Incredible Unpredictable India Part 2: Jaipur-Holi

4 o'clock came way too soon. I thought I got a couple of good hours of sleep but I wish I could have had more. We went downstairs a bit early so to go on the internet one last time because we weren't sure if there would be internet at the next place. Once everyone was assembled we were given our instructions and warnings. We all separated into 3 cars and off we went to the New Delhi train station. The train station was kind of crazy. There were porters everywhere asking if we needed help. Being that early in the morning I still wasn't quite functioning well. We followed Bhupi into the station through security and were told to wait while he grabbed our tickets. He told us all our seat numbers and said if we had a problem to explain that Bhupi, who would be in another train car, had our tickets. We went to our platform and we were a good 30 minutes early so some of the group went in search of tea, coffee, or food. I really didn't need anything so I watched the trains come in. The trains were not as packed as I was expecting, you see in the movies where people are hanging out the side and sitting on the roof I was expecting that to come rolling in.

The only crazy thing I saw was people jumping off the train early and on the opposite side of their platform. It was a bit crazy, but not to surprising. Eventually our train made it to the station and we got on right away. Once my bag was in place Wendy and I decided to take some pictures with the train. We took some pictures of us getting on the train as well as of the train's passenger log that had our names in Hindi. Once we had our fill of pictures we made it back to our seats to settle in for the 4 hour journey.
Once the train started moving the train was traveling with our backs in the direction the train was going. It was a little bit hard to travel that way but I did ok. I tried to take some pictures of the outskirts of New Delhi, some of the homes and neighborhoods these people lived in were atrocious. When I thought of the slums of India what I saw outside the train was it. As our journey got underway a man came through the cabin to give us a liter of water. A little bit later we were brought a tea tray. We had a cup, tea bags, milk, sugar, and a biscuit. When he came back through the carriage he brought us our own hot water pots to make our own tea. It was so cool. Of all the traveling I have done never have I received that. After we finished our tea we were then served breakfast. It was a vegetarian curry dish with roti, rice, and vegetables. It wasn't too bad especially for train food. After all the eating and drinking we all really settled down. I fell asleep for about 30 minutes and spent the rest of the trip trying to write in my journal, which was difficult on a rocky train, read 'Life of Pi,' or look at the scenery. Eventually Bhupi came through the carriage telling us to get ready we had two minutes to depart the train so we best stand up and get ready. It felt nice to stand again. Once we stopped in Jaipur we managed our way through the crowds to meet up once again as a team.
Bhupi had us wait as he called our transportation to the hotel. As we were walking out the train station we saw our first Holi celebration. It was Holi and it looked like a family just arrived at the train station and their Jaipur family celebrated their arrival by covering them in powder. The whole group was laughing and having a good time. We all couldn't wait to do it. As we waited for our cars a boy came over with red Holi powder and put some on our foreheads. It was really cool and non violent. I was hoping the rest of the day would be like that. Once Bhupi found our transportation we all hopped in two white SUVs and headed to our hotel. As we drove through the city streets of Jaipur we saw many groups of people covered in an array of colors and throwing an array of colors on each other.
Our hotel was located on the outskirts of Jaipur in what looked like a quiet neighborhood. The street had many large trees and they covered many of the homes. We pulled up to this white wall/gate where people were immediately waiting for us. There was an archway that lead down a large outdoor corridor full of greenery on the left hand side was a door that lead to the restaurant and bar and then another doorway that lead to an outdoor courtyard. On the right hand side there was one doorway that lead to another outdoor courtyard with some tables and chairs. Straight ahead was a door that lead to reception. We all went into the dinning room, which had an old wooden bar with all the fixings and had numerous tables with white linen table clothes but the room was taken up by a large table which would fit our entire group. We all sat down and some of us ordered Kingfisher and listened to Bhupi as he told us our plans for the day. We had a very sweet old man as our waiter and he really managed us pretty well. The only problem we really had at lunch was that a lot of the staff were off celebrating with their families for the holiday. It did take a while to get the food and they didn't have enough Kingfisher on ice but we were all fine. Buhpi told us that his sister lived near our hotel and he wanted to know if we wanted to go celebrate Holi with a real Indian family, we all enthusiastically said yes. We had arranged to go to her home a little later, our original plans were all changed because of Holi, a lot of businesses and services were closed so we were using Bhupi's motto of 'Unpredictable India.' We had such a great group that we were cool with whatever we did. Once we had finished lunch we went out to the main hall to get our room numbers and get our bags to our room. When we were originally given our room numbers I was given a single room and Wendy was given a double room. For some reason Bhupi thought Dana, Wendy, and I were all solo travelers he didn't know that Dana and I were friends, he made a note, and we switched rooms. The hotel was absolutely stunning, it was very British. We walked into a square towards our rooms on the other side of the square we walked up the stairs to a long outdoor hallway with arches on our right and rooms on our left. The hallway overlooked the two courtyards and the rooftop seating.

 From the hallway you could also get a view of Jaipur, mainly residential, but still a view. Our room had a solid wood door and was decently sized. It had two single beds on solid wood frames and solid wood furniture. The bathroom was quite big but looked to have a bit of an ant and mold problem. At first look the rooms looked great but under closer inspection they needed a little bit of detail work. As soon as we put our stuff down I went exploring a bit on the roof tops and took some pictures of the hotel. We had received a red cotton Intrepid bag so I transferred my things to that bag as well as put my electronics in water proof bags so they wouldn't get too covered in powder. I then heard some drums and when I went to investigate I saw in the courtyard that was near the restaurant that they had set up chairs and musicians were there playing music. When I looked down George and Wendy were already there, since their rooms were closest to the courtyard they probably immediately heard the commotion. I grabbed my bag and told Dana I would meet her downstairs.

I went down and took a seat next to George and Wendy, we listened and enjoyed the music. The musicians had one leader who had a very thick black beard wearing a turban and there was three other men playing drums on the floor behind him. He was their ring leader/dancer, they were all covered in Holi powder, I think they had an earlier gig and we were one of the many stops of the day. It was extremely loud and more and more of us were beginning to show up and sit down. It looked like the hotel had arranged our own private Holi celebration, which I am sure thrilled Phubi because we would be safe. Once a majority of us were there they began their show and the Holi powder was brought out, red and green, on dinner plates. We were then patted on our cheeks with the powder as well as having the powder poured on our head. It was a bit of a ceremony, but after that initial Holi powder we all decided it was time to play. We were grabbing powder whipping it on people's cheeks, pouring powder on their heads, throwing powder on the back of their shirt, and just putting powder where there was white or skin. Whenever we would begin to run out of powder the hotel staff would run off and get us some more we played with yellow, blue, pink, red, orange, green, and teal.

Once we covered each other we went for the hotel staff who took it on themselves to watch from the sidelines. They were all great sports about it. Some of them were in white button down shirts and slacks and were perfectly fine with being covered with Holi powder. We all danced, played drums, and took pictures for a good hour. We were having so much fun this was so much better than Songkran. While playing with the Holi powder some of us felt a bit of water and we saw this little boy who would come out the hallway that lead from the main hallway and spray us with his water gun then run away. After the second or third time we decided to go after him. One of the hotel staff actually caught and carried him back to us where we promptly covered him in Holi powder. He did not seem to like it too much, but oh well we enjoyed it. Near the end of our time Dana wanted to dance with the main guy so I began taking a video and then more people began to join in while I continued to video it then the group was invited to dance so Bhupi pushed me into the crowd and I handed him my camera. We all stood in a circle and he showed us the moves then we followed the music and walked in a circle and when we stopped we all held hands and ran into the center of the circle 3 times then did the dance again until we ran into the middle of the circle again. We then had Bhupi join us so he handed off my camera to the hotel manager I was constantly worried something would happen to my camera but after the dance I immediately went to get it.

