I’m writing this from the prettiest ornate swing in Castle Bijaipur in the countryside near Bijaipur town. It’s nice to put the din of the city behind us for a bit in exchange for the peacefulness of the country.

3 days have past since my last post, spent in Agra and Jaipur. 13 hours of those 2 days were spent in our minibus travelling between Agra and Jaipur and Jaipur and Bijaipur. Fortunately the trips were broken up by stops for chai and lunch. Also, my trtl neck pillow affords me the luxury of being able to sneak a nap. Unfortunately, the fog/smog especially in the mornings means there’s not much to see out the windows. And it’s probably best I don’t pay attention to what’s going on outside of the vehicle anyhow – these are some of India’s busiest highways with freight running between Delhi and Mumbai in an endless stream of TATA trucks.

Agra (Red Fort, Taj Mahal, Cooking demonstration at homestay)

Let’s start by saying that the Taj Majal was absolutely everything I’d expected and hoped it would be. Leighton asked me a completely reasonable question after seeing the photos I’d posted ‘what’s so amazing about actually being there – your photos look like every other photo I’ve ever seen of it?’. And I had trouble answering that question because it really is so beautiful that it’s surreal. Until you’re standing right beside it, gazing up at all of the details, it almost looks like a photo even in real life!

When I’d imagined visiting the Taj Majal, I’d always assumed I’d get up before dawn and be the first one at the gates in an effort to avoid the crowds. In reality, the mornings are extremely foggy/smoggy and if I’d shown up at that time, it’s likely that I wouldn’t have been able to see it from the entry gates. We ‘waited out’ the fog by occupying ourselves at the Red Fort, itself an absolutely stunning palace/Fort combination that was never actually attacked. All of these Moghul structures are engineering masterpieces with so many carefully thought out details. And the opulence is undeniable even after they’ve been stripped of the jewels, gold, carpets and tapestries. It still doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture them in their full glory.

Lunch consisted of delicious vegetarian samosas and Indian coke – Thumbs Up at a hand knotted rug shop. And there may have been a shopping incident….

Finally it was time to make our way to the Taj Mahal. Despite the appearance of throngs of people, it was less busy than usual according to our guides.

We snapped a bazillion photos and just took it all in from every possible angle before making our way back out to the vehicle. Our final stop for the day was a a cooking demonstration at a local homestay. The food was mouthwatering – I can’t wait to try the recipes at home (once I find all the spices and make my own yogurt and paneer…)

Jaipur (The Palace of the Wind – Hawa Mahal, cooking demonstration at our guide’s house, Amber Fort, Old City)

Jaipur is our guide, Saurabh’s, home and the pride he shows for this city is impressive! I can’t say enough how lucky we are to have him sharing India with us. He’s so genuinely enthusiastic and passionate! Our first few hours in Jaipur came after a long drive from Agra so we only had time for a walking tour through the Old City before our cooking demonstration at Saurabh’s family home.

Jaipur is known as the Pink City and is a ‘planned city’ from the 1700’s architecturally designed in a grid pattern. So it’s easy to become disoriented as the streets and squares all begin to look similar. Its buildings are predominantly a pink terracota color with white accents.

Similar to Agra and Delhi, Jaipur is a cacophony of street sounds – horns, cars, motorbikes, dogs and people. But for whatever reason, I find it enchanting and even as I’m navigating the crowds of people, animals, vehicles, items for sale and the ever present garbage it’s impossible to erase the awestruck grin from my face!

I’m rambling too much and need to move this along so here’s a photo dump of the rest of the sights we saw in Jaipur.

Jaipur, like any other city, comes alive at night and Saurabh took us out on a jeep tour to observe its awakening.

I’ll end this post with a couple of photos from the inside of the Amber Fort during our afternoon tour. This impressive structure was built in the 1500’s primarily of sandstone and marble and is remarkably well preserved. Note the elephant being ridden up to the Fort in the bottom right corner of the first picture – a controversial practice that is slowly being phased out.

