Namaskar-
Hello everyone, I am back from a very chilly weekend in Delhi. Since I am gong to Sri Lanka in a few weeks we needed to go to Delhi to take care of visa issues. Thursday night we took the midnight train from Jaipur to Delhi. Before we left I asked my friend "hey do you think I am going to need my sleeping bag on the train, it gets pretty cold at night" reply "noooo…you have jacket and mittens, you should be fine." So I decided to pack light and not bring it and of course I was freeeeeeezing! It was so so cold on the train, the windows were not shut and all of my fingers and toes went numb. For the 6 hour ride I slept a total of 20 minutes.
When we arrived at 6 am in Delhi, it was still pitch black and we decided on an area for which to find a hotel. There is an area that's big with the backpacker crowd and decided that was our best bet. Checking the map we decided we were going to pay more than 60 rupees for a rickshaw ride…at 6 am and being the only foreigners in sight, it is nearly impossible to get the "real" price. All the rickshaw drivers said off 100 rupes, 150 rupees, 180 rupees, and all other sorts of ridiculous prices. (And yes you may be thinking ok, that's only 2 dollars….but when you only earn 800 rupees a month, you start thinking in rupees and not in dollars) Well we standing right by a bus stop so we thought…ok we will try and get a bus there. Well about 45 buses stopped, but not a single one was going to the neighborhood we wanted. And of course everytime I asked which was the right bus so I would know when I see it, they gave me a bus number that didn't exist or never stopped there. So after about 30 very cold minutes we decided to haggle hard with the rickshaw drivers and finally found some poor sucker to take us for 60 rupees. We pre-agreed on the price but turned on the meter just for kicks to see how much it would be (rickshaw drivers refuse to let foreigners use meter, only Indians) and we were damn close because the meter read
58.8 rupees for the ride! ( I am getting pretty good at this rickshaw stuff)
So we went into a couple hotels to check out the rooms and finally found one that we liked and then as we were about to check in they said oh and of course you need your passport. So I handed them a copy and they said no no no, no copies only the real thing. "Maybe your passport is stolen, I don't know. Maybe you have fake, I don't know. Plus you have no copy of your visa, so I dont know if you have one or if you are legal in India" We tried for at least 35 minutes begging and pleading with the man, trying to explain I am working in Jaipur and my passport is in my room and I am legal and blah blah blah, and the man wouldn't budge. He said "no possible to stay room without passport and visa" Very frustrated over the prospect that we were going to have to take the cold night train back that night, I called my roommate in Jaipur, had her take a digital picture of my passport and visa and send it to me online in minutes and printed it out in color at the shop nearby. By the time we finished eating breakfast and got the copy of my documents (which apparently wouldn't be enough evidence) we brought them back to the hotel desk. The first clerk, who was a huge jerk, had changed his shift and a new guy saw my copy, checked us right into the hotel and we got a room at that same stupid hotel- "no problem" It's a law that everything in India must be 10x more complicated than it needs to be.
We spent Friday making multiple trips back and forth to the Sri Lankan embassy and taking naps bc we had gotten no sleep the night before. Saturday we decided because Delhi was so big and spread out that the cheapest and easiest way to see the sights would be to hire a car with a driver. For 300 rupees ($8) each we had our own private taxi and driver for 8 hours, who drove us around seeing the sights and telling us about the city. It was quite nice being driven in an actual car (and not a rickshaw) and not having to haggle the price between each spot. We visited a India gate, Red Fort, some temples, the biggest mosque in India, Ghandi Memorial, and some other random places. My favorite was the Sikh temple we visited. The Sikhs are the guys with the turbans and the long beards and are some of the nicest people you will meet. When we got in, you have to cover your head so they provide doo-rags if you don't have a scarf. You take off your shoes and give it to a guy to watch them. Normally in Hindu temples you have to take off your
shoes, but then when you walk into a temple, the whole temple smells like smelly old stinky feet. With the Sikh temple you have to take off your socks to and then dip your feet in a little pool to clean them off. Very sart. You then go to a counter were you should give a donation, most people give 5 or 6 rupees, we were told we should give 11 (why I don't know?) and then you go to another counter where they give you a leaf bowl and a scoop full of goop. Its some kind of dal thing that's sweet, but I couldn't discern what it was. Before entering the temple you go to another line and some dude takes half of what you were just given out. Then you enter the temple, holding your bowl, make a clockwise lap around the inside while some guy is chanting and waving a big feather. Then you leave the temple and go to another counter and another guy gives you half a scoop back of the same stuff you just gave 5 minutes before. Very strange. It apparently is something about offering it to the gods, but it was just kind of a funny game to me. Being the only white people, we just try to be as respectful as possible and follow what everyone else is doing.
