February 27, 2016

February 27, 2016

When we landed in Delhi a few days ago, it was mostly sunny and clear.  I thought Delhi doesn’t deserve its ranking as most polluted. Unfortunately that must have been a fluke as it has been severely smoggy ever since.  We were hoping a smaller city like Amritsar would be better but so far it seems almost as bad.  I can’t believe how thick the haze is.

Our tour starts late this morning, so we hang out in the room catching up on Internet chores. Before lunch we set out to see another temple in town, this time a Hindu one, Durgiana Mandir.  It was reconstructed seventy years ago.  I am kind of shocked to see that it is almost an identical twin to the Golden Temple.  It even sits on a lake island.  The main difference is that the doors are silver so it is known as the “Silver Temple”.  I guess the local Hindus were jealous and felt they needed to keep up with the Sikhs.

After we retrieved our shoes we drove to the airport for our flight back to Delhi.  On the way we saw our first accident, a minor fender bender.  I am amazed that we haven’t seen dozens.

From our Delhi hotel we set out to find a restaurant for dinner with another couple.  It was only supposed to be 15-minute walk, but because of the confusion of looking for a market versus a food court we got talked into taking an auto rickshaw. So the four of us crammed inside one of these three-wheeled taxis.  When the driver veered left, then left again, and we found ourselves back at our hotel, we all started laughing.  We got out and gave the driver 20 rupees (30 cents) and walked.

February 26, 2016

February 26, 2016

We went back to the Golden Temple in Amritsar again this morning.  It looks a lot different in the daylight.  Our guide starts out with an overview of the Sikh religion.  He said it was started by Guru Nanak as a challenge to the Hindu caste system. Sikhs believe everyone is equal and that there is only one god and he is formless and exists all around us.  Sikhs who choose to be baptized never cut their hair, wear a turban, and carry a small dagger.  The Sikhs as an ethnic group tend to be very tall and muscular, and thus highly sought after as guards and for the military.

Amritsar means “pool of nectar” and refers to the spring fed lake that the Golden Temple sits on.  It is considered holy water and we see lots of Sikhs bathing in it.

The Golden Temple complex also has a kitchen that serves all visitors a vegetarian meal free of charge.  They serve up to 100,000 people each day. Everyone eats sitting on the floor as equals.  Servers come by dispensing water, naan bread, and ladles of vegetable soup. We toured the kitchen where an army of volunteers prepare the meals, bake the bread and clean the plates and silverware.  It is something to see.

Very close to the temple is Jallianwalla Bagh. This garden, a sea of green, in an urban jungle is now a memorial to the 1919 massacre that occurred here.  Renewed calls for Indian Independence arose after WW1.  In an attempt to stomp it out, the British enacted some harsh laws .  Protesters who peacefully assembled in this open square were fired upon by a group of British soldiers and 1000 people were slaughtered. The brutality stunned the nation and elevated the independence movement.

On the walk back to the car, Aimee couldn’t help but stop at a local shoe store.  I bought her a pair of pretty sandals to go with an Indian outfit that a friend back home gave her.

The Grand Trunk Road has spanned the Indian subcontinent for 2000 years connecting East and West.   After resting in our hotel room for a couple hours we drove a 20-mile section west to Pakistan.  It takes nearly an hour because of heavy Amritsar traffic.  West of town on the “open road” our driver is continually weaving left and right dodging cars, motorcycles and even ox carts. Short of the border we are forced to get out of the car and walk the last half mile. We pass through a half dozen pat-downs and Passport checks.  Straddling the border on both sides are large grandstands so several thousand people can watch the daily border closing ceremony.  It feels more like a party. A large group of girls is dancing to the beat of a Bollywood musical blaring on loudspeakers.  An emcee fires up the crowd with cheers for India.  The border guards all dressed in peacock like outfits start strutting and high stepping toward the gate.  I get a sense that India’s movements are being mirrored on the Pakistani side but it is hard to tell.  As foreigners we have preferential seating but we are still 50 yards away. Super VIPs are even closer, but two large metal gates that only open a short time hamper the view.

February 25, 2016

February 25, 2016

Last night we had our tour welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Aimee and I are both pleasantly surprised how good the food is. While very different from our own, it has very tasty flavors.  Interestingly Curry is not a spice but refers to the gravy that sometimes covers food and which contains a variety of spices. Also Hindus are the original vegetarians, so many dishes use things like chick peas and cottage cheese as a base.

