Words and photos cannot begin to describe ...

Nothing can capture the smells and sounds, the masses of humanity, the animals, the traffic (and death-defying fright of it), the contrasts ... such a cacophony to stun the senses, the intellect. My pictures (granted, I'm no Ansel Adams) and my words seem woefully inadequate.

Let me set the stage for Thursday, October 26th. I'm finishing a delish breakfast of Tibetan banana pancakes, jotting in my journal, and a western looking woman wanders in for her breakfast and joins me (she's wearing a salwar kameeze and doesn't really look western - I really need to get one of those). Marie, from outside of Brisbane, Australia, and I start chatting and decide to join forces to explore Delhi. She'd already spent 5 weeks in India and had arrived in Delhi only the night before ... but had soooo much street knowledge!

Off we start! First step, haggle for an auto rickshaw (except we end up with a taxi) to take us to the Red Fort. Oops, the taxi driver didn't have any gas and he pulled into a nearby gas station - except we have to get out of the taxi before he can pull up to the pump. Lots of animated Hindi conversation amongst his fellow drivers, but finally he pulls the taxi around, we pile in and start again. Ah, then the expected starts ... we need to pay him more rupees, we need him for the day, blah, blah, blah! And no, no, no! Except now he gets in a snit, and unbeknownst to us he drops us off at the back closed entrance.

So, we start again! This time with a human rickshaw. The expected starts, but we show little patience - our response being NO (well, mostly Marie since she knows the routine better) - and he accepts his defeat gracefully!

The Red Fort ... one can only imagine what it was like in the hey-day ... the gardens, the cool marble with water canals flowing through for cooling, the smell of flowers and cooking scents. It's far from that today ... with hordes of people, dirty marble and many things boarded up.




Here was the plan ... after visiting the Red Fort, we were going to wander around Chandni Chowk, and then towards the Meena Bazaar. Turns out it's all just a super congested world's-largest-flea-market - not exactly what I expected. Nonetheless, it's quite organized and divided into the different alleyways, one for watches, one for children's clothes, one for car parts, and on and on. There's even an organized "employee parking lot" - wall to wall motorcycles.



Along the way I was introduced to the wonderful world of street chai. I'm so glad Marie was with me, I would never have dared get a cup of chai from such as that (but now I'm an old hand at it). Chai is the most delicious thing ever. It's made of tea, milk, water, ginger and usually some other spices (although I have no idea what). And such a formal to-do, even in such simple surroundings! There are proper tea cups and saucers, the waiter serves with great flourish ... and the making of the chai has great movements and scurrying about, all finalized with it almost boiling out of the pot (which my tummy was relieved to see). After it is served, we stand slurping the HOT tea (I understand it's good manners to slurp and it is really really HOT) with the other patrons. We had two other Indian women join us who were just delightful.

We climb up to the Jama Masjid, a gorgeous mosque, or at least looks so from the outside. We got there just at noon time when it closed to non-muslims, but turning back we can see the entire Bazaar from the steps.
We stop at the Digambara Jain Temple, again closed. But next door is the Delhi Bird Hospital (more about birds later). Row, upon row, upon room, upon room of sick birds. Mostly pigeons, but a few little white rabbits here and there (how did those get here). Even a couple of peococks. On the medical front, if I'm destined to get bird flu, this is it!

I cannot fathom the teeming masses of people along the way. People sitting, sleeping, begging, selling everything, eating, playing games. It's hard to even describe. And so many food vendors! Some looked good and others not so. The ones that just make my mouth water are the fresh fruit vendors ... pineapple, bananas, mangoes all sliced up and sprinkled with Delhi water to keep them fresh ... and the cucumber vendors ... cucumbers sliced in half, same water sprinkling. Mouth watering and tummy wrenching ... I'm staying clear!

