India
India pics:
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1-21
We arrived in Delhi around 6:30 at night. Technically we have been in four different coutries in 24 hours. Now thats moving around. The funny thing was that it was cheaper for us to take a bus to Singapore and fly out of there for Delhi, but when we hopped on the plane, it had a short stay-on-the-plane layover in Kuala Lumpur! Crazy!
Anyway, back to Delhi. We have a love/hate relationship with our guidebook. I loved the way it helped us get through the airport and into Delhi seamlessly. We had plenty of warning about unscrupulous taxi drivers and commission seeking autorickshaw drivers. There is a prepaid taxi booth at the airport and, basically, you just pay in advance for the driver to take you where you want to go. WE were also able to go ahead and purchase our tickets for the train trip to Agra tommorow. That was nice because we didn't have to brave the train station to buy them. We had a hotel in mind that Linh had found on the internet. We had the taxi drive to the street it was on and then just drop us off, so he couldn't try and come in and get a commission off of our stay. It took a bit of walking but we eventually found it. And it was under construction. But they still had rooms. So we looked. The price on the internet was $15 but they wanted to charge $20 and the place wasn't as nice as we had hoped. He said the internet was 'wrong'. So we went to a place across the street and ended up staying there. It was pretty dumpy too, but at least it was a little cheaper. We went out and had an Indian dinner of Masala mutton and some sort of chicken. It was pretty good. The local Coke wannabe drink is called Thum's Up (yes, it spelled that way) and it was alright, too. We crashed out around 11:30 and we had to be up at 5 am to catch our 6am train to Agra and the Taj Mahal. The little we saw of Delhi around the train station area was bustling with people and hawkers, the streets were pretty messy, a direct contrast of Singapore.
1-22
5 am. Time to wake up. We packed and got out of there and made our way to the trainstation, brushing off rickshaw drivers as we went. We had first class seats and the seats were OK. They did feed a lot for a 2 hour journey though. That was good. We got to Agra around 8:30 and had a rickshaw guy take us to the Taj Mahal. Once there he offered to take us around for the rest of the day for about $6.00. Linh made it very clear that we didn't want to do any shopping (they will try and take you to shops where they get a commission) and that he would take us where we wanted to go. He agreed to the terms that we set and we didn't have to pay him until the end of the day. So off to the Taj we went. We checked our pack at the door and left behind Linhs messenger bag. You can't take much of anything into the Taj. Lighters, flashlights, food, drinks, sharp objects, cell phones, and lots of other stuff, we even saw one lady had to leave behind a toy car she had in her purse. After a thorough search of my bag we were in. And I must say the Taj was a bit smaller than I had anticipated, but it was absolutely beautiful. Built out of white marble and perfectly symmetrical, it is just very pleasing to the eye. Other than the Taj and few surrounding buildings, there isn't much to see there. We wandered around the perfectly landscaped grounds for a bit and then collected our stuff and walked back to our rickshaw guy. He took us to the Agra fort where we didn't feel like paying to go in, so we just took some pictures from the outside. Then we wanted to eat lunch. He wanted to take us to a restaurant of his choosing (where he gets a commission) and Linh had to be very firm with him that we wanted to a specific restaurant that we had read about. He conceded and we ate at a roof top restaurant that had an excellent view of the Taj Mahal. It was a good lunch and to just be able to sit there staring at the Taj was a treat in itself. Sometimes it's hard to beleive we are actually at the places we are at. After lunch our driver started pushing take us to a place where they carve marble (another sales ploy) and we said no. He then took us to field that had an amazing view of the backside of the Taj. We snapped a few pictures before being beseiged by people selling stuff. The driver tried to get us to go to the local handicraft place. Again we said no and we decided it was time to pay the driver and be rid of him. We had him drop us at the train station and I paid him, and he said "you still have time left, don't you want to go to..." and I politely said 'No thank you, good bye'. I couldn't tell if he was happy to be off early or upset that we wouldn't go to his places. He looked a little bewildered. Anyway we went to the train station. It was about 2 pm and the train left at 6 for Jaipur. So we just hung out at the train station. They have separate waiting rooms for men and women. This was handy because even though Linh was wearing a modest skirt that went a few inches below her knee, the occassional guy would just sit and stare at her exposed lower calf and ankles. It was kind of unnerving. So after a bit of that she went into the ladies waiting room. Sitting in the train station for 4 hours gives a good chance to just sit and observe and this train station was a bit surreal. For one thing there were monkeys just running amok all over the place. Very entertaining to watch, they were climbing in the rafters, sliding down poles, there were baby monkeys and fat monkeys and skinny monkeys and the occasional local would feed them bananas or bread. There were also cows just lounging around between the tracks. Yes, it is true what you hear, the cows in India just wander around the streets unperturbed. There were also stray dogs in the station and every once in while the dogs and the monkeys would get into it. And then, while sitting in the waiting room i watche two or three mice running around doing mousy things. Never been to a train station quite like this one!
