Doug- Good evening from New Delhi!! Took today kinda easy and only went out for a couple of hours. Got ripped off abit by a autorickshaw driver cause he got lost taking us to the lotus temple. A 20 minute ride turned in to 50 minutes and cost us 100 rupees!! ($2.25 cdn) The temple was very pretty. Thousands of people were there for prayer. Very cool.
Went to Haldiram's for lunch. Very popular maker of Indian snacks. Met Kim's friend Rashi there. Very nice girl. After lunch she took us shopping in little chandi chowk. It's a big freaking street market!! Lots of pretty sarees, punjabi suits, bangles and the like. Hung out there a couple of hours. On the way back to the hotel we saw a bus hit somebodies car and crushed in the side door!!! Crazy!! too bad we didn't get a picture.
We finished off our day with another candlelite dinner on the roof. Awesome!!! Looking forward to going to Agra tomorrow. I can hardly wait to see the Taj Mahal!! Whoohoooo!!
Later...
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
Second day in Delhi
Well yesterday was almost a blur! We woke up and had a really nice breakfast buffet downstairs, Indian style. Let's just say the pancakes were interesting! Rashi is to pick us up for about 11 and we missed her phone call! YIKES! So we try as we might, we can't seem to dial her up...turns out I am an Indian cell phone moron!! LOL So she calls again and we hand it over to the deskman so she can give him directions. Our hotel is on a very small and busy street and traffic is awful so we go to meet her by tuk tuk (autorickshaw) at the Cottage Emporium. Turns out there are two!!! So after talking to our driver he takes us to the right one then asks for almost triple the fare. Yeah buddy....not likely. But he did have to do 1/3 more driving so we paid him an extra third. Seeing Rashi was AWSOME! It was like we just saw each other yesterday! So we went into the emporium to see furniture, saree, and all things hand made and Indian. Right up to 5 foot tall statues to beautiful swings. It was awe inspiring!!! We still had some time to kill so we went for a bit of shopping and stopped into McDonalds to take a picture of the menu! We had an ice coffee to mak
e it look like that's why we were there, they DON'T like you taking pictures of the menu. Not sure why, but my guess is alot of ferengi (tourist) get a kick out of the 'not so micky d' menu! Rashi managed to get one anyways under the guise of getting a photo of me ordering. She says that McDonalds in India actually tastes good! The fact that they deliver is also unusual. So after stopping off at a little place to get a paneer wrap we were off to henna class.
The girls were so awsome and appreciative and attentive! They really wanted to learn and they were very interested in everything from my style which they found so different and fun (they had been practicing out of Mehndi Masala) and how to get thier shading technique up to snuff. They were thrilled watching the DVD slideshow of my work and asked plenty of questions, most of which were through Rashi. They all had a smattering of English, some more than others. They also couldn't believe how far away I had come from when I showed them on a map. Many of these girls have barely gone beyond thier own neighborhood. Rashi and me are trying to think how we can help the school more. Maybe make a paypal link from the 'me teaching in Delhi' page I am hoping to put on the site. I'm going to see if we can get a site for Rashi too for her henna work and maybe make a paypal link there. Not just for money, but to get people to send anything they can....cash, clothes. These are really amazing girls. The place is called Chaman and it is a literacy and recreation centre for under privileged children. I'm hoping we can do more for these girls and thier schoolmates. It's a truly wonderful facility!
After class we saw the most amazing temple that really took our breath away. The amount of marble and the way the steps felt under our feet was remarkable and then went for a late bite. I ate FAR too much and got heartburn. We have been finding that we eat about 1/3 to 1/2 what we eat at home here. We are too full of guzzled water and the heat just saps the hunger out of you. So after a wonderful meal we went on our separate ways. She had her mother in law send her driver so Rashi took that car and had her husband's driver take us home. It was an hour and a half drive as Delhi traffic is awful and the poor guy had trouble finding the wonderful little hole in the wall we will call home for 4 days. Great guy....kinda quiet tho...no english!
So we are off for sight seeing and henna and shoppin' soon! Hopefully I do better at shopping. So far I kinda bite!
EDIT: just got back from breakfast and you'll NEVER guess....we darn Winnipeger's escape the confines of the prairies quite a bit! A lady commented on how lovely my henna was and asked where I got it, told her I was just teaching and she asked if I was from Delhi and I replied: No, from Canada. "Really? WE'RE from Canada....Manitoba actually" Me: "Wow! We are from Winnipeg in St. James" she: "we're from Tuxedo...all our friends couldn't believe were going to India!" So we are going to try to meet up for a thali tonite! This planet just keeps shrinking!!!
e it look like that's why we were there, they DON'T like you taking pictures of the menu. Not sure why, but my guess is alot of ferengi (tourist) get a kick out of the 'not so micky d' menu! Rashi managed to get one anyways under the guise of getting a photo of me ordering. She says that McDonalds in India actually tastes good! The fact that they deliver is also unusual. So after stopping off at a little place to get a paneer wrap we were off to henna class.
