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Published: January 21st 2006
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Overnight train with the Kumars
Bonnie, Palak, Mahak and Rahka. Starting where I left off last...my cabin mates...the Kumars (almost sounds like a TV show!) were really great. Raj was quite the chit chatty one trying to name drop some friends and definitely name dropped placed around the World! He's an "Astro Numerologist. Specialist in Gesture Reading." Wow, that's an interesting profession. I thought it would be rude to ask for a reading but he did ask me my birthday and later told me that I have a nice aura. Wow! Now that is very flattering. He was almost floored when I told him that I wasn't married. LOL Guess being over 30 and unmarried in India would floor anyone. 😊
Rakha, Raj's wife was really friendly too. They had tons of snacks that their well wishers gave to them and kept offering me food to eat as well. I felt a little bad when all I had to offer was an open bag of Lay's Chips! But the kids enjoyed them.
Mahak was pretty quiet. She's at that "akward and gangly" stage in life but I tried talking to her about stuff I found out she was interested in like Harry Potter!
As for Palak she is
More photos with the Kumars
Raj, Palak, Mahak and Bonnie so cute at just 10 years old. Sort of reminded me of Jax and Nick because she is so bubbly, talkative, witty and energetic! So we got on great! We played games...especially a game called Struggle (similar to Trouble...with the pop-o-matic dice). Boy can Palak speak fast. Oh and she sings even faster! She was a bit jumpy though whenever the train would jerk or make a really loud noise. At dinner salad came and Raj said that onions are good for the nerves, so Palak decides to eat a few slices! It was so funny.
After the monkey Palak settled down (I think that I may have contributed to the "excitedness" before bedtime. Whoops!) I basically fell asleep right away and was out like a light and slept like a log. Didn't hear anything that happened like Mahak's sneeze attacks. The air con controls which were by my head being changed many times. Everybody switching beds...so I had a good nights sleep!
At breakfast Palak was teaching me some Hindi. She's a great teacher. I'm not the best student because there are just some sounds I can't pronounce. It was sad to have to say goodbye to my temporary family but it was time to part ways around 10AM. I left them on the platform with their 10 plus pieces of baggage that a bunch of coolies carted off for them as I trudged towards the prepaid auto rickshaw booth.
Travelers be alert
Where are the prepaid taxi's?
Back in Delhi now.
I eventually made it back to the Swati hotel. I say eventually because it was crazy hectic outside the train station and then my auto rickshaw driver wasn't too sure where the Swati hotel was located. He had to ask at least 5 people and I wasn't too sure where he was so I couldn't really make any suggestions myself.
Not much else to report. Well, there was a phone call around 6PM from Mr. Boring - Shangale...doh! He tracked me down! My aura got a bit dim as I told a fib and told him I had dinner plans with the family I had met on the train. Having dinner alone was way more appealing than making conversation with a boring person...I can only listen to myself talk so much. lol So I really did go out for dinner "all by myself" at the Crossroads restaurant and being a single female diner you sure do get a lot of attention! Hmm, I don't ever remember getting a cloth napkin. Where'd these pickled veg, bite sized turnips and dipping sauce come from? I don't recall seeing these before. Gee, these waiters are really attentive and are trying to make some small talk...
Today has also been a pretty lack lustre day so far. Repacking. Reading up on New Zealand. Walk along the streets of Karol Bagh and not buying anything else. I swear 3/4 of my carry on is stuff to mail when I get to the Bangkok airport. Good thing too because it will definitely lighten the load...finally. Even if it is only a temporary thing it is better than lugging a bag that feels like bricks. Well, maybe it still feels like bricks. lol Susan who I met when I first arrived in Delhi is back today after being in Goa for a bit. She's dog tired so we'll catch up later this afternoon and will likely have dinner as well before I head off to the airport in the evening.
I have two flights ahead of me. The first one takes off just after midnight and is headed for Bangkok. My mission there is to unload the stuff I want to mail. My second flight is then off to Auckland but that one doesn't leave until about 6PM. So I have quite a few hours to wait in Bangkok. I hope to get a transit visa and be able to leave the airport even if it is to places I've already seen...well, maybe not Wat Po since I've been there two times already! Will wait and see.
More once I settle into New Zealand.
Hugs and stuff,
Bonz
Last day in Delhi
Lazy day. I did nothing!
Packing is not fun.
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anonymous
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:)
ur blog is great - Radhs