Eventually the train came and we had 2nd class sleeper tickets. They were pretty nice. This train ride was only 4 1/2 hours. I fell asleep because my sleep schedule of the last 2 days has been crazy. When I woke up Linh was being chatted up by some 18 year old Indian guy. He didn't hang around long once I was awake. We thought we were going to be fed on the train, but we were wrong. We arrived in Jaipur around 10:30 and got a rickshaw guy to drive us to a guest house that was in our book. It was full and not having many other options we put our fate in the hands of the rickshaw guy. We knew he would be upping the price with his commission but it was better than wandering around homeless. He took us to a place that was a dump, but it had a western toilet and it was reasonably priced. We stayed there and decided that we would move in the morning. It was dirty, but no bed bugs thank goodness. In fact we haven't seen any of those since that one hotel room in KL. Thank goodness.
1-23
We woke up and then the power went out. We ate breakfast. My french toast was served with tomato sauce for a topping. Yet another weird French toast. We decided to walk to another place. We found it without too much trouble and it is fairly clean. The cleanest place we have seen yet. Walking around is a bit of chore. While dodging people, trash, dirty piles of stuff and lots of other stuff on the road, you have to make sure not to get run over by the totally insane traffic, all the while brushing off rickshaw drivers. We are trying to firm up our travel plans for the rest of India right now.
Jaipur is a pretty dirty town, and we hadn't planned on staying here long, but unfortunately we can get to some of the smaller towns we want to go to but we can't get back to Delhi from there because everything is booked up. We rested up a bit and decided to go out a bit tommorow.
1-24
Some notes about India. WE are 10 1/2 hours ahead of EST in the states. I just don't understand where the half hour factors in. Strange. In northern India gets kinda chilly at night. There is no heat in the rooms and the one blanket they give is barely competent. After we both take hot showers the steam helps heat up the room a bit. The poverty in this country is way beyond what we have seen elsewhere. It is something you really have to see to believe. In the streets of Jaipur we have seen pigs, goats, donkeys, camel drawn carts, horse drawn carts, cows, snake charmers with cobras, and all of this is surrounded by cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, human rickshaws, autorickshaws, the occasional regal looking Royal Enfield motorcycle and the regal looking Ambassador cars all whizzing by, obeying no traffic laws whatsoever, driving on the wrong side of the road, blowing through traffic lights like they don't exist, It is just downright crazy here! It is a bit overwhelming, but we are slowly adjusting.
That and the fact that reliable internet is very hard to come by. I have yet to find one that can accomodate uploading pictures.
Today we didn't want to go out walking much because we are just overwhelmed with the beggars and walking is a real chore. But eventually we got bored and went to a shop around the corner. Now shops here are more like streetfront stores. And when you want to buy you have to haggle, a lot. You kind of have to psyche yourself up before going into a store for the whole haggling thing. The key is keeping a smile on your face and pretending that you really don't need whatever it is you are buying. When they wont budge anymore then you start to walk out and all of a sudden the price gets lower. It's kind of like a game between you and the vendor. And I have to hand it to Linh, she haggled like an ace today. The whole process took about an hour or so. By the end the vendors were sweating! The prices we got were about a third of what they were asking. After the price is agreed upon they get some hot tea and we all drink together. We really did get some good prices on stuff and they got a pretty good sale. It was actually kind of fun.
