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Published: January 18th 2008
Well, its day two and all is well! We arrived yesterday morning, and by the evening it had all came back to me... the walk, the talk, the... everything! Except I had really forgotten how clever the Kashmiri salesmen are. They dress the best, the always look sharp, they speak the best English (as well as like five other languages), and they are the hardest to get rid of!! You
feel like you should trust them, and they always say the right things, but they're the ones to stay the farthest from! Well, it took me a while to get my India-legs back, but I'm back on track now. And its amazing how pretending to speak Chinese, but really just jibberish, does wonders to lose the salesmen! If they can't understand you, then they really can't sell you anything very easily. I've also found it worthwhile to just tell any police/military Indians that we're (Kevin and John and I) all in the US Army... they treat you better. Of course John actually is an Army boy, so that helps us play the part that much better! Hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans do! And this is the most refined "hustler" culture I've personally ever been in, so its just part of the game to lie, right? Well, it works for me!
Anyway, yesterday Kevin and I wandered all around Paharganj, which is like the "sketchy" part of Delhi, and also where our hotel is (Hotel Namaskar), and we basically got our bearings around the area. Took a small walk across a major road into a less "touristy" area, and were immediately approached with: are you lost? You shouldn't be here... there are pick-pocketers here, etc. Just what we were looking for! Ok, not the pick-pocketers, but getting off the beaten path. And don't worry, we had absolutely no problems. There's just something kind of fun about walking down a road in India and having people look at you thinking "what are you doing here?" Its great! Plus you get to see a little more of India than most people who come here see. We also found one of the better local restaurants (Malhotra) based on price and quality, and I got to rekindle my love for the Masala Dosa! I honestly think I ate those every morning the last time I was in India, and I see no reason to fix what isn't broken! Then later in the night Kevin and I lost our energy and had to come back to the hotel and crash.... hard! But then we were hoping to stay up until John arrived, which we just couldn't do. But then after a few hours John made the successful journey from the airport to the Hotel, and promptly crashed as well. In the morning (7am!) we did the proper greetings, and today we spent the whole day wandering around, including a trip to the Red Fort. And for those who I've been talking about this a lot with, John fits into the mix just perfectly. He's well traveled, smart about how to travel, and is very easy going like Kevin and I. Plus you add in the military experience and we should all travel just fine together, as he provides the legitimate protection and sense of what is safe and what isn't (he spent 13 months in Iraq). Anyway, tonight we plan on eating at Club India, which is just another local restaurant in Paharganj, but the smells coming out of there were great, the prices were good, and I think its the only restaurant in the area that you can eat up at the top of the building looking down at the main market. Should be good!
Anyway, thats all for now, and hopefully the next time I can get some pictures on here as well (I forgot to bring the camera down here to the internet cafe)... but if only I could post some scratch and sniff pictures!! 😉
So until the next posting...
Peter
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amy
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Thanks for the delightful account of your first few in foreign domain. Brings back memories. Keep the play-by-plays coming, it helps to pass the hours for those of us stuck in office cubicles with no masala dosa for miles. Be safe. xo