India Trip 2015

Collection of tweets from a tourist trip

  1. Delhi

  2. My ninth story hotel room is bathed in the music of Delhi traffic. The windows are swarmed by birds on the gyre.
  3. Turns out Indian food is even better in India, y'all. http://t.co/PxkaCTn7a5
    Turns out Indian food is even better in India, y'all. pic.twitter.com/PxkaCTn7a5
  4. First tourist day in New Delhi: bicycle rickshaw, Grand Mosque, Qutb Minar (no relation). All terrific, nice having a guide organizing.
  5. Also the Grand Mosque rivals the Plaza Mayor for perfectly proportioned enormous public spaces. A calm refuge above Old Delhi.
  6. The ~800 year old inscriptions at the Qutb Minar are amazing. Check out the Kufic on the left. (Bonus tourist photo) pic.twitter.com/MY9YlFUkT0
  7. Delhi tourist day: Swami Naryan Temple, Humayan's tomb. pic.twitter.com/ZMUTCnpCE3
  8. Slowly appreciating how sophisticated and engaged India is, at least central Delhi.
  9. In India, "teacoffee?" is a single word, despite being a choice between two beverages.
  10. Delhi has a lot of street dogs. They look hungry, sad, timid. They act shy like they get kicked a lot.
  11. Great day learning to cook Chettinad Indian food at an expert's lovely home. pic.twitter.com/KBQM12D4Xo
  12. @nelson Great having Ken and you over today!! Lovely afternoon.
  13. Interesting visit to the Museum of Modern Art in Delhi. Love this sculpture. http://t.co/NY0nseyZgI
    Interesting visit to the Museum of Modern Art in Delhi. Love this sculpture. pic.twitter.com/NY0nseyZgI
  14. Last night in Delhi. Crazy sculpture in our hotel in Gurgaon, near Cyber City. http://t.co/oQPY3jhyjj
    Last night in Delhi. Crazy sculpture in our hotel in Gurgaon, near Cyber City. pic.twitter.com/oQPY3jhyjj
  15. Fascinating art by Amrita Sher-Gil, an Indian/Hungarian feminist artist of the 1930s. https://t.co/eXS1xQGJMR http://t.co/zEw3H4v6fZ
    Fascinating art by Amrita Sher-Gil, an Indian/Hungarian feminist artist of the 1930s.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrita_Sher-Gil  pic.twitter.com/zEw3H4v6fZ
  16. Current status: Googling "martini safe india diarrhea".
  17. Maharajah's Express from Delhi to Mumbai

  18. Boarding the Maharajah's Express, a 7 day cruise on rails. Our personal butler is named Sita. Next stop, Taj Mahal. pic.twitter.com/gkAjwmzuTd
  19. No really, I'm taking some Raj-remnant tourist train to the Taj Mahal. India, y'all.
  20. I wasn't kidding; the Taj Mahal is a real thing and it's really here. Astounding architecture as sculpture. pic.twitter.com/QO0XHAvt7O
  21. The brand name of this train's WiFi link is like a poem.
Tata Docomo Photon Whiz http://t.co/70h813Vxa9
    The brand name of this train's WiFi link is like a poem. Tata Docomo Photon Whiz pic.twitter.com/70h813Vxa9
  22. 90' tall sundial accurate to 2 seconds. Flock of birds. A nearby mosque is calling the faithful to prayer. http://t.co/LgMLRq3t6D
    90' tall sundial accurate to 2 seconds. Flock of birds. A nearby mosque is calling the faithful to prayer. pic.twitter.com/LgMLRq3t6D
  23. Photos from the Jaipur observatory Jantar Mantar pic.twitter.com/h34lxQrd2k
  24. Photos from Jaipur; beautiful orderly Indian town. pic.twitter.com/h4xoB6FPgk
  25. Sand dunes dinner as full moon rises. Rajasthani music, dancers. Lots of fire. pic.twitter.com/NiltKAqQ24
  26. Visit to Jodhpur's central Clock Tower Market. We liked the food and spice stalls. pic.twitter.com/dJ8ATTwopB
  27. Jodhpur has beautiful palace forts high above the Blue City. pic.twitter.com/B4xTXpV8rc
  28. Udaipur iconography. All of the art in Rajasthan is so rich and detailed and not at all tacky in context. pic.twitter.com/AmgwjOlekQ
  29. Our valet for our Maharajah train cabin decorated our bed for us tonight. http://t.co/rQeIw9X0gc
    Our valet for our Maharajah train cabin decorated our bed for us tonight. pic.twitter.com/rQeIw9X0gc
  30. Visit to a small village in Gujarat. Weird tourist event, but folks were very welcoming. pic.twitter.com/4XDZtDrQdw
  31. @nelson looks a little like my family's village. :)
  32. An ecstatic Sufi dance and drumming performance by Indians of African ancestry. Overhead giant fruitbats are flying. http://t.co/8DCsXyRnDU
    An ecstatic Sufi dance and drumming performance by Indians of African ancestry. Overhead giant fruitbats are flying. pic.twitter.com/8DCsXyRnDU
  33. More Sufi Indian African dancers. I promise this photo was taken with respect (for the dancers, if not us) pic.twitter.com/qGleTt4IED
  34. Mumbai

  35. Very nice dinner at Khyber in Mumbai. Indian food really is better in India. Cheers, @_achalv
  36. Elephanta Caves: ~1300 year old Hindu temple, monumental carvings. pic.twitter.com/eTM79324tS
  37. Mumbai scenes: Dhobi Ghat (laundry), Antilia (crazy expensive home), Chinese resto ad, Gateway of India pic.twitter.com/tO0azlM1wJ
  38. Cartographic art. (Pilgrimmage paintings; the image substitutes for the journey) pic.twitter.com/mVgFlBnMDx
  39. Market, train station, dabbawallahs sorting tiffins. pic.twitter.com/xrEUcefBVA
  40. Kolkata

  41. 1.5 mile walk through central Kolkata to Park Street. Nice to get out of the tourist bubble, also nice to re-enter it when done :-)
  42. More Kolkata: Kalighat pilgrimage temple, Victoria Memorial. pic.twitter.com/pdYXzTRYGl
  43. Most interesting today: the Marble Palace, 19th c. European kitsch house of wealthy Indians (babus). Now faded.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Palace_(Kolkata) 
  44. Kolkata book shops, intellectuals coffeehouse. Also ancient tram. pic.twitter.com/pXesrfgKkz
  45. Boat tour on the Hooghly (aka the Ganges, in Kolkata.) pic.twitter.com/4uXH4XHt1m
  46. Indian Museum in Kolkata has remarkable Buddhist sculpture (Bharhut) pic.twitter.com/4PrKnVR01r
  47. Varanasi

  48. Just realized I'm spending Valentine's Day watching ancient Hindu rituals on the river Ganges. Cremation, incense, offerings, cows. Festive!
  49. Mark Twain on visiting Varanasi: "you will find a small whitewashed building, which is a temple sacred to Sitala, goddess of smallpox."
  50. Most novel experience today so far: watching offerings of yogurt, milk, honey being made to a Shiva lingam in temple at Banares University
  51. Offerings to the Shiva lingam. (Saw this ritual at New Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, the images stuck with me.) pic.twitter.com/0XOdW29MAy
  52. At sunset prayer at the Ganges in Varanasi. Feels a bit like Mallory Square in Key West. pic.twitter.com/cWlrqyAODw