I’m starting to write this post as I sit on the train bound for Agra. This is it – by the end of the day I’ll have been to the Taj Mahal! (And also the Red Fort and will have taken my first train trip in India). It’s been a perfect 5 1/2 days in Delhi and I managed to check almost all the sights I wanted to hit off my list. There’s still so much more to see but it will have to wait for next time.

I hit the Lotus Temple (modern Bahai temple in a pristine setting in New Delhi) and Qutab Minar (a minaret and “victory tower” that forms part of the Qutb complex, which lies at the site of Delhi’s oldest fortified city, Lal Kot, founded by the Tomar Rajputs – a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of South Delhi) on my own before meeting up with my Intrepid Travel tour group in the evening (day before yesterday).

Yesterday was the first full day with Intrepid. Our group includes 3 women from California and 1 from Sydney and our guide Saurabh. We started with a metro ride to Old Delhi and our breakfast stop. Unreal delicious!

A quick walk through crowded bustling Old Delhi brought us to Jama Madjid (mosque).

The rest of our walking tour took us through the narrow allies of Old Delhi, sampling Chai and parathas in Chandni Chowk. I got the opportunity to have parathas from two neighbouring establishments and compare. Very similarly delicious but I was hungrier this time so I think it gave today’s a bit of an edge.

We concluded the formal tour at around 1 pm and had time on our own so grabbed a couple of auto rickshaws to go learn about Gandhi. Unfortunately, even though our guide was very clear with the driver that our destination was Gandhi Smriti museum, we somehow got dropped 5km away at Gandhi Darshan. Also a museum but not the right one. We wandered the site there for a while and then ubered to the Gandhi Smitri museum and spent some time at Gandhi’s last place of residence and the location where he was assassinated on January 30, 1948.

Finally, we capped off the day with a delicious dinner at none other than ‘Hooter’ – haha actually an upscale Indian restaurant close to our hotel.

My first full day in India was a sensory extravaganza! Sights, sounds, tastes and smells! I successfully navigated the metro (actually quite straightforward) to Old Delhi and the meeting place for my ‘A Chef’s Tour’ food tour. I was an hour early so spent some time wandering by myself and stopped at Haldiram’s for raj kachori (recommended by my homestay host, Pankaj) so I could sit down for a few minutes. It was delicious – sweet and savoury all at once with so many flavours and colours!

***Disclaimer – this post might not be that thrilling, but it’s mostly my way of getting all these dishes straight in my head and remembering what we ate!

I met up with my guide, Kuldeep and a couple from France and South Africa who had quit their jobs in Lyon and were travelling the world for 2 years in search of their next stopping point. Loved hearing their perspectives on the countries we had all been to. After a quick orientation to Old Delhi, the Red Fort, the Chandni Chowk market and its temples, we headed to our first stop for jalebi – sweet, syrupy and sticky! I somehow missed getting my own photo so here’s a stock photo from the internet 😬

Next was the paratha – stuffed flatbread. I have this aversion to taking food photos (a story for another day) and so it took me a while to get my stride. I have a photo of the ‘accoutrements’ but not one of the actual paratha 😳 – so I’ll include another stock photo

This was followed by visit to a Sikh temple – Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib – where we toured the kitchen where the holy food is prepared and served.

On to Dahi Bhalla corner for our next dish – Dahi Bhalla – deep fried lentil fritters dunked in creamy yogurt, topped with different kinds of sweet spicy chutneys and then garnished with spice powders

We navigated the streets past the Swami Shraddhanand statue and all it’s pigeons and pigeon offerings:

Had some lemon soda (a lime spiced, sweet and salty drink reminiscent of Gatorade – there’s a difference in nomenclature between lemons and limes here….):

And headed into the spice market for a full on assault on the senses!