It was a good 3 minute long video, which was amazing. We all played a little bit more until we were out of powder then Bhupi asked us to go to his sister's house for tea. She literally lived five blocks from our hotel so we all left our hotel and made it down the street. People passed on motor bikes covered in Holi powder yelling "Happy Holi" or cars would stop full of people with Holi powder and they would just look as us then scream "Happy Holi." Bhupi's sister lived in a very nice kind of gated community. Our whole walk we were having fun taking photos of one another and even saw a random cow walking down the street. We took photos of the cow and made it across the busy street to Bhupi's sister's neighborhood. We walked down the street towards a group of kids throwing water at each other. It looked very like Songkran and as we walked towards them the kids ceased to play.

We went through the gate of the driveway where Bhupi's sister was waiting for us with a plate of Holi powder. She as the host needed to put Holi powder on us and we all took the Holi powder like good little children then went into the garden area to sit. A lot of Bhupi's family and extended family was there and they were all so hospitable. His sister first offered to make us tea which we all anxiously accepted. She then disappeared into the house to make it for us. His family had different Holi powder compared with that of the hotel,

I felt that the colors were much more vibrant. The teal, yellow, orange and green were wonderful. We all sat around kind of relaxing and recuperating from our first round of Holi and his sister was out shortly thereafter with our tea. She came out with these gorgeous china tea cups, we couldn't believe she would use such nice dishware for the people covered in Holi powder. The picture of us completely covered in powder drinking out of cute little china tea cups was priceless and the tea was phenomenal.

It was the best Chaiwala I had while in India. After we finished up our tea we all got our second wind and decided that Bhupi didn't have enough Holi powder on him so we began our second Holi war. This time we were all wonderfully colored. George hands down had the best mix of colors, they just looked perfect. After we had exhausted all the powder we were all fully covered in so many colors that it was caked on in a thick layer of powder. We then spent our time taking photos, Wendy was directing us to do fun poses while in our full colors, we ended up taking some pretty fun pictures. After a bit more time we said thanks and good bye to Bhupi's family and walked back to our hotel for lunch.

The walk back was pretty much the same as the walk to Bhupi's sister's house. A lot of men on motor bikes, in tuk-tuks, or cars covered completely in Holi powder particularly purple screaming "Happy Holi" to everyone. It was really fun and they all seemed to love the white person completely covered in powder. Once we got back to the hotel we went into the dinning room to have lunch and go over the game plan for the rest of the day. It was really funny to see people completely covered in powder sitting down at a white linen table cloth table about to have a meal. We all felt kind of bad because we didn't want to stain the table cloth but the staff didn't seem to care. Once we were all seated most of us ordered a large Kingfisher, thankfully we had told the staff before we left to put some on ice. Once we were all seated we started looking each other over, John had so much orange powder on the top of his head that he looked like he had orange hair.

George had the best combination. Dana was completely red and looked like a chilli. When we had all finished ordering Bhupi told us of our plans. He asked if we wanted to go to the gem factory and see a Bollywood film. We all said yes immediately to these things but we were worried that we wouldn't be able to go into these places covered in powder. Bhupi reassured us that it would be fine and we were all excited. We all ate our lunch and didn't have much time before we left so I went up to the room to grab something and then went down to our Holi courtyard to wait for the others. George, Wendy, and I were there first and we decided to take pictures we did all kinds of fun ones laying on the ground, then Dana came down and was sick of being red and couldn't think of how to change her colors, so she decided to roll in the remaining powder on the ground to help redistribute the color. It helped a bit but the only real thing that would help is more powder. Dana asked some of the staff if they could find some more colors preferably not red to play with. The staff came with red and green, we weren't super excited but we couldn't let good powder go to waste. So we decided to freshen up before we went out. Eventually the staff got us more colors and we had a grand time.A lot of us were trying to be at least presentable to go out in public so some of us were washing our hands and cleaning some of the excess powder from our faces and arms. The mix of colors had made it look like I had a mustache so I immediately cleaned my face but every time I tried people would continue to cover me. Once we got this last battle out of our system Bhupi ordered us the cars to take us to the gem factory. We all felt bad getting in these really nice clean cars while covered in Holi powder but the drivers didn't seem to care. We got to our first stop, the gem factory, where gems like rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, where processed and set. I really thought that I didn't need anything so I would just watch and give my opinions to others. We first went to an outdoor area where they showed us how they polished uncut stones. The equipment was so old but they were still using it and they were doing really good work. Once we watched how they processed the uncut stones we then moved inside to the jewelry store. There was a Chinese tour group on their way out and as soon as we walked in the group thought we were absolutely fascinating walking into this nice jewelry store covered head to toe in Holi powder. They were all screaming in Chinese, pointing at us, and taking pictures. The Chinese group left shortly thereafter and we were left alone in the shop to look around.

Half of us didn't want to buy anything but the salesmen were definitely persistent. What was nice was that they showed us strands of rubies, emeralds, and sapphires that were just like the ones I bought in Thailand, it made me feel good to know that my strand of gems was legitimate and I also got them for less than what they were charging us here. I was just wandering around looking at the selection and then I stopped to look at the emeralds. I had an emerald necklace that I would have loved to have a matching piece of jewelry to. I stopped and looked at some rings and when the gentleman showed me a white gold ring that would match my necklace it was way too expensive and I walked away. I went to help my friends pick out their jewelry and give my opinions instead. What was nice was that they gave us either chaiwala, coffee, coke, diet coke, or water as we looked around. We couldn't believe that they gave us drinks for free and some of us might not even buy a piece of jewelry. I continued to walk around giving advice but the man I originally talked to about the ring kept hounding me. He said he could change the setting to silver so the ring would end up only being $200. When he said that I kind of turned my attention back to him. We talked about what would be used and the design of the ring I asked others from my group what they thought and they all liked the ring. I decided to buy it as an early birthday present to myself. I was actually one of the first people out of our group to buy something so I knew I wouldn't be bothered the rest of the time we spent in the store. I realized I hadn't seen Dana in a while and noticed she was in a back room. She had decided to buy a sapphire cross for Julius, her boyfriend, and was in the back looking at options for two matching necklaces to be made for her mom and her. I thought it was really nice idea, but it had to be just right. So I left her to keep negotiating while I looked at everyone's purchases. After an hour or two Bhupi started rounding us up so we could go on to our next destination. We all made our final purchases and headed to the cinema. Originally Bhupi planned to stop at a famous Lassi place to try, in his opinion, the best Lassi in Jaipur. Since it was Holi the shop was closed, which was disappointing, so we crossed the intersection to the cinema.

The cinema was huge and there was a giant crowd waiting to go in. A lot of the locals were in their Sunday best while our group was completely dirty and covered in Holi powder. We were an immediate tourist attraction, first because we were a large group of white people and second because we were a large group of white people covered in Holi powder. Bhupi left us in a group while he went to pick up our tickets. During that time people were coming up and taking our pictures on their phones and with their cameras. A little while later Phubi returned and the doors were opened to the cinema. When we walked into the cinema it was like going back in time. The cinema was this giant room with a balcony section with ramps leading up to it, there were chandeliers, dated carpets, and old flower arrangements.

