Delhi is a Cow's Disneyland

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Saturday November 11, 2006 - Today I woke up with a cold. Possibly from my Australian boys, as they were both in different stages of it while we were spending time together. I stayed in bed as late as I could, and then got up to watch the people and traffic down below my window. I had asked for a room with a balcony specifically for this reason, as Pete and Ray had told me to do, and they were right. I think I got some good pictures of people and cows and pedal rickshaws going by. Cows - they are everywhere. They are sacred which means that everyone feeds them garbage and doesn't eat them. This got me thinking - what do they serve at McDonalds if not burgers? They wander around the streets so the cars have to go around them or honk until they (hopefully) move out of the way, though there are some willfull cows out there. They also poo all over the street, adding to the already heaping piles of garbage that you have to step around, or if you're really unlucky, through or over. From my very short time in India I can say there are tons of people, bunches of cows, and heaps of trash left, right, and center. My same three or so outfits for the year are permeated with the filth of several nations, so at least I feel like I fit in in that regard. There is also a lot of pollution here, more than in Nepal, closer to the scale of China.

I didn't want to spend anymore of my time in my hotel room, as nice as it was to think that Ray and Pete had also been here. I decided to look for another hotel or just switch rooms if absolutely necessary. I went out and looked at three hotels. The first two were just as depressing but the third was a shining star in comparison. It was more open and airy and had a decent room with two beds and a cleanish hot water bathroom. And it was the same price. Sold. I realized very quickly that most of the people there were Israeli, and that it was mostly a Jewish hotel. Didn't seem to be a requirement though, so no worries. Just after I looked at the room and was walking back down towards reception, a guy was asking me which room I had seen and if I would take it. He said he had stayed there the night before, checked out, but decided that his girlfriend was too tired and ill to travel today. He said all the rest of the rooms were full and would I mind sharing a room or letting them rest in my room for the day? I thought it was all very creepy and suspect - I have shared a room with many people this year but he just gave off a bad vibe. He said he would be back in a little while and then left. Strange.

I told the manager that I would take the room and he asked me to come back in 30 minutes to check in - maybe they had to finish cleaning it. So I went back to my room, finished packing, and waited the half hour before checking out and walking over to the new hotel. Unfortunately creepy guy was there and asked if I wanted to share the room. I told him sorry, no. Then he asked if he could go relax there with his girlfriend and smoke and I told him sorry, there is no smoking in my room. Ba-bye. Then I was checked in, and went to put down all my things and revel in the solitariness of my own space. In a country like India, it's important to have your own space.

This accomplished, I set out to have some lunch. On my way down the stairs who should I run into but Jukka? He had looked for me last night at the train station as well and eventually gave up, as I did, and got himself a rickshaw to this hotel. He said he had just been out looking to see if he could find a better hotel and couldn't, so he was staying. Such a nice coincidence to run into the one person I knew! It is much harder to meet people in a hotel like this compared to a hostel. In a hotel, you have your own room and that's that. In a hostel, you have dorm rooms where as much as I dislike the dorm idea at times, it is a great way to meet other people. Also, hostels tend to have areas where people just sit and congregate and chat, so it's easy to meet other travelers. Since I am at the end of my trip now it didn't matter so much if I made a new friend, but it was really nice to see someone I already knew and could talk to. We decided to go get some lunch together and spent a lot of time wandering down streets looking for restaurants. We started looking for one in particular that the boys had told me about, but without the name I couldn't find it. So we wandered some more. You either find a bunch all together or nothing. Finally we did find one that looked decent so we went in and ate. And it was pretty good.

After lunch I headed out to buy my train tickets to Agra. I decided to take a day trip there to see the Taj Mahal. Jukka wasn't interested so we parted and I made my way to the train station. There is a special office upstairs for foreigners to buy their tickets - it is quite a process - and I decided to go there. I hadn't counted on the long line but it wasn't so bad. The line was made by sitting on the couches and chairs that went in a circle. When someone got up to go the desk, everyone physically moved up in line, to a new chair or couch. Kind of funny. I spent the time talking to a woman from New Zealand and then to a Russian couple. I had to fill out a form about where I wanted to go, which train I wanted to take, and other such things before it was my turn. It seemed there were two good options - one train left at 6am and arrived at 8am and came back to Delhi around 9pm, arriving at 11pm. This train was the best option but megaexpensive. So I chose the next best option - a train that left close to 7am and arrived at 10am and left Agra at 6:55pm, arriving at 10pm. It cost me about $5 for the return trip. A bit more than I expected, but not bad.

From the train station I walked over to the British Airways office. I wanted to confirm my flights to Scotland for Wednesday. Unfortunately, I used the guide book map to get there and they have since moved offices. I never did find out where they were located, but I did walk around this part of town for a while. There are a lot of bookstores and high end stores - and McDonalds. No, I did not eat there but I did go in to look at the menu. It really doesn't serve beef, only chicken and veggie burgers, and some curries. It's a different world.

