Three friends from DC who are friends themselves all were able to come to Delhi last week, which was wonderful. Rachel (Grad school friend) came for work, Bev (friend from BC) saw an opportunity to come and took it, and Cheinan (introduced through Rachel in DC) has been traveling in India and Sri Lanka since November. It went way too fast but was great while it lasted. Rachel and I started the trip with some souvenir shopping, and then Cheinan joined us for exploring Old Delhi, which on Sundays - when we went - is mostly closed. It's usually so busy that being half closed is a relief, we got lost walking through alleys, went through some very smelly dirty areas which prepared Rachel for her upcoming landfill visit (she works for the EPA), walked in a wedding procession, and rode Delhi's very nice subway (not at all sarcastic)! Bev and Cheinan spent the week doing some sight seeing, including a day trip to the Taj. I learned that visiting the Qutub Minar (the country's biggest minar and oldest ruins of Delhi) is really nice at night, as they light it up. Bev and I pampered ourselves with yoga and facials (lesson: if you want an atmosphere that is not reminiscent of a mental ward, make an advance reservation) and visited Tughlakabad Fort, one of my favorite places in Delhi. We safely passed the monkey gang that has haunted the fort since I arrived in 2003. The top picture is of Bev and I at the fort and the bottom is one of the women working on reconstructing it. 
We were all to go to Jaipur for the weekend, but unfortunately Bev got the infamous Delhi Belly and we had to cancel. So instead we spent the weekend exploring Delhi including the Mughal Gardens, which are the presidential palace gardens and are only open for 3 weeks a year. It's free but crazy busy, particularly on weekends, with extensive lines. The first garden is an herb garden, which was a little scary in that did we really just wait through all those lines for these measly herbs? But then you enter the flower, fountain and main gardens which are stunning. I'm firing my gardener! This proves you can grow all these in Delhi weather! We also went to the place where gandhi was killed (see pict) and the national gallery. India's history is so rich and varied that any museum of its history is bound to be shocking. And what strikes me most is that very little of this history has been lost, the jewelry and games dug up from 3000bc are still used today. In a lot of museums you ask what that thing would be used for and living here you know, because they are still used. It's also always revealing how similar the textiles of the world are (india has a lot of similarity to central american patterns). Sadly Cheinan had already gone to Jaipur ahead of us 
so missed the weekend.Rachel noted that I've failed in my quest to rid India of men in stone washed jeans. I'll keep working on it! I'll swing it over to Cheinan, Rachel and Bev to share their funny stories, because I am so used to this now, I forget what's funny!
Things that are funny :-)
ReplyDelete- The sheer number of people who want you to take their picture, regardless of the fact that they don't know you and will never get a copy of said picture. I would be arrested in the US if I took that many pictures of strangers.
- People's reaction (esp. kids) to how tall Rachel is.
- You can get any prescription drug you want with no doctor's participation, but they get all upset when you try to get Melatonin (herb) without one.
Not funny - but interesting note, the "Ladies" lines, while kind of offensive in principle, are often really nice. Less jostling, shorter, etc.
One funny story I remember is from Pondicherry. A rickshaw driver comes up to me and offers to take me to the beach. "To the beach?" I ask. "Yes, to the water." He says. "The rickshaw goes into the water?" "Yes." "It's submersible?" "Yes!" "It's amphibious?" "Yes!!" "How deep can it go?" "Yes!!!" "Does it have sonar?" "Yes!!!!"
ReplyDeleteYep- I think I made some nice friends in the 10 year old set when I smiled back at them for staring at me.
ReplyDeleteFor my landfill visit- was somewhat surprised that there is a hosptial right next to it! If you are on the east side- your view is of garbage, yuck. And the landfill started at the same elevation- is now 20-25 meters above the hosptial. Who knew you could get a nice view of the city standing on a garbage pile.
My niece loves her new Indian outfits.