This morning we drove to the Delhi Airport for an afternoon flight to Amritsar in the state of Punjab in the northwest corner of India.  It is a short flight, less than an hour, but surprisingly was filled to capacity and in one of the new big Boeing Dreamliners.  

At Amritsar we are met by a local guide and driven to our hotel in separate cars.  The architecture of Amritsar, consisting chiefly of concrete block buildings and dirt roads, looks less Hindi and more like what we have seen in shows about the Middle East.  Our accommodations are in the Hyatt Amritsar, which is more dated than our last hotel in Delhi.  We have several hours before our next tour, so we go next door to a shopping mall with another couple.  Except for some of the store names, you would think we were back in the US. Eventually I nudge the group into a brew pub for a beer.

In the evening we drove into town for another group dinner and more tasty food.  It was completed by some colorful spice blend breath freshener that supposedly aids digestion but tasted like perfume.

The Punjab is known for its high concentration of people who practice the Sikh religion.  They can easily be identified by their beards and omnipresent turbans.  The Sikh religion is a monotheistic faith that originated in the late 1400’s at the geographic intersection of the Muslim and Hindu worlds. Amritsar contains their holiest site, the Golden Temple.  After dinner we drive close to the Temple and then walk the last few blocks along dirt alleyways, dodging traffic. The darkness, bright lights, smog, and third world setting makes our walk an adventure in itself.

Outside the Temple walls, everyone has to cover their heads with a scarf, and take off shoes and socks.  At the complex entrance we wash our feet in a stream and then pass through the outer walls.  Inside we see the beautiful Golden Temple, brightly illuminated and sitting like an island in a small lake.  Every night the holy book of the Sikhs is closed and carried by procession from the temple to another building for storage. The process is reversed each morning.  

We follow a large group of Sikhs down the causeway out to the Golden Temple while music plays and a Punjabi script is chanted.  Right outside the Temple doors the throng suddenly sits while the Holy Book is closed and wrapped.  We enter the temple, passing the holy book and then climb to the second floor of this temple completely covered in gold leaf.  We walk with the procession as the book is carried by palanquin back out the causeway.  It is a very cool ceremony for a westerner to participate in.  It really seems out of the Dark Ages.

February 24, 2016

February 24, 2016

Yesterday, the sky was clear and blue. Today, we realize why Delhi is considered the most polluted city in the world. The smog is so thick you can taste it.

We met our fellow travelers in the hotel lobby for an organized tour of Delhi.  Our first stop was at a relatively modern Hindu Temple to learn about this faith of the majority of India’s population.  It is the native historical religion and differs substantially from western ones.  Hindu is more a way to live your life as opposed to a belief in some god.  Hindu has 330 million gods with the primary ones being Shiva the destroyer and Vishnu, the creator.  These gods have many manifestations and re-incarnations.

The temple is elaborately decorated but an interesting symbol used often is the swastika, which the Nazi’s co-opted from Hinduism.  It is believed the HIndu religion and language were introduced thousands of years ago from central Asia by a group that called themselves Aryans.  This dominant culture came to rule India.  The indigenous languages only survive in the South.  This domination of Aryans over everyone else is believed to be the source of the caste system.  The Aryans also overran Europe, which is why Hitler adopted the Aryan culture and symbols as the basis of his racial superiority.

We then drove across town to learn about the main minority religion of the subcontinent, Islam.  Jama Masjid is the largest mosque and sits in Old Delhi.  This mosque has a large open central courtyard facing Mecca for prayer.  Contrary to other mosques I have seen, it is rather dull and minimally ornamented.

Right outside the mosque our group got in bicycle rickshaws and were pedaled through back alleys of Old Delhi.  It was like a cross between Slumdog Millionaire and the Amazing Race. Between, the sounds of honking, smells of pollution and burning, the visual of brightly clothed people, and crush of humanity, it was sensory overload.

After this excitement we needed a restful period so our next stop was Raj Ghat, the Gandhi Memorial. Mohandas Gandhi is revered because of his role in wresting independence for India from the British.

We then did a drive-by tour of memorials and building of the modern state of India, the largest democracy in the world.  We finished with a small lunch and herbal tea served at a Kashmir Rug factory.  In third world countries these kind of stops at high priced stores with kickbacks to the tour guide are a staple of tourism.

