1/21/2006 Day 2 Continued: Touring Delhi

We ended at mid-day at Janpath Hotel and had lunch. My appam and chicken curry weren't very good. But, during lunch, Anne and Paul convinced me to go for the second part of the tour. Rameesh acted like I was a thorn in his side and was obviously hassled. I had to pay Rs. 100 more than the regular full day deal and I finally told the guy, "F$%k it! Just give me the ticket!"

We went to Old Delhi. Before we acgtually hit Old Delhi, we stopped at a beautiful temple where we saw Rameesh get money in his hands from one of the security guards. Our suspicions were raised. Lakshmi Narayan Templewas beautiful and in the prayer area, Rameesh informed us that he was a philospher. This was after he snapped at Anne for not paying attention. He also snapped at Paul when Paul accidently shook his head 'no' to Rameesh's question of "Do you want to know why India is the greatest country in the world?" After berating Paul, he proceeded to boost his country even further by dissing all of ours and telling us of our countries' weaknesses. I walked out of the temple with Paul and Anne and asked, "Did we all just get insulted in a temple?"

We went to the Red Fort next. Ben, who had come for the last half of the tour, was from Australia and started chatting with us. We were all taking pictures in front of the Red Fort when these Indian guys came up to Anne, Paul and I and asked to take a picutre with us. We were completely confused. Ended up, they just wanted to have a picutre with the three of us with their camera. I think the novelty was Paul and Anne because of their tall fair looks. I just happened to be there with them. Ben got bombarded too. Paul and Ben were talking about it when Rameesh reprimanded them for talking while he was talking. He was the guide, he said, and when the guide talks, we all should listen.

The Red Fort was gigantic. I wanted more time there but, it was off to the bus again. The last stop was the place where Ghandi was cremated. Rajghat was incredibly peaceful and beautiful. Hard to believe how much chaos happened in the man's time with how peaceful this place was.

We got dropped off at the Janpath hotel. On the way back, Rameesh came up and gave a flowery speech about getting tipped. We were going to tip him anyway but, were put off by his blatant request. Anne was pissed because she didn't think he did much and only wanted to tip the driver. We ended up giving Rs. 50 each which he shared with the driver.

Anne had a date but, Ben, Paul and I decided to have a drink. I needed to hit a cash machine, desperately. Anne actually invited us to go along with her on her date. We declined. The three of us walked to a cash machine, every few fet getting an auto rickshaw driver asking us if we wanted a ride. After getting to the citibank, we strolled through Connaught Place. It reminded me of Times Square with how active it was in the evening. Down to the scent of stale human urine. We stopped to fiugre out where we were and these guys asked if we needed help. We said were looking for a bar. After turning up our noses at their suggestion of the TGI Fridays (that chain is everywhere!) they suggested the bar we were standing right under. Seems we had to look up to realize that there was one there.

The QTB wasn't far from my hotel. It was funky and chic. Over a couple of beers and sodas, we found out that Paul is a flight attendant and lived with his parnter in D. C. Ben worked in the travel industry and was going to school. He lived with his partner in Australia. It was a little bizarre how the three of us (actually four if you include Anne) worked in the travel industry. We were all bummed when the night ended. I was exhausted.

The guys, being gentlemanly to the core, walked me back to the hotel. At one point, we thought we were lost but, we were on the right track. I did get plowed into by to enebriated fellows walking down the street arm and arm. They were swaggering and stumbling all over the place and careened right into me. But, other than that, I got to my hotel room quite safely. Although, after calling Dan, I found out my mother had been frantically trying to reach me. I guess she was worried that my tour guide was a thief and kidnapper.


*INTERESTING OR UNINTERSTING FACT OR PASSING OBSERVATION OR MAYBE I'M SNIFFING GLUE*
Indians can be very curious and will openly stare at you or, like mentioned above, want to take pictures of you or even talk to you. If you are tall, blonde and foreign, your chances of getting stared at and openly talked about increase ten-fold. Although some of us may view this as rude, no harm is meant by it and it is not considered rude to openly stare. Paul had taken to staring right back. Some kids may tag along after you. And after a day of being at all the tourist sites, being bombarded by hockers, people wanting money, people trying to take advantage of your tourist status, one can be on guard. But, there are people that are helpful just to be helpful--such as the men in front of the QTB bar. Although, it can be hard to find when most of one's time is spent at tourist attractions/areas.