This is where everybody waited until the doors to the actual theater were opened and there was a small concession stand that sold popcorn and soda. Part of our group went to the toilets while another part of our group just stayed in the corner and another part went exploring. A lot of the girls tried to go to the toilet but even though there was a line no one was abiding by it, people were cutting in front of us every time a door opened. To make matters worse it was a squatter toilet with no toilet paper. I just couldn't stand waiting anymore so I decided to forgo the toilet and hang out in the lobby. I saw some of my group at the concession stand and I went over to see what they had decided to buy. Once everyone was done with the concession stand we then went back to the group where we were the main attraction. People were continuously coming up and taking photos or asking people in our group to take photos. It was all quite comical. After a while I decided to attempt the toilet once more and this time I was successful due to some very nice Indian women. The toilets were just as bad as Thailand, that is the one thing I do hate about being in Asia, the squatter toilets are awful. We didn't have to wait much longer before the doors opened and people plowed into the theater. People were pushing, screaming, and jumping over seats. We eventually made it to our seats, which were a bit old and there wasn't much leg room, but we made it work. We were going to see a Hindi Bollywood movie called, Rangrezz. It would be completely in Hindi with no English subtitles and it was a long movie with an intermission. So when the movie started the crowd cheered and when certain characters came on the screen the crowd hooped and hollered. It was really quite amusing and made the experience even more special. The crowd laughed tremendously at a funny scene and whistled and screamed at the kissing scenes. Even though it was in Hindi the first half of the movie was pretty easy to follow, thank god for all those years of watching, All My Children. So by intermission Wendy and I pretty much had the whole plot explained and we were telling the others what was going on. The intermission was about 15 minutes long so some of the group did go out to the toilet or went to get some food, but I was just too lazy to move. As the intermission ended I noticed that a lot less seats were filled so I guess people didn't like the movie or decided to just go home. The second half of the movie was a bit more confusing so we would have to ask Bhupi when we got back to the hotel. Once the film ended people immediately started leaving the cinema. Bhupi had us wait until the crowds died down a bit. Once he felt it was a good time to leave we made our way out to come up with a game plan. He asked us if we wanted dinner, we all said yes but when we got to one of the restaurants we were told it was a half an hour wait so we made the decision to just go back and eat at the hotel. Since our cars were done for the day Bhupi arranged tuk-tuks to take us back to the hotel, which were really fun to ride in. We definitely squashed in four to a row and all the tuk-tuks were kind of racing back to our hotel. It was definitely a tight ride but a fun one. Once we made it back to the hotel we went into the dinning room where some of the group ordered Kingfisher and then we listened to Bhupi. The next day we would go to the Amber Fort as well as tour the city of Jaipur.

It was going to be another busy day so Bhupi warned us to not stay up too late. Once the meeting was over I decided to go to the room to shower. I just couldn't take the powder on me anymore. A lot of other people from our group felt the same way. Once I got into the room I tried not to touch anything so I immediately went to the bathroom to remove my clothes. Once they were removed I put them in the red Intrepid bag that I used during the Holi celebration. I then rolled the bag up and put it at the bottom of my back pack. I then made my way to the shower. It felt heavenly to shower and once the water hit me the white tiled shower had a stream of black water going down the drain. I couldn't believe how covered I got underneath my clothes, I had layers of powder fall out of my bra and when I pulled my hair down powder floated through the air. I literally scrubbed my hair twice, washed my face three times, and washed my body four times; I still didn't get all the powder off. There were some stains on my feet where I had gotten wet and some spots on my stomach where I had sweated. But when I finally finished showering I felt great. I put on some clean clothes and made my way back down to the group. When I was walking I noticed a lot of the group in the courtyard where we had our Holi celebration sitting back having a drink. We all began talking about our day as some of the group smoked, drank, and waited for dinner. Bhupi eventually joined us and we asked him to explain the movie to us. Wendy and I were correct about the first half of the movie but the second half we were completely off, but we were really proud of ourselves for getting at least part of the movie. We all really did enjoy the movie especially this one song, Shiv Shambho, which became our team theme song for the rest of the trip. Once dinner was served I went in with the others to sit and chat while they ate. I really wasn't hungry and decided there was no need to eat. As it happened a couple of people gave me some of their food because their eyes were bigger than their stomachs. It began to get late and I was definitely yawning so Dana and I decided to turn in. Dana took her shower while I unpacked and repacked a bit before sitting down and reading before bed. At the time I was reading, 'Life of Pi,' which seemed kind of perfect to read while in India. Dana tried to turn on the TV for a bit of news but it didn't work so we ended up just going to sleep.
The next morning we were supposed to be up early but I had turned off my alarm the first time it rang and we ended up waking up really late. We rushed around our room trying to get ready as quickly as possible so not to get left behind. We made it to the dinning room and we were definitely not the last ones. We had some toast and coffee while waiting for the rest of our team and Bhupi. Once we were all gathered we jumped into our first SUV with our tour guide and we went to the Amber Fort. Bhupi hired a tour guide to take us around the city of Jaipur since he wasn't as knowledgeable as this man would be. Our tour guide was an extremely tall and skinny man who wore a cowboy hat, boots, and sunglasses, he definitely wasn't our favorite. How he spoke and brought us through the sites rubbed a lot of us the wrong way, but we all made do.

As we drove through the city we noticed a large amount of cows that were lounging in the road, chilling out in the center median, and pretty much walking wherever they wanted. We were told that they were stray cows they had no owners and the citizens took care of them almost like stray dogs. I never thought I would see a stray cow, but when in India.As we drove out of the city we also passed an elephant still in its Holi colors making its way back to its country home and even saw camels. It was really cool and bizarre. As we drove out of the city of Jaipur to Amber we passed the Lake Palace which was this palace in the middle of a lake. It was absolutely magical and I really wish we could have visited it. We continued out of the city until we saw this huge compound built on a mountain and a wall that seemed to surround a town that went up and around mountains,

we had arrived at the Amber Fort. We stopped next to this lake where we could take photos from a distance. We only parked for about five minutes before we were back in the car and on our way to the fort. In front of the fort you could see elephants with people riding them going up and down from the fort. There had to be about 50 elephants. We had no plans to ride elephants we were going to take the road to the top and get out of the cars, but that all changed as we were stuck in traffic for about 10 minutes with no movement in sight.

Our guide got us out of the cars and walked us over to this Hindu temple, where he explained the significance of the temple and the city and then took us through an entrance in a stone wall where we found an old beaten down path full of debris, garbage, and overgrown brush. We then walked up the path which was a bit steep at times. While walking up the hill we did encounter a pig or a boar, really wasn't sure. Once we made it to the top we were all thoroughly out of breath. We arrived at this Amber colored Hindu temple and then went through a large gate to an open courtyard. There were some large trees and elephants were entering from the opposite gate. We were given some time to look around the courtyard while our entrance tickets were bought. Most of us immediately went to the elephants because a lot of them were painted, I believe for Holi. The Indian elephants seem much bigger than the Thai elephants. Once the tickets were bought we all assembled once again to hear our tour guide tell us about the fort. The Amber Fort still has a royal family in residence, the residence was in another part of the compound. The fort itself was enormous and if we wanted to explore then entire compound properly it would probably take us a day or two. I don't think any of us wanted to spend the day in the fort. We walked up stairs through an expansive gate into another courtyard with an expansive and beautifully decorated gate across the courtyard, this was the reception area. It had a wonderful view of the lower courtyard and the outside of the fort's expansive walls. There were a lot of pagodas with so much carved stone detail. There were rooms with hallways of arches that looked down into a garden on top of the lake. We were told about the royal family and the traditions of the fort before we were allowed to wander off and take photos. I felt like the guide gave us too much time because some of the time we spent standing around waiting when we could have moved on, but we did have a bit of fun. The gate to the royal residence had a small door to itself where we decided to take funny pictures. I did a lotus pose, which a number of tourists after me copied. Once we all gathered again we moved through an entrance hall into another courtyard with a garden directly in front of us with two former residences on either side.

View of the Winter Palace from the Summer Palace.