Loved the super sweet and perfectly spiced masala chai on the way out prepared by this gentleman in his most unconventional locale:

After that we sampled rabri – a sweet, condensed-milk-based dish, made by boiling milk on low heat for a long time until it becomes dense and changes its colour to off-white or pale yellow. Jaggery, spices, and nuts are added to it to give it flavor. It is chilled and served as dessert

We headed into an actual restaurant for paneer butter masala and tandoori roti followed by fennel seeds and and the prettiest little sugar cubes as a digestive aid:

The next dish was my favourite – Daulat Ki Chaat – a light ‘whipped cream like’ dessert with a touch of saffron. Made with milk, cream and cream of tartar.

The second last dish was kachori and my least favourite – the spice was good, but the kachori itself was tough and oily. I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to try it again – maybe it was just an off day for the chef…

We also had creamy, cold lassi (essentially a yogurt drink) and fresh fruit (watermelon, papaya and banana) from a street food vendor seasoned with cumin, salt and black pepper powder. Both were simple, refreshing and delicious after the other complex, spicy dishes!

We finished with the most unusual dish – paan – a betel leaf stuffed with rose petals in syrup and spices. I had a love/hate relationship with this dish – meant to cleanse the palate and help with digestion and gut health. It was so overpowering – sweet, salty, spicy and so floral – yet strangely pleasing at the same time! One bite would have been enough. I especially loved the crunch of the betel leaf itself. And I’ll secretly attribute the fact that it’s 15 hours later and absolutely no sign of ‘Delhi Belly’ after eating all that street food to the purported antibacterial effects of this unusual treat!

It’s interesting how much pre-conceived notions, assumptions and apprehension play into travel. On the one hand I had this idea that I would love India because it would be different and I would feel like I’m actually experiencing something new (not just western culture in a slightly different place – like Ireland for example).

But on the other hand, I was (and still am a little) nervous about what that would be like because I’d heard how dirty and chaotic India was (would I even be able to figure out how to get from one place to another, would people be aggressive, would it smell so badly I wouldn’t be able to stand it, would I not be able to find food because it would all be bacteria ridden and basically poison, and even – would I see a dead body on the streets because South Asians have a different perspective of death than we do and I’d heard that a dead body is no big deal to them – possibly because they culturally have a healthier, more enlightened concept of the inevitability of death than our culture…?).

Coming here was kind of like that caving trip we went on in Australia – as I stood there looking at this hole in the rock that I was supposed to wiggle though on my stomach, arms stretched out in front of me, not entirely sure it was actually bigger around than me, I had to consciously decide that I was just going to do it – no turning back. I have to psych myself up here and be prepared to take whatever comes.

Turns out it’s not nearly as hard as I thought it would be – sure, it’s a little uncomfortable, but so worth it! If the experiences I’ve had so far are any indication, this will be the first of multiple trips. This country is huge – it’s kind of like visiting Canada in 17 days and expecting to get any kind of cross section of what it has to offer – impossible!

Also the solo travel thing adds another element of difficulty. I don’t have my usual sidekick(s) to bounce things off of or be my back up (or help make sure I don’t lose things or leave them behind – since that’s often my m.o.). But when things go right – the feeling of accomplishment is unmatched 😆!

Also impossible would be choosing a single photo to represent my first impression so here’s a little gallery instead:

The positives:

My homestay! I would highly, highly recommend Tatvamasi to everyone for their first time in Delhi. It’s located in a (relatively) quiet neighbourhood in New Delhi, about a 15 minute walk (or 65 inr = $1.08 rickshaw Uber) from the Greater Kailash metro station. The host, Pankaj has a wealth of information and advice and most importantly, he didn’t make anything here sound overwhelming or difficult! He’s super ‘matter of fact’ – basically just ‘go here and do this’ – which totally gave me the confidence to do just that. If he thought I could do it then I must be able to. Also, the best piece of information he gave me was that ‘Indians are introverts’, so if someone approaches you and is being overly helpful and friendly, beware. Not that Indians aren’t friendly and helpful, the difference is in whether you approach them or they approach you.

