WELCOME TO ASIA....AGAIN.

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Part One: India.

16/01/2011 -Day 1

We touched down at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi after roughly eight and a half hours in the air. Our cabin was warm but not too uncomfortable (there were only two babies in our vicinity and only one of them was loud!). We disembarked to be greeted by a pleasant 15 degrees on a cloudy Delhi afternoon.
We were promptly met by my cousin Loya who having commandeered a decent taxi driver (rare in Delhi) took us to eat in Dilli Hat. Loya is a small young woman and John is well, slight as best. I will not comment on my appetite at this particularly moment however between the three of us we got through a generously portioned plate of fried chicken momo (dumplings) another of steamed momo and a huge plate of Chicken and Egg fried rice. No points for who ate the most.
After eating we took a leisurely stroll around Connaught place, one of the more metropolitan parts of New Delhi. John helped a young boy practice his english. It was nice to encounter someone who had no ulterior motive to sell us one of his wares, although I may just be incorrect in my assumptions. Afterwards much to the amusement of Loya I fell asleep in the Rickshaw ride back to our guesthouse. Some people are just easily amused. That evening we relaxed in our room. We had a modest dinner of rice and vegetables and watched Liverpool play Everton that evening. We then turned in early as we had an early flight the day after. Next destination, Guwahati.

17/01/2011- Day 2

Loya had arranged for our taxi driver to pick us up at 6:30. This meant we had to be awake by 5:30 and ready by 6:15. Me and John actually accomplished this with relative ease and got to the Airport without any hitches but we felt pretty rough as soon as we put our bags down in the departure lounge. A temporary rest was needed. Fifteen minutes later we felt much better and so treated ourselves to a Dosa- traditional Indian cuisine at it's best but perhaps not the wisest choice for breakfast. I slept through most of the flight but I didn't manage to see the Himalaya's which is always impressive, even when thousands of miles away.
We were greeted almost immediately by my Uncle who I refer to as Bordita and his driver Kitith who I remember from mine and John's last trip to Guwahati. Bordita and Kitith took us back to Guwahati in his new car, whilst playing aqua and showed us the new roads which has been built. My uncle insisted that the countryside was being developed heavily but I assured him that the country was still beautiful which needed no exaggeration, it was and still is.
A short drive later and we were the familiar entrance to Bordita's place, 47 Fatik Chandra Road. We were greeted with a huge hug from my Aunt (Borma). She insisted we eat and rest before the evening and so we ate, and rested. That evening we visited relatives and at the command of Bordita, my cousin Bhaskar bought new shirts for ourselves from a department store, after having played with transformer's voice changer masks, obviously.
Before we returned we were intercepted by my Uncle from my Mother's side, (Guri Mama), my aunt (Tina Mami) and my cousin Priya who is Loya's younger sister. Guri Mama is notorious in the family for his wicked sense of humour and prompty ridiculed me for my scruffy appearance and poor time management. But he did buy me and John a light meal so, swings and roundabouts. Borma made us Mutton for dinner and we finished the day as they traditionally do around these parts, by watching Wrestling.

18/01/2011-Day 3

Me and John were still feeling the effects of Jetlag but after an 11 hour sleep we felt much better than we did the day before. We were given the rare honour of recieiving an invitation to the UzanBazar Gentleman's club which is a bench near Bordita's house reserved to the company of the local Elders. Women and Children are usually strictly prohibited so entry to this highly exclusive club was a privilege.
Borma made us a huge lunch, so huge that I had to take a three hour nap afterward. Some time later we spent the remainder of the afternoon catching up with relatives and later visited my other Aunt who lives at the very top of a hill. Again we were healthily fed. After saying our goodbyes we visited another cousin's house where once again we had yet more food waiting for us. The quality made it hard for us to refuse however I don't think I have eaten so much in one single day. It's fair to say we slept well this night.

19/01/2011- Day 4

Had another long night's sleep and felt well rested in the morning. Following a light breakfast we watched some Cricket on T.V with Bordita. After being assured of India's inevitable victory, my cousin Bhaskar returned early from work and took us to an internet cafe so that we could check our emails.
John was feeling a little under the weather with an upset stomach so he headed back to rest, meanwhile me and Bhaskar decided to go for a walk around Guwahati. We walked along the banks of the River Brahmaputra which is at least 2km wide. Then we ascended a small hill, only a few hundred feet above sea level. Regardless it gave spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding area of the river. On the way back we walked under a row of trees filled with sleeping bats!
Later in the evening we went to Guri Mama and my other uncle Budu Mama's house for a meal. Yet again I was relentlessly teased, now by both of my uncles. (There was nothing wrong with my shoes, at worst they were a little bit scuffed!) My Aunt's prepared us a huge meal. Since John still wasn't 100% he only ate a little bit. I had to represent for the both of us. No complaints there. After dinner my cousin Priya showed me her very impressive artwork. My uncle dropped us back and we finished the evening by staying up and listening to music with Bhaskar. A good day.

20/01/2011- Day 5

Had to get up early due to our flight back to Delhi. Borma made us a light lunch and after saying a fond farewell to my family we headed through customs and into the departure lounge of Guwahati airport where we met an inquisitive tourism student. She asked us for our thoughts on India and Guwahati and we gave her our honest opinion. That we loved the place)s).
John and I read and slept during the short flight. We arrived just off schedule and were picked up once again by Loya and her friend Parnai. This time she was far less, calm than usual which we found out was due to the incompetence of the taxi driver she'd found. I thought she was over-reacting. She wasn't. For a drive that should have taken about 15 minutes, our driver took well over an hour. And he hit a motorbike. Twice.
John decided to stay and rest at the guesthouse so the rest of us decided to go out for dinner. We decided on Khan market, where the more affluent Delhi locals hang out. We went to a place ran by mogal chefs (famed for their culinary abilities that once served the mogal King's who once ruled India). They lived up to their reputation. We had a look at a lounge bar bu we unanimously agreed that it was far too swanky for us so instead we decided to get some ice cream. Before we returned we stopped to get some 'Paan', A hard to describe but nonetheless delicious and very popular after dinner delicacy throughout India. We returned with a bottle of Pepsi for John and watched some T.V before calling it a night.

21/01/2011- Day 6

We had another lazy morning. The temperature had soared to 25 degrees so we decided to take it easy. Later, after packing and repacking our bags we decided to head once again to Connaught place. We caught an Auto-Rickshaw and although we are certain the driver took us the scenic and considerably more expensive way around, it was still nice to see some of the more scenic aspects of Delhi.
We had organised to meet Gaurav, a friend we made on our last travels but he was a little busy so we killed some time by going to an internet cafe. later we wanted to sample some indian cuisine but we had agreed to go eat with Gaurav so we went to Mcdonald's instead.
Eventually Gaurav arrived and with his friend Gabriel we caught up over a meal at the renowned restaurant chain, Haldirams. Gaurav later suggested we meet with another friend from AVS, Zeeshan but we were short on time so we agreed on just a quick drink. In one of the more surreal events of the trip so far we found ourselves in a dark karaoke bar being serenaded by two lounge singers of limited musical ability. It was a lot of fun but we could only stay for one drink. We got back to our guesthouse in good time and checked out and arrived at the airport without incident. Next stop, Bangkok!

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