I was able to take two days off of work and fly up to New Delhi to meet two of my friends from Salt Lake, Alyssa and Heidi, who came over for a visit. I left Bangalore after work on Wednesday night and flew up to New Delhi. It was supposed to only be a 2 and a half hour flight, but it turned into much longer than that so I didn't end up getting to the hotel in Delhi until pretty late. But I got to see Alyssa and Heidi after a long two months and that was great. We ordered an extra bed for me and the hotel guy showed up with a wooden board on wheels folded in half. He unfolded it and t
he center where the fold was did not fold all the way down so it was like a little tent. I wasn't sure if that was it, but I wasn't looking forward to the next two nights of sleeping. Luckily he did bring in a mattress which fixed things a bit. On Friday morning we got up and our Delhi driver took us to the President's Palace which I think is called Rashtrapati Bhawan. It was big with a lot of different government buildings around it. We also went to the India Gate which is near the President's Palace. It is a big arch that has several names of people who died fighting for India's independence engraved on it. Oh, I forgot to mention that Delhi was hot. It was hotter than I have ever felt before, and ever want to feel again. Bangalore has been quite pleasant, but Delhi was not. Walking outside we were immediately drenched in sweat and our clothes grew 7 sizes larger because of it. After the gate we went to Humayun's Tomb.
It was beautiful and it's crazy to think something like that was built just for dead people. Inside the tomb a guy started telling me about it without me asking him to. I listened and then when he was done I walked away to find Heidi and Lys. He followed me asking for money for his services. I just kept walking. I
probably could have spared a few Rupees, but I didn't ask for his services and he didn't take his shoes off inside the tomb. At the tomb there was a whole separate tomb for the barber and the jeweler. I thought that was pretty funny. They obviously took their hair and accessories very seriously. Next we went to Qutb Minar which is a very tall and very old tower made out of sandstone. It had beautiful engravings all over it and it was surrounded by ruins. It was beautiful, but once again, very hot. We also went to the Bahai Temple which is also called the Lotus temple. It didn't really look like a temple, but it was neat. The greatest part about it was that it was definitely the quietest bit of India I have ever been in. There is supposed to be no noise in the temple and it really was silent. It was
wonderful. We had to take our shoes off of course and I'm sure we looked ridiculous - three white woman walking briskly to the shoe drop off because the ground was so hot. It didn't seem to bother too many other people. Next we went shopping. We started out in an underground market which turned out not to be for us so we went up on the street and walked through some shops there. We ate at Pizza Hut and then headed back to where the car was going to pick us up. We stopped to buy some necklaces from some little boys and were quickly surrounded by other vendors wanting to offer their services. One man wanted to put something in our ears to clean them out. He had a little notebook of testimonials from other customers. I was still not convinced. When we got back to the hotel it was disturbing to find salt crystals in my eyebrows and along my hairline. I've never been much of a sweater, but after Delhi, I'm not sure I can say that anymore. Besides the heat, Delhi was great. It was different from Bangalore in that everything seemed a lot older. Bangalore has grown so much over the past few years that everything is under construction or recently has been under construction so it seems newer. I was in the north for four more days so stay tuned for those posts.
he center where the fold was did not fold all the way down so it was like a little tent. I wasn't sure if that was it, but I wasn't looking forward to the next two nights of sleeping. Luckily he did bring in a mattress which fixed things a bit. On Friday morning we got up and our Delhi driver took us to the President's Palace which I think is called Rashtrapati Bhawan. It was big with a lot of different government buildings around it. We also went to the India Gate which is near the President's Palace. It is a big arch that has several names of people who died fighting for India's independence engraved on it. Oh, I forgot to mention that Delhi was hot. It was hotter than I have ever felt before, and ever want to feel again. Bangalore has been quite pleasant, but Delhi was not. Walking outside we were immediately drenched in sweat and our clothes grew 7 sizes larger because of it. After the gate we went to Humayun's Tomb.
It was beautiful and it's crazy to think something like that was built just for dead people. Inside the tomb a guy started telling me about it without me asking him to. I listened and then when he was done I walked away to find Heidi and Lys. He followed me asking for money for his services. I just kept walking. I
probably could have spared a few Rupees, but I didn't ask for his services and he didn't take his shoes off inside the tomb. At the tomb there was a whole separate tomb for the barber and the jeweler. I thought that was pretty funny. They obviously took their hair and accessories very seriously. Next we went to Qutb Minar which is a very tall and very old tower made out of sandstone. It had beautiful engravings all over it and it was surrounded by ruins. It was beautiful, but once again, very hot. We also went to the Bahai Temple which is also called the Lotus temple. It didn't really look like a temple, but it was neat. The greatest part about it was that it was definitely the quietest bit of India I have ever been in. There is supposed to be no noise in the temple and it really was silent. It was 
wonderful. We had to take our shoes off of course and I'm sure we looked ridiculous - three white woman walking briskly to the shoe drop off because the ground was so hot. It didn't seem to bother too many other people. Next we went shopping. We started out in an underground market which turned out not to be for us so we went up on the street and walked through some shops there. We ate at Pizza Hut and then headed back to where the car was going to pick us up. We stopped to buy some necklaces from some little boys and were quickly surrounded by other vendors wanting to offer their services. One man wanted to put something in our ears to clean them out. He had a little notebook of testimonials from other customers. I was still not convinced. When we got back to the hotel it was disturbing to find salt crystals in my eyebrows and along my hairline. I've never been much of a sweater, but after Delhi, I'm not sure I can say that anymore. Besides the heat, Delhi was great. It was different from Bangalore in that everything seemed a lot older. Bangalore has grown so much over the past few years that everything is under construction or recently has been under construction so it seems newer. I was in the north for four more days so stay tuned for those posts.
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