Of course, his advice didn’t 100% completely keep me from getting ‘sucked in’. I lost an hour of my day (and my patience) with a pushy rickshaw driver who must have told me 5 times that he ‘respects me’ while taking me shopping to 2 places and past another 3 places I didn’t ask to go to. And those who know me, know how much I hate shopping when I travel! He was supposed to take me past India Gate and to Humayan’s tomb which should have taken maybe half an hour at the most and ended up taking almost 1.5 hours. And I haven’t yet figured out what the scam is with the tourist office he wanted to take me to (he tried to convince me at least 3 times) but I managed to get out of that – mind you I had to say ‘absolutely not, do not take me there, take me directly to the tomb now!’. Obviously here is where I essentially lost the last grain of patience I had left. I always have to learn things the hard way! Truthfully, I think what leads me to take a little of this garbage is that I feel sorry for people who have to work this hard for their livelihood – it must be such an energy suck to have to scam people all day long every day just to put food on the table. I gave him double what the Uber would have cost me for the trip I originally asked for. He called me ‘cheap’ and I (angrily) reiterated that I was still paying him double, even after he took my to a bunch of places I didn’t want to go and wasted an hour of my day, before I turned and walked/ran to the entrance of the tomb.

24000 steps, 17km and an hour and a half on the metro yesterday taught me how to say ‘No’ (at least to rickshaw drivers and other random men approaching me on the street and in parks). Oh – I also learned to say ‘no’ to people approaching me to take my picture with them – young, older, male, female – everyone wants a photo with the old, tall, white lady! 😆

Wait – somehow I managed to work the only negative into my first positive! So that’s that – no heading entitled ‘The negatives’. Oh, I could also complain about how the hard foam mattress doesn’t work well with my arthritic joints but that’s definitely a first world problem and really has no place in this blog 😬

I’m thrilled with how much I’ve managed to see and do so far – mostly thanks to the metro system which is incredibly easy and gets me huge distances in a reasonable amount of time – really important in a city as big as this!

But overwhelmingly, I’m thrilled with how India (so far) is living up to all my greatest expectations of the food and the architecture and the culture! All of the niggling worries due to stereotypes and negative opinions are gone. It’s definitely not perfect here – it’s dirty in places, the sidewalks are terrible, it’s loud (so much traffic and so many horns), the crush of the crowds can be intimidating, I had to make a wide circle around a rat on the sidewalk once already, and the scams are real. But if you just breath, relax, exercise street smarts and take it all in, it’s fascinating, even mesmerizing and most certainly thought provoking!

This is my first attempt at writing a blog on my phone – so we’ll see how it turns out. The number of seasons, cultures, environments and altitudes I’ll be in over the course of the next 3 months results in a complicated (to say the least) packing list. I’ve travelled quite a bit now (I think my country count is at 46) and I can honestly say I’ve never even made a packing list let alone agonized over it for hours. But this trip is different. We’ve been travelling ‘carry on only’ for a while now and the lack of choice in clothes and shoes doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, we were forced to wear the same outfit for 3 days in a row in Beijing when we finished our trip there after being in Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Laos and the weather changed from high 20’s and 30’s to just 6C.

So I think I can sufficiently plan for clothes even with the varying seasons and weather conditions (more on that later).

