D E L H I ( f i n a l e m e n t )

Delhi became our hub in the north. Karin had flown into Delhi and had returned to Delhi following her stint in the Himalayas. I had flown to Delhi from Mumbai to meet her there. Our itinerary together ended up being Delhi - Agra - Delhi - Varanasi - Delhi - Jaipur - Alwar - Delhi. That looks like a lot of Delhi but a good portion of the Delhi time was spent either traveling or relaxing. I now present to you Jaime and Karin's Daring Delhi Diary:

On February 28, we had arranged for a “half-day tour” of Delhi through the Oberoi Hotel. They had told us that we would have a guide and driver for 4 hours. We met the guide and began our trip to Old Delhi to see the Red Fort. Forts are a big draw in India. These are enormous structures that housed small cities. They were built to protect against the constantly-marauding armies that traveled through the region in the 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th centuries. They were constructed to the specifications of an emperor who would preside over the population that lived within. The Red Fort was built by the Moghuls in the 1600's. When it was originally erected, many of the structures were inlaid with gold and precious jewels. After centuries of plunder, every last bobble has been torn from every wall, floor, ceiling, and adornment. Many of the original buildings are still standing although the British Army took it over for decades and built unsightly barracks and other buildings within.

We also visited the largest mosque in India and various Ghandi (Mahatma and Indira) and Nehru memorials (there have been a lot of assassinations in India). The tour was going very well…. Then, after almost 2 hours, the guide announced that they were done. We politely reminded him that we had arranged for a 4 hour tour of Delhi. He informed us that 4 hours was based upon the time it takes when there is normal traffic in Delhi. Because it was Sunday there was no traffic at all. Our position was that we had arranged for the tour on a Sunday to avoid sitting in traffic for 2 hours. But he was adamant – and even refused our offer to pay him extra to show us the rest of Delhi. Apparently he had to be somewhere. After protesting briefly we decided to go our own way and to take it up with the hotel later on.

We had him let us off at The Imperial, a nice, centrally-located hotel. After a quick perusal of the hotel we made our way to an enormous Sikh Temple called Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. Five minutes later, we were among thousands of Sikhs. We were directed to an office where we were told to remove our shoes and to don bright orange headdresses . We then were directed to the main temple area. There was an enormous throng of people walking barefoot on wet marble. This was not pleasant for me. While interesting to see the wild rainbow of colorful turbans making its way around the compound, I could not stop thinking that I was now sharing fungal intimacies with 10,000+ people, many of whom may possibly live in less than ideal hygienic environments.

Once we were done appreciating those local customs, we made our way back to The Oberoi and complained about our guide and driver. Two minutes later, after apologies from the hotel staff, we were set up with another guide and driver for the rest of the day. We had a leisurely lunch and headed out. This time our guide was interested in showing us as much as possible until we had enough. Unfortunately we did not head out with him until almost 4:00 PM and most sites close at 5:30 PM. We rushed to the Lotus Temple, a Bahai place of worship, whose design symbolizes nine religions. The temple itself is quite nice to look at but the operation that brings thousands of people through the structure each day is really impressive.

From the temple we made our way to the Parliament Houses and the home of the President. The buildings are enormous and impressive and are overrun by monkeys. There were at least a dozen monkeys milling about when we got there. Apparently the powers that be have decided to co-exist with what are generally regarded as nuisances (the monkeys) rather than do anything drastic to be rid of them.

One amusing Delhi episode: Karin had two enormous bags from the Himalayas trip that we did not want to lug around India. We asked at the Oberoi if they would hold them for us and deliver them to us at the airport when we were leaving. The concierge suggested we use a service by the airport and gave us the details.

Thus, on our way to Varanasi, we packed the extra bags and took them to the Delhi airport. Upon arrival at the airport we went directly to the baggage check. It was in a small building to the side of a parking lot with zero security. I walked into a decrepit room with about 10 bags on shelves and no one at the wide-open door. I couldn't believe the Oberoi had suggested this. I thought to myself: A. Is someone really going to take our dirty laundry? B. If someone does take our dirty laundry, it will probably be put to very good use, and C. I am not lugging these two enormous bags around India for the next week. And so I paid the 22 Rupees (fifty cents) per bag, took the laughable receipt, tipped the guy who had shown me what to do (lest he decide to help himself to his own tip), and wished for the best.

Upon our return to pick up the bags 6 days later, almost everything was intact. In fact, we fared significantly better than I had expected. In case you are considering leaving any fine jewelry or electronics at the Delhi bag-check, I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest you find something more secure.