We couldn't find a decent place for dinner so we went to pizza hut. It was OK.
1-25
Today we woke up late and then changed rooms to a really nice room with a TV and a bathtub. In the spirit of enjoying the last remaining days of our trip we hired a rickshaw to take us to a nice restaurant for lunch. It was rather fancy and the food was great. We got to thinking and decided that we have had almost no fancy meals on our whole trip and this one only cost $15 (scandalous by Indian standards, but no big deal back home). So we figured this is the country to spend in, because the dollar goes a lot further.
Today we decided to play tourist and went to the city palace. Jaipur is the capitcal city of the state of Rajastan. So the local sultan lives here. We found that in most countries we try to avoid the touristy places because of the crowds and such, but here in India, when you pay to go into a tourist attraction, it is like stepping into a sanctuary. There are almost no touts. The grounds are impeccably clean. It is not so loud and crowded. One thing about the streets of India is that drivers feel that they must ride around with horn blaring all the time. It can get quite loud. The palace was wonderful. Full of beautiful arches and buildings. They had a quiet little cafe where we had coffee and a few different museums showcasing the royal carriages, textiles, art and such. One museum was full of old swords and daggers and guns and blunderbusses. The thing that I found very interesting was that they had some daggers and swords on display that, on the hilt, they had mounted tiny little pisotols. So it was like a sword and a gun all in one. And the mace looked especially brutal. If you want to know about the textiles and art and stuff you will have to ask Linh!
After thoroughly exploring the palace we stepped back out into the madness. Lots of people are friendly though. One guy gave us both a garland of flowers just because Linh took his picture and said she would send him a copy. And everytime we need directions, people are always ready to help. The palace is in the old city and all the streets there are basically one huge bazaar. Linh stopped at a little store and bought a sari.
On the walk back to our place we always have to cross an intersection that is full of tiny, dirty little kids begging for money. It is heartbreaking. But giving kids money just perpetuates the cycle of begging so we usually try not to. Today we stopped in a little store and bought some lollipops. We actually hit the traffic just right at that intersection and didn't really encounter any beggars, but one girl caught up with Linh and she gave her a sucker. Well, I don't know where the heck they came from, but in less time than it takes to say "Free Sucker!" there were about 10 kids swarming all over Linh and the big kids were shoving the small kids away and trying hog all the candy. I must give props to my wife, because she didn't take any gruff from the older kids and made sure even the little kids got a sucker. We still don't know if it was worth it! One of the cool things here is that when you leave a tip at a restaurant the waiter usually gets a huge grin on his face.
Anyway, we stopped back by the place that Linh did her bargaining magic at yesterday and went in for another round. By the time we left they were begging us not to tell other people how much we had bought stuff for. That is when you know you have acheived a good bargain.
1-26
We woke up real late and checked out at noon. Our train back to Delhi is at 4 pm and killing time in the streets of Jaipur is not much fun so we went to a tiny little internet cafe where everytime I went to the blogger site, the computer crashed. Anyway we wasted a couple of hours there and then went on and had some lunch and then went to the train station. We actually hired a cyclo to take us to the station. He said he would charge us 10 rupees (about $0.25). He looked so bad off that I gave him 20 and he still asked for more. We found refuge in the waiting room and soon enough we were on the train to Delhi. The stop before our last in Delhi the conductor guy tried to wake up a guy who was asleep in the berth next us. He wouldn't wake up. So the conductor went and got some water and splashed it on the guys face. He just moaned a bit and still wouldn't wake up! The conductor threw more water on him. Still asleep! The conductor slapped him a few times and the guy wouldn't respond! Well they picked him up and come to find out that the guy didn't have a ticket and was faking it all the time. The had to physically remove him to the hallway. We half thought they might toss him from the train but they kept him for the police. Always something exciting going on.