Our last stop of the day is south of Delhi at Qutb Minar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   Delhi has been the capital of several northern Indian empires, most of which were Muslim invaders. The Qutb complex may have been the last Hindi Capital. The Hindu  temples were destroyed by a Muslim invader and the stones used to build a mosque and a 240-foot stone minaret, the tallest stone tower in India.  After the site was abandoned, the plaster veneer wore away and now the Hindu symbols on the original stones can be seen.

February 23, 2016

February 23, 2016

We landed in Delhi, India in the afternoon  After clearing customs and retrieving our luggage, we easily found our tour guide waiting for us outside baggage claim.  We are greeted with a fresh lei of marigolds.  There are ten people in our group, all a little older, and all living in the US.  That includes two German citizens, one Canadian, and an Indian couple.

Our group loaded up on a small bus and drove to our hotel. Slowly. Traffic in Delhi is ridiculous. The streets teem with cars, motorcycles and ubiquitous 3-wheeled green and yellow, soft-covered motorcycle taxis. Laughingly lots of the motorcycles and these auto-rickshaws are overloaded with riders.

The hotel we check into is wonderful making Aimee very happy. We don’t usually travel first class, but in India, it is much more affordable (and wiser). Since we need to fight jet lag, we decide to take a walk to a nearby archaeological park.  It should be only a few minutes away but the sidewalks are crawling with humanity.  And noise. Honking horns seems to be a requirement of every vehicle.  It is like NYC on steroids.

We finally make it to Jantar Mantar, which is an astronomical observatory built 300 years ago. Each of the many instruments is building size and weirdly shaped and designed for tracking of the sun and planets.

Back at the hotel, we sit out at the outdoor bar and have our welcome drink.  In the moment, we accidentally ordered an appetizer of Bruschetta containing uncooked lettuce and tomato topping. Something we were told never to do.  We are both hoping we don’t get Delhi Belly!

February 22, 2016

February 22, 2016

We came to NYC in the winter because it is our gateway to another international journey.  This time, India.  We prefer to travel during summer but we have a bunch of winter destinations that are piling up.  We need to start ticking them off while we are young.

The flight from NYC to Delhi, India is our longest to date. It is 14 hours plus ten hours of time change.  It is totally on the other side of the world from Tucson.  The route takes us over the northern hemisphere flying over Iceland and Moscow and the western edge of the Himalayas.  The sky was surprisingly cloud free for a very large part of the flight.

For being the longest flight, it wasn’t too bad.  The plane was shockingly half empty.  So after two movies, three meals, and several beers, we were able to spread out and catch a few minutes of shut-eye.

February 21, 2016

February 21, 2016

Our first stop this morning was on the north shore of central Long Island at the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.  This was the long time home of Theodore Roosevelt and the summer White House during his time as President.  We arrive early to ensure we get a ticket for the first guided tour of the day.  We have an hour to kill and we walk the grounds and read the many storyboards.  The house is located on a scenic hill overlooking Cold Harbor and Oyster Bay.

Dodging dozens of cyclists, we meet our guide at the front door and are escorted in the main floor of this 14,000 square foot mansion.  The main level is very cool and so TR.  The floor is covered with animal skins, the wall loaded with trophy heads, and every nook and cranny filled with bronze statues and awesome gifts from international VIPs.  TR was an avid outdoorsman, big game hunter, and world traveler.  The guide was a wealth of knowledge spieling off facts from any artifact we pointed to. The second and third floors were the complete opposite, just ordinary living spaces for a large family.

After the house tour, we run through the Theodore Roosevelt Museum.  It gives a good overview of his life.  We breezed through it because we have seen it before at other TR venues.  Aimee still likes it, because she loves reading about people’s lives.  The one thing that popped out at us was the number of early deaths in his family.  His first wife during labor, his mother from Typhus, and several sons during WWI and II.  It reminded us of our era’s Kennedy Curse.

From Sagamore Hill we drove across Long Island to its southern shore, where we take a causeway and two bridges to arrive at Fire Island National Seashore.  This barrier island is not much more than a thin strip of sand.  We park and then stroll a boardwalk leading to its lighthouse.  Aimee and I are very surprised how popular this area is with New Yorkers in the winter.  Half are climbing the lighthouse and the rest are walking the beach.

