This morning started off pretty chill and quiet. Unfortunately Gabby received bad news about her grandma during the night so we just sat around talking this morning and taking it slow. We had our first breakfast at the hostel this morning which was included, and actually pretty decent!
After we ate we went back up to the room for a bit to chill. After a few hours we got up and moving. We were planning on doing a food tour through our hostel around 345/4 so we wanted to grab some light to eat for lunch since it was already getting late and we knew we would be eating a lot soon enough! We headed over to Connaught Place, which is a big roundabout area with lots of restaurants, shops and cafes.
India has been interesting for us to figure out. We will run into people that are really friendly and trying to give you advice and directions and recommendations but through out the conversation it starts to feel strange...uncomfortable and almost too fake...scammish...but we don't know?! Is this just us being paranoid American tourists? When 2 different people come up to you back to back and tell you almost identical things you feel a little out of sorts... and the first thing the second guy said to us was, "don't be so suspicious, Delhi is a safe place". After being stopped multiple times we were pushing it on time because we wanted to be back for the food tour but still wanted to go check out some sites...so we settled for a quick authentic Indian lunch...Subway! 😂
It was actually really neat how they have it set up here...there are 2 different sides to order from...vegetarian and non vegetarian...if you are a vegetarian at home you have one option...the veggie delite, but here there were about 8 different sandwich options for vegetarians! It was pretty exciting! So I ended up getting a paneer tikka sub and it was so delicious and only $1.90!
After subway we headed down to the India Gate. The India Gate is a war memorial to 82,000 soldiers of the undivided Indian Army who died in the period of 1914-1921 in the First World War.
While we were at the India Gate we got henna tattoos. The lady was so quick, probably five minutes for each side of our hand! They look really neat!
She uses like a piping bag and puts thick clay stuff (henna) on you..when she's finished you just let it dry...she didn't give us much instruction other than, "don't wash your hands for 10 days"...oh ya okay, no big deal...just traveling around India.
After the clay dries you can just knock it off (it starts falling off by itself too). The longer the clay stays on, the darker the color will be.
After we were both finished we just sat for a while so our hennas could dry...while sitting we had a family come up and asked if their kids could take a picture with us...we didn't care so of course we said yes.. well after that they ALL wanted pictures with us... we get this in Thailand but it was ten fold to Thailand! So funny...another tourist told us we should start charging 50 rupee per picture! I like where his head was at!
The level of respect here is so different than Thailand. We were listening to how these boys (about 10-12 years old selling snacks on the street) were talking to the lady doing our hennas and it was really interesting. We couldn't understand what they were saying but we could tell from their tone, expressions and her reactions and tone that they weren't being very respectful when talking to her. It's crazy to see that because in Thailand children would never talk to an elder like that.
It started pouring out of No Where so we grabbed a tuk tuk, who overcharged us big time but we didn't really want to look for another one because it was raining so hard!
We grabbed a beer on the way back to the hostel and just chilled in the hostel waiting for the food tour.
The second we walked into the beer/liquor store every head turned to look at us! They typically don't see women coming in and out of the store, especially foreign women. So interesting the different cultural aspects of being here! I'm loving everything that I'm seeing and learning here!
The food tour ended up being cancelled because of the weather so we ended up just hanging in the common area playing cards with some new friends. We met people from Ireland, U.K., Germany, Netherlands, and the states. All different ages, backgrounds and experiences! It's so much fun talking to people and leaving their stories! One of my favorite parts of traveling! Around 7 we decided to grab some food so Andy (U.K.) recommended a spot for dinner that was absolutely amazing! The restaurant was called Bhaja Govindam. It was just a walk away from our hostel and the food was excellent. Gabby and I ordered Paneer Makhan Palak and Dum Aloo and Garlic Naan to split! It was a lot of food but we ate every last bite!
After dinner we were stuffed and exhausted so we grabbed a beer on the way back and just hung out for a bit in the common area before calling it a night!
✌🏼
No comments:
Post a Comment