501 Places

Barber at work by railway, Puno, Peru

Whether we consider ourselves as seasoned travellers or occasional tourists, we invariably seek out the ‘authentic experience’ wherever we are staying. It may be the restaurant that sells authentic food, the authentic hotel run by local people, or the boat trip to visit the authentic village, where “people go about their daily lives as they have done for centuries, untouched by the outside world”. So just what is the authentic experience? Does it exist, and if so where should we look for it? I suggest it’s not as elusive a phenomenon as some would think.

If we take the US as an example, a natural reaction will be to dismiss New York as “not the real America”. If we take this a step further, surely the most unauthentic experiences are suffered in and around Times Square and Midtown. So let’s consider the restaurants around here. Are these authentic American? Well, the food is generally poorer than elsewhere in the city (with some notable exceptions), and many businesses operate on the principle of short-term gain. Customers will typically be passing tourists, and a good reputation is not a pre-requisite for survival as even the happy eaters will probably not return. Can we experience ‘authentic America’ here?

Christmas in New York

If you strike up a conversation with the waiter, you will probably learn about his journey to work. He may live in the Bronx or in eastern Brooklyn, and have a journey of an hour to get to work each day. He may have recently come to America from the Middle East, and tell you of his family; his children, how they are adjusting to American education, how his wife is lonely but has found fellow countrywomen to spend time with while he is at work. For him, this is the real America in which he is living.

It is similar in the most lavish hotels in India. Our first reaction may be to dismiss these as nothing to do with the ‘authentic India’. They are however very real for those who work in them and make a modest living servicing the tourist trade. And in my very limited experience in these places, the staff are very pleased when someone takes an interest in them as a human being, and the stories of their lives, their families and their aspirations are perhaps more readily available than they would have been with someone on the street. Again for these employees this was the real India in which they made a living and struggled to bring up their families.

Kyrgyz boy on horse

What is authentic? Is it that hard to find? Isn’t everything that goes on around us authentic in its own way? Isn’t it just up to us to see the reality around the gloss that is put on for our supposed benefit? Perhaps the authentic is far more real in the places that hold no pretentions, where people get on with their lives and treat us as we are: visitors/tourists/travellers, whatever we call ourselves, who have come to observe and hopefully for them dish out a few of our dollars. The authenticity comes not from a fancy costume or a traditional ritual, but from the willingness to share a little of one’s everyday life with a stranger.

Think of India, and the chances are that the picture in your mind has a hot, sunny backdrop. That’s the India we all come to know. While we did experience this side of the country as well, my most memorable Indian moment is set in the heaviest snowfall I have ever experienced, and involves the best example of a can-do attitude that I have encountered.

We stayed in Manali in January last year. Many Indians might tell us we were crazy to go there at that of the year anyway. Manali is deep in a Himalayan valley in the state of Himachal Pradesh, and is over 2,000m above sea level. There is one road in and one road out. As we arrived the snow had started to fall, and our driver left us at our hotel the Solang Valley Resort, high above the town, to get to safer ground. And then it snowed. And snowed. And snowed.

We enjoyed a day in the beautiful valley, hiking, riding on a snowmobile and relaxing at the hotel. By the time we were due to leave, there was a steady accumulation of over a metre of snow around us. When we stepped out of our rooms to go around to get breakfast in the hotel restaurant, the snow was over our waists, and at one point almost up to my shoulders! The hotel had a problem. We were the only guests by then, and we were supposed to be checking out. No sign of our driver of course – nothing had travelled along the road for many hours. We had an eight hour drive to Shimla scheduled that day.

At no point did anyone suggest we would be stuck here. With a quiet confidence the hotel manager told us he was making the necessary arrangements. And so it transpired. After a couple of hours, three horses arrived. One for each of us, and one to carry our luggage. Off we trudged, down the mountain. The horses were not tall, and soon our legs were soaked and frozen, with the snow well above the height of our boots, and in fact covering the horses’ bellies. But they soldiered on, and after a couple of hours descending the hill, we were met by a Jeep that had been arranged to meet us as high up the mountain as the jeep could travel. This 4×4 then took us another 20km down the valley until we lost the snow completely, and there was our driver, who had anticipated the whole scenario and retreated to a point of safety in his “good weather” car. No fuss, no complaints, he greeted us with a smile and drove us on to Shimla, starting 8 hours behind schedule.

The staff at the hotel deserve full praise for their problem solving approach. Very few places in the world would have gone to such lengths to make this evacuation happen in such an effective (and exciting!) way. As does the driver, who took professionalism to a new level.

What price such a response in the UK?

(Jan 2008)

What makes our visit to Amritsar the highlight of India for me? Is it the striking golden structure perched as though floating on a serenely peaceful lake? Is it the sight of so many devoted pilgrims quietly absorbing the surroundings at the holiest site for the Sikh religion? Or even the lively hustle and bustle outside the temple of a big city that is less used to visitors than its counterparts further south, and more appealing for it?

For me, the truly unforgettable element of the Golden Temple experience was the pure and unconditional warmth and hospitality we received throughout our time there. From our entry to the complex we were greeted by so many people, who just wanted to give us their greetings. I didn’t see another western face while we were there, so I clearly stood out. Families asked us for photos, old men smiled and asked us where we were from, and all smiled and made us feel so welcome. Many pilgrims invited us to share food with them in the large food hall, an important part of the complex and an area where tens of thousands of people can be fed in a day. No-one was after our money in here – nothing was being sold. Only the wish to have us partake in the full experience of being a visitor to the centre of the Sikh faith.

There is a real peace and tranquility about the place, despite the mass of visitors passing through the site. Although not on the traditional “A list” of places to visit in India, if you do venture north to Amritsar, your efforts will be warmly rewarded.

(Jan 2008)