Let’s Go Edmonton Fairwell! What a great night and a great chance to see some of our family and friends before heading off. Maria and Lonneke made Nasi Goreng and brought a whole feast over to our house and we were joined by Ulco and Kelly and Sjoerd and Candace. We had a great meal and even greater company!
Mike and Katie also stopped by to see us off- and of course to indulge in the Polish Buffalo Urine Vodka that Mike bought Stijn for his birthday! And our dear friend Maryam also came by and true to her sweet self, had hand made a card from our Thailand trip together where she promised her and Jazzy would meet us somewhere along our journey- which we will hold them to!
The next morning came fast (and with a twinge of hangover) but we made it the airport thanks to Ulco and Maria and were off to Vancouver for the first leg of our journey!
We were so happy to get to see our friends and family over the past few weeks before leaving- missing the people in our lives will of course be the major challenge of this adventure but we look forward to hearing all about life in Edmonton and all of the other places our loved ones are.
Au Revoir… for now!
Let’s Go India! Arrived in Delhi almost 12 hours later than expected after having to turn around 3 hours into our original flight from Beijing for technical difficulties. We spent the night in a hotel in Beijing before starting the flight to Delhi all over again.
We got to take in some of the city as we headed by prepaid (now post- paid) taxi to our hotel which is the middle of Krishna market which was bustling when we arrived as it is a holiday for the Indian people. Our hotel is quite primitive according to Stijn but it’s clean and when you’ve been in transit for over 24 hours and crossed the International date-line, anything resembling a bed will do!
We explored a bit of the market last night which was filled with mostly tailor shops to buy sarees and jewellery for woman. The colors and detail are incredible- Stijn really likes them and thinks I should be able to get away with wearing them at home!
Maryam will be proud to know that our first meal in India was at McDonalds- sad I know but we didn’t wander too far and given that the majority of the food within the market is street food- and knowing my history of sensitivity to foreign food- it was the sensible choice… for now! Not usually a fan of McDonalds, I have to say this one won me over. Half of the menu was vegetarian with the other half being chicken. I opted for the delicious McVeggie and Stijn had what is called the McAloo Tikki which I think is the equivalent of a regular hamburger but made without beef- he said it was very similar to a broodje kroket in Holland so we were both pleasantly surprised!
After dinner we wandered the market a bit more before heading back to the hotel room to try and rid ourselves of our jet leg- though as I type this its 6:20 a.m. and I’ve been awake for several hours! The time difference is 13 hours from home so it’s been a difficult transition but we’re getting there thanks to sleeping pills and a little bit of luck!
Let’s Go Old Delhi… We have officially fallen in love with India! This morning we met up with our group or so we thought- apparently our tour starts tomorrow but we were able to join another group that was starting today and explore old Delhi with them. The group was a great mix of young and experienced and interesting middle aged travellers- most of the group was doing a few months of travel so it was very interesting to hear all the other places that the other people were heading and where they had been.
We started our journey by taking the metro – the most populous metro in the world. It wasn’t quite as busy or disorganized as what you see on TV, but it wasn’t far off either. At times there was no need to hold on as you were held up by the mass of people around you, but there were queues, great security and all the platforms were very clean . We headed to a monument where a Persian King had invaded 11 times and on the 11th time he ordered his warriors to kill as many people as possible so that as the King stood high above the streets on the edge of a mosque, he would be able to walk down on the backs of bodies as punishment for refusing to convert to the Muslim Faith.
From there we headed to a mosque built out of red clay that was brought from over 250km away in the 16th century. It was originally built for Friday worship- in India there was originally a different temple or mosque for each day of worship- but is now open for worship throughout the week. The area for worship is high above the streets and had fantastic views of the amazing chaos going on below.
From the mosque, we made our way to the Sikh Temple. Before entering we had to leave our shoes in an information centre near by then cover our heads and walk through water to clean our feet as we entered. There are two parts to any Sikh temple- first is the place for worship where there is a man dedicated to the temple who watches over the holy book. The holy book was a book of principles from all 10 gurus and their learnings as well as all of the best part of the other religions in the world. Each guru added to the book and would pick a proceeding guru before his death. The 10th guru decided there would be no more gurus and gave the book to his disciples. There is a room underneath the front of the worship area where a replica of this book is safe guarded.
The second part of the temple is a community kitchen and housing area where anyone is welcome, no matter their faith or wealth. We were able to tour the kitchen where all the food was being prepared and Stijn was able to charm the ladies into letting him help flip the chipatties!
Next stop was lunch in an old market where the royal women and their harems used to frequent to buy their wares. We ate at a restaurant that was opened in the 1800s and has been owned by the same family ever since- the food was incredible and we both had more than we could possibly eat for only $2. For the rest of the afternoon we were free to wander the more modern part of Delhi on our own- we headed with a few other people to India Gate and to the Parliament as well as the President’s Palace before heading back to the hotel.
After a much needed nap, we went to meet our real tour group and had or orientation meeting. Our group is much younger than the one we were with today- mostly Aussie’s and a few Europeans. Hopefully it will be an interesting and fun group to travel with.
Tomorrow we’ll set out for Old Delhi again but with a new leader that will have his own spin on things- we are very much looking forward to the experience of the train.
No comments:
Post a Comment