Michelle
David
Configurators
Triathlon
Other Links
| India Trip Fall 2000 |
|---|
| Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 |
On Tuesday morning we flew to Delhi for some sightseeing with Anil's brother Arvind, Steve, Anil's cousin from New York Rekha and her mother. Rekha and her mother stayed with Anil's cousin Pinky (sp?) and the rest of us stayed at a nearby hotel called the White Elephant. It was a fairly basic hotel compared to were stayed in Hyderabad. We were the only western people in the hotel. Fortunately the hotel did have regular toilets, not squat toilets.
Since we were on our own for the day until Pinky finished teaching we decided that we would try to head to some tourist areas. Because none of us spoke the local dialects very well we told our driver to head for the one place that Arvind knew that they could find, the local Wimpy's a western style burger place. There burgers were lamb and vegie burgers. They were definately trying to make western food but we would probably have been better off sticking with some of the local cuisine.
Following lunch we decided that we wanted to see some of the gardens in the old city. Our language problems continued and after several dead ends we finally just exited our taxi's near where we thought the Indian Parliament was. This building was nearby and best we could tell it was some sort of government building with a large city bus terminal outside. The place seemed to be infested with monkeys.
As we gradually made our way towards what we hoped was the parliament buildings we came upon this Sikh temple. We decided to take a closer look. Since we weren't sure about proper protocol we decided that we would avoid the red carpet. This was a good choice since you were supposed to take your shoes off when on the carpet. We made a prompt exit when some fellows in ceremonial garb complete with rather large swords began to make their way towards us.
Just a picture of everyone playing frogger as we tried to cross the streets without getting run over. Not as easy as jay walking in North America. (and no this is not everyone running away from the temple guards ;)
At long last we got a glimpse of the Indian parliament. As Arvind said it did look a little like Yankee stadium from a distance.
Our wanderings eventually lead us to a large park area which looked earily similar to the Washington mall. It was one of the few places in Delhi with very few people. We walked to the buildings at one end of the mall area and had some pictures taken with some of the military people guarding the buildings.
This picture shows some of the monkey infestation that was pretty prevelant in certain areas of Delhi. This was the last picture of the day but we still had a lot of wandering left since we couldn't find a taxi at these government buildings. Everyone there had their own drivers. We ended up walking all the way back to Connaught Place where the Wimpys was. It was well after dark and we were all very tired, hungry and thirsty and had sore throats from all of the motor vehicle exhaust. We were able to find a local chinese restaurant that met Rekha's requirements (it had to have cloth napkins ;) and had one of the best meals that we ended up having in India. Rarely had just plain cool water tasted so good. After wandering around some more and looking at some of the local shops we headed back to Pinky's and our hotel for some rest.
Wednesday Pinky got us a taxi and a driver for the whole day for around $25 US. We left pretty early to head for Agra and the Taj Mahal. Our driver seemed eager to take our lives into his hands as he insisted on driving through the early morning fog/smog at crazy speeds. We barely missed some ox carts going the wrong way on the road several times. Our guide books warned us of the 'cesspool' that was Agra and they were not far off. Agra was one of the poorest areas that we saw in India. This picture captures some of the poverty that we saw that day.
Despite the poverty and the hordes of professional beggars around the Taj Mahal the building itself was magnificent. This is a picture of the entrance leading to the Taj. If there had been less smog on the day we were there the Taj would be visible through the doorway.
A classic picture in front of the Taj Mahal. Yes it was there. The camera seemed to not like the smog very much providing a rather comical picture.
Here is a better view of the Taj Mahal. Taken about half way between the entrance and the Taj.
Some of the low tech lawn mowers keeping the ground neet around the Taj.
My favorite view of the Taj Mahal.
After convincing the driver to take us to the local Sheraton for lunch we found that Arvind was not feeling to well. Rather than continue our day trip we opted to head back for Delhi. As we began the 4 hour 200km trek were were slowed by a herd of cattle wandering across the road.
After a long 4 hour drive we reached the outskirts of Delhi. Note that before reaching Delhi it had been a nice sunny day with blue skies. Aparently Delhi is now one of the most polluted cities in the world.