OH India

Well Will and I left the incredible beaches and are now back in the swarms of traffic, people, and big cities, except we now have 4 other travelers to keep track of. We arrived in Delhi on Wednesday morning at 2:00am pretty groggy and we picked up by our hotel where we were taken and immediately fell asleep. Before we went to bed we had notes from our moms letting us know we need to meet them in the lobby at 9:15. That sounded pretty horrible since it was already 4:00am but we set our alarm and passed out. We actually ended up waking up around 7:30 since we are still on South East Asia time so it all worked out.

We headed down to the lobby and it was great seeing my parents, Will's mom, and her friend Deborah. I was really excited to see Delhi with everyone and it was really nice to finally not have to worry about how much money we could spend on hotels, transportation, or meals. We set out and Delhi has crazy traffic like Vietnam, except everyone here drives cars and in Vietnam is all motorbikes. We first headed Old Delhi, to a Muslim Mosque and that was pretty cool and then we decided to set out into the backstreets on cyclos. That's when it set in how different it really is to travel with 6 people. I'm so used to only thinking about me and Will and where we want to go and now it seems that we have tons of opinions and too many people trying to take charge. So riding on these cyclos was pretty crazy. Will and I are very used to all of this chaos but it was really great seeing the others faces and hearing all of their thoughts on the experience. It's kind of fun to see how they react to everything.

Our first stop on our ride was the spice market and it pretty much began my sensory overload. We walked through one area that was all foggy and everyone around was coughing and we all started coughing and sneezing. The spices here really are incredible. We then were lead by one of the cyclo drivers to the top of this building so we could see all over Delhi. It's so weird to look around and see no grass. Its all overrun apartments buildings, with some temples here and there, for as long as you can see. It is definitely the most crowded city we've been too.

From there we headed down the narrow streets that were absolutely crammed full of people. At this point also it was noon and the 100 degree heat was setting in. That's when my body started to warn me. I had actually felt pretty sick the day we traveled to Delhi and I hadn't really felt that great this day so I was kind of like if I puke right now its going to cover about 20 people. We were sitting in our cyclo and there were people crammed on both sides of us and in front of us down this little alley that so skinny cars don't fit and it was completely full of people and cyclos. As we were nearing the end we actually saw a fight break out because a guy was trying to bring his cyclo full of stuff through and this guy got all mad because it was too wide and no one could get by. We made it out of there and that's when I realized that I had to go back to the hotel and sleep off my stomach ache, and it actually ended up that my dad and Deborah bailed too. So for the afternoon Will and the moms went and checked out a Mausoleum.

We went to this really cool restaurant for dinner that was a perfect transition into Indian food. We all sat down and instead of being given napkins everyone got a cloth bib. Will immediately tied his on because he was ready to eat. The rest of us kind of joked about the bibs but everyone else in the restaurant had theirs on so we kind of looked out of place without ours. The food was great and Will swears he gained 5 pounds from dinner last night.

This morning we were up at 4:45 to catch our 6:10 train to Jaipur. Everything ended up just fine and the train was actually pretty nice. As our train headed out everyone became surprised and interested by all of the little villages we passed, then we began to notice all of these people squatting close to the tracks and that's when we saw it. Everyone was just pooping right by the train tracks as the train passed. So that started our ride out pretty humorous and exciting. Then about half way our train came to a fast stop and as we looked around we couldn't figure out the why we stopped in the middle of no where. After about 25 minutes of just sitting Will and I headed to the back to see what my dad was looking at and that's when we heard we had hit a person. So Sue, Will, Dad, and I all hoped off the train, lots of people were doing it, and started walking around and talking to the Indians about what was going on. They explained that the old law permitted the train to just pick up the body and continue on but the new law requires the train to wait for the authorities. Alright so first we saw the villages and their morning routines and now this... Will and I never had a train ride this exciting. As we talked to more people we found out that it was a suicide and the guy was only 25. After a good hour and a half of hanging out our train was finally able to head on. From there we all just kind of slept and read until we arrived in Jaipur around 11:30 am.

This guy sleeping at the train station.

We all got off the train and were immediately swarmed by taxi drivers, and normally Will and I negotiate with drivers to find the best deal, so I started trying to negotiate, while Will had already just told some guy sure, and then my dad was also talking to someone else. And then again I realized that there are too many people who want to be in charge. When we all realized that we had made deals the chaos intensified. There were about 20 Indian guys swarming our group of 6 and we were just trying to get our little "family" safe together. Everyone here is very pushy and it's amazing how loud and forceful they all can be. We finally got everything worked out and headed to our hotels. It was so nice to jump in the pool and relax for about an hour before heading back out into the chaos. I really feel like India is no more chaotic than other places in South East Asia, but I've been pretty spoiled the past 2 weeks in Bali so I've kind of forgotten how exhausting it all can be. Plus its over 100 degrees here which just adds to the exhaustion.

My parents, Will, and I all hoped in a tuk-tuk and headed into town. My parents absolutely loved it so it was fun that they got to have that experience. The road was so cool because right next to you would be elephants walking by or camels pulling carts or just cows milling around. Now we are not out in the country here, these animals just wander around all over the city. Our first sight was the Pink Palace and it was nice and then we headed over to the observatory that was so cool. It was all of these old systems that were used to tell time, dates and to measure things. As we headed out of the gates we were all immediately amazed by a snake tamer and his cobras. He was playing his flute for these two cobras in a basket. Kind of creep since they could just jump out and bite you. Well my dad decided that he wanted to act as the snake tamer, which the guy was all for since he knew he would get a tip, so my dad but on the guys hat and started playing music from the flute. Why he ever put his mouth on the flute we'll never know. Then the guy brought the snakes close to him so he could touch one of them. The next thing I know my dad is getting up and Will is sitting down, putting on the hat and then having a cobra stuck around his neck. The best was all of the local Indians were first taking pictures of my dad and laughing and were now taking pictures of Will and laughing and laughing. We were the only Caucasians surrounded by tons of Indians. What an experience.

An Indian family that wanted a picture with all of us.

From there it was time for a drink. Especially for dad to clean out his mouth. We went to an incredible hotel and had a few drinks at the polo bar. Then it was time to head home because we are all really wiped out after our incredible day in India.

Tomorrow we are up early to ride Elephants up to the Amber fort which should be really cool. It's nice having the adults here to travel with but its taking some getting used to. We've gone from having to be in charge of everything to not needing to do anything at all and its a little weird. It really is a huge upgrade for us to not have to worry about a budget and we're already adjusted right to that. :) More from us tomorrow...