The girls were so awsome and appreciative and attentive! They really wanted to learn and they were very interested in everything from my style which they found so different and fun (they had been practicing out of Mehndi Masala) and how to get thier shading technique up to snuff. They were thrilled watching the DVD slideshow of my work and asked plenty of questions, most of which were through Rashi. They all had a smattering of English, some more than others. They also couldn't believe how far away I had come from when I showed them on a map. Many of these girls have barely gone beyond thier own neighborhood. Rashi and me are trying to think how we can help the school more. Maybe make a paypal link from the 'me teaching in Delhi' page I am hoping to put on the site. I'm going to see if we can get a site for Rashi too for her henna work and maybe make a paypal link there. Not just for money, but to get people to send anything they can....cash, clothes. These are really amazing girls. The place is called Chaman and it is a literacy and recreation centre for under privileged children. I'm hoping we can do more for these girls and thier schoolmates. It's a truly wonderful facility!
After class we saw the most amazing temple that really took our breath away. The amount of marble and the way the steps felt under our feet was remarkable and then went for a late bite. I ate FAR too much and got heartburn. We have been finding that we eat about 1/3 to 1/2 what we eat at home here. We are too full of guzzled water and the heat just saps the hunger out of you. So after a wonderful meal we went on our separate ways. She had her mother in law send her driver so Rashi took that car and had her husband's driver take us home. It was an hour and a half drive as Delhi traffic is awful and the poor guy had trouble finding the wonderful little hole in the wall we will call home for 4 days. Great guy....kinda quiet tho...no english!
So we are off for sight seeing and henna and shoppin' soon! Hopefully I do better at shopping. So far I kinda bite!
EDIT: just got back from breakfast and you'll NEVER guess....we darn Winnipeger's escape the confines of the prairies quite a bit! A lady commented on how lovely my henna was and asked where I got it, told her I was just teaching and she asked if I was from Delhi and I replied: No, from Canada. "Really? WE'RE from Canada....Manitoba actually" Me: "Wow! We are from Winnipeg in St. James" she: "we're from Tuxedo...all our friends couldn't believe were going to India!" So we are going to try to meet up for a thali tonite! This planet just keeps shrinking!!!
1st day in Delhi
Doug-I'm not very good at blogging. It seems every time I start to type and think back on our day my brain gets jumbled with everything we've seen and heard. Delhi is pretty cool but I can't believe how many foreigners there are here. Maybe it's the district we are in. I don't know but we hardly saw anybody different in Mumbai. The pollution here in nasty. Mostly from the Diwali fireworks.
Today was great. We went to a school for under priveliged children today. Kim's girlfriend volunteers there and asked Kim to show some of the interested girls some henna tips. The girls looked pretty happy. This was something different for them as they don't have much experience with anything outside home and school.
After we checked out some hindu temple. It was stunning!!! The architecture was awesome and so are the murti(statues of the different gods).
Today was great. We went to a school for under priveliged children today. Kim's girlfriend volunteers there and asked Kim to show some of the interested girls some henna tips. The girls looked pretty happy. This was something different for them as they don't have much experience with anything outside home and school.
After we checked out some hindu temple. It was stunning!!! The architecture was awesome and so are the murti(statues of the different gods).
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Well we didn't get a chance to hit the blog yesterday as it was sunday and still the end of Diwalli. But we arrived safely in Delhi and got to the hotel fine. The hotel is nice, but wait till I show you pix of the world outsite our door! We really are right in the middle of everything.
The Diwalli pollution is pretty high and it was even on the news. The drive in was pretty smoky and it's hard to see really far away. All the firecrackers have been going off and still do every evening! After all the mediocre details of flying, signing in, etc. it was time for a late dinner. All we had eaten was our breakfast in the morning. Just when you thought it was going to be a 'day off' from sensory overload, we made our way to the roof for a wonderful, romantic and magical time of sharing a nice non-veg thali, watching the fireworks from the rooftop restauraunt. It was pretty darn magical! Rashi called to discuss our plans for the henna classes tomorrow and Amin called to make sure we got in fine and don't need any help or anything. Will call Raju tonite to tell him when we will be staying at his place. Geeze! Busy Busy!
We then woke up (6am) to the call to prayer! It was beautiful. Not 100% sure where the heck the mosque is exactly, but we can hear it! Well....off to shower and start our day! Today Rashi is picking us up for henna and lunch or sightseeing, maybe shopping...who knows?!? Another day, another adventure!!!!
The Diwalli pollution is pretty high and it was even on the news. The drive in was pretty smoky and it's hard to see really far away. All the firecrackers have been going off and still do every evening! After all the mediocre details of flying, signing in, etc. it was time for a late dinner. All we had eaten was our breakfast in the morning. Just when you thought it was going to be a 'day off' from sensory overload, we made our way to the roof for a wonderful, romantic and magical time of sharing a nice non-veg thali, watching the fireworks from the rooftop restauraunt. It was pretty darn magical! Rashi called to discuss our plans for the henna classes tomorrow and Amin called to make sure we got in fine and don't need any help or anything. Will call Raju tonite to tell him when we will be staying at his place. Geeze! Busy Busy!
