India.... day 2!

What an amazing country... I will now to try to describe small parts of my experiences. And this is really long and only one day, sorry. I just have so much to say.

At 3:45 am my alarm went off and I got up and ready for the journey across the huge country of India to Delhi. After surrendering all of my batteries (some Indian security regulation) I boarded a charter bus that smelled like a barnyard. I took the opportunity on the 45 minute ride to the airport to see life in the wee hours before dawn. I was able to see, more apparently, the destitute poverty that strikes India. Many people were sleeping on the sidewalks. Surprisingly many people were not up at 5am.

The airport was one of the worst experiences I have had on the trip thus far. I have never been so outrightly discriminated before in my life. We were told to get in line for to go through the security check point. What they didn’t tell the women was that was a special line that we had to go in. So after the line moving inch by inch, we (the group of girls I was with) get to the front, where then the security guard would lead any male behind to the front of line. After 10 minutes of waiting (and with about 15 minutes before the plane was schedule to leave) the man started letting any Indian women in front of us. I finally got really upset and asked sharply if we were in the wrong line. He motioned for us to stay and a couple minutes later he let us go to the one (out of ten) line designated for women (b/c it was behind a curtain). Then we had to wait to put our stuff on the security belt, and of course, we also had to wait for anyone who male or Indian that came along. The security check they make you walk through a metal detector and regardless if it went off they still wand you and pat you down. So after making it to second base with the security lady, I collected my carry-on and ran upstairs to my gate. I made it even though I was late, but I was very upset and angry. Thankfully, and I mean thankfully, since semester at sea had taken over the entire plan, and consequently purchased all the tickets in coach, I was assigned a seat in first class. It was so pimp. It quickly made my frustration subside and I had an awesome 2 hour plane ride….

After being picked up at the airport we headed to the Bahu’I House of worship. This temple in the shape of a lotus flower is one of the “latest seven edifices raised in different parts of the world, each with its distinctive design, each inviting peoples of all religions and races to worship the creator of the universe and to express the love between God and man” (Brochure). I had never heard of this religion, but apparently it originated in 1850s and has representation at the UN headquaters. It was a cool looking structure but not too terribly exciting.

Then we checked into the Ashok Hotel. This is india’s 5-star hotel and is the largest in India. It was very big and beautiful and had a lot of ammendities. The best part, by far, was the food. India food has a way of transforming into many flavors, one after the other. It is always spicy but not rancid. I never had any idea what anything was but it was all so good. Even though most of it was mushy, and soft, it was the best spicy fried mush I have ever had!

After lunch we had a tour of New Delhi. I was really excited to see it, after all it is a destination where Carmen San Diego and her henchmen always hide (remember that game?). I saw the war memorial (WWI), Parliament House, Gov’t Buildings, the president’s residence, and Huyaman’s Tomb (a famous empire). It was raining for everything except the tomb, which was the best site. It was huge and slightly resembled the taj in architecture.

We did go to a tourist shop where they had a mini presentation on the rugs of India. We were served the most amazing green tea (I don’t even like tea!), as they explained to us the process of making the hand-woven silk and wool rugs. It’s a dying family business/art. They last hundereds of years and were so gorgeous. I want to return to India one day w/my husband and purchase a rug to keep as a family airloom to be passed down from gerneation to generation. I almost bought one (b/c they’ll ship it for free) but I couldn’t find an inexpensive on that I liked. Ohh well I guess I have another reason to come back.