At the train station we found a decent restaurant and had dinner. It was 10 pm and we were starving. We then took a taxi to the airport. We have a 7 am flight to Bangalore tommorow and there is a place called the 'retiring center' at the airport that is like a hotel. Well, the retiring center was full so we got to strech out on chairs and sleep. Linh didn't really sleep, but I got a few hours in. The domestic terminal in Delhi is much nicer than the international terminal and they really screen everybody for tickets before they let you in the building. So it felt really safe.
1-27
We boarded our plane and were in Bangalore by noon. This city is much nicer than the other parts of India we have seen. Much cleaner. We found a nice place to stay and I fought with another internet place while Linh shopped. There are actually malls here and fixed price stores. A fairly relaxing day.
1-28
Our plane for Singapore leaves at 3:30 am tonight. We slept in late and left our bags at our hotel while we spent a relaxing day around town. This town is so much nicer than the other towns we have been in India. We took a rickshaw to the airport around 9:30 pm and waited in the dumpy airport until it was time to leave. Our plane was delayed leaving Delhi because they changed our flight plan and we had to take on more fuel. Lucky for us the plane was half empty and we each scored a row of seats to ourselves allowing us to lay down and sleep.
Some final thoughts on India:
India isn't for everybody. The poverty here is something you can't really beleive until you see it firsthand. Some of these people are so bad off that they don't even bother to beg. And some of the deformities and medical conditions you see just break your heart. The poorer side of India has a lot to learn about just basic cleanliness. On the other hand there are parts ofIndia that are astoundingly beautiful. It is just that the constant touts and poverty really made it difficult for us to enjoy ourselves all the time. If you haven't done much traveling, don't start in India!
Unfortunately, we were never able to make it to some of the smaller towns where we hear things are much better.
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1-21
We arrived in Delhi around 6:30 at night. Technically we have been in four different coutries in 24 hours. Now thats moving around. The funny thing was that it was cheaper for us to take a bus to Singapore and fly out of there for Delhi, but when we hopped on the plane, it had a short stay-on-the-plane layover in Kuala Lumpur! Crazy!
Anyway, back to Delhi. We have a love/hate relationship with our guidebook. I loved the way it helped us get through the airport and into Delhi seamlessly. We had plenty of warning about unscrupulous taxi drivers and commission seeking autorickshaw drivers. There is a prepaid taxi booth at the airport and, basically, you just pay in advance for the driver to take you where you want to go. WE were also able to go ahead and purchase our tickets for the train trip to Agra tommorow. That was nice because we didn't have to brave the train station to buy them. We had a hotel in mind that Linh had found on the internet. We had the taxi drive to the street it was on and then just drop us off, so he couldn't try and come in and get a commission off of our stay. It took a bit of walking but we eventually found it. And it was under construction. But they still had rooms. So we looked. The price on the internet was $15 but they wanted to charge $20 and the place wasn't as nice as we had hoped. He said the internet was 'wrong'. So we went to a place across the street and ended up staying there. It was pretty dumpy too, but at least it was a little cheaper. We went out and had an Indian dinner of Masala mutton and some sort of chicken. It was pretty good. The local Coke wannabe drink is called Thum's Up (yes, it spelled that way) and it was alright, too. We crashed out around 11:30 and we had to be up at 5 am to catch our 6am train to Agra and the Taj Mahal. The little we saw of Delhi around the train station area was bustling with people and hawkers, the streets were pretty messy, a direct contrast of Singapore.
