pictures and retrospectives

Let me start off by saying, "ha, I got pictures up before either Jordan or Roxy!"
Here's some of my favorite pictures that i took:A Building in Srinagar, Kashmir.


A mosque in Srinigar, Kashmir. The inside has been made from painted paper-mache.
A busy street in Old Delhi.
More busy streets in Old Delhi.
A not-quite-as-busy intersection in New Delhi.
A waterfall at a Mughal Garden outide Srinagar, Kashmir. I ventured out by myself and took these while Jordan was sick.
Another picture of a Mughal Garden.
Overlooking the town of Leh from inside an ancient Tibetan Fortress.
Leh and the Himalayas. See the storm clouds?
The Tibetan Fortress in Leh.
A boy in Kashmir. His family self-identifies as "mountain-people", not Indian or Kashmiri.
Jordan and I in front of the Taj Mahal.
Jordan and Roxy sitting in a window at the Agra Fort looking across the country-side at the Taj Mahal.
Jordan and I in front of the Golden Temple.
A tree covered hill in the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir Valley. Taken during our horse trek.
A creek in the Kashmir valley foothills. Taken during our horse trek.
The Kashmir Valley foothills. Taken during our horse trek.
A view of the mountain glaciers from Leh.
The Golden Temple at night.
A very artistic photo that I took while looking out a bathroom window in Leh.
Dal Lake.
Dal Lake in the morning.
Me picking up the Taj Mahal.
Me, looking majestically over Leh at the Himalayan glacier caps.
Part of the outside wall of Agra Fort.
Marble inlay work at Agra Fort.

India was amazing. There's a whole world out there that does things so very differently that us (in the US). I could try to write a literary montage of things that Indians do differently, but that would be very long, and ultimately, lose impact. The over-arching theme is that the government, and media, is trying really hard to bring India (especially Delhi) up to modern-world standards. The government has established building codes, outlawed dowries and caste discrimination, established police and emergency response, and created traffic laws. Now, whether any of this is followed is another story. Bribes bypass all laws, and tradition and social norms are hard to change. Why pay somebody to take my garbage to a land-fill if its cheaper, easier, and faster to throw it out the window? Then there is the media who is trying really hard to sell the western culture out there (fashion, dating, skin-whitening creme). Interestingly the advertisements are more risque in India than they are here. This is really strange when you consider the super-conservative tradition they have. This leads to a very unique new/old-fusion that encompasses everything.

Honestly, I was glad to return home to the safety of normality. In India I was always aware of how my safety was completely entrusted in people that I did not trust. This was especially true when I went anywhere by myself. It was always on the back of my mind that the rickshaw driver might not be taking me to where I asked him to take me, but instead to some back alley. That the driver who was supposed to pick us up at the end of the horse trek, might not be there. That the houseboat owner might not let us leave the boat (the only way off was if he called for a water-taxi). Luckily, my fears were ill-founded.

So, I had a great time in India. I saw a country successfully operating by standards and values completely foreign to what I was used to. I was forced to let go of being in control of anything. Nothing happens on-time, and worrying about how much longer till..., or when will... won't fix anything. I saw beautiful countryside and decapitated buildings. Smelled some of the worst smells ever. Experienced dental work at non-health-insurance-escalated-prices. Road a horse. Ate a leg of goat. got eaten by bugs. didn't poop for a week. Drove in a jeep with 6 other people for 17 hours straight. Learned to haggle and barter. And much, much more.