Tuesday 18 3 2014

Today sightseeing New Delhi. Into two Taxis around 10 o’clock, our one was quite old, no AC so windows down lots of smells and dust. The traffic was quite chaotic, all manner of vehicles in all sorts of condition. Got a good look at the city and outskirts where some of the conditions are not too good. There are some random photos below that would give you an idea of some of the areas we drove through.

The main stops for the day were Qutb Minar and Alai Minar Towers, Humayun’s Tomb, and the Lotus Baha’I Temple. It was great to get to see these local treasures. Photos below.

After the visit to these places the driver took us to a market where some of the girls purchased Saris, then home.

Wednesday 19/3/2014

Language classes in the morning. Jims no good at languages really struggled not only do you have to remember the new word but they are arranged differently. For example, Who are you? becomes You who are? Getting your 50 year old brain around that takes a bit of time.   JH

We have also seen monkeys and chipmunks on the street which was a bit of a surprise.  The area where we are staying is in a ‘good’ area, yet there is still a range of homes and happenings, people beautifully dressed to beggars, BMW’s to oxen pulling carts, no kerb and channelling to speak of, so you can begin to understand the diverse nature of India.

The children of the family go to an international school which is very expensive for them, but the state education system is very sub-standard and not ideal. The home stay family look after us very well and are always ensuring our well-being and comfort, and in particular safety. It is not recommended that we walk anywhere alone, yet we feel quite safe in groups.

 The food is also very good and authentic, which we are both enjoying.

 We went to a Bollywood movie in Hindi called Queen yesterday at the local cinema.  It was a cinema the same as we would attend at home, which we had all speculated as to what it would be like.  Great to see a Bollywood movie in India.

The girls and I had our hands painted with Henna last night.  Serita arranged for a man to come to the home and do this for us, as she said if we did it in the street we would attract too much attention.

Speaking of unwanted attention. We were walking to the market yesterday and saw a soccer field with a whole lot of boys of all ages playing various games of backyard cricket etc.  Thinking (or not) it was a good idea to wander in and have a look, we headed in.  Bad idea, as soon as the kids saw us they all started to rush over and almost got mobbed.  We quickly scurried down the street, with them following and some starting to throw things at us.  Lesson learned!