This past week of traveling and learning was the fastest week I’ve experienced. We accomplished and explored so much. This was our final day together as the JDC Entwine group and it was bittersweet.

We began the day like every other with breakfast at the hotel before departing on a one-hour chartered boat ride to visit the Elephanta Caves. We passed by the Gateway of India in the Mumbai Harbor and got a view of the city from the water. Oh, and we also had a waterside photoshoot. The last photo is of me and Michael, he’s the one who told me about the trip in the first place. Thanks, Michael!

The Elephanta Caves are a UNESCO World Heritage site on Elephanta Island. The caves are cut out of one giant rock in about the 2nd century BC and are dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva. To reach the caves, you take a boat to the island (which we did), take a toy train to the steps (think a mall train to entertain children), and then walk up 120 steps. It sounds a lot more taxing than it is. The entire island is dependent on tourism, so while the toy train isn’t necessary to reach the steps, it’s simple fun.

On the way up on both the train and the stairs, you pass kiosks and huts selling shirts, souvenirs, elephants, hats, and other miscellaneous travel tchotchkes. The most notable thing however is the monkeys.

Before I went to India, I’d hear that a friend of a friend’s cousin’s somebody went to India and was bitten or attacked by a monkey, and to be careful. I’d wonder, “What were they doing that they engaged with monkeys?" I didn’t see any around Mumbai or in the village. Yet here they were. All the monkeys.

Baby monkeys. Older monkeys. Monkeys in groups. One alone chilling on a rock. Monkeys fighting each other. They were unavoidable.

I was walking up the steps when two ran out in front of me and starting fighting, like violent toddlers you were afraid to separate because they bite. I jumped back startled and after looking around, I gathered that this was normal. Unlike the slums, there wasn’t really monkey poop to avoid. That was a relief, and now I understood the freak story of how someone was bit by a monkey. One step and you’re in a situation you couldn’t have avoided.

We toured the main cave of the five on the island. It’s magnificent, hand carved with ridiculous detail. Unfortunately, much of the carvings are damaged from when the Portuguese established a base on the island and used the sculptures for target practice. The Portuguese named the caves Elephanta due to the elephants statues they saw on the inside. The caves were believed to be a place of Hindu worship, and in the cave we saw, we learned of the life and impact of Shiva. Hannah explained to us the significance of the three heads in the sculptures - creation, protection, and destruction - and we saw carvings of these at play.

We spent about two hours on the island before taking the boat back to Mumbai for lunch and our wrap up session. Lunch was a mix of Indian food and some American style food, and the American style foods tasted incredibly bland compared to everything else.

It was a bittersweet session. Although I’d be spending the next three days traveling with some of the group, I created unique connections with my peers. It was weird to be leaving them and not knowing when our paths would cross next.

Michael, Maura, Miranda, Andrew, Sarah, Tori and I departed on a separate bus to the airport after our session to make our evening flight to Jaipur. The airport experience was a different one! To get through security, men and women were separated into different lines. We each walked through a metal detector, but there are fewer women’s lines and you are patted down in private behind a screen to respect the modesty of the country. It’s kind of annoying when you’re rushing to make a flight and as a woman you have two lines out of 12 or so available to you.

The Mumbai airport is also a quiet airport, meaning there are no overhead announcements and you are 100% responsible for looking at your gate screens and ensuring your gate hasn’t changed, the flight isn’t delayed or there isn’t another essential communication. We were delayed slightly but nothing major, and I fell asleep the moment we settled in our seats.

The most impressive part though is how quickly we deplaned! It was easy, no fighting to get to the aisles, and was probably under 10 minutes. Seamless! We took a taxi to the hotel and crashed for the evening. It was a long day but soon we’d tour Jaipur, shop a little and play with elephants!!