Oh. The Holi that has been on my travel bucket list for years?? You don’t say.

After talking with Pierre about it, I quickly came to realize that these dates weren’t intentionally lined up with the Festival of Colors but rather, that the universe was bringing it to our front door.

As if I wasn’t excited enough about this experience, that was the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae. And I think many of my fellow Challengers shared in that excitement as well.

Leading up to today, there was a lot of conversation amongst the group about how we would celebrate. Should we take part in the hotel’s festival? Go into the city? Or ask ChatGPT to make the decision for us?

We ultimately decided on a hybrid approach (of our own minds, sorry, Chat…), opting to partake in the hotel’s celebration first and then head into town for anyone who wanted a more local experience.

Subrata and Kenneth helped us prepare by purchasing traditional garb for the big day for anyone who wanted it. Unfortunately, some of the sizing was a bit off, and the XL women’s kurta was actually perfectly sized for a 10-year-old child…but the guys looked good in their guptas!

For anyone who didn’t get a new fit, we had throwaway white Northland t-shirts with the bear on them, as we knew whatever we wore today would quite literally never, ever, ever, ever be the same. Or, in Henry’s case, he wore both, which led to a nice little Superman moment that made my marketing heart happy.

Because I’m so enjoying keeping you all informed, I took the morning to write our Day Three blog, which put me just a bit behind everyone else heading to the celebrations. As I power-walked my way across the hotel lawn, dressed in white from head to toe, I could hear the music blasting and the laughter bellowing from outside.

“DROP YOUR BAG AND YOUR PHONE,” Sabrina yelled at me from across the lawn.

In my mind, I’m like… okayyyy, why would I do that?

Next thing I know, I’m being bum-rushed by my fellow Northlanders who are grinning from ear to ear, colors in hand, and ready to turn me into a beautiful combination of yellows, reds, pinks, and purples…all within about 10 seconds.

Now that I had been properly immersed in the colors of Holi, I finally took a moment to take in the scene: silver platters piled high with pigment, water guns at the ready, a DJ blasting tunes I would absolutely Shazam for future listening, and all of the people who have made this week such a success dressed in what I knew to be white at the start of the day (but was absolutely not white anymore).

Mixing with other guests and staff, you could see just how much unfiltered fun everyone was having. We danced together, rubbed colors on each other’s faces, and wished each other a happy Holi. My favorite moments were the whisper-wishes from the kids and their tiny hands spreading color on my cheeks. There has been something so pure about seeing their reactions to different interactions throughout this trip.

After looking back at photos from the day, it’s kind of hilarious to watch myself go from pink to purple to red over the course of just a few hours. And in case you’re wondering, no, this pigment doesn’t come out quite like you’d hoped it would.

With the color seeping into my Northland shirt, it gave “Where’s the bear?” a whole new meaning as it blended into the rest of the chaos.

After a quick shower and lunch, we decided to head into town to see some variation in the celebration. We weren’t really sure what to expect, as we received mixed reviews from hotel staff and other guests about how that might go for us. But despite the warnings, we decided the reward outweighed the risk, adopted a buddy system, and vowed to stay together.

Our next question: how the heck would we get there?

If you’ve ever attended a city festival, major concert, or sporting event, you can share in our skepticism when it came to transportation reliability. So Subrata worked with the hotel to arrange a private mini-bus to come pick up our rainbow of teammates.

Off we went, and after a quick pit stop, we ended up in the city center at the Clock Tower. Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find it pretty low-key in terms of celebrations.

Good thing we are really fun to hang out with (wink).

After buying a few bags of color and starting our own party, we became a magnet for pigment-pushing passersby to join in the fun. One new friend in particular, a little girl who seemed to fit right in with us, caught the hearts of all the girls in our group as she posed with peace signs and swapped smiles while we celebrated.

Looking back, it was a great balance that allowed us to be together while also experiencing a bit of local flair. We even had a chance to visit some local shops, where I was introduced to The Spice Girls of India, the first woman-run spice shop in Rajasthan.

Did I negotiate at all? No.

But after learning more about their story on the bus ride back and the struggles they have faced as a woman-led shop, I felt that even if I were skilled in the art of negotiation, I would happily spend 2x as much to support their journey.

Back at the hotel, we discovered a new challenge none of us were ready for: removing the dye from our skin.

Let’s just say I’d rather be tuk-tuking through the back roads of Asind than battling the red dye clinging to my scalp and hair. So much so that my friends thought I had used AI to change my hair color when I sent them my “after” photo of the day.

We read online that coconut oil or baby oil can help lift pigment from your skin, and thankfully the girls had some ready to go. Disclaimer: we were supposed to put this in our hair before the color got there…but we’re doing our best, okay?

As I sat at dinner with red, coconut-oil-slicked hair, a green ring around my chest, pink fingernails, and a slightly blue-tinted hue to my face, we all swapped photos and laughed about the day. I even overheard Liv say, “I’ll be framing this one for my house,” from the other end of the table. Same, Liv. Same.

Tomorrow we’re back on the road for another day of Tuk Tuk chaos. But in the meantime, I’ll be dreaming about what happens if this color never actually comes out of my skin —stay tuned for the Day 5 dispatch!