1-22
5 am. Time to wake up. We packed and got out of there and made our way to the trainstation, brushing off rickshaw drivers as we went. We had first class seats and the seats were OK. They did feed a lot for a 2 hour journey though. That was good. We got to Agra around 8:30 and had a rickshaw guy take us to the Taj Mahal. Once there he offered to take us around for the rest of the day for about $6.00. Linh made it very clear that we didn't want to do any shopping (they will try and take you to shops where they get a commission) and that he would take us where we wanted to go. He agreed to the terms that we set and we didn't have to pay him until the end of the day. So off to the Taj we went. We checked our pack at the door and left behind Linhs messenger bag. You can't take much of anything into the Taj. Lighters, flashlights, food, drinks, sharp objects, cell phones, and lots of other stuff, we even saw one lady had to leave behind a toy car she had in her purse. After a thorough search of my bag we were in. And I must say the Taj was a bit smaller than I had anticipated, but it was absolutely beautiful. Built out of white marble and perfectly symmetrical, it is just very pleasing to the eye. Other than the Taj and few surrounding buildings, there isn't much to see there. We wandered around the perfectly landscaped grounds for a bit and then collected our stuff and walked back to our rickshaw guy. He took us to the Agra fort where we didn't feel like paying to go in, so we just took some pictures from the outside. Then we wanted to eat lunch. He wanted to take us to a restaurant of his choosing (where he gets a commission) and Linh had to be very firm with him that we wanted to a specific restaurant that we had read about. He conceded and we ate at a roof top restaurant that had an excellent view of the Taj Mahal. It was a good lunch and to just be able to sit there staring at the Taj was a treat in itself. Sometimes it's hard to beleive we are actually at the places we are at. After lunch our driver started pushing take us to a place where they carve marble (another sales ploy) and we said no. He then took us to field that had an amazing view of the backside of the Taj. We snapped a few pictures before being beseiged by people selling stuff. The driver tried to get us to go to the local handicraft place. Again we said no and we decided it was time to pay the driver and be rid of him. We had him drop us at the train station and I paid him, and he said "you still have time left, don't you want to go to..." and I politely said 'No thank you, good bye'. I couldn't tell if he was happy to be off early or upset that we wouldn't go to his places. He looked a little bewildered. Anyway we went to the train station. It was about 2 pm and the train left at 6 for Jaipur. So we just hung out at the train station. They have separate waiting rooms for men and women. This was handy because even though Linh was wearing a modest skirt that went a few inches below her knee, the occassional guy would just sit and stare at her exposed lower calf and ankles. It was kind of unnerving. So after a bit of that she went into the ladies waiting room. Sitting in the train station for 4 hours gives a good chance to just sit and observe and this train station was a bit surreal. For one thing there were monkeys just running amok all over the place. Very entertaining to watch, they were climbing in the rafters, sliding down poles, there were baby monkeys and fat monkeys and skinny monkeys and the occasional local would feed them bananas or bread. There were also cows just lounging around between the tracks. Yes, it is true what you hear, the cows in India just wander around the streets unperturbed. There were also stray dogs in the station and every once in while the dogs and the monkeys would get into it. And then, while sitting in the waiting room i watche two or three mice running around doing mousy things. Never been to a train station quite like this one!
Eventually the train came and we had 2nd class sleeper tickets. They were pretty nice. This train ride was only 4 1/2 hours. I fell asleep because my sleep schedule of the last 2 days has been crazy. When I woke up Linh was being chatted up by some 18 year old Indian guy. He didn't hang around long once I was awake. We thought we were going to be fed on the train, but we were wrong. We arrived in Jaipur around 10:30 and got a rickshaw guy to drive us to a guest house that was in our book. It was full and not having many other options we put our fate in the hands of the rickshaw guy. We knew he would be upping the price with his commission but it was better than wandering around homeless. He took us to a place that was a dump, but it had a western toilet and it was reasonably priced. We stayed there and decided that we would move in the morning. It was dirty, but no bed bugs thank goodness. In fact we haven't seen any of those since that one hotel room in KL. Thank goodness.
1-23
We woke up and then the power went out. We ate breakfast. My french toast was served with tomato sauce for a topping. Yet another weird French toast. We decided to walk to another place. We found it without too much trouble and it is fairly clean. The cleanest place we have seen yet. Walking around is a bit of chore. While dodging people, trash, dirty piles of stuff and lots of other stuff on the road, you have to make sure not to get run over by the totally insane traffic, all the while brushing off rickshaw drivers. We are trying to firm up our travel plans for the rest of India right now.
