Welcome in India

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Namaste. My latest journey has commenced in India. I arrived here 1 AM last night and soon after stepping out of the airport was hit with the wonderful air in New Delhi. Fortunately, it was late at night which meant that it had cooled off considerably to about 85 degrees farenheit, with a drop in humidity to 85%.
(The air is so thick here it has to be experienced to be appreciated). Fortunately I spoiled my self with an air conditioned room, and got some rest.

Today I embarked on a New Delhi tour de force. I traveled to the red fort in "Old" New Delhi, a predominantly muslim and very poor part of the city. Navigating the city is perplexing, as I've yet to see more than a few street signs. Nonetheless, i'm easily recognized as a tourist by my sunglasses and light skin and when people try to sell me things I get free directions instead. The red fort was massive, and the heat really started to kick in in the early afternoon. I'd estimate it was 95 degrees today and 90% farenheit. hot. This may explain the slow, relaxed pace of everything in Delhi.

I treated myself to a wonderful lunch of butter chicken (chicken makhani) and met a nice pre-med student from Chicago at the restaurant who is doing some public service here in New Delhi. After that I took a stroll to the Masjid mosque here, the largest in India. I climbed the south tower and got to play the game- how many smelly people can fit in a 10 foot square space at the top of the tower. The indians won, and I soon descended. I met a group of indian university students on my way out who were eager to practice their english and tell me of their dreams to come to work in the USA.

Outside of the mosque I saw for the third time this nice man who really wanted to give me a tour of the Old Delhi markets. He was a rickshaw driver- a three wheeled one-speed bicycle. It is the tamer, less obnoxious version of the autorickshaw. We cruised through some pretty neat wholesale markets and only ran into two moving objects (don't worry- we were going quite slow).

After some recuperation in my A/C room, I went to central Delhi (Connaught square) and enjoyed some divine South indian cuisine. I devoured a vegetable and cocunut/potato dosa, along with some dessert. Dosas are these thin, crisp pancake-like fritters that are filled and dipped in chutneys (relishes). all i can say is mmm. mmm. mmm.

Tomorrow i'm off to Kathmandu, Nepal. I'll be back in Delhi in a month prior to my return home.

(By the way, I may have added you to the distribution list of this blog without asking- so feel free to unsubscribe yourself if you're not interested in reading this.)

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Photos

man + dog
who is dirtier?

not dead... just sleeping
this guy was taking a break from the heat.... i guess

mosque
this place can hold 25.000 people at once according to Indian standards. Probably more like 5,000 if abiding by american personal space

don't drink the water?
All walks of life enjoy a refreshing, cool drink from the green water at the mosque

mooove
A common sight here- Roaming cow in street holds up traffic.

Comments

[Neva]

hi there
Awesome - glad you made it there unscathed. I'm jealous (once again) of your eating adventures. Have a great time!

[jon]

dude....
I am so jealous of you. You have to have gone to India to really understand what goes on there...right? It's bananas. Keep updating the blog, please.....