I made my way back to my hotel down a road that was parallel to the road I had taken away from the hotel, but it turned out not to go all the way. It basically dead ended at the train station, but on the side and in a way I couldn't access. Then there was a man telling me to come with him and he was knocking on the building door. I stood there for a minute but was telling him it was ok, not to worry, I would just walk around. He said it was too far and kept knocking. I was a little nervous about what or who was behind this door so I started to walk away, and then the door opened and I could see inside. It was the exit from the train station that I had walked through the night before when leaving my platform. Yay - it was safe and really would save me lots of time! I thanked him and went back to the hotel.

At this point I was still sick and exhausted. I checked my email to tell my mom I was still alive and then I decided to have a quick dinner at the restaurant I had looked for at lunch. The boys had emailed me with the name of it since they had just been there again a few days before me. I had one of my favorite Indian meals and was disappointed. It was a little different than I expected. I read and ate and then went home and went to bed. Hoping the illness would be gone tomorrow.

Sunday - No luck - still sick. Now it's progressed to hocking up and snotting out yellowish stuff. My favorite. I got up a bit early to chat with my mom on the computer, but she wasn't online. Bummer. Went back to my room and stayed there until noon, resting and trying to get my body to heal itself. Afterwards Jukka and I went for lunch. Again we walked for a while before deciding on a restaurant. It looked really nice but wasn't too expensive so we sat there. I had lunch and he had a dessert. He had a late breakfast and wasn't hungry enough for a meal; however, he als admitted to eating desserts and snacks for most of his meals, even in Finland. Young and doesn't put on weight - I told him not to worry , that would catch up with him eventually.

Over lunch Jukka told me that earlier, he had encountered my same creepy hotel guy who asked him the same questions of staying and or smoking in his room. This happened up on the roof, where the guy and his girlfriend spent the day. I knew they had been lying about not being able to get a room yesterday, because I saw several people look at rooms and check in after me. Jukka also knew they were lying as the girlfriend seemed to be strung out and they appeared to be selling drugs as well. We figured they were just trying to get a free room, or possibly have the strung out girlfriend steal your things while you were out of the room. They were definately creepy and working it somehow or another.

After lunch Jukka wanted to take a walk to see a park in the city. We looked at his map and found one that was enormous, so we started walking there. Near the beginning we passed a sign for a temple down a side street and we decided to check it out. We had to walk past a lot of people in ramshackle housing and a lot of kids playing in the street. It felt a little weird with all the staring but we got there and walked around outside. We weren't sure if we were allowed to be there or not but someone came up to us and we asked him if it was ok. He said yes and that this was the temple where Ghandi used to spend a lot of time. It seemed unlikely as it was so small and out of the way and without any big GHANDI WAS HERE signs, but kind of cool nonetheless. The kids were giving us a bit of a hard time as we left and some of the adults had to come out and tell them to stop but we made it out to the main road without too much hassle. Along the way we saw another enormous temple with a long line to get in. I was curious but not enough so we moved on. It took us a really long time to get to the park - the map was definately not to scale. And what made it worse is that it was not a park but more of a hunting reserve and/or protected forest, so we were not allowed to go in anyway! Briefly considered just going in and walking around, but it looked like a good place to get killed so we turned around and walked away after relaxing at a bus stop briefly. We were going to get an auto rickshaw home, but for the first time we weren't being hounded by one and there were none to be seen until we were near the temple. By this time, I decided we may as well keep walking and check out the temple. We waited in line, and got to the metal detectors. They told us we weren't allowed to bring in our cameras but we could leave them there. We decided we liked our cameras too much to trust them to a sketchy situation so we just turned around and walked on. We did visit a small Buddhist temple just next door and we were the only ones in there. Very quick but a nice stop.

We walked the rest of the way back and made a detour to Connaught Place, where the McDonalds was. We ended up eating an early dinner there, despite the fact that he had only been to McDonalds once or twice in his life before and that there was no beef. I had a Mexican Chicken Wrap, because what says India better than Mexico? Jukka had also had a Maharaja Chicken Burger of sorts that he swears was veggie burger. Bummer.

From the moment I knew I would be going to India I decided I wanted to get a henna tattoo on my hands. It is a temporary tattoo painted on with a henna paste that lasts two to three weeks. It is traditionally worn by women who are getting married, and it is on their hands and feet as well. I decided that today was the best day to get this done since I would be busy all tomorrow and then Tuesday was my last day in town. Also, Jukka offered to come with me and help me, because once the paste is on your hands you can't use them for a while. So this was an incredible help to me. I went back to my room and showered and got all the things ready I would need for the next day, as much as I could think of doing before my hands were useless anyway. When everything was set I went up to the roof restaurant where Jukka was reading, and we walked down the street to one of the henna shops. There was another girl in there getting henna done on her feet at the time, but there was enough room for me as well. One man started on my right hand - it is applied the same way you would decorate a cake with an icing bag - and then another started on my left hand. Jukka took a few pictures of the process for me and then we sat back and talked to Brie, the American girl, and Ricardo, her boyfriend, when he came back from running errands. We had to stay there for about an hour letting the henna dry - the longer you leave the henna on the longer the design will last. Brie and Ricardo have spent the last few years teaching English abroad - in Japan and Korea. They liked the companies they worked for and have even been able to save money and travel. For the first time I am considering teaching English abroad. They even gave me some contacts to get started.

