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Published: January 21st 2006
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Making Chappati..
..at the Sikh Temple Crowded, crowded bus.
No sense of personal space
Packed in like sardines.
I had my first taste of riding a public bus in New Delhi. Now this is something that I'll never forget. The 13 of us jam onto an already crowded bus. Translink could learn a few things about getting people to "move to the back of the bus" because we were really jam packed...no room to move. But I must admit it did make it easier to stay standing on a moving bus when we were all jam packed in there! The longer we were on the bus, the less crowded it got and I eventually even got a seat to sit down on!
When I was able to see out of the window I saw some different sights. Like the row of men's urinals that were out in the open...cows, chickens, buffalo, goats, dogs, monkeys roaming the streets. (It was too funny when we saw some goats getting a luxury tuk tuk ride.)..spiderweb of electrical wires. Apparently 70% of the users are not paying customers...sea of yellow and green tuk tuks...everyone trying to sell you hankerchiefs, shirts, belts, postcards, bindis, bags...you name it, they were probably
Holi Wars
The aftermath...
Left to right, back to front...Jen, Craig, Le-ann, Tom, Donna, Bonnie, Rachel, Brian, Nitin, Robyn and Shauna trying to sell it..
Jama Masjid Mosque.
Bargaining at the Bazaar.
Walking Connaught Place.
Our first stop was to the Jama Masjid Mosque. Apparently this mosque can accommodate up to 25,000 people. I can't imagine that many people praying at one time! We also paid a visit to the Sikh Temple where a guide tried to explain a bit about Sikhism but to tell you the truth his explanation was a bit confusing to follow and you guessed it...I zoned out! Whoops! We walked around the temple (with our heads covered) and had the chance to try making some japati. Not as easy as it looks! I was really amazed at the size of the huge wok that they have for preparing the Holy food. If we wanted we could have come back at 7:30 that night for a free three hour meal...surprisingly none of us took them up on that offer...
Then it was off to check out some of the shopping areas around Connaught Place and the Palika Bazaar. The Palika Bazaar is an underground bazaar where your bargaining skills are really put to the test. I really wasn't that interested in buying anything except perhaps a nice cotton top. I managed to bargain my way through a purchase without getting too, too ripped off I hope! It is interesting to shop the "Indian" way. Instead of flipping through clothes racks, they bring the clothes to you! You just wave off the stuff you don't like or tell them what you are looking for. They are pretty pushy in trying to get you to buy more but I stood my ground and did not go any higher than the price I had in mind. Phew bargaining can be a draining process! Rachel got away with only buying a couple of watches and a couple pairs of pants...not bad. While Rachel was being shown pants there was a boy named Raj that chatted me up...I think in hopes that I'd buy one of his duffel bags he was selling. No worries though, I saw right through his charm and only walked away with two duffel bags. haha Kidding of course...I only got one. haha again...I couldn't resist. lol
After walking away from the duffel bags and making a few purchases, Rachel and I thought it would be wise to get above ground again and away from the markets. So we popped up from the Palika Bazaar and headed to an ice cream stand for a little break before cruising around the shops of Connaught Place. Most of the shops there were pretty expensive. Shops similar to what you would find at home; name brands. We did go to a couple of shops like the book store just to check it out or the McD's to get a drink and cool off. It was interesting to see that at the McD's they have a cell phone recharging station for customer's to use! Now that's something I've never seen before. Since we were just wandering around and it was pretty hot we decided to head back to the hotel to rest up before some fun on the rooftop before dinner.
The fun on the rooftop was throwing of coloured powder. You see, just a couple of days before it was the Holi Festival...nobody is spared. The Holi festival is a Hindu festival and isn't dubbed the "festival of colours" for no reason. You throw water and coloured powder at any moving target. Even the cows are not spared! It was really messy but oh so much fun! I can't wait to post some pictures of this experience. Showering up you should have seen the pink just come off of me. Thank goodness I was smart enough to wear navy and dark gray pants because it would take many, many washings to try and get that colour out of a white shirt!
Dinner was back at Crossroads again. Good food but a little more expensive than I was anticipating. Then we went for a short after dinner walk with Rachel, Mel and Nitin where we checked out the Monday night market and indulged in an Indian ice cream. Pretty sweet but oh so yummy! The night market reminded me of all other night markets I've been to. Lots of junk for sale! lol It was a pretty early night since the next day was heading down to Agra in the early morning...
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