This was the place of the Summer and Winter palaces. The Winter palace was to our left and that is where we would begin our tour. The Winter palace was white and full of mirrors. The reason for so many tiny mirrors was to reflect sunlight to warm the room. They would also fill the room with rugs and pillows making it a summer oasis in the winter. You wouldn't believe it would get cold in India but this is the north of India and it is in the mountains. It was quite impressive being that this happened hundreds of years ago and the residence was outdoors with no doors yet it was till able to be warmed without electricity. Once we explored and understood all the symbolism and details of the winter palace we crossed the courtyard to the Summer residence, which was tan with a lot more archices built into the walls. The summer palace was much more narrow and long and it faced out to the garden. They had built it so there was always a breeze blowing through the hallway. Also its position kept in it the shade most of the day. We walked through the summer palace to the old family residence. It once again led to a large courtyard with high walls with doorways and balconies overlooking the courtyard. The courtyard was the common area for all the King's wives and concubines. There was a covered pagoda in the middle and there were walls and doorways that lead to the residence of each wife. The pagoda in the center of the courtyard was where the wives would meet to gossip while the king overlooked from his balcony on the other end of the courtyard.

Once the women were done in the courtyard they could go back to their compound that had its own courtyard and stairs hidden in the far corner to go to their sleeping quarters. Once all of this was explained to us we were free to explore the compound. There were so many wives quarters there really was no way to visit them all. So we just picked one climbed up the stairs and were greeted with numerous tunnels and passageways. There were loads of rooms and hallways, once you walked through one doorway there were many more, sometimes you would be in a room, sometimes a hallway, and sometimes a tunnel. It was all bit confusing. We made our way around stopping on one of the wives's balconies to overlook the courtyard. Seeing the compound from that vantage point really hit home at how big the former living residence really was. After a little bit more exploring we made our way back to the meeting point to wait for our fellow group members. You could tell people were tired and hot so when our guide told us we were leaving we were relieved. We made our way to the exit and as we walked out the side exit gate the passageway reminded me of the castles I saw in Europe, archways with slopped ground and hidden doorways on the side which were turned into stores. There were some vendor on the way out that had some really cool art pieces made on old government documents, some of us tried to look but we were hurried along to get in the cars. It was very annoying to get moved along but I didn't mind too much because some of the shop vendors were really pushy and I have no patience for that. Part of our group had gone out to this parking lot area to look for our cars which were no where to be found. Our guide was trying to call them when we found out that they were still stuck in the traffic we were going to be stuck in had we not gotten out of the cars. It was a bit ridiculous with the car situation at the Amber Fort. There was a one way road up to the fort and a tiny parking lot at the top. I think they should get rid of the parking lot at the top and use a bus system or a pickup service instead because the traffic was quite ridiculous. We stood out in the sun for a good 30 minutes waiting for the two cars. What was really frustrating was that I could have looked at the art pieces instead of sitting out in the sun waiting for the car. The cars eventually came and we all immediately jumped in so we could move on to our next destination, lunch. We took the main road from the city of Amber past the Lake Palace and then turned into this parking lot. We only saw a sign for a turban museum so we were kind of disappointed because we were hungry but after we went through the entrance and down a short hallway we came out into a courtyard with a kitchen to our right and an open air restaurant in front of us. The restaurant was about two stories high with high arches that welcomed us in. There was a long table, waiters dressed very nicely in turbans, and art work all over the walls. It was really cool. Even the tables had little heads with turbans on them.

Once we sat down we were immediately greeted and drink orders were taken. Once the drinks were brought out food was ordered, I got Gata Curry. After everything was ordered a lot of us just collapsed in our chairs to relax. The fort had taken a lot out of us. At this time Bhupi explained what would happen next and tried to see what we wanted to do. We obviously made a plan but who knows it might change. The food same out steadily, with one end of our table getting in much faster than the others. They were almost finished by the time we received our food. It wasn't too big of a deal and we all happily ate while relaxing in the shade. The restaurant was very beautiful, it was an indoor outdoor restaurant with painted wall murals and Hindu shrines. Once we had all finished eating we went over to the outdoor kitchen area where a woman was making naan, roti, and papdum. They also had a tandori chicken cooker. After the explanation of the equipment we went into the turban museum and it was quite an extensive museum. Filled with hundred of turbans for all different people. I never realized that each turban told others who you were and had no idea it mattered so much. It was quite interesting but you can only look at turbans long enough before you get bored. A lot of people in our group were souvenir shopping so I kind of walked around some more getting a bit tired and bored looking at the same turbans. Once everyone was happy we were off to our next stop, the textile museum. Jaipur is famous for it gems and textiles so we were told we had to see this place. It was quite a large complex, a good 2 stories high and filled to the brim with textiles. Outside the building we were met by a worker who showed us how carpets were made on a loom. He then took us over to fabrics and finally stamping. He showed us how stamped fabrics were made by hand and he showed us the stamps. He even let one of our group members give it a try. After the stamping took place we were then moved inside to a room with benches on the side and what looked like mattresses in front of these benches with bookshelf like walls that were about two stores high filled with blankets and comforters. This was our first presentation. So two or three men came out and welcomed us they asked what we would like to drink and then explained why these comforters/ blankets were so special. The men would explain one blanket, then lay it across the bed then do another and another  and another until we had about 10 blankets laying in front of us. Then they started giving us prices, which all got a bit confusing. I kind of just sat there and gave advice, there was no way I could bring a blanket back in my back pack. They were all nice by I really had no need for them. We were in this room for a long time while people talked, negotiated, and picked what they wanted. We then moved on to this second floor presentation room and as I was coming up the marble stair case a man said, "you would look great in a Sari." I kind of was like "no, no I am ok." But others said I should try one on so I said ok. He asked what color and I told him to pick. He picked me this maroonish colored Sari that was beautiful. Then Georgie and Wendy both had one on and we began taking photos in them.

Once we finished with the pictures we were asked if we wanted a demonstration. Most people said no so we moved on. Thankfully my group said no because I am not so sure I could have said no to sari fabric. We then moved along to a gigantic room filled with glass counters that sold scarves sarongs, pashminas, silk household objects, ties, shirts, and dresses. There really wasn't a demonstration here just a brief run down of everything and if we had questions people were there to answer them. With this room I just wandered around a bit. I would see something nice and ask how much it was and realize that I could get it for much cheaper in Thailand so why waste my money. We spent a lot of time in this room and I probably saw every case three or four times while I waited for people to buy things. I went around and gave my advice but was getting a bit tired. Half our group didn't want to buy anything while the other half loved to shop. After a while Bhupi and our tall tour guide realized that it was getting late and if we were to see anything else that day we needed to get moving. So he started urging those who were shopping to finish up so we could move on. We had planned to go to the City Palace but due to construction we couldn't so we went to the observatory instead. We rushed our way through the city to get to the observatory before it closed. A lot of time was hindered by the stray cows, who decided to walk into traffic or just sit in the street. Once we got to the old city wall we went into the old city, where we were dropped off and walked to the observatory. We were one of the last groups let into the observatory so the extra money we had paid earlier in the day wasn't for nothing. Once inside the tall tour guide gave us a quick tour where he explained some of the instruments. The observatory was made by one of Jaipur's kings who was fascinated by astronomy. So the observatory has a lot of sun dials of all shapes and sizes. The tour guide explained them to us the best he could but a lot of us began getting bored and when we tried to wander off he yelled at us to stay with the group until he finished. When he finally explained the last sun dial we all scattered to take photos. The sun dials were all so different and cool to look at, but we didn't really need an explanation. We all went around to take funny pictures, well me, Wendy, and George did. Our best photo was with this tree that looked like a Sombrero.

