Day 238 - Walking Chandni Chowk With Our Friend Xe.
Friday, March 1st, 2019.
We got a late start at the cave and of course at the last minute, I remembered that we forgot to go to the dentist last night to show him the retainer. Sunshine and I ran next door to ask how much would the retainer cost and we decided against it when they told us that it would be $250!
After that, we took an Uber to go to Chandni Chowk, which is classic old Delhi, by the Red Fort. We had to take a metro to meet with Xe, whose parents we stayed with in Modena. Xe was there in Modena during our stay, and what good luck that we met him again in New Delhi! It is a small world.
I have to say that I felt relieved and happy to know a person in a chaotic city. A lot of people said terrible things about India and I was scared of coming here. Actually, that's not true. When we were first planning the trip, I was so excited about India that I wanted to renew my marriage vows here! I wanted to organize a big wedding and have a 3-day celebration. Well, that was before. During our travels, we met people that had been in India, and almost every single person said something negative about it, to the point that I wanted to skip it.
I think that after having been in Cairo, I can travel anywhere. I think Cairo prepared us for the chaos and noise in New Delhi.
We were waiting for Xe in the wrong metro stop. He thought we were going to take the metro instead of Uber, so we were waiting for each other in different places. After texts, phone calls, and clarifications, we took the metro -- 10 rupees per person, or about $0.50 for the whole family. I was so happy to see someone familiar! After a while of not knowing people, you really miss family and friends!
Xe took us around old Delhi and the market. First, we passed the Red Fort that we didn't go because we were sick of seeing monuments. Then we passed a Sikh temple. I suggested going in since we were there and it looked interesting, but then we realized that we needed head covers and saw that we had to put away our shoes, so we changed our minds.
I suggested to leave our kids outside with our shoes while we peeked in, but then when I saw the dirty feet of the people washing their feet in a small pool, I said, no way, Jose! I remembered the fungus I got in Europe [Gregory's note: in 1986] from stepping in public bathrooms and never again have I set foot without sandals!
Gregory wanted to stay and eat in the general dining area that they had on one side of the temple. I told him that it was for people who had no money but he said he would leave a donation. Xe laughed and told us to go to the market to try delicious food. We did, and it was an interesting walk. Xe said that it was one of the busiest streets in Delhi. I don't even know how to describe the number of people walking in all directions, cars, motorcycles, tuk-tuk passing everywhere. There are supposed to be sidewalks but there are so many people that you just have to use the street, and besides, there are scooters parked on the sidewalk. You can cross the street when you want -- or more like it, when you can! I held Sunshine's hand like a little girl to cross the street.
The market had many narrow, twisted streets. I was expecting a more organized market like in Istanbul. This market didn't seem to have an order, you would see people walking in different directions and to different stores. I was expecting to see more crafts and souvenirs but I guess it was more like a market for locals with food, nice fabrics, and jewelry. We stopped in two different stands that Xe knew.
In the first stand, we ate samosas stuffed with potatoes and curry. Not low calories for sure but it was good and spicy. Then Xe asked for directions to a parantha place. We found it and sat upstairs. We ordered two, one with cashew and another with banana. You grab small pieces and dip it with different sauces that they give you in a separate dish. They were good...not my favorite, but good.
We walked some more, stopping from time to time to see how they made the food in different stands. In many of them, you could see a man sitting barefoot on top of the table making bread. In another corner, I witnessed a person washing the dirty dishes in a wash basin with even dirtier water. I realized that we were probably eating OK food because it was fried but I hadn't thought about how and where they wash their dishes. I pray that we don't get diarrhea!
I was almost done when we saw some stores selling shawls. I stopped and bought one for myself. I'm collecting (without planning to) scarves and crosses from each country. Sunshine is collecting bracelets, Daniel coins, and Gregory, Rotary banners!
By that hour, the kids and I were ready to go back home to a quiet spot but Gregory and Xe were on the go! We took the metro back to the neighborhood near Xe's home and stopped in a funky cafe for a chai latte. We love it! We met Patek, Xe's husband, who was very cool. They took us to see the ruins of a fort. In the park, it was all clean and green. I couldn't believe it was the same Delhi where we had been hours ago.
We walked down a path and witnessed a beautiful sunset, many different kinds of trees, some with orange flowers, and green parrots. Very nice. We walked to the park exit. Xe and Patek wanted to go out for dinner but I could tell that Daniel and Sunshine were done so we called an Uber.
I guess distances here are not that bad, there's just so much traffic that no matter where you are, it will take you between 40 to 60 minutes to get anywhere. I have to say that I was very impressed with the metro: clean, organized, secure, and fast. It wasn't as crowded as I expected but for convenience we took Uber.
[Gregory's note: we keep taking Uber, but it's really unpleasant -- even the "nice" sedans would be subcompact cars in any other country. Add to that the horrendous traffic, where the drivers navigate by horn, and contend with scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, tuk-tuks, cars, buses, trucks, horse-drawn carts, human-drawn carts and the occasional cow in the road, and you might start get the idea. I flinch just thinking about it.]
