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Published: September 10th 2008
I arrived in India and transferred to my hotel at 3 am without any problems! The Singapore airport is really nice! I wish my 10-hour layover had been there! They even have stations with computers with free internet!
My first day in Delhi I didn't meet my group until 6 pm so I did some exploring on my own. I hired a tuk-tuk driver for a few hours and went to a couple different places. First Lakshmi Narayan Temple aka Birla Mandir (Hindu). It was gorgeous! Red and yellow earthy tones in color. No pictures allowed inside though. Then I went to a Sikh temple, Bangla Sahib. There was a tourist office in the temple with volunteers who gave short tours. It was really helpful to have someone show me around! We had to wash our feet before entering and cover our heads. At all Sikh temples food is provided for the people who come to worship. This temple was the largest one in Delhi so the kitchen was massive. People volunteer in the kitchen usually at least once a week. 10-20,000 people go to this temple to worship every day, 20-50,000 on Sundays. It was Sunday so there were literally
people everywhere! The Holy Book was in the center of the temple and was the focus. People also paid their respects to the Book's bedroom, a glass chamber where the book is put at night. Next I went to the India Gate, the Arc-de-Triumph of India. Then Humayun's Tomb which was the highlight. It cost 10 rupees for locals and 250 for tourists. That's how most things are; there's a local price and a foreigners price. Humayun's Tomb was supposedly the inspiration for the Taj Mahal and the architecture was absolutely fabulous! It's made out of red sandstone so the color was gorgeous! Honestly, it was spectacular! And pictures of course don't do it justice. I'm really excited for the Taj Mahal now! There were nice big grounds as well with a bunch of trees and a couple mosques. It was nice to just sit in the shade for a while because it was soooo hot! Supposedly it was at least 36 degrees celsius which is 97 fahrenheit. Plus about 500 % humidity. Insane! I came at the wrong time of year! I needed to be here in January when the temperatures are more reasonable!
Last I went to Gandhi
Smriti, a museum in the place where Gandhi was assassinated.
In the evening I met my group. There are 12 of us, 11 females. Most people are early 20's, just like my other trips. I was expecting the majority to be older. From what I can tell it's going to be a great group! 5 of us are single travellers which was also a pleasant surprise. So we're all just kind of one group, more like Nepal than the Thailand/Malaysia groups were. It should be good!
The morning of the 8th we went as a group to a couple places in Old Delhi. We took a bus to get there. A public bus. A really crowded public bus! It was like we were on a mission to see how many people we could squish in. The buses here are like in Nepal. They look old and the windows all open, more like school buses actually. The public buses in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore were more like what we would find in the States.
First we went to a mosque. I think it was called Meena Bazar Jama Masjid, but I'm not sure. From inside the courtyard there was
a pretty good view of the Red Fort. We didn't get to go to the Red Fort which was really disappointing because it is closed on Mondays. Then to another Sikh temple, Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahid. Then we walked through a spice market and had lunch at a little restaurant along the side of the road. We took the metro back to our hotel, Hotel Perfect, in Karol Bagh. It's a completely different world on the metro! Outside it's chaos. People everywhere, loud horns, crazy drivers, children clinging to our legs begging for money, street stands, dust, cows and their excrements, and did I mention that there are people everywhere? In the metro it looks remarkably clean and modern. There's air conditioning, and, while there are still tons of people, it isn't as hectic.
Now the afternoon of the 8th we're off to Jaisalmer by train!
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Dan
non-member comment
hey Eryn, im enjoying regualry visiting your page and i hope you're having a stoking time :). I can tell you have grown in confidence since we left you, as im not sure many 18 year olds would go in a tuk tuk on their own in a strange country. Its weird to think that im sitting in my room on this computer with nothing planned today and you're discovering the world still. i look forward to reading more of your travels and hope you keep safe. dan :)