Souly Positive

Honestly I don’t know where to begin. India was the country I was most looking forward to visiting and I have not been disappointed. To be able to experience it with my sisters…well, I can’t even begin to tell you what that has meant to me. The only thing missing is our brother, Ray, but I’m pretty sure if he was with us, he would have disowned us by now:) I have to also give a long distance hug to my mother, who created this gypsy soul in each of us….I know without her, we would not be here.

So, where to begin? India is a land of extremes. As we have been told several times,”you can see anything in India,” and it is true. Sometimes my mind has played tricks on me and I have imagined things that aren’t there…and sometimes I can’t believe what I’m actually seeing:) The colors are amazing. I love the sari’s that the women wear. They are so beautiful and colorful. Buildings are also colorful. They even paint their trucks wild colors with designs in India. Unfortunately I have to also add that there is a lot of trash, but even it is colorful:( The poverty stories are true. There is a lot of poor people in India but not as many beggars as I expected. The vendors though…well that is a whole different story. They are the most aggressive I’ve seen and swarm you all at once (I wonder if that means they’re really good at their job?). Literally, there can be 8 surrounding you at once, all talking and all pushing their wares in your face. It’s claustrophobic and slightly scary because they are relentless. We have encountered them at all the tourist spots of course.

Traveling with my sisters has been very different than traveling alone. We have had drivers and some guides. Cid arranged all this at the last minute through Icon tours because trying to plan a trip to India became too overwhelming. The logistics alone could curl your hair. This has made traveling a piece of cake and we are covering a lot of ground at lightening speed. I would have missed 80% of what we have seen…but would have been well rested:) I guess we know who the lazy sister is. We have literally giggled our way through India. We all have that same witch cackle and I’m sure our drivers are sick of it:) We spent 30 minutes in an ATM and dragged at least three different strangers in to help us. Still only one sister walks out with money, while all sisters walk out in hysterics. The driver just shakes his head because he is getting used to us by now.

Our shining moment was definitely at the Taj Mahal. A long story, but I must tell it:). When traveling through India, our guides have pointed out peoples from different regions. They can tell this by the way they are dressed. Our driver was a Sikh from the Punjab region. He told us it would be good if we dressed in India style to see the Taj Mahal, he knew a good place and they would size our outfits on the spot. Of course we readily agreed, but were not sure we would know how to put on sari’s so he suggested the Punjab suit. It’s a long tunic top and loose pants. We arrive into Agra at about 8:00 pm to get fitted for the Punjabi suits for our sunrise viewing of the Taj Mahal. It’s been a long day and we are tired…keep this in mind:) Well we finally pick out the colors we like at a whopping $50 each. I mean for God’s sake, we are in India…these Punjabi outfits should have cost about $15 max. Also there is no sizing…one size fits all and there is no offer of alterations. Needless to say we wake up in the morning and don our apparel. We look ridiculous! We have seen no one in India wearing anything similar to what we have on. They literally look like pajamas. Not just pajamas but oversized pajamas (the alteration…we were told to roll up the sleeves and pants:) Does that stop us from wearing our expensive pajamas to the Taj Mahal….Hell no! We get to the Taj Mahal for sunrise along with several other thousands of people but we are the only westerners wearing pajamas…in fact we are the only westerners not wearing western clothes. The only good thing is that I still LMAO every time I see a photo of us in our expensive pj’s at the Taj Mahal…Only the Haggard sisters!

We have seen many temples, forts and palaces. Our favorite fort was the Amber Fort in Jaipur. Absolutely beautiful! Jaipur was an add on city at the last minute and we were all glad to see it. We also saw The Observatory, City Palace and Water Palace there…all amazing. In Agra we saw The Taj Mahal…in our pajamas..It was beautiful and we were comfortable, albeit slightly embarrassed:) Varanasi was next. A holy city on the Ganges River where people go to bury their dead. We got to our hotel by boat. That same evening we went to a Hindu ceremony called Aarti. Throngs of people were on the land and many tourist like us watching from boats. It was loud and high energy and magical. 5 Brahman’s lead the masses through rituals and chants. the next morning, as in Delhi, we were able to walk through a market area. Tiny, skinny dirt walkways where you can pass a motorcycle, dog, cow, massive amounts of humans and a number of other things We were stuck in traffic jams that felt like parties sometimes. At one traffic jam we talked with a truck full of young men close enough to shake hands. The sad thing for us is that we make children cry here. We bring scary to India, but that does not keep their parents from bringing them near us so they can be totally terrified:( Animals walk around freely here (of course I love that;). It is not uncommon to see cows, chickens, dogs and goats and pigs wandering around near markets or even in the middle of heavy traffic. Occasionally I see a goat wearing what looks like a silk jacket…it takes me 4 of these sightings before I get my sisters to believe me;). Bodhgaya was our last city in the Southern region before heading to Mumbai. This small town host the Bodhi tree that Buddha sat under and gained enlightenment. This tree is now encased in a wall and surrounded by many temples. Monks go there from all over the world as do other visitors. It is truly an inspiring place. Unfortunately I must report that neither myself nor my sisters gained enlightenment there…we just didn’t have enough time;)

We are now in Mumbai…or as some still refer to it, Bombay. It’s much different than I expected. More of a modern city but at the same time historical and ancient feeling. Beautiful buildings and not as many animals running free…but still you see an occasional cow;) Yesterday we visited the Gandhi Museum…wonderful, the Dhobi Ghat where laundry is washed…amazing, and we even ate at the famous restaurant Leopold’s near our hotel. The sisters leave me alone in India tomorrow:(. They will fly home and I will go to Goa. This has been a precious gift to share this time with my sisters in this very special country. I will miss them:(

I feel like this writing has been very jumbled and disconnected and in a way that reflects India perfectly. A land of so many contrast that I haven’t even scratched the surface to describe them. Utter beauty and utter squalor. Peace and chaos. As people have told us…you can see anything in India and believe me we have.

From India…Happy Valentines….kiss a cow;)