My First Wedding in India!

LOWA Ambassador Andrew Hettinger is a photographer, traveler and hiker.  Most of Andrew's travels are in and around cities or on wildlife photography tours.  He uses a combination of everyday shoes, trail runners, and light hikers to support his expeditions. 

Andrew writes about his recent experience in India, at his son's wedding.   

In 2021, during the height of COVID-19 restrictions, my son Zach married his girlfriend, Disha in video ceremony that most of the family could not attend in person.  Originally from Jaipur, India, Disha always dreamed of a traditional ceremony in her hometown.  So in December of 2022, my son Marc, my fiance’ Dana, and I traveled to India for Zach and Disha’s wedding reception.  The reception had three parts.  An afternoon event called Haldi where the bride and groom are painted with Turmeric paste on their cheeks, hands, and feet by the attendees to signify fertility, purity and good luck.  It is followed in the evening by Mehendi where the bride’s hands and feet are tattooed in Henna to signify good health and prosperity.  And finally, the reception takes place at the grounds of a palace on the following evening.
 

So what does this have to do with LOWA?  Unlike many of my LOWA Ambassador brothers and sisters, I don’t climb mountains.  I am a photographer who tours cities around the world and leads wildlife adventures.  Although I usually wear my favorite Renegades, I needed something more versatile that I could wear on an airplane, to dinner, walking city streets, or for light climbing and hiking.  The new Lowa Fusion Lo was the perfect fit (no pun intended).  Comfortable and cool slip-ons that are also super supportive.

While in Jaipur we did a four hour city walk followed the next day by a tour of the forts in the surrounding mountains.  Crowds were massive since it was New Year’s weekend.  The sun broke through after a cloudy morning and we had a beautiful view of the city.  Surrounded by monkeys, colorful street vendors, and thousands of people. We were able to get a real feel for the beauty of the people and their wonderful city.

On the last day we decided to drive to Agra to see the Taj Mahal on our way to our flight home out of Delhi.  The five hour ride to Agra was smooth until we were about 3 miles out, which took over an hour.  The organized chaos of driving through small crowded villages is an art.  Our drivers masterfully weaved us through tuk tuks, cars, buses, motor bikes, bicycles, pedestrians, and of course, cows.  When we arrived at the Taj Mahal there were well over 50,000 people so we hired a tour guide off the street who claimed he could cut the massive lines.  It was the best decision we made all day!  He expertly got us in and brought us to the best spots for photography.  He then got us back out through a maze of alleyways and back to our cars for the trip to Delhi and home.