 We all had a lot of fun taking our sombrero photo, we actually caused others to take the same photo. Once we were all done taking photos we met back up so we could move on to our last activity. Once outside the observatory we were given 30 to 45 minutes to wander around Jaipur. We first walked past a pen that held about 50 cows near the city gate and then went to an area outside the gate filled with seeds and grains where goats and birds were relaxing. In this square like area buses and cars were dropping and picking people up. This was where we would meet once we explored a bit. So after Bhupi let us go we headed off to the main road, which was crazy. There was so much action on the main road I got a little sensory overloaded. There was so much traffic, with honking horns everywhere and people screaming at us to stop in their store. There were cows wandering down the street as well as bikes and tuk-tuks weaving in and out of traffic. Once I got my bearings we began walking down the street towards the city palace which was closed for renovations. As we walked down the road every minute men were screaming for us to come in their store. I eventually got so tired of it that I just didn't make eye contact and ignored them. I know it was rude but I can't handle people calling me constantly. Eventually we saw some cows chillin on the median so we decided to cross the street to get a close up picture of them as well as traffic from both directions. It was mass chaos being in the center of traffic. There was so many different kinds of transportation that were going at all different speeds and weaving in and out of lanes like crazy people. I don't know how people here do it. Once we got our fill of the cows we managed to cross the road after there was a break in the traffic and we then started walking back towards our meeting point while being continually hounded by store owners to come in their store. At one point a man said come with me just over here I will show you my store. He pointed down an alley way I was like "oh, no" and moved on quickly. Staying as far away from them as possible helped but didn't completely stop them from calling us. Eventually we made it to the opposite side of the gate we were suppose to meet and luckily there was a pharmacy because for some reason Dana was being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Once her medicine was bought we braved traffic again and eventually made it to the gate.

As our group was walking in Wendy noticed a tea guy off to the side under a tree and we went to take a photo, he was very nice and didn't care that we had taken a photo. Then Wendy ordered me, George, and herself Chaiwala. It was amazing to watch him make it and then fill these tiny cups, ones that you use at the dentist office to rinse out your mouth, with tea. The tea was wonderful and cheap. It was our first and only street vendor experience and it was worth it. Once we all had gathered near the goats, cows, and pigeons our cars arrived shortly thereafter and we were on our way back to the hotel. Once we arrived at the hotel we were given some time to relax and get ready for dinner.

We were going to a fun Indian restaurant called "Indiana" where there would be music and dancers. As we were getting ready a bit of a rain storm blew through and we were planning on taking tuk-tuks, which was now going to be interesting. By the time we all got to the lobby it wasn't raining too much so the tuk-tuks were still the plan. We all piled into three tuk-tuks four people in each tuk-tuk and one with Bhupi riding next to the driver. As we drove towards the restaurant it began to rain a bit harder and we realized that it was hail. It wan't very big hail maybe pea size but still hail. I was shocked I hadn't seen hail since living in Texas as a child, that was a good 15 years ago. After the brief hail storm we continued on through the lite rain to the restaurant. When we arrived it was still raining a bit but nothing too serious we then dashed into the restaurant and as we were taking our seats Bhupi said we had a private table outside in a pavilion if we wanted it. We decided to brave the rain once again and walk out to the table. We had a nice large table in a separate pavilion which was almost private, there was one other group of four that was nearing the end of their dinner. We all sat down and immediately began ordering drinks and dinner. After we had ordered, the rain had pretty much stopped and they were drying this open concrete space next to us. Then some musicians sat down off to the left and three women in Indian costumes came out. The first act was two women who had pots placed on their head, the women then did a synchronized dance with a lot of spinning and dancing while keeping this fire pot perfect on their head. It was very nice and was a nice way to kill the time before dinner arrived. Then the third woman came out and she had a large clay pot placed on her head. She did a bit pf a dance then had Claire come out and place another smaller clay pot on top of the other clay pot. She continued to move and dance then Georgie was called out to put another smaller clay pot on top of the other two pots then she continued to dance. Then I was called out to put on an even smaller and final pot on her head. With six pots on her head she did a finale dance with a lot of spinning and at one point she was walking with two wooden blocks under her feet.

Once she had finished her little show she then put out a bucket which meant tip time. I went up and gave her a tip since it was pretty cool as well as terrifying to put a clay pot on a lady's head. Shortly thereafter dinner had arrived, I had gotten Chana Masala. I asked it to be spiced up a bit, it tasted delicious not too spicy, I think it could have been spicier. Once all of us had eaten Wendy realized none of us had ordered desserts the whole time we had been in India. There were 2 desserts Wendy recommended so she got Kulfi while I got Gulab Jaman. Georgie ended up getting a sundae. The desserts were all delicious and Wendy's Kulfi came in a clay pot, which was really cool. Some of Indian desserts and drinks come in these clay pots and when they are finished, unfortunately they are thrown out, usually in the street. Wendy wasn't going to let that happen and John had gotten the same thing so he told me I could have his clay plot as a souvenir. Once we were finished with dinner we jumped back into our tuk-tuks and went back to the hotel. Most of us just went to our rooms to pack and get some rest for the next day. The people who had bought items at the gem factory went to the lobby to pick up their re sized orders. It was quite impressive that they did this all in a day or so. We were going to leave at 8:30 the next morning so it was going to be another early day.

Incredible Unpredictable India Part 1: New Delhi

I have always been intrigued by India even though I knew it was an underdeveloped country with so much uncertainty it still intrigued me. It finally worked out that I could take enough time off at the end of March so that I could book my trip to India. My friend, Leighton, had told me about this tour company, Intrepid Travels, which did really awesome trips. I had also seen this cool tour of India on CNN which was an Intrepid trip. The trip was called the Golden Triangle, where I would visit New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Karauli in a span of 8 days taking various forms of Indian transportation as well as staying in different kinds of Indian hotels. As my time off was approved from work I decided to try and book.

