Our first stop- the ruins, tower and tomb of Qutb-Minar from the 13th century. The ruins were beautiful as well as the plants and wildlife. In India (or at least New Delhi) there are dogs everywhere. Not tamed pets, but strays.. Not that they attack or are mean or anything. Some of them were really cute. But we were told not to even let them lick us, for fear of rabies. There was also the base of an earlier explorer who started making a tower and then died. Apparently his people didn't have very much respect for him, because no one cared to finish. It looks kind of funny, just a stone structure that makes you look twice.
I got in free because I am 15- the maximum age for free admitance. While we were there both my mother and my father's camera batteries died. Also, my mother missed a step and fell. Fortunatley, I was right in front of her, so I sort of caught her/helped her not to fall as hard. Also, she fell at an angle, so while she knows she will be sore tomorrow, nothing is broken and everything should heal well.
All throughout today our group and my family has had some very interesting conversations. Most were really funny, some hillarious. Example:
Me: COW!
Mom: Oh. Gate.
me: Dog... look!
mom: bus! right there.
dad: what are you guys doing?
Mom and I: learning our 1-syllable words.
Oh yeah. Cows are considered sacred in India, so there are also random cows. We didn't see as many cows as dogs, but the cows stopped traffic. Mostly we saw the cows on the roads or on the sides of the roads.
And if you are looking to take a nice tour bus ride, with great views and a smooth ride- don't go to india. The roads aren't the safest, and the traffic is worse. The average Indian driver accelerates and honks the horn. They only brake if they really have to, and motorbikes will squeeze in between cars and trucks with only inches to spare. Kind of really scary.
Our 2nd stop was the India Gate. It's more like a fat arch with INDIA written at the top and a bunch of names on the inside as a memorial to all those who died in service to their country's independence from England. Maybe I'm messing up the details, but it is a memorial to some people who have died. This weekend they are having a festival of some kind and allready have special decorations set up. It was also packed with locals almost bombarding you with things to buy. Those people have absolutely no sense of fear whatsoever. We must have told this guy "NO" about 20 times before Aneel came and had some strong words with him in Hindi.
Near the India Gate is what is called the canopy. When Great Brittain ruled over India, there was a statue of the king underneath a stone canopy. When the Indians gained independence, the took King George's statue away leaving behind the stone canapy. Our guide said that this is because Indians are nice. Instead of chopping off his head they just shooed him away. This made me laugh.
We ate at a nice little restaraunt called Cafe Rendevous. Just like last night, we let Aneel order several dishes and it was like one big family meal. Boneless chicken in orange colord sauce, lentils and chick peas, yougurt with onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and pinnaple on the top, rice with vegetables, flat bread but with a garlic sauce (like Indian garlic bread. How's that for mixed cultures, eh? ), a mushroom-bean-spice blend, another spicy orange-colored dish (no idea, I didn't have any), numerous sauces, and of course, Indian chai tea. For dessert there was a special Indian recipe (no, I don't know the Indian name) that translated to be basically a warm donut with pistachio's in the middle. There was also candied fennel seeds (has a licorace flavor), beetle-nuts and little rock candy. Pretty dang yummy.
Next we went to Humayun's Tomb. Our guide refered to it as the 1st Taj Mahal. It was built by Humayun's wife after his death. So, a reverse from the famous Taj Mahal in Agra. Before you actually got to the building where Humayun was burried, there were several archways, statues, and fountains. All of the buildings were made of red sandstone and white marble, limestone, with some pretty elaborate details.
Got a really close up view of the poverty here. It's everywhere. Right behind our, very nice, very western hotel, there are people living in one-room shacks and cooking, hanging clothes, brushing their teeth, and eating outside. Beside the roads it's even worse. There are camps or villages of really poor living conditions, mostly one wall and a tent. If that. We also saw several people just lying in the median of the highway.
One thing that we noticed that might be an improvement, was the children on the side of the road putting on entertainment. One was double jointed and wound her ams around her whole body, and the rest were doing flips or playing the drums. My mother was talking about the one book she read where Indians would purposly hurt their children to bring in more money. Yes, these children we saw were still begging, but I'd rather see gymnastics than a blind 3-year old. Not trying to be judgemental, because it may not even be that way at all anymore- My mom's book might be out of date. But even so, it's an improvement, no matter how small.
The last stop of the day was to what is commonly called the Lotus Palace - the Baha'i House of Worship. It reminded me of the Opera House in Sydney, Australia (even though I've never been there). We got there just before they closed and it was getting quite chilly at that point. Well, as opposed to the 50s-60s it was earlier (we had a hard time stopping laughing at the natives all bundled up with scarves while we were in short sleeves- or a light jacket). Before we went in they made us take off our shoes, so then I was even colder in bare feet.
No pictures inside, because it's a house of worship. Also, everyone is to be totally silent. I liked it.
We left then to go back to the hotel. Now I'm here typing away, after my shower.
So. goodnight, world. Or...good day- people back home. I'm going to sleep.
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