Talk about culture shock.  I really can’t even begin to explain how intense this place is.  So full of life, energy, movement, and NOISE. So much noise.  Oh, and dirt. India isn’t exactly the cleanest place I’ve seen.

After getting to Delhi late we had to be up very early the next morning to catch the train to Agra.  We didn’t have paper tickets, only an electronic confirmation, so in order to get on the train we had to run up and down the streets to different offices…running down a Delhi street is tantamount to competing in Olympic hurdles…stray dogs, sleeping people, trash piles, broken bicyles…oh and did I mention the sun hadn’t risen and there aren’t any street lights?  Add in the ruthless motorbike drivers and we felt like we were in a game of frogger.  I of course slipped and fell and had to be pulled up because the weight of my three packs made it too difficult to stand on my own.  After furiously running down the platform we made it with seconds to spare.

Phew.

After a two hour sunrise ride we arrived in Agra where we will stay for the next week.

We went to market today (where I splurged on some traditional Indian outfits called salwar suits, bangles, and too many scarves), and I took my first ride in a bicycle rickshaw.  I am still quite overwhelmed by just how different it is here, so nothing too fancy photo-wise, but instead a bunch of shots to give you an idea of what it like to walk down a northern Indian street.

For one thing, you see animals. Everywhere.  Cows, goats, hogs, cats, dogs, and……..

MONKEYS! Seconds after taking this guy’s photo he basically attacked my cousin in an attempt to steal her cache of delicious bananas. She stood her ground, but we definitely learned to give the monkeys their space…

The streets are crazy busy, with at least 5 different kinds of vehicles sharing the roads with all the animals and a constant stream of pedestrians…

All of the colors in the market were just beautiful and clearly enticing to my wallet.  The shoes you see on the left cost about $4 a pair…

We stopped briefly for my cousin to have a small Mehndi pattern put on her ankles…

Saw and captured a few faces from the street….

Got to the bottom of why the power randomly but consistently goes out throughout the day…it is not surprising when the you see power lines like these…

We didn’t have a clue what any sign read….

…and we loved every moment of it.

That’s all for now. Namaskar.

xoxo,

klc

Not too much report after a looooooong 12 hour flight to the United Arab Emirates.  I was thrilled to have the pleasure of being assigned the middle seat….I can’t think of many things worse than being stuck in that seat for that long.  Luckily Emirates Airlines had tons of entertainment so I watched 4 movies and countless episodes of Arrested Development.  Once I arrived here, I hopped on the metro and took a cruise downtown.  I was really surprised by the amount of construction going on, it seems as if half the city is still being built.  I loved getting to see the city from the train, but my ventures on foot didn’t go as well as I’d planned.  First off, it was 100 degrees, like literally, and I have on  jeans and sweatshirt…I felt uncomfortable just wearing the tank top I had on underneath so I just sweltered.  I tried in vain to buy a more modest, but light shirt, but did end up getting a cell phone that I can have on me in case of emergencies, a few books, and a pashmina scarf…all duty-free and for the equivalent of about $75.  So, not a bad day all-in-all, but since I didn’t sleep a wink on the flight here I know I”m going to be completely wiped when I arrive in Delhi tonight.

Here are just a few photos I shot while wandering.  All but one are of the airport, as I said, all the places I attempted towalk were not exactly rife with photo-ops.

When took this was I going up or down the escalator? Thoughts?  It’s tricky.Crazy huge towers in the financial district, taken from the metro train
and I’ll be seeing you soon!

xoxo,

klc