We keep expecting something to happen but so far so good... Kuldeep our driver offered us chai from a street vendor yesterday and we took it, it was great! Then he said try some red beans and rice we did and it was great too! Then we ate at a restaurant in the Chandni Chowk... iced drinks... all good!
We saw monuments and tombs yesterday, the Lotus Temple of the Bahai faith, Humayuns Tomb including Isah Khan tomb and an old mosque, we drove by the red fort but didn't go up to it too hot by then, or the Jamah Masjid it will be there for a while... the Gandhi museum was uplifting and you could really feel how much he is revered and loved by so many (though there are detractors too due to the separation he grudgingly gave in to)... anyway, a thought provoking and inspiring place. What a huge difference a principled person can make if they devote themselves to it.
Today Sunday the 5th Julie hung out and worked on blogs while I went up and bummed around central Delhi, connaught place was not my cup of tea, though the metro ride up to model town, the walk back to the next metro stop, and ride back to central secretariat was cool and relaxing... people taking great pride in having a shiny new metro to ride, and it's below ground so it's cool!
After a cool shower (one of the joys of being in Delhi in this heat) and a little nap we took a tuk-tuk up to the Habitat Centre and International Center, to find there were 2 plays tonight, one sold out the other not starting for a few hours. We agreed to go back another time, but stopped in for dinner at their eating emporium which was great for veg food of all types, highlighted by fresh squeezed lime or watermelon juice, and butterscotch ice cream for dessert!
Another tuk-tuk ride took us to Lajpat Nagar market, we weren't sure it would be open on a Sunday night but it happens to be the biggest day of the week! It was jam packed bumper to bumper down the main street all night, and the side avenues and market blocks were shoulder to shoulder much of the way. We discovered mushki's (I hope i've remembered it right)... which are like snow cones, but the guy has a block of ice he hand shaves into your cup, then it's pressed in and a stick put in, your choice of sauce, and there you are! Icy sweet and cooling for 15 cents!
Julie picked up 3 more salwars, a pair of camel hide shoes, a henna design on her left hand and arm, and I picked up my first kurta and pyjama outfit, and a couple other light cotton pants and 2 more long shirts, but they're a little tight I'll have to go back when they reopen Tues and haggle some more... also got 12 large handkerchiefs which will serve as head covers for me.
We had a great time haggling over prices and jostling with the crowd... as it's been most of our time here we see tens of thousands a day but all today only 3 "white like us" people...but we haven't felt out of place at all, the people are so respectful and well mannered, wish it was like this at home!
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