Update from Delhi
Hi All,
Just a quick update before flying to Nagpur in the morning. All is well.
On the health side, not a hint of stomach issues (I'm knocking on wood here). I don't feel that tired and I feel like I've managed the heat as well as you can.
On the weather side, there was a tiny rain shower this afternoon. No relief. In fact, it probably felt worse after the rain because of the humidity. Today was windy, so by early afternoon the sky was brown with dust - like the air is literally brown. Visibility couldn't have been more than a couple of miles, at best.
I went to Red Fort and then Old Fort today. You guessed it...these are forts. Both were incredible...amazing architecture...really old. Delhi has some amazing buildings.
A couple of observations: First, and I remember this from last time, venders will try to cheat you on the price EVERY TIME. I just picked up bottled water on the way in and the price on the bottle was clearly marked 15 rupees. The guy at the counter said "40 rupees." This was a legit store, not a street vendor. It's crazy. I wanted to get a shirt for Gina. When I asked how much, the guy said 2,800 rupees. I ended up paying 600 (about $12). Auto-rickshaws always end up being 20-30 rupees cheaper than the first quote. Americans must have a big target on them. Do we do that to foreigners...maybe in the cities?
Kids love it when you say hello to them (not just street kids, any kid). I don't know if it's because I'm an adult or a westerner. You say hello and they say "aallo" back and smile from ear to ear.
Every driver asks where I'm from, if I'm married, where's my wife, does she work (and doing what), and how many kids do we have, almost without fail. Then they make a comment that English (generic for westerners) wait a long time to have kids and don't have many. One man told me that in India you always have a child within a year of getting married and you don't stop until you have 4 or 5.
One on one, almost anyone you make eye contact with will ask you where you are from. I say the US or American and they'll say, "I like America...very nice country." That's followed-up with, "New York City?" I say Atlanta. A few will know it because of the olympics. The people seem genuinely friendly and interested.
Just like in Africa (and I'm sure anywhere), the street kids here just want attention. If you make any kind of gesture of acknowledgement, they swarm :).
No blunders like yesterday's Taj being closed. When I got to the Red Fort there were a lot of soldiers in front. The rickshaw driver matter-of-factly said it must be closed today. I was like...I won't say :). Anyway, it was open.
You can get anywhere in town in an auto-rickshaw for around a dollar. I mention them a lot because I use them all the time. It's incredibly fast (since they are small, they just weave in and out of traffic, run red lights, etc). And in the heat, they're a great way to get out of the sun and get some air moving on you (if you don't mind the fumes). And they're fun (like riding go carts). They can go places in 15 minutes that would take 30 to 40 in a car following traffic rules. I don't know why our big cities don't have them.
No one follows traffic rules. Even the intersections that have red lights are crazy. No one stops on red, they just yield...and they don't do that very well.
One funny thing...I was in a auto-rickshaw and in the distance you could see what looked like a brown cloud. Curious if I was going to end up getting rained on, I asked the driver if it was rain coming or just dust. He said, "Yes." (which one?). Then I said that in America we call clouds like that "thunderstorms." I asked if that's what they call them in India. He said, "No. Those are army men." There was an army truck up the road in front of us...obviously a little language barrier.
Hope everyone is well.
Jason
Just a quick update before flying to Nagpur in the morning. All is well.
On the health side, not a hint of stomach issues (I'm knocking on wood here). I don't feel that tired and I feel like I've managed the heat as well as you can.
On the weather side, there was a tiny rain shower this afternoon. No relief. In fact, it probably felt worse after the rain because of the humidity. Today was windy, so by early afternoon the sky was brown with dust - like the air is literally brown. Visibility couldn't have been more than a couple of miles, at best.
I went to Red Fort and then Old Fort today. You guessed it...these are forts. Both were incredible...amazing architecture...really old. Delhi has some amazing buildings.
A couple of observations: First, and I remember this from last time, venders will try to cheat you on the price EVERY TIME. I just picked up bottled water on the way in and the price on the bottle was clearly marked 15 rupees. The guy at the counter said "40 rupees." This was a legit store, not a street vendor. It's crazy. I wanted to get a shirt for Gina. When I asked how much, the guy said 2,800 rupees. I ended up paying 600 (about $12). Auto-rickshaws always end up being 20-30 rupees cheaper than the first quote. Americans must have a big target on them. Do we do that to foreigners...maybe in the cities?
Kids love it when you say hello to them (not just street kids, any kid). I don't know if it's because I'm an adult or a westerner. You say hello and they say "aallo" back and smile from ear to ear.
Every driver asks where I'm from, if I'm married, where's my wife, does she work (and doing what), and how many kids do we have, almost without fail. Then they make a comment that English (generic for westerners) wait a long time to have kids and don't have many. One man told me that in India you always have a child within a year of getting married and you don't stop until you have 4 or 5.
One on one, almost anyone you make eye contact with will ask you where you are from. I say the US or American and they'll say, "I like America...very nice country." That's followed-up with, "New York City?" I say Atlanta. A few will know it because of the olympics. The people seem genuinely friendly and interested.
Just like in Africa (and I'm sure anywhere), the street kids here just want attention. If you make any kind of gesture of acknowledgement, they swarm :).
No blunders like yesterday's Taj being closed. When I got to the Red Fort there were a lot of soldiers in front. The rickshaw driver matter-of-factly said it must be closed today. I was like...I won't say :). Anyway, it was open.
You can get anywhere in town in an auto-rickshaw for around a dollar. I mention them a lot because I use them all the time. It's incredibly fast (since they are small, they just weave in and out of traffic, run red lights, etc). And in the heat, they're a great way to get out of the sun and get some air moving on you (if you don't mind the fumes). And they're fun (like riding go carts). They can go places in 15 minutes that would take 30 to 40 in a car following traffic rules. I don't know why our big cities don't have them.
No one follows traffic rules. Even the intersections that have red lights are crazy. No one stops on red, they just yield...and they don't do that very well.
One funny thing...I was in a auto-rickshaw and in the distance you could see what looked like a brown cloud. Curious if I was going to end up getting rained on, I asked the driver if it was rain coming or just dust. He said, "Yes." (which one?). Then I said that in America we call clouds like that "thunderstorms." I asked if that's what they call them in India. He said, "No. Those are army men." There was an army truck up the road in front of us...obviously a little language barrier.
Hope everyone is well.
Jason
posted by atlantaclimber at 8:13 AM
1 Comments:
wow, just thinking of how hot it is there makes me dizzy. oh, and with the way things are, i'd be claiming to be canadian if someone asked.
sounds like a great adventure, though. i've got your website on my favorites now, so i'm in the matrix.
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