Old Delhi

I woke up this morning at 4 am and could not get back to sleep. Katie also suffered the same fate so we opted for some mindless television. The stations here show a variety of Indian shows, from music videos, old movies, and kids' shows, to crime dramas, cricket matches, and who would have guessed, Doogie Howser!?! Neil Patrick Harris...score! We did also enjoy an India mafia movie...

Awake for many hours after the sun came up, we finally got some slept, maybe 4 hours. At 10:30, we ordered a room service breakfast and organized our luggage for the recommended check-out. Once settled in at Chinky's,

she and Ram dropped us off at the Green Park Metro station with explicit instructions to see Old Delhi. The real hustle and bustle. A cow feeding in the street, surrounded by bicycle rickshaws, motorcycles, the occasional car, motorized rickshaws, the streets of Old Delhi are packed. Everyone, except the cow, fights and jockeys for a spot closer to the front. An Indian oil delivery man pedals on a bicycle in front of us with 8 huge canisters of oil behind him, often having to dismount to walk it through traffic jams. We paid a bicycle rickshaw 30 rupees to take us to the Red Fort,

a facility that was completed in 1648 had been actively used up until 2003 by Indian forces. Built in the traditional octagonal structure of the Moghuls, the site is full of artifacts of Indian wars, struggles, and ultimately Indian independence, and was named a UNESCO World Hetiage Site in 2007.  The architecture and intricate handiwork inside also represents the Moghul period showcasing Indian gems and stonework used in construction of the period.

The Red Fort seems to be the museum trip for local schoolchildren. I'm not sure how many people, children and adults alike, took our photos today. But Katie and I started fighting back, taking everyone else's photo to boot. When you show other people how ridiculous their behavior is by simply replicating it, you get to witness their half-humiliation, half-laughter at themselves. And more often than not, it prompts a conversation, a true interaction. With a bunch of school-girls, anyway, the moment Katie and I behaved exactly as they did, taking their pictures, gawking at them, they wanted to know why we were behaving that way and actually started talking to us. One girl wanted to know whose watch we thought was the cutest.

We are all curious. We all want to know what makes another different, maybe just to find that we're all the same.

Directly next to Red Fort is a huge bazaar with five ferris wheels. An unexpected juxtaposition of past and present, war and utter amusement.

At Chinky's recommendation, we also visited Paratha Wali Gali for lunch. Paratha is a deep fried bread or patty filled with your choice of yummies. While fresh foods and, of course, tap water are absolutely off limits in India, anything deep fried should be safe, right?

According to Chinky, if it's been deep fried, all the bacteria has been killed. So, they prep and cook the paratha on the street front and have small booths right behind the cooking in each "restaurant." You have to be sneaky, well, flat out pushy at times in Old Dehli. And be prepared for the occasional grope. Katie and I got seats, and ordered one carrot paratha and one potato. The paratha comes with a variety of dipping options.

Vegetables in a variety of sauces, peas, potatoes, and a few chilis on the side. Delicious. Before paying our check, I glimpsed a man behind a curtain squatting over a bucket of dark brown water washing dishes. He was wiping down the very same type of trays we had just eaten off of in that water. It looked like swamp water. Hmm. Disconcerting.

Against every single bicycle rickshaws suggestion and offer, after lunch Katie and I walked back to the metro station. One foot in the packed road, the other on the bustling sidewalk, we weaved in and out of shoppers and shop-keepers. "Silky things, scarves, punjabi dress, silks...?" This being my first encounter with Delhi, I wasn't sure what to expect, thus did not engage. After a half-hour metro ride back to the neighborhood, having reviewed our day with Chinky, she responded, "What awful tourists you are! You bought nothing?!?" Wink.

Ruhi's treat nights are Friday and Saturday. So she made a pizza for herself. We had green beans, dahl (so good), and chipati. Oh I also had two big Kingfishers...lites albeit. And fell asleep watching Cake Wars, a show I've never once watched States-side.