We left our apartment at about 12pm on Saturday afternoon to get to LAX. Between the flight to Dubai, our layover, and the flight to India, we had been traveling for well over 24 hours. We arranged with our tour company to have a driver come and pick us up. He was waiting with a sign with Jaime's name on it after we got through customs. This was nice as it was about 4 in the morning, and we didn't want to risk taking a taxi since we are not familiar with the area. It took about 30 minutes to get to our hotel, and since it was so early, they sadly didn't have a room available for us yet. So they set us up on some couches in one of their lobbys and gave us some pillows and blankets. We took turns napping until they were able to have our room ready. We were very disappointed as all we wanted to do was take a shower to get the travel stank off and take a nice nap. But we survived, and it was nothing to be upset about. The hotel staff was very apologetic and nice, and we had our room about 2 hours later. There are far worse things that can happen when you travel. And it made falling into the bed THAT much better when we were finally able to.When we got our room, we freshened up and laid down for what was supposed to be a 2 hour nap....but it turned into about 6 hours. Ah...the best laid plans....it was all good though. About 3pm we headed out to explore the city. We took the metro further into the city and saw the Red Fort, a Muslim Temple, and the many sights and sounds of the streets of Delhi. India is pretty much how I remembered it. So many smells, so many people. There are no rules of the road as people, bikes, tuk-tuks, cars, and buses all drive on the road with no noticeable lane system. Just honking. Vehicles do not wait for pedestrians at crosswalks, so you have to say a quick prayer and run for your life when crossing the street. It may seem overwhelming, and it is. But I love it! I love soaking in this culture and the feeling of not being anywhere close to home. It is quite exhilarating. Jaime said it is pretty much how he expected too. He has been to places like Cairo and Morocco, and said it is pretty similar. Just India is much MORE of everything.
Since it is a Monday, most things were closed. We couldn't go into the Red Fort, and since we were wearing shorts we weren't allowed in the temple we went to. But we got some amazing photos of the outsides. We were actually quite the attraction ourselves. We were the only non-Indians at any of these places, and we caused quite the scene as the only two pale-faced people for miles were taking photos. We even had 4 different groups of people come up to us and ask us to be in pictures with them. And no, it was not a ploy to pickpocket us. (Thankfully!) I suppose they do not see people like us too often. We just spent most of the day walking around and taking it all in. We even got to witness a pick-up cricket game. And after watching for about 10 minutes, we still couldn't figure out how the game works. There is a lot going on around our hotel so that is nice. We actually met a tour guide from a different tour group who recommend this great local restaurant and we had a very nice sit-down Indian meal at a legit Indian restaurant. No finding American restaurants for us! We are in this for the experience! Let me tell you, our first official Indian meal was not a let down. Their menus are divided up - vegetarian / non vegetarian. We had sodas, drinks, appetizers, and two full meals and it was about half of what it would cost at an Indian restaurant back home. It was about $30 US total for the both of us - which is even expensive as far as prices here go.
So now we are back in our hotel about to get a good night's sleep. We meet up with our tour group around dinner time tomorrow night, so we booked a driver through our hotel to drive us to some sites for the day. We are very excited. I just can't wait to eat some more Indian food! ;)