Day 2 in Delhi
Highlights
* Slept in till about 11:30. Whoops jet lag.
* Hopped up and went to the tallest Muslim minaret in the world. Intricately carved and surrounded by ruins.
* Really noticed lots of "holy crap a white guy" stares. Even had a group of Asian basketball team ask to take my picture as they all crowded around me and cycled through who took the picture and who got to stand next to me.
* Went to the red fort where we met Vikram an American Indian on his "discover my heritage" tour.
* Vikram joined us and we all headed to the lotus temple of the Baha'i. Very beautiful grounds and interesting architecture. Sort of a Unitarian feel of a church.Actually constructed in the shape of a huge lotus. Probably my favorite temple thus far.
* Left and went to a hare Krishna temple which struck me as what Disney might make if asked to design an Indian temple. The inside was nice though and there was some live music which seems to always influence how I feel about a place.
* Had dinner at KFC (yes really) but I tried the veggie options just in the spirit of trying something new. I'm terrified of food illness and Peter and Vik have basically made me even more terrified so it's actually quite tough to find something that I can be convinced is clean and prepared properly. Krishan actually suggested it and I wasn't one to combat food that had been prepared with standards.
* Came back and chatted with Peter when he informed me that the spa was free so hopped downstairs and used the sauna for a bit and plan on going back tomorrow for maybe a scrub or an Ayurvedic treatment. We'll see.
* Tomorrow is a planning day and at dinner with Peter we'll discuss how the rest of the trip should go. Should be really beneficial. Now that I've seen exactly how much energy it's going to take out of me to get anywhere sand do anything I can modify my plans to maybe make things a bit easier. Where originally I didn't plan on going to southern India it sounds like it may be a bit more my style. It will be tough deciding which cities to shorten or skip though but I can always extend the trip.
Overall a really nice day of sightseeing and yet another dip into the kiddie pool of what will constitute living and traveling in India. The thing I've latched on to though from today was something Vik said.
"India is kind of intense. Everyone says its going to be really visceral. It's kind of like vomiting."
"Uhhhh that doesn't make India sound too appealing"
"Well no, but you feel better afterwards"
I've certainly already had some moments where I've though "Oh god what the hell are you doing?" but then we see a ridiculous sunset over a temple or end up hanging off the side of a rickshaw in terrifying traffic but feeling excited afterwards with that rush of adrenaline that I always feel good at the end of the day. India isn't (unless you have tons of money) a relax and explore trip. It's a survive and experience sort of trip. It isn't easy and it isn't for everybody but it's exciting to be taken so far out of oneself and left with almost no comfort zone at all (he says while writing on his iPad in a 5star hotel...guess I still have a little comfort zone but I do see that rapidly disappearing.). Exciting and horrific. Maybe that's what India is. Beautiful and disgusting. As soon as you think one thing of India boom it's suddenly the opposite. Tough to navigate but worth it.
(I hope.)
Highlights
* Slept in till about 11:30. Whoops jet lag.
* Hopped up and went to the tallest Muslim minaret in the world. Intricately carved and surrounded by ruins.
* Really noticed lots of "holy crap a white guy" stares. Even had a group of Asian basketball team ask to take my picture as they all crowded around me and cycled through who took the picture and who got to stand next to me.
* Went to the red fort where we met Vikram an American Indian on his "discover my heritage" tour.
* Vikram joined us and we all headed to the lotus temple of the Baha'i. Very beautiful grounds and interesting architecture. Sort of a Unitarian feel of a church.Actually constructed in the shape of a huge lotus. Probably my favorite temple thus far.
* Left and went to a hare Krishna temple which struck me as what Disney might make if asked to design an Indian temple. The inside was nice though and there was some live music which seems to always influence how I feel about a place.
* Had dinner at KFC (yes really) but I tried the veggie options just in the spirit of trying something new. I'm terrified of food illness and Peter and Vik have basically made me even more terrified so it's actually quite tough to find something that I can be convinced is clean and prepared properly. Krishan actually suggested it and I wasn't one to combat food that had been prepared with standards.
* Came back and chatted with Peter when he informed me that the spa was free so hopped downstairs and used the sauna for a bit and plan on going back tomorrow for maybe a scrub or an Ayurvedic treatment. We'll see.
* Tomorrow is a planning day and at dinner with Peter we'll discuss how the rest of the trip should go. Should be really beneficial. Now that I've seen exactly how much energy it's going to take out of me to get anywhere sand do anything I can modify my plans to maybe make things a bit easier. Where originally I didn't plan on going to southern India it sounds like it may be a bit more my style. It will be tough deciding which cities to shorten or skip though but I can always extend the trip.
Overall a really nice day of sightseeing and yet another dip into the kiddie pool of what will constitute living and traveling in India. The thing I've latched on to though from today was something Vik said.
"India is kind of intense. Everyone says its going to be really visceral. It's kind of like vomiting."
"Uhhhh that doesn't make India sound too appealing"
"Well no, but you feel better afterwards"
I've certainly already had some moments where I've though "Oh god what the hell are you doing?" but then we see a ridiculous sunset over a temple or end up hanging off the side of a rickshaw in terrifying traffic but feeling excited afterwards with that rush of adrenaline that I always feel good at the end of the day. India isn't (unless you have tons of money) a relax and explore trip. It's a survive and experience sort of trip. It isn't easy and it isn't for everybody but it's exciting to be taken so far out of oneself and left with almost no comfort zone at all (he says while writing on his iPad in a 5star hotel...guess I still have a little comfort zone but I do see that rapidly disappearing.). Exciting and horrific. Maybe that's what India is. Beautiful and disgusting. As soon as you think one thing of India boom it's suddenly the opposite. Tough to navigate but worth it.
(I hope.)
I hope you told the Asian basketball team about your days as a bball superstar.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're having a great trip. Can't wait to see the pictures.