But we're hungry and we had a goal of getting to a Connaught Place restaurant. Rickshaw time! We negotiate with this OLD man and his pedal rickshaw. I almost felt bad for him hauling our two western behinds for so long (Delhi is really a big city). But along he pedals until he gets to a hill near Connaught Place, stops and that's it (not that I can blame him)! We're quite sure the restaurant is right around the corner, so we start walking.

Enough already and now we're lost! Time for another rickshaw, an auto rickshaw this time, price is negotiated, off we go - but where? He has no clue where this restaurant is! So it's drive a block, ask for directions, much talking between Hindi, English, Lonely Planet map, much arm waving ... and drive a block and again ... and again ... and again ... and again! Whew, we've earned this meal at Saravana Bharvan (which according to the placemat they have a restaurant in Sunnyvale, CA)!

Another yummy Delhi meal ... this time we had thali, which is a huge plate with rice and 12 little dishes and this bread for scooping (no utensils, of course). So good - some burn-your-mouth-off hot, some not so much! That with a lime drink and time for the "after dinner mint"! From a nice bowl, spoon a few of the anise seed and rock sugar in your palm and pop into your mouth ... what a delightful palate sensation!

Oh wait, it's been at least an hour, it must be time for another taxi ride. This time it's in a real taxi and off we go to meet Avnish at the Master Guest House who is leading an afternoon tour! Marie and I meet up with two other women, Wilder and Karen, who are from the US, but have moved to San Miguel, Mexico. There are lots of how-do-you-do's and off we start our afternoon adventure.

First stop, a Hindu temple. There's the usual crowds in front, and even a snake charmer with a poor sleepy snake (he kept having to snap at him to keep him awake). I have so much to learn about the Hindu religion. Avnish walked us through the temple explaining the religious principles, he even gave us the red dot on our forehead. After learning about our senses, our breathing, and my favorite saying ... the Hindu mouse nibbles at the cobwebs of ignorance ... we sit down in a side alcove amidst this din of life and he talked us through a little mini breathing meditation. How calming!

Now about those contrasts of Indian life. From here Avnish took us to high tea at the Imperial Hotel. Swanky and oh-so-good! We ate desserts and drank tea until we were stuffed. I bet none of the other hotel guests were wearing a sweaty, stinky money belt and carrying around their own toilet paper, let alone even owning a backpack! I guess it's fair to say that we stood out and to think I even brushed my hair for the occasion. There were scented fountains in almost every room, there were flowers and massive orchid arrangements everywhere. And just because I'm a bit toilet-obsessed here in India, we visited the facilities. Ah, there was perfumed soap, cushy hand towels handed to us by an attendant, and soft toilet paper ... I washed everything I could without getting undressed (to think I'm actually admitting all this on a public blog)!

That posh respite ended oh-too-soon, and then we were off to a UN Delhi speaker series about the Birds of Delhi (delhibird.net). Who would ever have thought I would find myself at a bird talk while on holiday! I'm certainly no birder, and most likely never will be ... but this talk was fascinating! The speaker was entertaining and introduced by three of her grade school students ... every Sunday this group has birding tours along the river in Delhi and I'm going to look them up when I return.

Did you really think I could have ended the day without at least one more taxi story? Of course not! Avnish called for a taxi and pre-negotiates the price of RS200 for us (about $4 USD). Marie and I sit back and exhale with the anticipation of an uneventful ride. Not so fast there! The driver hadn't a clue where our hotel was, not that we realized this until about the 2nd u-turn mid-highway ... and the stops (yes, that's plural) for directions. Can't say he ever figured it out, but finally we got to where we recognized some landmarks and with lots of fits and starts, we get close enough to walk. Whew!

Home sweet home! We're both exhausted, but all we've had to eat after lunch is sweets, sweets and more sweets! Something of substance is needed. I'm always one for trying the local cuisine, so we boldly order and how bad could it possibly be? At the last minute, we realize we had ordered plates of stomach, lung and tongue! Maybe another braver day ... veggies, please!

Namaste!