As we stumbled out of customs/immigration at 3:30am hoping that our airport ride was waiting for us we could immediately feel the heat that is New Delhi in the summertime actually most of the time. Thankfully our ride was waiting with all the other people and my name was written on a little sign, such a nice sight to see at 4am. We traveled through the semi-deserted city and arrived on a small street which looked much busier during the day and walked down a small alley that smelled like pee (there was an outdoor toilet right in the alley) and found our hostel. They let us in and we tumbled into bed for some sleep.
We woke around 11:00am and I went out in search of money since we had no Rupees upon arriving into the country. There was an ATM at the train station just down the once quiet street which was now hustle and bustle that is India-rickshaws, taxis, people, stores selling everything, stray dogs, lots of friend street food and trash! The main street I had to cross to get to the train station was very packed with cars, rickshaws(I call them rickis) so I made a break for it. As I crossed I was a little too fast with an oncoming car and got my foot ran over, as I looked down I noticed the tire tracks across my right toes. Good thing the car was a little one, no harm just sore toes for a day. I got some money and went back to get Jessica so we could get some lunch. We made our way around the area were were staying in and got some tourist info before coming back to the main street with all the stores that bordered the alley of our hostel. As we made our way to dinner down the street I got hit in the shoulder by a bicycle ricki, that one hurt a little more but again no major harm. So we had not been in Delhi for two days and I had gotten hit twice already! What a great start!
The next day we got a late start after we did some internet business with getting our next destinations in India booked. By the time we got outside it was mid-afternoon and so, so blazing hot you just can't imagine unless you live here. We found a ricki and traveled out of the center to the Lotus Temple which was built by the Bahia faith whose temple is open to all faiths for worship. They must have all shown up this day becuase there was a line to get in and you had to remove your shoes and even with the straw mats they laid down to protect yoru feet on the marble you had to run to the shade, our poor little feets were getting fried. The temple was very peaceful inside so we sat and meditated for a few minutes before leaving and catching our ricki to Ghandi's musuem.
This musuem was set up in the house he stayed in for the final 144 days of his life. It also has a wonderful grounds around it including a memorial where he was shot right outside the house as he went to pray one morning. Inside the house are pictures and stories of his life from childhood to after his death. He was quite active in life even before he was more well-known including work as a lawyer in South Africa, all around India and in parts of Europe. There was also an interactive exhibit about this life on the second floor which was an interesting way of helping people learn and appreciate parts of his life. Later that day we also went to a park where there is another memorial to Ghandi and a former Indian prime minister who was also killed by an assassin. Then we made our way to the Red Fort and more importantly by that time the main street that runs from it to get some food. Once there I ended up trying a few things that were uniquely Indian that I did care for and at the Fort we were the subject of many photo opportunities with lots of young Indians, usually young men( I think they liked Jessica, I just happen to be there) and a few families. We had seen different whiteys around the city but apparently we were so photogenic that I thought of starting to charge money as we were getting so many requests.
That night we met a couchsurfing host named Irashad who was hosting a woman from Costa Rica and he took us out for coffee to give us information about Kashimir as we were thinking of going there next. It is in the northern mountains of India and much cooler then Delhi. Turns out we decided to go to Manali and Vishisht instead which is on the way and closer (16 hour bus ride instead of 2 days!) but we enjoyed meeting him. The next day we bummed around the city, did some more business and then took a ricki to meet our bus to Manali. We boarded at 5:00pm but did nto leave until closer to 7:00pm and arrived the next day at Manali at about 9:00am, not a find nights sleep for either of us but we had decided to come to this place in the mountains to relax. So after getting to Manali which seemed busy to us even at 5000 people we immediately took a ricki to Vishisht, another mountain village about 3km away. Both places were located in amazing vacinity of the himalayas so once arriving in Vishisht we spent some time looking for a place that had a view of the mountains. We found a hotel up the on the hill with a private balcony and a view of mountains all around the front, and a river and the village directly below. This was to become our home for the next 5 days when we did nothing I mean nothing that required too much energy. It was our chance take a breather, re-group and take care of some business. So that is exactly what we did so therefore there will not be much in teh blog about Vishisht except the pictures that I already posted, please enjoy these the Himalays are stunning.
Vishisht was almost everything we hoped it would be for relaxing, save a weak hot-water heater for showers and so-so clean sheets. I also got a cold during this time so it served as a time for me to heal up and read the huge and good book called Shantaram, which we both recommend. We loved our time in Vishisht and were sad to leave but knew we could have easily spent another three weeks there (we talked about it) as India is a big country and there are lots of great things to see. Ce'la vie!
