Delhi Part II

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I actually wrote this post about 3 weeks ago but I just never got around to posting it. In the meantime, a pretty awful and unexpected- and still unexplained or unresolved at least, from my understanding- incident happened, Sofia'a good friends were volunteering in Africa and disappeared from their boat. They were on a lake and their bodies still have not been found but they have been announced to be dead rather than missing. I'm somewhat unsure of all of the details but that's my understanding at least. Sofia, understandably, returned to Denmark the day after she received the news. I can't imagine what she's going through right now. So definitely thinking of her a lot.

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So I’ll try to pick up where I last left off which was somewhere around breakfast on my second day in Delhi. Sofia and I walked around the neighbourhood in search of an authentic Indian breakfast but quickly realized that a continental breakfast sounded more appealing since we’ve had nothing but Indian breakfasts for the past month and a half and it can be a little overwhelming to have really spicy food for breakfast every day. We found a hotel that had an all you can eat buffet for a whopping $3 and decided to give it a go. The breakfast was deadly and after a few espressos I was ready to go. We shopped around and decided to book a cab to Agra for the following day so we could see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. After that we headed to Jama Masjid Mosque.

Jama Mosque is the biggest mosque in India and from what I understand it can hold up to 25,000 people. They made me wear some sort of man-skirt that was so not flattering but I was in shorts and apparently showing a little too much skin... We walked around and took some pictures and then took to the task of climbing the 130 stairs in one of the towers. After some huffing and puffing (apparently I’ve been eating too many chapatis) we got to the top. The view was pretty spectacular and you could see all of Old Delhi and part of New Delhi. While we were admiring the view at the top we started chatting with a couple of locals who spoke English very well and we mentioned that we were hoping to go to a traditional market or bazaar later on and asked for a recommendation. They immediately (thank God for spell check because I’m probably the only 25 year old that misspells “immediately” every single time) recommended we check out Chandni Chowk which was only about a 15 walk away. We thanked them and made our way there.

On our way we got to see and experience a bit of everything-- date stands, popcorn stands where they pop the popcorn in these huge pans over a coal fire, a snake charmer, a small congregation of homeless people living right underneath of the mosque, and tons of other shops and stands.

Chandni Chowk was pretty unbelievable to say the least. I’m not sure exactly how many people where at the market but there have to have been at least 100 thousand, or “one lakh" as they say in India. You were shoulder to shoulder with other shoppers and shop owners alike, it was pure madness. We never even entertained the thought of purchasing anything but we spent at least an hour and a half waking down the street and just taking it all in. After about an hour of walking around we saw what we thought were omelets being made on the street and went to check them out. It turns out that it was something made out of “pulse” that just looked like an omelet. I still have no idea what it was but it was amazing. It was basically tomatoes, cheese and some herbs wrapped in a pulse “wrap” with an her chutney on the side. We devoured the dish and went on our way.

After that we headed to the Museum of Modern Art and walked around for a bit, but let’s be honest, museums are boring. Fortunately, I didn’t have to feign my interest for long as the museum closed shortly after we arrived. Later on that night we headed to a pretty nice North Indian restaurant and had some killer Palak Panner (if you have a chance try some!) and then headed to a near by pub for a bit to get a feel of the night life in Delhi. It was pretty empty but it was still fun.

The next day we headed to... the Taj! Our driver picked us up at 6am and we made the 4 hour trip to Agra. The city of Agra itself is pretty lackluster to say the least. It sucks. It does happen to be home to two of the most amazing destinations in India though, the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort. We only saw Agra Fort from the outside but it is huge and looked awesome-- I have to return there one day to see the inside. We were dropped off in front of the walkway to the Taj where we met up with our guide. 

I witnessed my first robbery in India as we entered the gates. A monkey shamelessly snatched a tourist's ice cream and took off. Here's the little guy enjoying his prize.

The Taj Mahal was gorgeous and having a guide is a must because you develop so much more of an appreciation for the work that went into building it and you learn about all of the intricacies that you would never have know otherwise. I can't really add anything that you wouldn't be able to get from pictures other than to say that it is one of the few places that is as far more gorgeous in person than it comes off in the millions of pictures that have been taken of it. That's a pretty hard feat to accomplish, so as Ali G would say, "restecp".

One of the four main gates.

The Taj.

The most touristy thing I could think of...

A mosque just to the side of it.

Quick snap from an archway on the way out.

Ended up having a pretty mellow night because of our wake up time and I had an early flight to Goa to catch the next day. I was really looking forward to seeing Goa alone and spending some time on the beach and what not but I basically ran into some other volunteers within an hour of arriving, and somehow we were staying at the same hotel! Crazy...

The first couple days in Goa were AWFUL! I got food poisoning shortly after arriving, damn you spring rolls, and spent the first two days with a bucket in front of my face throwing up. Oh yeah, it was my birthday the day after I arrived to top it off. The hotel was right across from a bar and it’s pretty annoying to throw up while “We’re gonna have a goodnight” is blaring in the background haha. B.E.P. you lied because I did not have a good night! I slowly recovered and was able to really enjoy the rest of my time there though. The other guys/girls I was with were a really fun group and I think everyone had a blast. We got to eat some really good food, played some football (they are Euros and they get angry when you call it soccer) on the beach, rented scooters and drove around for the day, and hang out on the beaches. We went out a few nights there and the clubs there off the hizzy. Not in the way you would expect though. You can only get in as a “couple” so the ratio for guys to girls is 50/50 but you would not know it by looking at the dance floor... it is the complete opposite from anywhere else I’ve been where the dance floors are dominated by guys. And what dancers they are! They gyrate, fist pump, and shake their tailfeathers like you wouldn’t believe. It’s shocking and incredibly entertaining to watch.

The 10 days, well 8 if you discount the 2 I spent throwing up, were an absolute blast and it was really good to see a different side of India. 

Noah