence i had ever been in. honestly, i don't really feel like writing all this right now, i just feel like i need an update on this thing, so i could probably do it more justice at another time, but suffice to say it was a house that would have certainly impressed people even if it was in the united states. it seemed to be all professionally decorated inside, with fish swimming in artificial ponds, subtle lighting, a sunken living area made of stone...plus all the meals that were prepared for us were some of the best i've had. one incredible misfortune to befall me while i was there was the loss of theft of my camera...not sure if it was stolen but i'm 99% sure i didn't remove it from the side pocket of my pack...but i also was not the one to move the pack from the car to the house. suddenly it was just not there. i have to call them to see if it turned up but at this point i'm not overly optimistic. so no pictures on here until i either recover it or get a new one. actually, i'm not as unfortunate as zoe, who got bitten pretty bad on her face by one of the 6 dogs in the place. the dog looked innocent enough but apparently you cannot put your face close to his. she'll recover and probably not even have a mark, but right now it looks like a chunk of her lip got taken out.

one night, we went to an indian wedding, my first one, which was quite nice. it wasn't really as crazy as i thought it would be - i had heard about loud music and drunken dancing, both of which were conspicuously absent, but it was nice. i had on a long orange kurta that inam had made me while in mussoorie, but i think for my friend rachna's brother's wedding i want something a bit nicer. the food was good, the atmosphere was nice, and anchal's father invited me to meet them while they're on their trek to everest in nepal. i may try to do that after rachna's brother's wedding.

the morning after was election day in delhi, and everyone in the house seemed to be worried about getting out on the roads after early morning, so josh and i left at 7:00am - he went to pahar ganj, the slimy backpacker's mecca i've already spoken of, and i went to meet my friend rachna - an indian living in the united states and one of my best friends, who i've known for the past 6 years. anchal and zoe left for kathmandu with anchal's dad.

meeting with rachna was really strange - it was a little odd to see her in her own country. i think we were both feeling a little disoriented - her because it was her first day back in india in a while, and me because i was suddenly estranged from my laid-back life in mussoorie. her parents are really nice and gave me my own room in their apartment, which is where i stayed last night. this is wedding season, and last night we went to yet another wedding. this one seemed slightly more lively, but i still saw no dancing. the food again was amazing. i asked rachna how much she thought events like that cost, and she said that it can easily be $250,000. i did type that correctly, and this is india, so you can imagine how amazed i was by that. given, this is an upper class wedding, but still.

actually, i'm right outside the taj mahal right now. rachna and her family have to prepare for the wedding and i thought it would be best if i left them alone for a bit so they don't feel that they have to take care of a guest in addition to their other responsibilities right now.

i honestly just don't think i'm a sightseeing type tourist. i always fail to meet the expectations of excitment for these tourists destinations. the golden temple, the taj mahal...these are impressive structures, but they're just buildings. i'm neither a historian or an architect - i can appreciate how pretty they look, but what are the characteristics of these huge tourists places? throngs of people, confused westerners, high prices, and always, the suffocating presence of sprawling commercialism and aggressive salesmen that surrounds the gates of whatever you're going to see. you always have to break through a thick layer of this to get to these places.

maybe my definition of tourist destination simply differs from most people. i'm not really that into things like the taj mahal and the lal qilal, but i like playing the guitar in a bar in mussoorie, or looking at the night sky from our balcony, or connecting uniquely with other travelers in mcleod ganj. these are the experiences that are unique to me, that i'll remember most. and there was no entrance fee. my advice to the first time indian traveler would be don't worry about the big tourists spots - go out, get lost, don't stick to your itinerary, always leave the door of opportunity open, keep the positivity up, don't resist anything pulling you away from the cities and towards the stuff that's not even in your guidebook. eventually you'll find yourself having an adventure more fulfilling than you could have imagined before you left. i actually voluntarily left my rough guide to india book at the house in mussoorie. those books, lonely planet and rough guide, are just overgrown directories of restaurants and hotels. you can find those yourself, you don't need to carry around an encyclopedia with you. the most valuable traveler's tool is a sense of humor about yourself and others. even the armies of rickshaw wallas that tourists are so often intimdated by have a sense of humor. i had to wrangle my rickshaw driver down from 1000 rupees to 300 rupees, but we were both laughing the whole way through - plus i'm currently trying to convince him to let me drive his rickshaw and pick up tourists for comic effect, a prospect he just might find hilarious enough to embrace.