After that we grabbed some lunch at some well-known restaurant in New Delhi. I’m not really used to this food yet, it’s a bit too heavy for me, but the butter chicken (chicken makhanwala) is out of this world. Contrary to what it sounds like, Butter chicken is chicken cooked in this red creamy sauce it may or may not have heaps of butter in it, but it is pretty delicious. The only setback to such a heavy lunch is that I was still full 8 hours later. I felt like I had just eaten 20 minutes before, I guess that’s a regular effect of the food here in India. The Indian food from back home has less spices,and less cream, and comes with less heartburn and acid reflex.
I wanted to go to Chandni Chowk after lunch, my dad’s very skeptical about me going to that area. It’s this crazy market with crazy bargains but according to my dad there is no space to walk or breathe while you’re there. The real reason I want to go is because my mom was born into that neighborhood and I would like to get a chance to check out where she’s from. My mom and I were goingto head there, but the monsoon rains came out of nowhere. Disappointing, but a welcome change of weather from that serious heat.
It’s sale time at the stores here, so instead we stopped at a small branch of stores. Everyone in India must have watched the Russel Peters comedy like 1800 times, because during my short shopping experience I heard “take it and go” like 15 times. And after any Indian says it they get this stupid smug look on their face, like they just cracked the newest joke on theface of India. Yeah, like we haven’t heard that one before. I bought my dad an Indian Cricket training tee, and some shorts so that he can wear it to show the world the one team he does support.
Then I went home and spent time with the Sethi family until I got tired, knocked out and woke up at 6 the next day.
Since I was up so early on Thursday morning, I figured I’d go for a swim with Uncle Ramman. The drive to the country club was nice in the morning. It was very serene, there was very little of the hustle and bustle that surrounds the Delhi streets during the daytime. None of the gyms in India really have swimming pools. There’s no mega-gym like L.A Fitness and the drive to the country clubs take a good 20-30 minutes. To get to the club, we had to pass by the India Gate; it’s a monument dedicated to the soldiers who fought during World War II. I asked uncle Raman why it was even there, because I thought India didn’t even participate in WWII. He looked at me like I was joking and explained that we fought with the British, because we were still under their rule at the time. Ohhh.
The morning swim was nice and although it was so early, thewater was already warm. I’ve come to realize that Indian people hate order. There were proper lanes in the pool, and two Indian men were swimming sideways, perpendicular to the lanes. I guess Indians swim like they drive- with complete disregard for any standard or norm. When I got home mom made me leave right away to speed shop with her. It’s like the wedding season never ends. I’ve been to maybe 5 to 8 Indian weddings in the last couple of years, and there are no signs of wedding travels slowing down. It’s almost like a domino effect- when one Sindhi gets married there are like 10 other Sindhis who get married immediately after. Either way, I got shot down again for a Rajasthani Hat.
We got home packed everything upreally quick, and took off for Agra. Time to see the Taj Mahal! I’ve read that Agra is a total dump, but the Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful man made objects this world has to offer. We had to switch our plans from Jaipur to Agra due to hotel availabilities, but I was so pumped to finally get on the road. The drive took about 4-5 hours, and we had a quick dinner and went to check into our hotel The Oberoi Amarvillas.
Wow. What a hotel. First a man dressed in typical Rajasthani attire, with a great hat and a fantastic mustache, greeted us. I know this region is famous for its mustaches, so I’m really excited to see some of the best mustaches in the world in my next few days here. The hotel is decked out with great contemporary Indian furniture and art, and the service is fantastic. Everybody is so polite, and they don’t accept tips so you know they’re not putting on a façade at all. It’s quite late now, so I’ll post more later. By the way, I can see the Taj Mahal from my window. :)
- August 11th & 12th
P.S I tried paan for the first time this trip on Thursday, it was ridiculously gross. I plan to give it another shot before the end of this trip
At the start of our road trip we saw this bus, I guess it had just broken down so you can see the guy in the white trying to fix it. With a closer look we can really see how India works- the guy in the white wifebeater is supervising and giving direction to this other guy who is directly under the bus. Talk about down and dirty.
As we left Delhi, this monument called the Lotus Temple was in one of the most southern parts of the city. It's just amazing how the architect designed such a symmetrical building shaped like a lotus. I've come to learn now that Indians architecture is based off of symmetry, i'll explain a little more later during the Taj Mahal blogs.
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