At home, we made soup and rice for dinner. No one wanted to go out to get food, so I cooked what I had in my suitcase and it was just fine. I tried to send everyone to bed on time since we are having a hard time getting up early but did not succeed, especially with the bigger boy, aka Gregorio!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q3VvBqvN1wAvHvDq8
We got a late start at the cave and of course at the last minute, I remembered that we forgot to go to the dentist last night to show him the retainer. Sunshine and I ran next door to ask how much would the retainer cost and we decided against it when they told us that it would be $250!
After that, we took an Uber to go to Chandni Chowk, which is classic old Delhi, by the Red Fort. We had to take a metro to meet with Xe, whose parents we stayed with in Modena. Xe was there in Modena during our stay, and what good luck that we met him again in New Delhi! It is a small world.
I have to say that I felt relieved and happy to know a person in a chaotic city. A lot of people said terrible things about India and I was scared of coming here. Actually, that's not true. When we were first planning the trip, I was so excited about India that I wanted to renew my marriage vows here! I wanted to organize a big wedding and have a 3-day celebration. Well, that was before. During our travels, we met people that had been in India, and almost every single person said something negative about it, to the point that I wanted to skip it.
I think that after having been in Cairo, I can travel anywhere. I think Cairo prepared us for the chaos and noise in New Delhi.
We were waiting for Xe in the wrong metro stop. He thought we were going to take the metro instead of Uber, so we were waiting for each other in different places. After texts, phone calls, and clarifications, we took the metro -- 10 rupees per person, or about $0.50 for the whole family. I was so happy to see someone familiar! After a while of not knowing people, you really miss family and friends!
Xe took us around old Delhi and the market. First, we passed the Red Fort that we didn't go because we were sick of seeing monuments. Then we passed a Sikh temple. I suggested going in since we were there and it looked interesting, but then we realized that we needed head covers and saw that we had to put away our shoes, so we changed our minds.
I suggested to leave our kids outside with our shoes while we peeked in, but then when I saw the dirty feet of the people washing their feet in a small pool, I said, no way, Jose! I remembered the fungus I got in Europe [Gregory's note: in 1986] from stepping in public bathrooms and never again have I set foot without sandals!
Gregory wanted to stay and eat in the general dining area that they had on one side of the temple. I told him that it was for people who had no money but he said he would leave a donation. Xe laughed and told us to go to the market to try delicious food. We did, and it was an interesting walk. Xe said that it was one of the busiest streets in Delhi. I don't even know how to describe the number of people walking in all directions, cars, motorcycles, tuk-tuk passing everywhere. There are supposed to be sidewalks but there are so many people that you just have to use the street, and besides, there are scooters parked on the sidewalk. You can cross the street when you want -- or more like it, when you can! I held Sunshine's hand like a little girl to cross the street.
The market had many narrow, twisted streets. I was expecting a more organized market like in Istanbul. This market didn't seem to have an order, you would see people walking in different directions and to different stores. I was expecting to see more crafts and souvenirs but I guess it was more like a market for locals with food, nice fabrics, and jewelry. We stopped in two different stands that Xe knew.
In the first stand, we ate samosas stuffed with potatoes and curry. Not low calories for sure but it was good and spicy. Then Xe asked for directions to a parantha place. We found it and sat upstairs. We ordered two, one with cashew and another with banana. You grab small pieces and dip it with different sauces that they give you in a separate dish. They were good...not my favorite, but good.
We walked some more, stopping from time to time to see how they made the food in different stands. In many of them, you could see a man sitting barefoot on top of the table making bread. In another corner, I witnessed a person washing the dirty dishes in a wash basin with even dirtier water. I realized that we were probably eating OK food because it was fried but I hadn't thought about how and where they wash their dishes. I pray that we don't get diarrhea!
I was almost done when we saw some stores selling shawls. I stopped and bought one for myself. I'm collecting (without planning to) scarves and crosses from each country. Sunshine is collecting bracelets, Daniel coins, and Gregory, Rotary banners!
By that hour, the kids and I were ready to go back home to a quiet spot but Gregory and Xe were on the go! We took the metro back to the neighborhood near Xe's home and stopped in a funky cafe for a chai latte. We love it! We met Patek, Xe's husband, who was very cool. They took us to see the ruins of a fort. In the park, it was all clean and green. I couldn't believe it was the same Delhi where we had been hours ago.
We walked down a path and witnessed a beautiful sunset, many different kinds of trees, some with orange flowers, and green parrots. Very nice. We walked to the park exit. Xe and Patek wanted to go out for dinner but I could tell that Daniel and Sunshine were done so we called an Uber.
I guess distances here are not that bad, there's just so much traffic that no matter where you are, it will take you between 40 to 60 minutes to get anywhere. I have to say that I was very impressed with the metro: clean, organized, secure, and fast. It wasn't as crowded as I expected but for convenience we took Uber.
[Gregory's note: we keep taking Uber, but it's really unpleasant -- even the "nice" sedans would be subcompact cars in any other country. Add to that the horrendous traffic, where the drivers navigate by horn, and contend with scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, tuk-tuks, cars, buses, trucks, horse-drawn carts, human-drawn carts and the occasional cow in the road, and you might start get the idea. I flinch just thinking about it.]
At home, we made soup and rice for dinner. No one wanted to go out to get food, so I cooked what I had in my suitcase and it was just fine. I tried to send everyone to bed on time since we are having a hard time getting up early but did not succeed, especially with the bigger boy, aka Gregorio!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q3VvBqvN1wAvHvDq8
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