Tuesday, September 30, 2008

India: Final Installment

Thursday (09-11-08)

I woke up with a bad sore throat/cold and ready to go home. I changed my ticket, but the only day they had was tonight. AC was mad and so I ended up getting another ticket to leave on Sunday night. I will spare you the rest of the details. We stayed in at Praneet & Himani’s all day. AC called the driver to pick him up for golf at 5:30 am, but he said that was too early so they settled on 6 am.

Friday (09-12-08)

The driver showed up at 7:30 and made AC late for golf with his uncle. I wrote out my postcards and when AC got home we went shopping. We went to Select City Walk. This was a nice mall and just like the malls here except it was larger. After shopping we went to Noida where AC’s Uncle and family live. We all had dinner and hung out talking (everyone spoke English). We didn’t get home until 12:30 am.



Saturday (09-13-08)

We got up and packed our stuff because it make more sense to stay the night at Cha-Cha’s. AC’s cousin met us at Praneet’s house and we went to a mall in Noida. Lots of little kids wanting money outside the mall. I bought a couple pair of jeans and pants. We were done shopping and picked up our stuff at Praneet’s, said goodbye to Himani and Anoushka. It was so nice to see them and spend time with them. We got to Cha-Cha’s house around 6 and slowly people started showing up to see us. Since it was my last night, they made dinner and asked a bunch of relatives to stop by. Again, it was hard with the language barrier, but it was my last night.


A scary situation took place on Saturday evening, luckily we learned about it on the news. At 6:07 pm a bomb went off in the Karol Bagh market that we had visited. At 6:34 another bomb went off somewhere else, again at 6:35, at 6:37 & 6:38 bombs went off in the GK shopping area that we went to. There were bombs at India Gate (we were there), a movie theatre, and in central park, thankfully these 3 were defused and did not cause any harm. All of these locations are in the capital of India, New Delhi. This was the 4th terrorist attack in 6 months. I had never heard of any attacks there until this one. 23 people lost their lives and 110 more were injured. It is scary to think that we were in so many of those locations.
Sunday (09-14-08)

I got up at noon and mom insisted that I get a massage. The massage was quite different than in the US. Anytime I have had one here, the woman makes sure you are covered up at all times and wants you to feel comfortable and not hanging out there. This was different. I laid on my stomach in only my underwear and no sheet, I also had to lay on my back with the same situation. It was just different. After the massage I went to get money to give her a tip, but mom stopped me and wanted to know how much I was giving. I had 150 rupees, which is only $3.49 USD and she said I could only give 100 rupees. If I had been thinking I would have taken the money in with me and given it in private, whatever as long as I could give something. After a shower we went to the sweet shop to get some stuff to bring back. I wanted to take some sweets to work. After we got back from the store mom helped me pack my suitcases. We had to get everything in them and not over weight. Bitu drove me to the airport and Dad & AC came also. I checked my bags and then went back to wave by.

My flight was on Continental Airlines from Delhi to Newark New Jersey 14 hours and then onto Detroit for 2 more hours. The flights were not bad at all. Of course I could have been strapped to a donkey and that wouldn't have been bad either since I was going home. I got home at 10 am and my cats were happy to see me. They really didn’t leave me all day, just followed me around. There is no place like home.

I forgot to mention in these posts that often I would see a woman dressed in a beautiful sari and riding side saddle on the back of a motorcycle. I also would see a Dad with 3 little children on a motorcycle, the littlest in front.
When AC got back I was quick to look at his photos and it looks like he visited the most beautiful place after I had gone home. These are some of his photos:




He also got some great monkey shots:


4 comments:

toners said...

More great photos! I know just how you feel about getting home: wherever I've been, it is always awesome to get back home :)

Linda said...

Thanks for sharing all the little details about your trip. I enjoy traveling too but it is always nice to be back in your own home.

Anonymous said...

Okay... no one is going to comment on Darcey's inappropriate posting of monkey porn? Cmon peeps.

Janet said...

Wow...you had quite an experience! It's interesting to read about all the things you saw and did. That is really scary about the bomb. Those kinds of things make a person think twice about traveling these days.