The Rain Has Come!!!

I’m so tired!  Our day started late today (late in regards to how early we always usually get up) 8am.  The breakfast at the hotel was good…Indian food for breakfast was actually pretty good.  Best part was toast w/jelly and the Orange&Mango Juice (SOOOOO good!).  We met an American girl at breakfast who was heading home today after volunteering for a month with an HIV clinic for truck drivers and prostitutes.  What she said is how we are feeling after only 5day- She was very happy to be going home, wishing that she wanted to stay longer…I’m pretty sure that’s how we might end up lol  After breakfast and figuring out what we were going to do today, we soaked in a little more of the coveted cold AC air and relaxed a little while Kelly headed out for mangos.  I’ve never been a huge fan of mangos in the states but OMG this mango was one of the best things that I have had here so far!  Must be because they are super fresh here?

While out Kelly met an auto-rickie driver who for R20 offered to meet us at the hotel and take us to Connaught Place…sweet deal considering we probably would have paid 5xs as much with anyone else since R100 seems standard for 3 white people wandering through Delhi to get anywhere near by.  What we didn’t know was that Connaught Place, which is a huge shopping area, is closed on Sundays, so we were slightly S.O.L. but on the way there we stopped at Cottage Emporium, because Kelly wanted to get saffron.  It was a pretty tourist trap kind of a place but Sadie and I talked to a guy working there for a good while- he was a pretty cool guy and gave Kelly a discount since we (Sadie and me) were “pretty face” since “ulgy faces” like theirs (sales guy and Kelly) don’t get discounts for their looks…it was hilarious!  After this our auto-rickie’s friend who drove with us took us to the Indian Tourism Board place down at Connaught Place which is pretty sweet.  For $15 each we got a driver (annnd the car had AC) from Noon to 7pm to take us to all of the places we wanted to see!  It was awesome!  Our luggage and bags were safely stored in the car all day so no lugging around anything, no haggling with rickshaw drivers or walking even more through the dirty, hot, crowded feet. 

1^st stop of the day was a Hindu temple- it was amazing but no cameras were allowed inside.  It was HUGE and very ornate- one of those places that you have to see for yourself. 

Next stop, the DC of India.  There is no parking allowed but our driver drove by all of the parliament buildings and president’s residence and all of that- of course it’s absolutely BEAUTIFUL and CLEAN!!!! …imagine that!  But these buildings are huge and amazing!

Really close by is the city gate which was really cool.  Sadie and Kelly got harassed by the man with the monkeys…I saw him coming and walked away…they took pics of the monkies and were harassed for money lol 

After that, the fun really began, and by fun I mean really cool places.  We went to Humayun’s Tomb, which was built by his widow for him.  This place is INSANE!!!  It is perfectly symmetrical and so incredibly gorgeous that pictures really don’t do it justice!  There were tombs and tombs and tombs here- seriously they were everywhere, but Humayun’s tomb was stunning!  Lucky guy! Lol It was built before the Taj and is pretty awesome.  There were a few drops of rain which was a good sign that the monsoon might actually be here!

Next stop Lohdi Gardens…gorgeous of course!  This place was actually green!   The architecture here is insane!  This place of course had guess what…more tombs!  As we were strolling through the gardens, the monsoon rain hit!  And by hit I mean DOWNPOUR!!!  I was wearing a white tee, knee length skirt and flip flops…not the best pouring rain, super windy weather attire.  By the end of our adventure here I had somehow managed to become completely covered in dirt head to toe!  My feel looked like something you could put into one of those- for a dollar a day you can sponsor a chid commercials…I’m not kidding!  We hid in cave-ish carvings in a section of wall along side other people (mainly couples) stranded in the rain as well waiting for it to subside.  Best part of the rain was it INSTANTLY cooled everything down, but as soon as it stopped the humidity kicked in and was miserable.  Up until now there hasn’t been a ton of humidity but I have a feeling it’s about to hit.  But it is good that the rains have finally come- they are late and apparently last year there wasn't much rain and this reallllly has messed things up here.  Almost all of the electricity is hydroelectric and since there is no water here, we have lots of frequent power outages. Annnd if there is no rain, food becomes more expensive which means all of the poor people on the streets in their tarp shacks are going to be even hungrier and it's not like they have any fat on their bodies to burn off...it's one of the most depressing things ever...welcome to the third world!  

Our driver took us to an Indian restaurant after this since we hadn’t eaten since about 8am and were getting hungry (it was about 5pm at this point).  This place rocked!  The one good thing about living here is I get to eat Indian food alllll of the time…like really that counts for a lot in my book!lol  After dinner and a shopping center which was also a lovely tourist trap we headed home.   It’s nice to be back to our apartment.  After scrubbing my blackened feet for a good while, I have come to accept the fact that my feet will not be clean until I come home and get a pedicure, which will be happening as soon as I land.  But you know what it’s ok, I don’t have shoes, neither do most of the people here, so I will endure the sore feet, filthy toes and blisters from walking barefoot at temples when it is 115F outside, and remember not to complain about anything ever again when I get back home…especially about the heat!  Apparently it was 115F yesterday and we were walking around outside alllll day yesterday!  I have drank more water here in the last couple days walking around than I probably do in a week at home…it’s insane!