Dana one of my former co-workers had heard me talking about the trip and said she was interested, but as I was beginning to book my trip I honestly didn't think she would still be interested so as I started posting on facebook about my time off being approved and she happened to mention it to her boss and he said he could give her the time off. So she decided that she was going to join me on my trip to India. Originally I was all fine with going by myself because I would meet others on the tour, but knowing that I would have a friend come with me really made me happy.  I was worried that I didn't have a visa first and was scared I wouldn't get one, but the people at Intrepid told me to book the trip because there should be no problem in getting the visa. In any case I was required to get travel insurance so I could have gotten a refund had the Indian embassy said no to me. I did the whole visa process as soon as I could and it ended up being 10 days before I was going to Jakarta and I was really pushing it, especially since a visa for India takes about 10 days to process, but the lady at the visa place assured me my passport would be ready in time and it was ready when she said it would be. It cost me about $100 for a 6-month visa with 2 entries, which I really didn't need, I wish there was other options for shorter visas that were not so expensive. So as the day for departure was approaching I began preparing for the trip I had bought travel sized cosmetics, as well as conservative t-shirts and pants. I got some very cheap clothes at Big C which helped tremendously. Since I had already made it through Southeast Asia with my backpack I decided I would use it again. As the day was approaching I really wasn't excited, I had been more excited for my previous trips than this one. The week leading up to my departure I was still not super excited, but all those around me were. They were also scared for me, for some reason they thought I was going alone and recent news stories out of India were about horrible violence against women. Everybody kept telling me to never go out alone and to be safe. I spent more time saying I will be fine than thinking about the trip. It was finally the day before I left, Sunday, and I had the day off so I slept in and spent my morning being lazy and cleaning my apartment. Dana would be coming over that evening so we could leave first thing the next morning. I usually never have the day before I travel off, it was very nice to have the day off so I could relax before traveling. Dana eventually showed up around 5 and she was hungry. So as soon as we put her stuff down we went in search of dinner. She said she didn't want Thai, since she lives in Rangsit and all there is is Thai food, so I suggested this one place near my apartment that I had been meaning to try out but had yet to go. It was a cool little place with a mainly western food. I had a chicken caesar salad with some freshly baked garlic bread. Dana also ordered us french fries with sour cream and onion dip. The portions were huge and after we finished we were thoroughly stuffed. We got back to the apartment at about 8 pm and decided to leave the apartment for the airport at 6 am. Dana went to bed shortly after we got back to the apartment and I went to sleep a little while later. The next morning we were up bright and early and after we were ready we made our way down to catch a taxi, it always seems to happen when you need a taxi there isn't one, but when you don't need one there are tons. We eventually flagged down a taxi with the help of the security guards from my building.  There was no traffic so we got to the airport relatively fast, we wanted to have a lot of time to get thorough passport control so we could eat breakfast. When we got to the terminal there was a small line and when we got to the counter the man asked about our checked bags. Dana had one but I just had my backpack and I saw no need to check it. The man kind of questioned me about it, he asked about my liquids I said I had some and they were travel size. He kept going on about how even if its 100mL but in a bigger bottle it would be thrown out. I said I understand my stuff was fine, but he kept going on about it so I opened my bag pulled out my zip lock bag and placed it on the counter he said "oh, that's ok." I was very close to saying "I know, I'm American I know how to travel and I know all the travel rules." but I didn't, I didn't want to be taken of the flight before I even got to the gate. We then made our way to passport control which had a relatively long line, but it was moving fast. Once we were through we went in search of breakfast. After we ate time was nearing to board our flight so we made our way to the gate to wait. The plane took off a little late, but nothing too significant. The flight was pretty uneventful but both Dana and I were anxious to just land and start this adventure. One funny thing that happened on the plane was before landing they sprayed us with some kind of mist, I guess to prevent germs, it was the first time that had ever happened to me on a plane. Once we landed we immediately made our way to passport control which had pretty short lines and we were through very fast. As for getting Dana's bag it took a much longer time. It seemed like we were waiting for ages for her bag, I had even gone changed money and returned and she had yet to receive her bag. Once we finally got her bag we made it out to the arrivals hall and we went to find our transportation to the hotel. Thankfully the man was standing right at the exit. He grabbed our vouchers and called his taxi driver then we were on our way. The area near the airport was really nice and was not what I was expecting I kept expecting mass chaos and that was no where to be seen. The driving in New Delhi was crazy I was trying my hardest not to look out the windshield because the driver was stopping very late and I really thought he was going to hit another car. At one point both Dana and I flinched when we really thought our driver was going to run into another car, we made a noise from the back and the guys in the front kind of chuckled at us. The drive to the Karol Bagh neighborhood was not as chaotic as I thought it would be it was very much like Bangkok, so maybe my ideas of India were a little unfounded. The craziness was when we were close to our hotel and we were trying to get down the road that there was clearly no room for a car to fit down, but we made it surprisingly. When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by very nice hotel staff that immediately ushered us into the lobby. The hotel was not very wide and was designed kind of like a split level house. You walked up some stairs into the reception area and then some more steps into the community lounge. The lounge was the center of the hotel and all the hallways to the rooms looked down onto the lounge. It was 4 floors with 4 rooms per floor. The rooms were not incredibly big but they were adequate. They were interestingly designed with a red, white, and black zebra theme. The wall paper which was zebra print had zebras hidden in it, classy. The beds were surprisingly soft and comfortable, you actually sank into the bed when you sat down. We put our bags down and went down to the reception to find an ATM. The hotel sent a staff member with us to walk around the corner to an ATM that was in a room that you had to step into. I have never encountered an ATM like that. As Dana was in the room I kind of just looked around and observed the surroundings. When I noticed it was taking a while I went in and Dana said her card wasn't working so I offered to use my Thai bank card and she would just pay me back. Once we finished up the staff member took us back to the hotel, as we were walking somebody threw a water bomb at us. At first we both got a little wet, but nothing to substantial and then a minute later Dana got one right in her neck. It was a little shocking but the hotel staff said it was normal since it was the day before Holi. We went back to the hotel and decided to have lunch. I have never really had much experience with Indian food so trying to pick something was very difficult especially with no pictures. Dana had a lot more experience and knew what everything was, I ended up ordering Chicken Masala with rice which was good but super filling. After we finished our lunch we went back to the room to relax before the meeting. We met one of our fellow tour group members, Mary, who is from Ireland. I definitely had trouble understanding her, I probably got about 70% of what she said in our first meeting. Dana said as soon as we got into the room, "you had no idea what she said." I felt bad but I just wasn't used to the accent or the phrases before, I thought that as the week went on it would be easier. In the time between lunch and the meeting Dana and I went to our room to relax, watch TV, and take a nap. When 6 o'clock came we made our way down to the restaurant in the basement where we thought we were meeting, but we were meeting across the hall in the conference room. Once we got in there we sat at a  large table and met our group. With Intrepid the groups have a maximum of 12 people. Our group had Dana and myself, a guy from Australia named George, a girl from South Africa who lives in the UAE named Wendy, 2 sisters from Ireland named Mary and Claire, an older couple from England Andy and Suzanne, a father and daughter from New Zealand named Chris and Georgie, and a younger couple from England named John and Genevieve. We were a good mix of people and our fearless leader was named Bhupender Singh Shekhawat, Bhupi for short. He was from an area near the city of Jaipur so he knew New Delhi, Jaipur, Karauli, and Agra pretty well. He started off the meeting by having us all introduce ourselves and then going over the itinerary. His first concern was our safety he knew we had read the stories in the newspaper and he wanted to reiterate that we would be safe and gave us a list of things to do. He started giving us a lot of times and tipping numbers, it all became a bit confusing really fast. As we were all trying to write down the information he then said "don't I will tell you more later." He warned us that this trip would be long and we should not overdo ourselves. He gave us suggestions on things to do in our free time and how we should accomplish visiting them. Once the meeting ended we all went out to dinner at a local restaurant around the corner. After my filling lunch I just wasn't hungry. As I looked at the menu for something light to eat I just didn't know what to get so I decided to just have an orange fanta and be done with it. We all sat at dinner trying to get to know each other about half the table ate while the other half drank. We were all having a great time but we were warned to watch it because the next morning we were to meet at 7:30. After dinner and drinking we made it back to the hotel relatively early some of us stayed in the lounge playing on wifi while the others went to bed. 
The next morning Dana and I were up bright and early then made our way down to breakfast it was a continental style breakfast with toast, hard-boiled eggs, curry, fruit, and cereal. Everybody had decided the previous night to meet for breakfast so to get to known each other better and talk. Breakfast was good and pretty uneventful not a lot of us talked we were all still trying to get to know each other. At 7:30 we were all ready and we were going to take the metro to Old New Delhi to walk around the old city, visit a mosque, and a Sikh Temple . Before we left we were given the run down. If you take a picture of Indian people you must ask first they will not care but you need to ask. At the mosque there was a 300 rubies camera fee and we would be expected to tip when we returned our robes, Phupi told us to only give 20 rubies. He told us not to make eye contact because, especially if a woman makes eye contact it says that she is interested. As for the metro ride he told us that we could use the ladies only carriage, which can make us feel a little bit safer and is much less crowded. After our brief meeting we began our walk towards the metro station. The neighborhood was very quiet given the time of the day.

Karol Bagh in the morning.