Jaipur is a pretty dirty town, and we hadn't planned on staying here long, but unfortunately we can get to some of the smaller towns we want to go to but we can't get back to Delhi from there because everything is booked up. We rested up a bit and decided to go out a bit tommorow.
1-24
Some notes about India. WE are 10 1/2 hours ahead of EST in the states. I just don't understand where the half hour factors in. Strange. In northern India gets kinda chilly at night. There is no heat in the rooms and the one blanket they give is barely competent. After we both take hot showers the steam helps heat up the room a bit. The poverty in this country is way beyond what we have seen elsewhere. It is something you really have to see to believe. In the streets of Jaipur we have seen pigs, goats, donkeys, camel drawn carts, horse drawn carts, cows, snake charmers with cobras, and all of this is surrounded by cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, human rickshaws, autorickshaws, the occasional regal looking Royal Enfield motorcycle and the regal looking Ambassador cars all whizzing by, obeying no traffic laws whatsoever, driving on the wrong side of the road, blowing through traffic lights like they don't exist, It is just downright crazy here! It is a bit overwhelming, but we are slowly adjusting.
That and the fact that reliable internet is very hard to come by. I have yet to find one that can accomodate uploading pictures.
Today we didn't want to go out walking much because we are just overwhelmed with the beggars and walking is a real chore. But eventually we got bored and went to a shop around the corner. Now shops here are more like streetfront stores. And when you want to buy you have to haggle, a lot. You kind of have to psyche yourself up before going into a store for the whole haggling thing. The key is keeping a smile on your face and pretending that you really don't need whatever it is you are buying. When they wont budge anymore then you start to walk out and all of a sudden the price gets lower. It's kind of like a game between you and the vendor. And I have to hand it to Linh, she haggled like an ace today. The whole process took about an hour or so. By the end the vendors were sweating! The prices we got were about a third of what they were asking. After the price is agreed upon they get some hot tea and we all drink together. We really did get some good prices on stuff and they got a pretty good sale. It was actually kind of fun.
We couldn't find a decent place for dinner so we went to pizza hut. It was OK.
1-25
Today we woke up late and then changed rooms to a really nice room with a TV and a bathtub. In the spirit of enjoying the last remaining days of our trip we hired a rickshaw to take us to a nice restaurant for lunch. It was rather fancy and the food was great. We got to thinking and decided that we have had almost no fancy meals on our whole trip and this one only cost $15 (scandalous by Indian standards, but no big deal back home). So we figured this is the country to spend in, because the dollar goes a lot further.
Today we decided to play tourist and went to the city palace. Jaipur is the capitcal city of the state of Rajastan. So the local sultan lives here. We found that in most countries we try to avoid the touristy places because of the crowds and such, but here in India, when you pay to go into a tourist attraction, it is like stepping into a sanctuary. There are almost no touts. The grounds are impeccably clean. It is not so loud and crowded. One thing about the streets of India is that drivers feel that they must ride around with horn blaring all the time. It can get quite loud. The palace was wonderful. Full of beautiful arches and buildings. They had a quiet little cafe where we had coffee and a few different museums showcasing the royal carriages, textiles, art and such. One museum was full of old swords and daggers and guns and blunderbusses. The thing that I found very interesting was that they had some daggers and swords on display that, on the hilt, they had mounted tiny little pisotols. So it was like a sword and a gun all in one. And the mace looked especially brutal. If you want to know about the textiles and art and stuff you will have to ask Linh!
After thoroughly exploring the palace we stepped back out into the madness. Lots of people are friendly though. One guy gave us both a garland of flowers just because Linh took his picture and said she would send him a copy. And everytime we need directions, people are always ready to help. The palace is in the old city and all the streets there are basically one huge bazaar. Linh stopped at a little store and bought a sari.
