Saturday-Sunday, February 8-23, 2014 - Medical trip in India
First solo trip by myself. It took quite a bit of work to get the India visa. I couldn't apply online and send my passport in since I had needed it for my trip to Hong Kong and Thailand this past December-January and there was not enough time when I returned from my trip. Thus, I drove from LA to SF and back within 24 hours since the only Consulate General of India in California was in San Francisco. It was a bit of a risk since it was not guaranteed I would be able to get the visa even if I was there and it was a first-come-first-served basis. I arrived there before the doors opened and there was already a line outside. After turning in the application and paying the fees I had to return after 5 p.m. to see if they approved my visa. Luckily, it was successful. Made it back home to LA exhausted.
Saturday, February 8, 2014 - 4 p.m. flight from LAX to Dubai, UAE.
Flew via Emirates. On the flight I sat next to the father of Sameer Gadhia, the lead singer of the band "Young the Giant". Very nice guy who was going back to Delhi to visit his mother.
Sunday, February 9, 2014 - Layover in Dubai, UAE.
Emirates provides a free meal voucher if your layover is over 4 hours in Dubai. You need to pick it up at their information booth.
Free dinner in the Dubai Airport at the Mezzanine using the free meal voucher from Emirates. They give you several options. I chose this one because it was a buffet. Not many people there because it was late at night.
Inside the Dubai Airport.
Inside the Dubai Airport.
Inside the Dubai Airport.
Monday, February 10, 2014 - 4:30 a.m. flight from Dubai, UAE, to Delhi, India.
Inside the taxi on the way to the hotel. Arrived in Delhi very early in the morning. Bought a prepaid taxi ticket to the hotel where I would be meeting the other doctors and nurses who had already arrived. Make sure you buy the prepaid taxi's inside the airport, the ones outside the airport are for tourist and much more expensive. Lanes do not exist in India. The cars try and squeeze into any space possible and there is a bit of traffic.
Lakshmi Narayan Temple, New Delhi. After meeting with the group at the hotel, they checked out and we immediately went site-seeing. We had time before we had to board the train that night to Mainpuri.
Humayun's Tomb, New Delhi.
Humayun's tomb, New Delhi.
Humayun's tomb, New Delhi.
Bahai Lotus Temple, New Delhi.
India Gate, New Delhi.
On board the train from Old Delhi to Mainpuri in the Air-conditioned 2-tier class (AC2). Boarding the train itself was an adventure. There was some confusion thinking the train station was in New Delhi rather than Old Delhi and thus we were almost late boarding the train. While booking the train tickets, they were unable to book the Air-conditioned first class (AC1) seats which have private cars. AC2 is an open car and so we were worried about our luggage being stolen since we had all our medical supplies in there and each person had 2 luggage, meaning there was no space to store it all in one area. But we managed. The AC2 class also didn't have blankets and sheets provided, so before boarding the trip we had scrambled to find some place to buy blankets which ended up being very useful for the rest of the trip.
On board the train. I took this picture from the upper bunk looking down. By this time, it was my 3rd night of not having a bed to sleep in and I knocked out on the train from exhuastion.
Arrived early morning at the Mainpuri train station. We took the train to travel within India because driving by car at night is dangerous. The roads are bad, there are no lights, and often people will throw things on the road to block them.
The villages near Mainpuri. The next several days were spent traveling to different satellite locations where we set up free health clinics and usually saw over 100 patients within several hours.
Lunch at the Sankisa YBS clinic.
Lunch at the Sankisa YBS clinic.
One of our clinics we set up at a local school.
Setting up our triage station.
Villages near Mainpuri.
Lunch of chapati, rice, kadi, and mixed vegetables cooked by the villagers. Food in India is delicious.
Lunch time after seeing patients in the clinic.
Nearby farms.
After the clinic we held education sessions. This was to teach about nutrition.
One of our volunteer's family had an organic farm and they gave us a small tour, showing us how they made their fertilizer and what type of things they grew.