On the way back to JFK airport we make a short detour to Flushing Meadows Park.  This park was the host of two World's Fairs.  During the 1964 event, a huge stainless steel globe was erected. Called the Unisphere, it recently starred in the first Men in Black movie.

February 20, 2016

February 20, 2016

We drove a half hour south this morning to Thomas Edison National Historical Park. West Orange, NJ was the site of Edison’s main lab after outgrowing Menlo Park.  Known as his “Invention Factory”, this is where Edison invented the modern Research and Development Laboratory.  We give ourselves the self-guided tour of this turn of the century complex of buildings.  Most look exactly like they did under Edison because he worked here up to the day he died.  The lab subsequently closed, and soon became a museum.  It is amazing to see how much technology has changed in the intervening 100 years.

I was pleased to learn that his chemistry lab was so important to his operation.  Besides contributing greatly to both his phonograph and light bulb projects, his invention of a rechargeable chemical battery turned out to be his most profitable invention.  To this day, Edison has the most patents of any inventor, a remarkable achievement for an uneducated self-taught man.

From West Orange, we made our way across Staten Island to its eastern tip.  In earlier times New York Harbor was ringed by a string of forts. Fort Wadsworth guarded this entrance at the Verrazano Narrows.  Now long obsolete, it is one of many sites in the Gateway National Recreation Area.  While the fort is not that interesting the location on New York Harbor under the long Narrows suspension bridge is stunning.

After crossing the bridge into Brooklyn we take the Belt Parkway past Coney Island to Floyd Bennett Field, another unit of Gateway NRA.  This old airport was NYC’s first but never gained commercial viability.  It was sold to the Navy in WWII.  It was later given to the National Park System to care for. The runways are intact but rarely opened for use. It has a small uninteresting museum.  Sections of the park are rented out to the public for a wide variety of uses.  I don't understand why the Feds are keeping it. All I can think of is Reagan’s comments about the immortality of government programs.

February 19, 2016

February 19, 2016

We are up early today to explore NYC. Our goal this weekend is to visit the National Park sites in the metro area that we missed.  Most require a car so that is our first chore.  After picking up a rental at Avis, we head north from JFK airport across Archie Bunker’s borough of Queens, and then over the East River into Harlem on Manhattan’s north end.  There we find a hilly picturesque neighborhood of classic brownstones. The area is crowded with students heading to classes at the neo-Gothic CCNY, City College of New York. With a little bit of luck and early arrival, we stumble on the last open parking spot on the street.  Sitting in a small park we find Hamilton Grange National Memorial.  This was the summer home of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the most important of our country’s Founding Fathers.  Besides fighting in the Revolution, he was our first Secretary of the Treasury, and leader of the Federalist Party that pushed for a strong central government.

We start off with the small museum and movie that gave details of his life; born a bastard on the Caribbean island of Nevis, becoming an orphan at 13, his immigration to New York and quick rise to success, and ending with his early death in a duel against Aaron Burr.  Afterwards we take the lackluster tour of this twice-moved house he lived in only two years. Visitation to this site has increased significantly with the opening of the new Broadway play about his life.  Maybe if America remembers Hamilton well enough he won’t lose his place on the Ten dollar bill.

From Harlem we drive northeast across the Bronx to St Paul’s Church National Historic Site. Shockingly this chapel is an island in an otherwise gritty industrial district. We watch an overly long film, look at some exhibits, and then get a personal guided tour of this Episcopal Church with its distinctive colonial era “box pews”. Aimee and I are both underwhelmed and see little significant history. This national park site is a stretch and seems more like some local’s desire for the Feds to save his church from destruction after the neighborhood community moved away.

From St Paul’s we backtrack through the Bronx and Harlem, and cross the palisade-lined Hudson River into New Jersey. Another ten miles west we arrive at the newly created Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. As we pull into this old industrial town, we get our first glimpse of the Great Falls of the Passaic River. They are very cool!  Looking like a mini-version of Africa’s Victoria Falls, the water rushes over both sides of a narrow gorge. The ice clinging to the edge adds to the dramatic impact. After walking a bridge for an up close look we learn they are the second largest falls east of the Mississippi.

