2nd day in Delhi

We are not up so early today, I'm up at 7:30 and Julie 8:15, breakfast is 8:30. We go down, by now everyone knows we are leaving after breakfast so it is a little odd... but we sit down to a wonderful breakfast of granola, milk, juice, fresh cut papaya, bananas, eggs, toast, some type of paan fried bread, coffee or tea, a dish called boha? rice, vermicelli, greenpeas, and the fried potatoes with spices. Fortunately a couple from Kazakstan comes in and we have conversation over breakfast and it eases the situation. They are up from her training for NCSB bank customer service training in Hyderabad, and are leaving on a 5 night tour of the Golden Triangle, Agra, Jaipur, and Rajasthan. We talk about the weather it is so cold there, and the horsemeat is so good you would love it if you tried! The man Iliya scoffs at the small tea cup, don't you have a bigger cup!?, he asks (she translates)... the cookman brings another glass... no, get more hot water! he says, and he takes a bowl and pours his tea into it, soon he has the bowl full of hot water with just the one tea bag but he is happy as he drinks it down... different people everywhere, eh? We finish up and get packed, I settle the bill (there was no extra charge for early cancellation discussed), and they hand us a thank you gift of 4 embroidered cushion covers in a color that will match perfectly with the new slip cover my wife has bought for the love seat. Then precisely at 10:00 a car is out front and 2 guys are trying to stuff our bags, their tools and cooler into the back of the car. We arrive in East Kailash about 30 mins later, and are immediately welcomed upstair into a nice B&B, maybe a little bit nicer than the one we were in, but not in a home, this is like a hotel. There were 3 men to take care of us and our bags, we could not touch anything. We were met by the owner, Mr Sial, and he advised us Desraj the manager was onsite 24x7 and would take care of anything we need.

The leave and we start to settle in a little, but there is only one bed in the room... so I go out to talk to Desraj about this, we prefer 2 beds, as we are father and daughter... no problem! Tea bags! Yes we have tea bags.... no, no two beds, two beds, we need a room with two beds! ... Finally with the help of the 2 other men we figure out "separate beds".... and they dash in to strip the covers and under the bedding and pads discover the bed is 2 mattresses pushed together, and in a short short we have 2 separate beds made up separated by a foot.

Next we need a sim card for the phone, and a power adapter to plug in the laptop. No problem! Simran Sial has shown up now, the owners son, and he has been educated in the states, so he understands perfectly and sets us up. Desraj takes us next door to the airtel office, where we find we have to fill out the forms, which include a passport size photo? Don't you have one? I turn the application over to Julie, she needs the sim card, and she has a picture... we take it back... but, didn't realize we have to have a sponsor sign, someone who knows and vouches for us, with a permanent address.. so Simran takes care of this for us, we round up the photo, and head back, to find out the phone won't unlock, she has to purchase a new phone now too. Anyway, after 1.5 hours we exit with a new phone and account in Julies name, with a pre-paid sim card and her choice of Delhi phone number, which will receive calls from the USA at no cost.

Simran has provided an adapter for the laptop, so we are good to go onto our other 2 ojectives for the day, see Lady Sri Ram College for women (a short walk up the road), and Miranda College for Women at Delhi U (we are about 15 kms away, on the south side of town and Delhi U is way north). We first have lunch at a new 3 store fast food shop on the way and have a delicious wheat flour pizza with all veg toppings, then to Lady Sri Ram. You may want to read Julies blog followmetodelhi.wordpress.com for more details and her take, mine is that Lady Sri Ram was quite spartan and reform school looking, and the beaurocracy is stifling. No you cannot go down that corridor, we are informed by one of the wardens, so we make our way to the dorms and no we can't see them... why not? can't we see a room? About this time an older gentleman, apparently very proud of his status showed up... young lady... he explained.... do you have your admission certificate? First, you must have your certificate of admission to the university... then, you may apply for admission to the college, and then, IF you are admitted, you may apply to stay in the student housing. "So are you saying we will not be allowed to even look at a room? I ask? Yes we understand the process this, then that, then the other must happen, we just want to see a room. Oh, well, then, if that's it the, yes, and he motions to the 3 lackeys... yes show them a room then. And we see it, ... appalling is the best description I can offer. No fan, No ac, 2 wood plank beds, 2 small desks, maybe a shelf. white walls. Nothing else. We push down to see the library on the way out, lo and behold it's the corridor we cannot go down... we did get to see it and appalling may be a little strong, but not too. We stop for a cool soda in the cafe, and yes there are stray cats lounging around looking for food.

We come out and get a tuk-tuk(auto rickshaw) all the way across town, a sensory overload adventure of some 40 minutes in the crazy traffic... 3 lanes clearly marked... 5 streams of traffic, moving like tall grass in the breeze, together, coming close but never touching. Nonnstop people on the roadsides, sleeping on the ground, cooking, living under tarps, walking, bicycling, waiting for buses, peeing, buses packed full, cars, cycles, tuk-tuks, trucks, we took some video hope to post in a day or two.

We find Miranda college and have an adventure getting the run around, looking for the dorms we are sent into a gate with apartments so stark, down and out, and scary looking Julies first words are "Nooo waaaaaay"! this cannot be it! Luckily it wasn't, and when we got to the guard shack and got in by saying we needed to see the warden, got into the office and made use of Ashoks card, he sent us to see the person in charge and we want to see a dorm... Have you your certificate of admission to the university? we go through this again, but eventually see the rooms, which while not the waldorf, are better than lady sri ram by a country mile. We then try to the the principal, get sent to an office to see a mr Agrawal, who asks, have you your certificate of admission to the university? And lets us know nothing can be done until that threshold has been surpassed. Thank you and good day, we are out of there, but need water by now. We go up the wrong street past a stinking drain and bunches of dirty filthy food stalls and motorcycle/bicycle repairs, all sorts, but find our water, 13 rupies for a litre bottle of cold nestle. Flag down a tuk-tuk, show the card of our hotel, and haggle the rate, the 3rd driver agrees and gets us to our room. After a 3 hour name we have an hour to shop in the market at Lajpat Nagar, where Julie gets 4 things and I get my haggling skills and price ranges down... steel will... not buying, but came close to getting some dress shirts 3-9 dollars and pants 10-20... handkerchiefs by the dozen first price 150, down to 90 by the time of my last no... think I can get 3 dozen for 200 tomorrow, if not better.

We're back for more veg pizza though Julie opts for veg roll and choc pie/cake delicacy... then late to the room and up til 2:00 blogging and planning our day tomorrow. We ordered a driver for a Delhi Blast tour... 7-8 hours seeing some of the monuments and sights and we'll take his shopping to the famous Chandni Chowk, the old market of Delhi... he will help us get good prices!