Sampling their delicious and fresh red carrots.
Villager feeding the water buffalo.
Women waiting for the clinic to start.
Boy near a brick factory.
Brick factory.
Educating the villages about teeth brushing and handing out toothbrushes.
Watching the teeth brushing eduation.
In the local villages.
The local kids where we were staying in Mainpuri.
One of our clinics at a local school.
Wild peacocks.
Another delicious lunch. Every single meal was vegetarian.
Local village.
Inside our main mode of transportation with our health workers and local volunteers.
The traffic in Mainpuri.
In one of the villages where they were cooking our lunch. Despite how it looks, every meal was delicious and not one of us got sick.
The locals.
Spent a day exploring Mainpuri.
Streets of Mainpuri.
Took one day to spend in Agra to sight-see and to meet with another group of nurses and doctors who would be joining us. Drove from Mainpuri to Agra and back. Taj Mahal. Amazing place.
Agra Fort.
Agra Fort.
Agra Fort.
I was able to spend a few days at a local medical school/hospital and assist our surgeon with hydrocelectomies on patients that we had screened in our clinics.
Inside the medical/nursing school/hospital.
Post-op area after the hydrocelectomy.
Grandmother and her grandchild. The grandchild was being treated for malnutrition, being born underweight, at the medical school/hospital.
Malnourished baby at the medical school/hospital.
Last day in Mainpuri. Finished the medical portion of our trip. From Mainpuri we took another night train to Varanasi.
The view from the train from Mainpuri to Varanasi.
Dhamekh Stupa, Sarnath, Varanasi. Marks the place where Buddha gave his first sermon to his five disciples after attaining enlightenment.
Deer park at Sarnath, Varanasi.
Varanasi to board a boat down the Ganges to see the Ghats.
Varanasi to board a boat down the Ganges to see the Ghats.
Varanasi to board a boat down the Ganges to see the Ghats.
Varanasi to board a boat down the Ganges to see the Ghats.
Ghats of Varanasi. People bathing in the Ganges.
Ghats of Varanasi, down the Ganges. Trash along the banks.
Ghats of Varanasi along the Ganges, where the cremation ceremonies are performed.
The opposite bank of the Ghats of Varanasi, along the Ganges.
Ghats of Varanasi, along the Ganges.
Sunset at the Ghats of Varanasi, along the Ganges. Varanasi is such an old ancient city. You can definitely feel it walking through those narrow winding pathways. There is such a strong sense of culture, religion, and history within there. Such a different place from anywhere I've ever been. No place in North America comes close to this. From Varanasi we drove to Bodh Gaya.
The Great Buddha Statue at the Indosan Nippon Japanese Temple in Bodh Gaya.
Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya. This is where Buddha was believed to have obtained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree.
Pilgrims at the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya.
Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya.
On the streets in Bodh Gaya.
Near Sujata Temple, Bodh Gaya.
Near Sujata Temple, Bodh Gaya.
Sujata Temple, Bodh Gaya. Where Sujata, a woman from the village of Senani, offered milk-rice to Gautama Buddha.
The third and last night train of the trip, from Gaya back to Delhi. Train station.
The meal on the train. Not bad.
After arriving back in New Delhi the morning of February 22nd, I had that last day before my flight to leave India at 1:15 a.m., Sunday, February 23rd. Stayed at a hotel near the airport and had my 2nd shower within the entire trip. Spent the day shopping for souvenirs and had dinner at the hotel. Reflecting after the trip, I can say this was a life-changing experience. It made me much more grateful for everything I have. I realized I have absolutely nothing to complain about in my life and whenever I find myself whining, I think back to India. India is an amazing place filled with so much history, culture, religion, and different ethnic groups that I think everyone should visit at least once.
Flew from New Delhi, India, February 23, 2014 1:15 a.m. to Hong Kong for my Grandmother's funeral.