We sat there for the hour and had a great conversation - they were great people. Then they had to go as their plane to the States left that night. Jukka and I made our way back as well. He was in charge of everything since my hands were limited. He did the paying for me then got the keys out to let me in. The doors lock with a padlock on the outside - I used theirs as well as my own so he had to unlock both. He left me in there once I was set up and then I laid down on the bed to try to sleep for a while. It was difficult as I left the henna on for some time to try to get it to stain more. At 11:45pm I got up and scraped off the dried henna paste. It took about half an hour since there were so many lines and it was really dried on. Then I went back to sleep for a few hours before waking up for the big Taj Mahal day.

(Monday - see Taj Mahal blog)

Tuesday - Today is my last day in India. I left my room early and looked down at Jukka's room from the balcony just in front of my door. I saw that the padlock was on so he was either being held prisoner in his room and needed help or he was having breakfast. I decided to have breakfast upstairs on the roof before considering such possibilities and unfortunately he wasn't there like I thought. So I was back to either him being locked in again or perhaps he just decided to frequent a new joint. I ate my breakfast while reading my book and then afterwards checked his door again. The padlock was off! He was back and not being held captive after all. I went back to my room for a bit and he popped up to say hi. We sat down and I told him about my crazy day yesterday and the Taj Mahal. He told me he had changed his flight so now he was flying to Thailand today instead of waiting for Thursday. He was over India and needed to get on with the rest of his travels. We sat around and talked for some time, mostly back up on the roof. Then we headed out to change some money. He wanted to change his money from rupees into Thai baht and I needed to change some dollars into rupees. Well, no one had baht, or at least no one was willing to change such a small amount of money since they wouldn't make much profit. Then one person was willing but he said he would have to go get the money and bring it back. Jukka didn't have much time since he had to pack and then go to the airport. But the guy ended up convincing him it would only be 10 minutes, which I think we both knew was a lie. I changed money in that time and finally Jukka stormed out, saying it had been 20 minutes. He waited for me a little down the block and then we walked on together. The man came running after us and said he had the money now so we went back and completed the transaction. Jukka went back and packed quickly - the boy has a tiny bag that must be nearly empty. I walked him out and down the street where we got him an autorickshaw to the airport and then we said good bye.

The rest of my day was just a jumble of trying to do some last minute Christmas shopping and eating and packing. I did manage to buy a few nice things for cheap, things that I would like to have for myself....hmmm. Anyway, I had a nice curry for lunch and fried eggs with toast for dinner. Both of these meals were at my Australian boys favorite restaurant, and they were very good. I even had my last proper Indian milk tea. My stomach has been angry again so I decided to take some antibiotics in hopes I would be well hopefully for my flight the next day, but at least by the time I arrived in Scotland. I still had a cold and needed more tissues than any one person should ever be allotted, but that seemed to be out of my control. The packing was an interesting process as well. My bag was very full and I had to pack it really well to make sure everything would fit inside. I only hoped the weight would be ok. I got rid of many things I no longer needed and left them in the room for the staff if they felt so inclined. I had also bought a new bigger carryon bag than my daypack and left the daypack behind as well (sorry Jules!). It was just too small and too awkwardly shaped to fit in as much as I needed to fit inside, especially since my camera and film take up so much room together. The new carryon cost less than a dollar and I was told I could carry 25 kilos in it. I didn't think that was true but wasn't planning to carry on that much so it was fine either way.

I stayed up rather late doing all this and then had to get to bed - my alarm was set to wake me up at 3am! My flight was at 6:55am and I ordered a taxi through the hotel to pick me up at 3:30am. My last night, or couple of hours, of India and the rest of my trip. The next part will be in the sophisticated world of Great Britain, and a far cry from the third world life I have been living.

India has gone by so quickly, and I really wish now that I could have stayed longer and seen more sights. I have always been nervous about visiting India, have heard crazy stories about the way things are, the likelihood of being touched by strange men at every turn, especially as a single western female. It just sounded like to much to deal with, too much reality and filth and poverty, especially at the end of such a long trip. I had decided not to go to India at all on this trip, figured I just didn't need the stress. I was disappointed when I found out it just wasn't affordable to fly out of Kathmandu and that the plane tickets from Delhi were incredibly reasonable and impossible to pass up. I bought my tickets and just tried to make the best of a bad situation knowing it would only be a short time.

Well, upon arriving in India I realized that it may be dirty and crowded and polluted, but it was hardly that surprising or intimidating after all the places I have been to this year. I may not want to live here permanently, but I could certainly make my way around without too much bother. I did have some advice from friends beforehand which helped immensely, and for that I am grateful. But now after such a short time, I find I would like to come back and see more. It is such a large country with so much history and so many different things to see. I hope I am able to explore it a little more fully on a later trip, but I have been thinking that of so many places lately. There are just so many places to see out there.

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