Saturday night we went out for dinner at this place that was supposed to have cheap beers, and it was so packed that we were seated at a table with "other foreigners" because there was no room to have our own. We were seated with a Japanese guy who left after about 3 minutes as well as German guy who worked for Volkswagon India and told us about all the horrors of his life living in India for the last 6 months. His company puts him up in posh 5 start hotels, he has a permanent driver, and large western salary (which makes his life veryyy different from mine) but we listened patiently and laughed because it doesn't matter what your budget is, everyone can get frustrated by this crazy country.
Sunday my friend decided he wanted a haircut but was to terrified to have some India do it. He tried for days to have me cut it, but since I don't know the first thing about hair cutting, nor have I ever cut anyone's I convinced him to go to a barber. Within five minutes the barber, who was about 14, was screwing it up so asked him for the scissors and took over. All the guys in the barber shop got such a huge kick out of watching me cut my friends hair that they started yelling into the street, and the shop soon filled up with Indian guys watching me cut my friends hair. It was quite hilarious.. and I did a pretty good job if I say so myself. I then decided to get my eyebrows threaded, which is kind of like waxing but instead of using wax, they use a twisted thread to pull out the hairs. It took the guy about 45 minutes, but he did a great job. I am not sure why they use a thread or how it works, but I guess its just an Indian thing. Sunday afternoon before catching the train, which we barely made it on time for, we had lunch and I had my first diet coke in 2.5 months! And it was every bit of delicious! For anyone who knew my 12 pack-a-day diet coke addiction, going that long was a huge deal for me.
Its crazy to think I only have a week left, and then Saturday morning I leave for my travels. Eeeeeek! I am so excited. I will miss India definitely, and my friends here and all the people at my work. I have truly had an amazing experience which I wouldn't trade for anything. Will I miss smelly old Jaipur..probably not so much, but I am thankful for all the patience it has taught me.
Ok time to catch the bus, love ya! And almost Merry Christmas!
Hello everyone, I am back from a very chilly weekend in Delhi. Since I am gong to Sri Lanka in a few weeks we needed to go to Delhi to take care of visa issues. Thursday night we took the midnight train from Jaipur to Delhi. Before we left I asked my friend "hey do you think I am going to need my sleeping bag on the train, it gets pretty cold at night" reply "noooo…you have jacket and mittens, you should be fine." So I decided to pack light and not bring it and of course I was freeeeeeezing! It was so so cold on the train, the windows were not shut and all of my fingers and toes went numb. For the 6 hour ride I slept a total of 20 minutes.
When we arrived at 6 am in Delhi, it was still pitch black and we decided on an area for which to find a hotel. There is an area that's big with the backpacker crowd and decided that was our best bet. Checking the map we decided we were going to pay more than 60 rupees for a rickshaw ride…at 6 am and being the only foreigners in sight, it is nearly impossible to get the "real" price. All the rickshaw drivers said off 100 rupes, 150 rupees, 180 rupees, and all other sorts of ridiculous prices. (And yes you may be thinking ok, that's only 2 dollars….but when you only earn 800 rupees a month, you start thinking in rupees and not in dollars) Well we standing right by a bus stop so we thought…ok we will try and get a bus there. Well about 45 buses stopped, but not a single one was going to the neighborhood we wanted. And of course everytime I asked which was the right bus so I would know when I see it, they gave me a bus number that didn't exist or never stopped there. So after about 30 very cold minutes we decided to haggle hard with the rickshaw drivers and finally found some poor sucker to take us for 60 rupees. We pre-agreed on the price but turned on the meter just for kicks to see how much it would be (rickshaw drivers refuse to let foreigners use meter, only Indians) and we were damn close because the meter read
58.8 rupees for the ride! ( I am getting pretty good at this rickshaw stuff)
So we went into a couple hotels to check out the rooms and finally found one that we liked and then as we were about to check in they said oh and of course you need your passport. So I handed them a copy and they said no no no, no copies only the real thing. "Maybe your passport is stolen, I don't know. Maybe you have fake, I don't know. Plus you have no copy of your visa, so I dont know if you have one or if you are legal in India" We tried for at least 35 minutes begging and pleading with the man, trying to explain I am working in Jaipur and my passport is in my room and I am legal and blah blah blah, and the man wouldn't budge. He said "no possible to stay room without passport and visa" Very frustrated over the prospect that we were going to have to take the cold night train back that night, I called my roommate in Jaipur, had her take a digital picture of my passport and visa and send it to me online in minutes and printed it out in color at the shop nearby. By the time we finished eating breakfast and got the copy of my documents (which apparently wouldn't be enough evidence) we brought them back to the hotel desk. The first clerk, who was a huge jerk, had changed his shift and a new guy saw my copy, checked us right into the hotel and we got a room at that same stupid hotel- "no problem" It's a law that everything in India must be 10x more complicated than it needs to be.
