Talk about misconceptions! India is fascinating, enchanting and safe.

Talk about misconceptions! India, known locally as ‘God’s own Country’ was delightfully surprising, starting with the travel visa application, which was quick and efficient. A few clicks online, a reasonable application fee and the visa arrived in my inbox within a week.

And then I met India… We stepped out of the airport building and were greeted by a cacophony of hooting cars, a melee of people, and stray dogs trying to survive in this chaos. Even though it was 11pm by now, the traffic jam was astounding. Cars, motorbikes, rickshaws, anything on wheels was doing its best to load up or disgorge their passengers and luggage.

The South African in me looked on in amazement at how peacefully everything unfolded, but the German in me wanted to start organizing things immediately! After about 30 minutes our driver had made it through the jumble of vehicles and I was whisked away to the hotel.  Yet another surprise awaited – the van’s seats were dressed in white slipcovers and a generous amount of refreshments and light snacks were provided for the ride.

Driving in India is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. They say that you need 3 things to survive the ride without getting hit – a good hooter (horn), really good breaks and good luck! Surprisingly we met all requirements and by midnight I was happily ensconced in my hotel room.

It was Sunday and, while waiting for the ferry I befriended a young girl – Fatima and her family of 5, who were on their way to a wedding. Celebrations and festivals are central to the way of life in India and having 500 guests at a wedding is not unusual.  I was surprised to learn that weddings are so large and lavish, that one purchases the clothes, decorations, and food from wholesalers! Delhi’s Old Town bazaar has an entire wedding market filled with wholesalers doing brisk business with wedding paraphernalia.

The ferry system is much simpler and surprisingly more efficient than what we use on the Canadian west coast. This ferry was a rust bucket, an old workhorse that transports part of the 2.5 million Kochi inhabitants from one side of the bay to another. Another surprise was to see two ramps onto the ferry – one for men and the other for women.

While in Fort Kochi we shopped at a street market, watched the Chinese fishing nets at work, strolled through Jew Street and visited both the old synagogue and the ancient Hindu temple, located right next door to each other.

Did you know that Vasco da Gama was buried in the Catholic church in Fort Kochi? He had made his mark along the South African coast on his discovery mission from Portugal to the “Far East” and was the first European to reach India by sea in the late 15^th century. Talk about adventure travel!
This shared history, together with the influence of the British Empire made me feel even more at home here in India. We ended the day with an amazing Kathakali Dance routine – traditionally performed for the Maharajah and his entourage.

I had a few hours between connecting flights in Delhi and hired a guide and driver to give me a quick orientation. Delhi has it all – from grand forts, temples, cathedrals, and varying places of worship, to lavish homes and boulevards in the diplomatic neighbourhood, to the tightly-packed vendors in Old Delhi’s bazaar, to cows roaming freely in between. 

After exploring the great mosque of Jama Masjid, I hired a Rickshaw to navigate the narrow alleys of the bazaar, and when we met the aforementioned traffic jam we hopped off and dove right into the crowd, to the great surprise of my guide. But by now I had learned that the Indian people are very warm and totally unaggressive (unless behind the wheel with a hooter close by!) and I really enjoyed the awakening of my senses on this walk-about. This is a city I definitely want to spend a lot more time exploring.

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