After a chilly walk around the historic district we stop at the very small Visitor Center and then run through the Paterson Museum.  There we reconnect with Hamilton.  Unlike today’s politicians Hamilton put action to his ideas.  He believed in a capitalist America.  He founded the city of Paterson as a pre-planned industrial center putting the power of the Falls to work.  Paterson went on to become one of our country’s premier manufacturing  centers.  Paterson factories were famous for locomotives, silk textiles, Colt pistols, airplane engines and my favorite childhood comedian Lou Costello.

Like most old industrial towns, Paterson has changed.  This was really evident when we walked into a pizza joint for lunch. It no longer serves pizza, but only Peruvian, Mexican, and American. Apparently Paterson is now known as Little Lima.
Aimee and I were pleased with today’s travels.  The sites were more interesting than we had expected, and the traffic less congested.  If only the weather had gotten out of the thirties and the sun made an appearance.  We are missing Arizona.

February 18, 2016

February 18, 2016

Aimee thinks we are nuts and she is probably right.  We are leaving wonderful weather in Arizona, and heading north, flying to New York City for several days.  A few days ago NYC had brutal record breaking cold.  We are lucky and the forecast is for some unseasonably warm weather, 40’s and 50’s, albeit still a lot colder than we are used to.

Flying east is an all day journey.  Between the two-hour drive to Phoenix, even with a non-stop flight, we don’t arrive in NYC until 8:30 pm, just in time for a quick bite and into bed.

January 28, 2016

January 28, 2016

We drove my sister and brother-in-law to Phoenix this morning, so they could catch their flight back to St Louis.  Not one to lose an opportunity for exploration, we drove to one of the iconic views of the Phoenix area, Camelback Mountain.  Looking like a resting camel, it lies within the Phoenix Park called Echo Canyon Recreation Area.

As we get closer, we notice lots of expensive housing climbing the flanks of this overgrown hill.  Once privately owned it was only saved from development by Barry Goldwater in 1968. 

The Echo Canyon Trail to the summit is very popular with both locals and tourists.  But we are here relatively early, so we easily snag a parking spot.  The short 1.25-mile hike turns out to be a very strenuous uphill climb atop large rocks.  Aimee is not a fan of “bouldering”.  She perseveres and after an hour trek, we make it to the summit for spectacular views of the surrounding Phoenix Metropolitan area.

Unfortunately climbing down rocks is slower than going up.  I remind Aimee about the benefits of zigzagging across a steep open trail.  By switch-backing, going back and forth across the rocks, the hike, while made longer, is a lot less steep.  Plus, if you stumble, you fall sideways, and hopefully not straight downhill.

January 26, 2016

January 26, 2016

Tucson’s annual Gem and Mineral Show doesn’t officially start until next week.  My brother-in-law is into rocks so we stop at two venues that opened early this year.  My relatives had the same reaction we had on our first visit.  Shock and awe on the vast array of minerals and fossils that are available for purchase.

Ten miles south of Tucson, we stop to revisit the church, San Xavier del Bac.  Since our last visit this old Spanish mission has had a face-lift and is finally free of scaffolding.  Back in the 17^th century, Spain tried to expand the frontier of New Spain (Mexico) into what is now Arizona by constructing a string of missions north up the Santa Cruz River from Mexico.  San Xavier is one of those missions.  Last rebuilt in 1787, it is the oldest European structure in Arizona and is a beautiful example of Spanish Colonial architecture.

We continued another forty miles south to Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.  This was Arizona’s first state park but because of budget cuts is now run by a group of local volunteers.  After a revolt by the local Pima Pueblo Indians, the Spanish built a presidio (fort) in Tubac in 1752 to suppress rebellion.  It was the first European settlement in Arizona.  Later the presidio was moved to Tucson to drive the frontier northward.  This left Tubac vulnerable to Apache raiders.  The citizenry drifted away and Tubac would never recover permanently.

We walked the self-guided tour, seeing the outline of the old adobe fort, learning about the archeology of the site, and visiting the couple of old buildings adjoining the presidio.  One was a cute one-room schoolhouse from 1885.  My sister, a retired teacher, loved it.

The presidio also marks the trailhead for the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail.  In 1775 this Spanish commander led a group of settlers from Tubac cross-country to establish the community of San Francisco and secure Spain’s hold on California.  Afterwards we walked around the little artsy town of Tubac visiting the many craft shops.