Packing considerations – medications:

1. The threat of GI illness in India is real! And I love food! I chose a two week long food tour for that exact reason – I want to eat all the things with the least amount of risk possible! Managing the potential for gastrointestinal infections requires more medications than I’ve ever packed before! You’d think that because I’m a pharmacist, I’d always have an arsenal of meds with me… not at all. It seems my knowledge of meds has given me a ?healthy aversion and I have to have a really good reason to take something before I’ll ‘reach for a pill‘. And usually when we travel I assume that at least one of us will still be capable of hitting up a pharmacy. But this time I’m on my own and I won’t be able to just send Reid or Leighton out on a drug finding mission. My ‘evidence based’ approaches included updating my typhoid and Dukoral vaccines (I know Dukoral is really only roughly 30% effective but I have coverage for it which alleviates the sting of the ~$150 it costs and hey, I’ll take the 30%!). I was pleasantly surprised that I had zero side effects from the Typhim Vi injection – I was nervous after having my ass kicked by all of my Covid vaccines and for the first time ever influenza too. I also have a couple of courses of azithromycin with me (per the antimicrobial ‘bible’ in Alberta – Bugs and Drugs). Of course, for use only out of complete desperation – loperamide. And two additions that I absolutely can’t provide any reasonable supportive evidence for but logically there might be some benefit (and did I mention I’m desperate not to get sick) – charcoal tablets and probiotics. So stay tuned to see how successful I am at warding off unwanted bacteria!

2. Altitude sickness is a possibility on the 42km Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu so I have to be prepared for that too. Acetazolamide for prevention and dexamethasone for treatment. The only other experience I have with altitude was in Hilo, Hawaii back in 2010 when we were fortunate enough to have an insider tour of the Mauna Kea Observatories with Leighton’s cousin Michael. It was a bizarre and unpleasant feeling to be short of breath and exhausted after climbing 4 stairs! My O2 levels dropped alarmingly (Leighton had the highest levels of all 3 of us) so I’m doing my best to prepare with 3 days of acclimating in Ollantaytambo prior to taking on the Inca trail and the meds.

3. Finally, again cuz I’m on my own, I feel the need to pack assorted other meds so I don’t have to try to track them down in a moment of need – Gravol, decongestant, oral rehydration solution, Benadryl, hydrocortisone cream, Advil/Tylenol and Symbicort. OMG – I can’t believe this is me writing this! And I just realized I don’t have anything for heartburn which also never used to be a thing for me but somehow is on occasion now 😬.

So that mostly sums up the part of my packing list I’ve given almost no thought to in the past. The only other topic involves a little bit of ‘TMI’ so brace yourself. I’m worried about the toilets on this trip 😆. Almost every blog/article/packing list I read about India mentions the horrors of the toilets. So my packing list includes camping toilet paper, antiseptic wipes and even a reusable ‘pee cloth’ for back up. All of which must be tucked away in a convenient portable bag for transport to and from the ‘restroom’.

Packing considerations – clothing

First and most important – I have to bring only the amount of clothing I absolutely need and I have to be able to trust it to other people for washing since there won’t always be a laundromat handy for me to do it myself on this trip (Leighton and I actually made boozy laundry an event in the summer in Ireland – pub hopping between loads). I am however, bringing a bar of almond castille soap for general use (hair, face, body and laundry) so I’ll have the option of washing a few items in the sink as needed.

Weather will influence my clothing packing list of course. India will range from about 20C in the north to 30+C in the south so pretty bearable… but Rome will be around 12-14C. Fortunately, when Leighton joins me in Italy he’ll have our hiking gear for Peru with him which means checking a bag. The Inca Trail also has the potential to be in that 14C range so we’ll need some layers there as well.

Culture is the other consideration particularly in India and Egypt. So keeping modesty and respect in mind, I’m packing loose flowing clothing that will cover my arms and legs to below the knee. I also picked up a Turkish towel that is multipurpose – quick drying for beach or shower and pretty/thin enough to use as a scarf or shawl/wrap.

I feel like I have to address footwear. I’m absolutely in love with my Birkenstock ‘bend low’ white leather sneakers (recommended to me by my friend Megan who picked hers up in London before they were a thing here). They’re the first pair of sneakers I feel totally comfortable wearing with skirts/dresses! And they’re soooo comfy – wide toe box and great arch support. I can walk forever in them. So essentially I’ll be wearing them every day for the next 3 months except for when I throw on my flip flops or don my well worn hiking boots in Peru.

