Chanting

---

Woke at 4:30 AM to the beautiful chanting from the Sikh Temple next door. The chanting is 24/7 by devotees in person! There is an hourly schedule they follow. So once in a while it's quiet for an hour when someone doesn't show up but that is a very rare occurance. It is not a muslim religion, the Sikhs believe in equality for all people, they do not believe in the cast system and men and women are considered equal from what I have read. The temple is open to all visitors who are offered free lodging and food. There is a great Golden Temple further north I'll go visit and stay towards the end of this month. According to my Lonely Planet guide the domes of the temple are reported to be gilded with 750kg of pure gold! Today I'll visit the temple next door which also has the golden domes. I think I'll miss t he beautiful chanting when I leave tomorrow, sometimes it's quite comforting in the night when I miss everyone. Besides it really is beautiful. Some of the chants are more appealing than others. There is one guy who sounds like a cd with a scratch on it, not too wild about that guy.

I have to say staying at the Y has been really great. There are guards at the entrance gate. It's like a little compound here. The hostel is next to the administrative offices. There is a separate little building with computers and phones and an "Inhouse Tour office". It cost 30 rupees an hour to use the computer thats $0.75 very inexpensive. My average meal is 150 rupees which is $3.75 which is Indian Fried Rice, A wonderful spicy veggie dish, ltr of water and an entire coffee pot!. You can not order just a cup, you always get the entire pot! There are several different veggie dishes and rice dishes on the menu sometimes it seems no matter what I order I get the same thing which is ok really because I love them.
If I try to ask if the dish is spicy I'm only asking because I like it spicy, but they think I want more so then I can hardly eat it and my nose starts to run and I can hardly eat it. So I think it's safer to just take it as it comes or lean a few Hindi words. I need to learn a few now anyway.

My total daily expenses are running about $14.50. The last few days by coincidence the expenses were exactly the same. They include a taxi, lunch and dinner and the internet and entrance fees here and there so pretty good if you ask me.

I get a news paper each day under my door, maid service. There is laundry service if you need it. There are a lot of strange faucets and buckets and stools in the bathroom, I'm not exactly sure what they all are for, well.....I suppose it's obvious, I just don't use any of them. I stay with the shower. Windows are high with bars, but I doubt they have been washed in years.

I think I'll hire a taxi on my own today it cost about $10.00 to $20.00 for the entire day depending on what you can work out with the driver. Either way they take you where ever you want and wait. I'll write more on Old Delhi later tonight. It's Old Delhi all right it is the old world, old way of life in the middle of a New Delhi a new way of life. Tonight there is place that performs the "Dances of India" I'm looking forward to seeing some women! The men here run EVERYTHING, as far as I can see so far anyway. Although we stopped by the Tourist Office yesterday and thank heavens there were women who could answer our questions and they were very sweet. So looking forward to tonight too bad the performance is only an hour. I am desperate for coffee...............until later.

---