This morning, I got up and headed to the hotel where my tour group was all staying. I had just missed them, so I was off to a first day in Delhi by myself. Not my first rodeo. I hired a driver for the day through the hotel. Surprisingly, it was significantly cheaper than getting taxis on my own, the first group of people to not hustle me for money. It ended up costing around $20 for the driver for five hours. Not bad at all. I first went to the Lakshmi Narayan Temple. It is a very beautiful Hindu temple. When I got there, I had to take off my shoes and leave my camera and cell phone in a locked locker; they were very strict on no photography of the inside of the temple and the Hindu Deities. As I walked through the temple, I noticed a lot of swastikas throughout the complex. When I, like most people, think of a swastika, I think of the Nazis. However, the swastika dates back centuries before the reign of Hitler. It is a symbol in many religions: Hinduism to represent purity, power, and Ganesha, the god of good luck; Buddhism to represent the footsteps of the Buddha; and Christianity to represent Christ, calling it a disguising cross. Learn something new everyday. Once I exited the temple, I was allowed to walk around the garden and take some photos.
After I left the temple, we tried to go to a few more places. Unfortunately, today (Saturday) is some holiday India, so everyone, including the locals, were out to see the sights. We drove by the Lotus Temple, but the line was two hours long... Neext... We then went to the Qutub Minar, same thing... Neext... We then went to Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is the President's Palace. I got to stay here for a little bit. Past the walls, which no one can cross, are monkeys that guard the palace. No lie. All the government buildings are enormous and magnificent. The Rashtrapati Bhavan is huge. 300+ bedrooms with 12 gardens, not a bad place to live.
Once we left there, I went to Mahatma Gandhi's house. There I was able to learn a little about what he stood for and how he helped to change the, then, British-ruled India. They had quiet a display put on at his house that, if you had the time, you could learn everything there is to know about him. Did know that while Gandhi was riding on a first class train through South Africa, he was kicked off in some random town because the passengers complained that he was not white; this ended up being one of the things that sparked his movement. I joined a group of four other Indians on the tour of his house. They had this thing upstairs that required us all to hold hands. The two people at the end had to touch a specific spot on the group. If one of us was not holding hands, the lights would not turn on, but if we were, the lights came on. It was teaching us about how Gandhi promoted peace and unity throughout his life.
After Gandhi's house, I went to the Delhi Market, which is a three story market with all hand made Indian items; everything from shoes to tables. Of course as soon as I walked in, everyone came up to me and tried to sell me stuff. Girls kept saying that they were a free tour guide. My only reposes the whole time was, "no thanks, I'm fine." Where are you from? No thanks, I'm fine. Do you want me tell you were the stones are from? No thanks, I'm fine. Even as I walked out of the door, they were still bugging me. The only person I bought something from, was the man who didn't say a word to me, not even while I was flipping through his merchandise. In that type of atmosphere, the silent salesman is the most successful salesman.
The last place I went to was Humayun's Tomb. When I first walked in, I couldn't help but notice the excessive amounts of trash everywhere. The green space in the park was covered in garbage. One thing that I have not been mentioning in my posts are the large amounts of stray animals. There have been cats and dogs roaming every street, except in Turkey. Having said that, there are an excessive amounts of dogs in India. It is kinda sad, many of them have diseases and are very feeble. Just makes you want to adopt them and save them, then you look up and there are five more just like him. I guess Bob Barker didn't get the word out the the Indians, do they not have The Price is Right here?
When I got back to the hotel, I met up with my tour group. Exactly what I was expecting. Everyone except for one person is in between my parents' age and my grandparents' age. About to be an interesting journey. However, everyone that I am with has traveled many parts of the world. They are basically me, in 40 years, but it is great to hear all their stories. Oddly enough, it is all their first time to India, so we are all making the journey into the unknown together. The man who I am sharing a room with is from the UK, but now resides in Cyprus. We all went out for dinner at a local Indian Resturaunt. I have never had India food before, but after tonight, I am impressed. I had chicken curry with garlic naam. I could have had two helpings.
So far, India is not as bad as I imagined. The smog is bad, but that is because I am in a densely populated city. The trash is the worst I have seen yet, and I spotted six men going to the bathroom on the sidewalk just today. If you can believe it, I was expecting worse. I expect the tour group to be a good one and I hope our guide gets us through this country without us catching a disease. Tomorrow, we are visiting Old Delhi, which I have heard is like a blast to the past. Our tour has a day by day plan for us, but I have not read it. Why visit the place before actually visiting it? I am looking for an adventure. I have no clue what to expect; only time will tell and anything is possible.
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