 We made it to the station in about 10 minutes, we were told to stay in a group and to stay where we were and that Phupi would find us. Once we got to the station as we waited for Phupi to buy our tickets we tried to figure out where we were going, we had to make a transfer and the names were a bit confusing I just needed to see it written down. So a small group of us went to the subway map and looked at the name of our stops, after that I felt a bit more comfortable. Once we got our tokens we proceeded through security. There was a men's line and a lady's line where we put our bags through an x-ray scanner walked through a metal detector and then were patted down with a wand. Well at least I felt safe on the train. The station itself wasn't too busy, I had been in stations with many more people. The one thing I did notice, and this is the Thai in me and because I am lazy, was that there were no escalators so we had to walk up and down stairs which was a killer. As we waited for our train Puhpi, the always worrying fearless leader, once again told us our stop and where to go when we get off the train. He then sent the girls to their designated area. It was really weird to have a lady's only carriage. I had never seen it before. When we got in it was very quiet and weird to be in a carriage with only women, but somewhat comforting at the same time. We made the transfer and made it to our final destination with no problems. Once we were out of the metro station we began our walk to Jama Masjid, the Friday mosque in New Delhi, the largest mosque in India. We walked down the streets, which were not as busy as mid-morning would be but they were pretty crazy. The streets were not well maintained, the sidewalks were a little broken, there was trash in the road and on the sidewalks. But it was still really cool to see Chaiwala, Indian Tea, being made and men crouching down with their buddies having a tiny cup. There were tons of dogs some already with their Holi colors.

 There were numerous food stalls much like Bangkok selling all kinds of fried treats. Women were doing ironing with some of the biggest irons I had ever seen and they weren't even electric they put hot coals in the top and ironed the clothes that way. Men were also getting a shave and having their hair cut on the side of the road. You would walk up see a man in a chair looking at mirror as another man was either cutting his hair or giving him a shave. It was all kind chaotic and new, but awesome. This is what I thought an Indian Street would be like. While walking down the street we even encountered monkeys. There were a couple of monkeys on a couple of roofs and people were feeding them bananas. Jama Masjid was a beautiful mosque once you walked through the gate you saw these stairs that seemed to go on forever. 

Once we got to the top Phubi walked to the side and sat down on the ledge he told us to take off our shoes and leave our bags with him he would watch them. So once we grabbed our money and stuff we went into the mosque. We first were handed a long robe to cover our arms and legs. They were quite old with very interesting patterns, the velcro was a little old so it was hard to fasten the robe. The square of the mosque had loads of pigeons and a fountain. There were a lot of families, a lot of them just sitting around relaxing. It reminded me a lot of St. Marks Square in Venice with the pigeons and the way the mosque and the cathedral looked very similar. I first walked around the perimeter looking out the arches at New Delhi I then moved on to the mosque itself. The mosque was a long hall, like a room of arches. The ground was completely covered with prayer rugs.

There was only one or two men in the mosque praying so I didn't feel bad going in. It was very quiet and peaceful. Once I went back out to the square I began taking pictures and started to get to know some of my fellow tour group members, George, Wendy, and Georgie. Once we had had our fill we dropped off our robes and went out to put on our shoes. As we waited for the rest of the group I sat and watched the street outside the mosque. Only one word could describe what it looked like, craziness. The people were driving extremely fast as they were about to turn a corner, there were people on bikes and tuk-tuks passing people, giant tour buses that looked like they couldn't fit down the road somehow make it down the road. People were driving where they shouldn't be driving and all I thought was that "I would never want to drive here." Once everyone was out and ready we moved on to our next destination and we would have to brave the craziness to get there. We did our old heritage walk as we made our way to the Sikh temple. We continued to observe the craziness of Old Delhi and then Puhpi brought us to this one street, it was the market. It was a long narrow alleyway full of electrical wires above our heads, had they not had the wires I am pretty sure it would have been brighter. He explained how we were a bit early and that it is very colorful market full of loads of stalls. He told us to go explore and to meet him at the entrance. Thankfully all the stalls weren't there because I am pretty sure I would have been overwhelmed. We walked down the pretty empty road looking at the few stalls and as we were walking we encountered our first cow, ox as the local men corrected us, in the middle of the road. 

Little did we know it would be the first of many cows, oxen, we would encounter. We eventually walked far enough and there really wasn't much else to see especially when the stalls weren't open so we went back to Phubi and then we were on our way. We eventually got to a very busy road and walked along it till we came to an area where there were a lot of people washing their hands outside a building we then went into this downstairs basement office, we were ushered into this room with old coffee tables and couches we were told to take off our shoes and socks as we sat there a woman walked in and began telling us about the history and customs of the Sikh religion. Since the room was a little bit hot she turned the fans on to full strength so it was very difficult to hear everything she said. From what I could hear it sounded interesting and as we were listening to the story we were handed a yellow triangle shaped fabric, this was to cover our head, you cannot enter a Sikh temple unless you head is covered. Once we were presentable we made our way to the temple. We first needed to clean up before entering so we had to wash our hands and then step onto a watery step to clean our feet. Once we made it through these steps we could enter the temple. We came in when I believe it was prayer time. So there was a lot of chanting and a ceremony at the altar like structure. Phupi lead us around the prayer area and then into the area where people were chanting/meditating. We sat there for a couple of minutes observing the ceremony, we did get a couple of looks, but it was a group of white people it is hard not to look. We then got up and walked around the temple we went out to the outer area and looked at the road outside the temple, it was crazy, it was Chandni Chowk.

There were loads of cars trying to make it around this round about people were walking in front of cars standing in the middle of the road. Cars were going to wrong direction just to get to the lane they wanted to go to. Bikes and tuk-tuks were weaving in and out of traffic barely missing people and other vehicles. After observing the craziness we walked to one of the kitchens, here the chef was creating this sweet dough like substance that is given as a gift to all those who exit the temple. The pots and pans he used to prepare this gift were huge. He has to be very strong to make this everyday. After we went to the kitchen we viewed the temple's housing. The temple houses its members that need help, it never asks for money everything is donated and people volunteer. We then went to see this extremely tall flag pole, which was explained to us that it is extremely tall with an orange flag on the top so that all in the neighborhood can find the temple if they are ever in need. Once the significance of the flag was explained we went down some stairs to the main kitchen and cafeteria. The kitchen was quite impressive with the large pots and a myriad of workers preparing chapati and curries.

 It was all really impressive we all got to flip some chapati and stir some of the food we then walked out where they did the dishes, which was on the ground in a bucket of water and soap. We then moved on to the dinning area which was a room with long carpets going from one end to the other like long lunch room tables. This is where the people sat on the carpet and a silver tray was brought to them. It was all really cool, we were offered to sit and eat but a lot of the people in our group were scared.  I would have done it I just didn't want to offend people or make my group wait so in the end we didn't stay and we moved on to the main prayer room this time to view the shrine of a famous Sikh prophet. Supposedly in the monument case are his arms so we walked behind the main altar and down a flight of stairs and peered into a glass case that was full of gold fixtures and money. A lot of people were stopping and praying as well as blocking the staircase. It was a little difficult to make it through the passage way you had to push your way through, which wasn't very nice considering it was a sacred religious site. Once we made it through that process it was time to exit and get our gift. So as you go down the stairs a man at the exit had a large pot full of the sweet pudding like substance he then scoops it into your bare palm. The whole process is like receiving the Eucharist just instead of a small light wafer you get a hot dollop of pudding.

