Take a Deep Breath, Keep Your Head About You and Keep Moving!

We slept - boy did we sleep!

We didn't get up until 2:30 in the afternoon and I think the only reason we did get up was because we were hungry! We decided to have lunch at a leisurely pace in the hotel restaurant. Another favourite - Dahl Makani, more veg briyani and, of course, Naan.

Peeking through the curtains of the restaurant for the first glimpse of daylight and daily activity in Delhi - life outside the window was a stark contrast to the comfort we were sitting in.The chaos doesn't seem to cease. There doesn't seem to be a "rush hour" as we know it. It's just a constant flow of people and traffic (and we're on a side street). Across the road there is a woman and small child sitting on a cot the size of a double bed next to a sort of lean to. I think this is where they live.

After breakfast, we put on our sunscreen, grab our cameras, take a deep breath and step outside.

Complete unbridled, unsensored, unapologetic, unashamed humanity. Everyone is friendly, some offer their assistance in the hopes you will purchase their services. Some are just being friendly. While you do have to keep your wits about you (especially as you dodge all forms of traffic in the street) contrary to the initial ingrained reaction, they are not all out to rip you off.



It is warm... hot even. But its not stinking Toronto in July hot. The sky is brown with a constant haze and the air is constantly filled with the sound of traffic and horns on cars. We walked to the railway station a little way from the hotel to buy our tickets for Agra. The walk is around a kilometre or so.

What did we see? People walking, dogs sleeping under cars, sewage and garbage in the streets, vendors selling nuts and fried snacks off of trolleys, people sleeping under bridges and on cots - oh ya... and the constant flow of people and cars.

The train station didn't seem to have any benches so there were people sleeping everywhere and anywhere - on the floor... on the stairs even! (It didn't really look all that comfortable to me but he didn't seem to mind) The tourist office was upstairs in an official airconditioned room. We sat for a few moments and deciphered the ceiling to floor train schedule that hung on the wall, confirmed our understanding with the help desk and purchased our tickets. I've noticed that tourists are really kept track of here. Passport numbers are used in hotel bookings and train ticket purchases - and, when you are in the hotel, you have to give them your subsequent destination. Interesting!

On the streets, the shops are simple, open air rooms (for lack of a better term) with big steel roll up garage doors. There was food and clothing and marble carving. One of the workers was carving a marble sign in the doorway to his shop - hard work! We didn't walk far by any means but there was still so much to see!!!

We decided to walk back to the hotel and chill out for the rest of the day. We went up to the roof again and drank coca cola from old style glass bottles while we watched the sun set. At sun set, what sounded like air raid sirens started to go off. I think maybe it was the signal for the time for prayer for the Muslim community. The Unlimited Buffet (translation... all you can eat) looked and smelled delicious but we were still full from lunch.

From the roof we could see a gymnasium where men were lifting weights. It was a simple, open air, concrete building with a courtyard that reminded me of a prison yard more than any Goodlife I'd ever been in.

After we were suitably chilled out, we headed down to the internet room in the hotel to type our first blog entries and impressions of this totally amazing country. (which I'm sure you've already fully consumed and are hungry for more!!)
Then... yep you guessed it... bed!