On the walk back to our place we always have to cross an intersection that is full of tiny, dirty little kids begging for money. It is heartbreaking. But giving kids money just perpetuates the cycle of begging so we usually try not to. Today we stopped in a little store and bought some lollipops. We actually hit the traffic just right at that intersection and didn't really encounter any beggars, but one girl caught up with Linh and she gave her a sucker. Well, I don't know where the heck they came from, but in less time than it takes to say "Free Sucker!" there were about 10 kids swarming all over Linh and the big kids were shoving the small kids away and trying hog all the candy. I must give props to my wife, because she didn't take any gruff from the older kids and made sure even the little kids got a sucker. We still don't know if it was worth it! One of the cool things here is that when you leave a tip at a restaurant the waiter usually gets a huge grin on his face.
Anyway, we stopped back by the place that Linh did her bargaining magic at yesterday and went in for another round. By the time we left they were begging us not to tell other people how much we had bought stuff for. That is when you know you have acheived a good bargain.
1-26
We woke up real late and checked out at noon. Our train back to Delhi is at 4 pm and killing time in the streets of Jaipur is not much fun so we went to a tiny little internet cafe where everytime I went to the blogger site, the computer crashed. Anyway we wasted a couple of hours there and then went on and had some lunch and then went to the train station. We actually hired a cyclo to take us to the station. He said he would charge us 10 rupees (about $0.25). He looked so bad off that I gave him 20 and he still asked for more. We found refuge in the waiting room and soon enough we were on the train to Delhi. The stop before our last in Delhi the conductor guy tried to wake up a guy who was asleep in the berth next us. He wouldn't wake up. So the conductor went and got some water and splashed it on the guys face. He just moaned a bit and still wouldn't wake up! The conductor threw more water on him. Still asleep! The conductor slapped him a few times and the guy wouldn't respond! Well they picked him up and come to find out that the guy didn't have a ticket and was faking it all the time. The had to physically remove him to the hallway. We half thought they might toss him from the train but they kept him for the police. Always something exciting going on.
At the train station we found a decent restaurant and had dinner. It was 10 pm and we were starving. We then took a taxi to the airport. We have a 7 am flight to Bangalore tommorow and there is a place called the 'retiring center' at the airport that is like a hotel. Well, the retiring center was full so we got to strech out on chairs and sleep. Linh didn't really sleep, but I got a few hours in. The domestic terminal in Delhi is much nicer than the international terminal and they really screen everybody for tickets before they let you in the building. So it felt really safe.
1-27
We boarded our plane and were in Bangalore by noon. This city is much nicer than the other parts of India we have seen. Much cleaner. We found a nice place to stay and I fought with another internet place while Linh shopped. There are actually malls here and fixed price stores. A fairly relaxing day.
1-28
Our plane for Singapore leaves at 3:30 am tonight. We slept in late and left our bags at our hotel while we spent a relaxing day around town. This town is so much nicer than the other towns we have been in India. We took a rickshaw to the airport around 9:30 pm and waited in the dumpy airport until it was time to leave. Our plane was delayed leaving Delhi because they changed our flight plan and we had to take on more fuel. Lucky for us the plane was half empty and we each scored a row of seats to ourselves allowing us to lay down and sleep.
Some final thoughts on India:
India isn't for everybody. The poverty here is something you can't really beleive until you see it firsthand. Some of these people are so bad off that they don't even bother to beg. And some of the deformities and medical conditions you see just break your heart. The poorer side of India has a lot to learn about just basic cleanliness. On the other hand there are parts ofIndia that are astoundingly beautiful. It is just that the constant touts and poverty really made it difficult for us to enjoy ourselves all the time. If you haven't done much traveling, don't start in India!
Unfortunately, we were never able to make it to some of the smaller towns where we hear things are much better.
posted by BananaCreamPie | 11:41 AM
2 Comments:
blun·der·buss ( P ) Pronunciation Key (blndr-bs)
n.
A short musket of wide bore and flaring muzzle, formerly used to scatter shot at close range.
--the phantom
Is India you final stop before the good old USA?
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