We then woke up (6am) to the call to prayer! It was beautiful. Not 100% sure where the heck the mosque is exactly, but we can hear it! Well....off to shower and start our day! Today Rashi is picking us up for henna and lunch or sightseeing, maybe shopping...who knows?!? Another day, another adventure!!!!
Saturday, November 10, 2007
It was another day in Surreal and beautiful Mumbai
Yesterday! We started out really early so we could see the flower market along the streets! Got some great (if shaky) video! I think our 'home movies' will be awsome, but not good if you get vertigo!!! LOL Could induce sea sickness on more than a couple of shots walking or on the boat to elephanta! We kept it a slower day as the last 'blister pop count' was 10. (yeah....well...........) Amin let us walk the 'tout gauntlet' and read the paper while we went up and up and up (calves still kinda sore) to get up the mountain. Luckily the whole way is tarped. Unluckily it's not just for our comfort but to shade the boths that go ALL the way to the top! I can see why he's bored silly with the whole experience up there but I'm glad we've seen it once. Doug watched a monkey rip off some guy's water bottle! The are agressive little critters! The caves were awsome and I know there are more if you're brave enough to hit the other trail around the other side, but my feet and our time limit said go back down. Past the wares AGAIN. Back by boat to the gates' of India and then off to an awsome lunch at Leopolds were WE actually gave some advice to a newbie! LOL Amin says to him, "We can tell it's your first day by your 'blessings'" One of the street gimmiks is to put tikka on you, a rakie on your wrist, give you prassad (God only knows where it's been, wouldn't put that in MY mouth thank you) then they hit you up for $$$. Looks like the poor chap got tagged at least twice. So we all three gave him some help and we fed him from our meal and then it was off to FabIndia for a bit of shopping before going to see OM SHANTI OM. Which even Doug loved! It was such a fun movie that I can't wait to buy it! We then went driving for an hour all over Mumbai to see the fireworks! We got some vids, and alot of motion sickness inducing vids but we'll be cutting it down eventually when we get home. We are just chilling this morning, nice late afternoon snack outside the hotel and we didn't even get hit by traffic on the way to the cyber cafe! In the room for 2 hours it's 350 rupees, here it's 50! Worth the walk! Well we are off to chill before catching the plane to Delhi tomorrow. It feels like we just got here, or we've been here forever. Can't quite decide which! The heat is killer, but the life, people, scenes, experiences...well......we are still speachless. Love you all!!!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
From Kim
Well we are up pretty early to start our day today, (4:30am) mostly out of excitement. Yesterday was amazine! Words fail. We went to everything as modern as a music store and caught a couple of the lastest CD soundtracks for Om Shanti Om and Saawariya. Neat seeing the release of the new Eagles CD and I guess it's doing well! LOL And then we saw markets that were well over 100 years old. The Jain temple was so awe inspiring, Doug was actually shaking. I guess this is how India gets under your skin. It was truly moving. The train station, the city laundry, the hanging gardens, Kolaba area shopping, traffic jams and travelling the new highway. The Mosques in the Muslim area we could only drive by as there was no stopping allowed due to the current political climate. Stunningly beautiful! Doug had to pop 5 or 6 blisters on my feet but I'm not letting that stop me! (Shades of Las Vegas...must see everything no matter what). Today Amin is taking us and dropping us at Elephanta (apparently a tout and tourist trap gauntlet to run till you get to ancient and beautiful ruins and carvings) We are leaving Amin behind for this one as it now bores him right silly!! Then it's off to go see the new SRK movie Om Shanti Om and FabIndia for shopping and who knows what else! We've been singing Dard - e - Disco and Om shanti Om for two days now so seeing it in the theatre HERE is going to be a true India experience! Amin is more than just a godsend, a good man and a driver (if there is something in the motorway, he pulls over the car and removes it! "Someone will get hurt" he rightly reasons) his care for others is truly inspiring...we now consider him a friend. We have seen the real Mumbai that tourists miss. I think when we leave, Amin will be the one thing we miss most! We have about 30 vid clips and about 200 pix, but I'll leave you with just this one....
Amin took it with an outstreached arm...it's his favorite...he calls it "Coffee, two cream!"
I think it may be my favourite too!
Amin took it with an outstreached arm...it's his favorite...he calls it "Coffee, two cream!"
I think it may be my favourite too!
From Doug
Doug- Wow!! Today was amazing! I don't know if I can describe everything I saw. Seeing ordinary people doing ordinary things like shopping in the markets. The mass of people was a little overwhelming. Thousands and thousands of people shopping and bartering, cars and bikes constantlyhonking. Just all the sights and sounds is rally very incredible. I was told to expect it but youcan't. It's all mixed, old and new together. Hundred year old building selling phone cards.The architecture of the all the buidings is amazing, to think that most of the buildings are from when Britain rules ceturies ago, are still standing! The way everthing blends together tomake Mumbai what it is. I don't think I can describe properly. I'm still trying to processeverything I saw, heard...and smelled! hehe =) Sorry I'm rambling like I said I'm still trying to processit all. Hopefully Kim can describe it better than I can. Later...
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