One final note. I read about merino wool underwear – like actual cute underwear for everyday! Amongst other benefits, it’s easy to wash and quick drying so I can just pack a few pairs and won’t have to send them out with the rest of my laundry – just a little added level of comfort :).

Packing List – in full 😳

Medications:

• Symbicort
• Acetazolamide
• Dexamethasone
• Azithromycin
• OCP
• Advil Cold and Sinus
• ORS – hydralyte tablets
• Hydrocortisone cream
• Loperamide
• Gravò
• Charcoal tablets
• probiotics
• Rolaids
• Tylenol
• Benadryl
• First aid kit (with bandaids)
• Advil
• Lozenges

Documents:

• Passport
• 2 sets passport photos
• Nexus card
• Mastercard
• Debit card
• Visa card
• India Visa
• Driver’s license
• International driver’s license
• Photocopies of passport and driver’s license
• Paper copy of medical/travel insurance
• Proof of vaccination
• Glasses prescription
• Printed address of hotel in Delhi
• USD

Electronics:

• iPhone
• Charging cord for iPhone
• Apple Watch
• Charging cord for apple watch
• Headphones for phone
• Headphones for plane
• Portable charger and cord
• India adapter
• Type C adapter

Clothing:

• 3 pairs merino wool underwear
• 2 Sports bras
• Bra
• Bathing suit
• Lulu jacket
• 1 pair leggings
• Black dress – EverByX
• 2 pairs shapewear shorts
• Black Lulu capris
• Black pants – Ministry of Supply
• Grey shacket – Ministry of Supply
• Pink dress tank top
• Pink maxi skirt
• Green t-shirt tunic
• Black key lime shirt
• 2 soft 3/4 sleeve sweat shirt’s
• V neck T-shirt green
• Sun hat
• Buff
• Silk scared
• White button down shirt
• White shirt with buttons
• Green linen shirt
• Sleeping romper

Makeup:

• Makeup remover
• Reusable makeup remover pads
• Q-tips
• Rodan and fields tinted moisturizer with SPF
• 2 eye shadow brushes
• 1 eyeliner brush
• 1 blush brush
• Blush
• 1 eyebrow pencil
• 1 eyebrow mascaras
• Eyeshadow
• BB eye-liner
• Corrector
• 2 makeup sponges
• Beauty blender
• Bronzer
• Mascara
• RF mineral powder and brush
• Setting spray
• Primer

Toiletries

• Deodorant
• Castille Bar Soak
• Moroccan hair oil
• Conditioner
• Wet brush
• Dry shampoo
• Invisalign retainer trays
• Sunscreen
• 3 hair ties
• Small hair elastics
• Banana clip
• 10 Bobby pins
• Pstyle
• Camping toilet paper and pee cloth in ziploc
• Vicks
• Nail file
• Nail clipper
• Eye cream
• Toothpaste
• Toothbrush
• Floss
• Razor
• Curling iron

Shoes:

• Flip flops
• Birkenstock sneakers

Miscellaneous:

• Day pack
• Trtl travel pillow
• Reusable snack bag
• Spork
• WBacteria filtering water bottle (Lifestraw)
• 2 Orange avocado necklaces – 1 long, 1 regular
• White gold hoop earrings
• Wedding band
• Masks
• Glasses
• Sunglasses
• Contacts (dailies)
• Laundry detergent strip’s
• Mesh laundry bag
• Compressible packing cubes
• Pen
• Small journal
• Hand sanitizer
• Antibacterial wipes
• Turkish towel
• Silk sleep sheer
• Master lock and cable
• Ear plugs
• Eye mask
• Headlamp

And I think I’ll end this post here. I’ll keep you updated as I figure out what I missed and what I ended up never using!