And so it is morning on my second day in Delhi. Somehow, I am not jetlagged even though the time difference is 12 hours from Denver! I find myself tired around midnight and awake around 6...although waking up that early probably has to due with the symphony of noises outside: people lifting the metal gates to open their store, folks shouting in Hindu, pigeons cooing, and also an unidentified small animal/large insect that lives outside of my hotel window. I can't see what it is since the window is opaque, but I prefer to imagine that is is some cute fuzzy creature at my window. Whatever it is, it can't get inside and that makes me happy.
My hotel is simple and the rumors that I read on the internet about it having roaches have proved false so far! Thank God. And it has hot water too, which is a plus.
Yesterday, I had a lesson in dealing with "touts." A good lesson to learn the first day. Nothing bad happened other than the fact that I wasted time and ended up not following my plan for the day. It is so easy to be followed by touts posing as helpful people. Lots of lessons. It seems that each hour that goes by, less touts approach me. I think I'm starting to give off a less gullable vibe now. Today, I will try pretending like I don't speak English so that I may walk in peace and follow my plans for the day.
Some highlights so far: the wonderful steaming hot fresh food; the best paneer ever! Riding in open air rickshaws in the anarchy traffic that flows down the street like a polluted rushing river...crossing the street is an adventure. Finding out via email from my customs agent that many items I had questions about are duty-free like bindis and trinket boxes! And the holy cows, of course. The strangest question someone asked me was, "Are you celebate?" to which I promptly answered "yes" and ignored the man who asked me...he was my waiter.
Today the plan is to but train tickets for my journey. I could write 10 pages right now on what is comfusing about buying train tickets in Delhi, but I won't! Then, I'll repel the touts long enough to stroll the bazaars of Old Delhi, looking for treasures for my store in the US...figuring out how much they are trying to overcharge me. More to come....