 It was quite good a little hot but interesting, it is something I have never had before and after because of the oil used in the food, I had a nice moisturizer. I did go wash my hands. We then went back to the first room we entered and took our bandannas off and put on our shoes. We had some of our questions answered then we were on our way. Our metro stop was just across the crazy Chandni Chowk round about so getting across it was interesting to say the least. I felt like I was in Rome again trying to dodge motor bikes, it was like playing a game, but if you lost it wouldn't be pretty. When we all made it across we followed Phupi down this alleyway that went in front of a Hindu temple we stopped for a minute to take photos and for those in our group who were thirsty to stop and get a drink. As we were standing there children flocked to us pointing at food or drinks in the stalls asking for something. Some even yelling "chocolate." It was all very sad, but at the beginning of our tour we were told that Intrepid does not condone begging of any kind, "Do not give them anything." This was our first real experience, in India, with incessant begging. I just ignored them and they left me alone others were not so fortunate. Some couldn't understand why we couldn't give them a drink or food they weren't asking for money. As I said if you give a item of food to one many more would swarm you and you would then have to buy them something. I think I have become desensitized to begging children. I feel bad that I feel this way, but I have been to numerous countries where children beg. They all do the same thing, I equate it to a show they are putting on so I don't trust them. Their situation is horrible but I will not contribute to this life and hopefully they will find a way to leave it. Once everyone had bought their stuff we went to the metro and made our way back to Karol Bagh. Once we got back to our neighborhood a good majority of our group wanted a coffee so we decided to stop before heading back to the hotel. Most of the group had bought a coffee and the rest of the group came inside and to come up with game plans. We were to have a free afternoon so a lot of us were trying to figure out what to do. I was not going to sit around the hotel and wait for dinner, a couple of other people in the group were feeling the same way. We began walking back to the hotel and Puhpi was pointing out good restaurants for us to try for lunch, we all made a note of it and continued walking back to the hotel. Once we got inside we convened in the lounge area deciding to meet in 20 minutes to decide on a place to eat. Once we met again we went in search of food. We ended up going to a vegetarian restaurant a couple of blocks from the hotel. We had vegetarian Tahil, which was the first time I had it, it was delicious and filling. We all sat around discussing things about our lives and just trying to get to know each other. We also were deciding what to do with our day. After lunch we went back to the hotel and we decided to rent a taxi for a couple of hours. He would drive us anywhere we wanted to go and it would cost us 750 rubies for 4 people. Since there was 6 of us we were planning to get 2 taxis but as we were discussing places to visit, George said he had already been and he wanted to pack up his stuff and Dana wanted to stay in the hotel to relax. So it was going to be me, Wendy, Georgie, and Chris exploring New Delhi. Our driver arrived very quickly to the hotel and we were off. The driver drove us past some great temples, sights, and the crazy New Delhi traffic. 

Our first stop was to the India Gate. The India Gate is a large arch, similar to the Arc de Triumph, it was a war memorial to the Indian and British soldiers lost in World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. There was also a tomb of the Unknown Solider and eternal flame under the arch very similar to the Arc de Triumph. You couldn't walk underneath the arch like in other cities but it was still a pretty magnificent structure. The grounds surrounding the gate were less than to be desired. The grounds were not maintained at all there was a lot of trash and dead plants, as soon as you got out of the car hawkers were there to sell any and everything. It was quite irritating, but I have a pretty mean anti-hawker face which has most people leaving me alone. Once we made it through that crowd of hawkers we walked towards the gate itself. We did the walk around took pictures and checked out the surrounding grounds. When we went to the other side of the gate there was this long road that lead to Parliament and the President's house. It was very reminiscent of the mall in London, a long imposing wide road leading to a beautiful structure at the end. Once we walked around the gate and took all the pictures we needed we began walking back to the car. As we did these hawkers came over selling carved out elephants made of marble and sandalwood. Georgie, Chris, and Wendy all wanted some so we spent some time negotiating and talking to all the hawkers before elephants were bought and people were happy. 

Our next stop was Humayun's Tomb, a world heritage site, and one of the inspirations for the Taj Mahal. The area was going through a bit of a remodel, but it was still really impressive. The outer gardens were still under construction, but the Humayun's Tomb land was very well maintained. There was lush gorgeous green grass and large lush trees. There was a definite water structure that had water paths that ran around the land of the tomb and would have fed into a beautiful long fountain, unfortunately there was not water, had there been water it would have made this place even more magical. The tomb was both full and empty at the same time. At some points there would be crowds of people blocking your view and talking. Then you would walk a little bit and be completely alone and that is what made it so magical. The views from the tomb were spectacular and you really got to see the expansiveness of the area. The domes of the tomb were in the process of being repainted I wish I had seen the tomb as it was completed, but to see what it would look like was a treat and in the future the grounds of this site will be exquisite, if they maintain it. We wandered around the gardens especially taking in the trees because both Georgie and Wendy live in the UAE where there are no trees so it was a treat for them to see them. After taking some photos under the tree we went back to our driver to head back to the hotel. We asked the driver to drive us past Parliament and driving down "the mall" was fun.

 We took a lot of photos of Parliament and the President's house then continued our journey back to the hotel. The streets of Delhi are crazy, it is pretty scary to look out your window because you swear you are going to hit another car. I just made an effort to either look straight or not at other cars, it seemed to help. Once we were back at our hotel we decided to go to Karol Bagh market to get some white t-shirts and food for the next day. We gathered a group and went out for our mission, we wanted the white t-shirts for our Holi celebration and the food was because we would be getting up extremely early for the train. Puhpi wasn't sure when we would get fed or if we would like it. As we walked towards the market we noticed some girls on a rooftop spraying people who passed by with a water gun. After seeing them we were on constant alert, as I was walking I felt something hard hit my butt and then I felt something wet on my feet. I thought some guy had hit my butt, but it was actually a water balloon that did not go off and hit the ground then got my feet wet. We had no idea where it came from, usually when someone throws a water balloon you see the culprit but we just didn't see anyone. Now we were a bit scared. I really didn't want to get wet. The entire walk to the market I felt like I was searching for snipers, we were all jumping and any slight movement or noise made us jump, I really don't like that feeling, but it was actually really funny. Once we got to the market we went in search of cheap white t-shirts. Some of us wanted cheap white shirts so that the colors would really show up when we celebrated Holi the next day. We were kind of a tourist attraction, it was a group of white people walking in an Indian market, it doesn't happen everyday. We were constantly being called to and asked to come to their store. The store people are definitely persistent. We already saw some men celebrating Holi and we all kind of stayed clear because we didn't know if we would get into trouble or not. We went to the other side of the road and continued on. After we walked a bit of a distance and found no white shirts. We began walking back and as we were walking back Georgie and Wendy decided to try and take photos of the guys who were celebrating Holi. 

We watched from across the street, the men had put some powder on Georgie and Wendy, it looked pretty harmless and when we crossed the street we too joined in the celebration. It was quite fun and the powder was everywhere, the men and the locals seemed to enjoy us joining the celebration more than we were. After our little stop we continued walking, we stopped by a shop to buy some snacks for the next day. We then saw a stall down the street that had a lot of t-shirts particularly white t-shirts. We walked up and saw all kinds of white t-shirt rejects, shirts from different U.S. cities, Hooters, and Snoopy to name a few. As we were looking for the perfect shirt in our size we were told to watch the Holi powder or we would be buying the shirt. I found a plain white t-shirt and got it for 100 rubies. Once we all got our shirts we began walking back still on guard, we feared that the girls from the roof were still at their post with a more powerful gun or our waterballooners were still waiting for the white person to pass by. Other than being extremely anxious our trip back to the hotel was uneventful. We did encounter more Holi people even a father and his baby daughter, 

who did not seem to like being covered in Holi powder. Once we were back at our hotel we all dropped our stuff and agreed to keep the Holi powder on for dinner. We met in the lounge and the group was surprised with our appearance. We really were enjoying it. Puhpi told us our itinerary for the next day and said we had to be downstairs at 4:45 a.m. We could not be late or we would have to find our own way to Jaipur. We walked back in the direction of the market keeping our eyes in the sky hoping not to be water bombed. We finally arrived at our restaurant called Spicy by Nature. It was a very nice restaurant and we all sat at a very large table near the entrance. The staff was very attentive and the food was delicious. We had a wonderful time at dinner and at this time we were all still trying to get to know each other. When dessert came we were give a complimentary dessert in celebration of Hole. We walked back to the hotel still searching the sky so to not be attacked. It was actually a fun walk back to the hotel we were so jumpy and watching everyone that it was funny. Once we got back to the lounge we were told again what time to meet in the morning and warned us not to be late. Dana and I went up to our room after going on the internet for a bit. We showered, packed, and then went to sleep.