We spent Friday making multiple trips back and forth to the Sri Lankan embassy and taking naps bc we had gotten no sleep the night before. Saturday we decided because Delhi was so big and spread out that the cheapest and easiest way to see the sights would be to hire a car with a driver. For 300 rupees ($8) each we had our own private taxi and driver for 8 hours, who drove us around seeing the sights and telling us about the city. It was quite nice being driven in an actual car (and not a rickshaw) and not having to haggle the price between each spot. We visited a India gate, Red Fort, some temples, the biggest mosque in India, Ghandi Memorial, and some other random places. My favorite was the Sikh temple we visited. The Sikhs are the guys with the turbans and the long beards and are some of the nicest people you will meet. When we got in, you have to cover your head so they provide doo-rags if you don't have a scarf. You take off your shoes and give it to a guy to watch them. Normally in Hindu temples you have to take off your
shoes, but then when you walk into a temple, the whole temple smells like smelly old stinky feet. With the Sikh temple you have to take off your socks to and then dip your feet in a little pool to clean them off. Very sart. You then go to a counter were you should give a donation, most people give 5 or 6 rupees, we were told we should give 11 (why I don't know?) and then you go to another counter where they give you a leaf bowl and a scoop full of goop. Its some kind of dal thing that's sweet, but I couldn't discern what it was. Before entering the temple you go to another line and some dude takes half of what you were just given out. Then you enter the temple, holding your bowl, make a clockwise lap around the inside while some guy is chanting and waving a big feather. Then you leave the temple and go to another counter and another guy gives you half a scoop back of the same stuff you just gave 5 minutes before. Very strange. It apparently is something about offering it to the gods, but it was just kind of a funny game to me. Being the only white people, we just try to be as respectful as possible and follow what everyone else is doing.
Saturday night we went out for dinner at this place that was supposed to have cheap beers, and it was so packed that we were seated at a table with "other foreigners" because there was no room to have our own. We were seated with a Japanese guy who left after about 3 minutes as well as German guy who worked for Volkswagon India and told us about all the horrors of his life living in India for the last 6 months. His company puts him up in posh 5 start hotels, he has a permanent driver, and large western salary (which makes his life veryyy different from mine) but we listened patiently and laughed because it doesn't matter what your budget is, everyone can get frustrated by this crazy country.
Sunday my friend decided he wanted a haircut but was to terrified to have some India do it. He tried for days to have me cut it, but since I don't know the first thing about hair cutting, nor have I ever cut anyone's I convinced him to go to a barber. Within five minutes the barber, who was about 14, was screwing it up so asked him for the scissors and took over. All the guys in the barber shop got such a huge kick out of watching me cut my friends hair that they started yelling into the street, and the shop soon filled up with Indian guys watching me cut my friends hair. It was quite hilarious.. and I did a pretty good job if I say so myself. I then decided to get my eyebrows threaded, which is kind of like waxing but instead of using wax, they use a twisted thread to pull out the hairs. It took the guy about 45 minutes, but he did a great job. I am not sure why they use a thread or how it works, but I guess its just an Indian thing. Sunday afternoon before catching the train, which we barely made it on time for, we had lunch and I had my first diet coke in 2.5 months! And it was every bit of delicious! For anyone who knew my 12 pack-a-day diet coke addiction, going that long was a huge deal for me.
Its crazy to think I only have a week left, and then Saturday morning I leave for my travels. Eeeeeek! I am so excited. I will miss India definitely, and my friends here and all the people at my work. I have truly had an amazing experience which I wouldn't trade for anything. Will I miss smelly old Jaipur..probably not so much, but I am thankful for all the patience it has taught me.
Ok time to catch the bus, love ya! And almost Merry Christmas!
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