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Post by anshjain97 on May 14, 2013 8:36:02 GMT
Actually I've spent quite a bit of time in Dwarka...some relatives live there. It's by large home to many characterless residential complexes...but there is commercial activity too. Some market areas- blocks of commercial buildings- are present in almost every sector and Dwarka is also home to many schools and some upcoming hotels- due to proximity to the airport. Some parks, not too many though. By large it's a quiet place with broad roads and lesser traffic- good for a beginner!
Noida is a typical satellite city so has a mix of everything- but haven't been there.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 15:27:26 GMT
More of the City: Connaught Place has the more up-market kind of establishments and businesses and entertainment outlets. One of these is the Odeon Movie theater. Here, one of my sons and I went to see Jurassic Park in 3D. It was yet another very modern, very clean and Westernized building. I found it amusing that a few young people had come here just to be with their sweethearts. Something you very rarely see outside in the streets. In here they must have felt it safe, being away from preying eyes, to cuddle up, have some coke and pop corn and pretend to be in another world - even if just for a while. But what do I know? Maybe there is a small section of Indians who do live this kind of life every day? I didn't exactly rub shoulders with the elite of India while I was there. By the way the tickets were 550 rupees each. Which I thought must surly be out of the price range of most people. I knew for a fact that the cleaner at our hotel was only paid around 1,000 rupees a month. I couldn't imagine him handing over half a months wages to his daughter so that she could go to the movies for the afternoon. So when you do the math... Ticket booth. And there was a guard at the door and security once inside: And outside again, next door: Other areas and everyday life goes on: On the same street as our hotel. A woman sits just outside of her house and behind her brother-in-law's stall, who happens to be the 'egg man', and cooks her dinner: And the egg man himself: One day while at the hotel, I hear a parade passing by and go and see what's going on. There are camels and an elephant, dancing girls and men on high stilts doing tricks. Trumpets and bass instruments playing, I have no idea what they are celebrating, but it was fun to watch. I soon got used to these kind of instantaneous kind of events. I swear I must have been in one of the most lively and entertaining streets in Delhi! Connaught place again, and the Rolex shop: And the most expensive watch in the store is behind lock and key. He told me the price of it, it was in the thousands of dollars mark. It was partly set with gold and diamonds: On another street, all kinds of aliments are can be treated - according to this sign: Sugar cane juice is made right there on the street. The whole of the cane is put through this press until the juice is all extracted. There were articles in the papers saying that a high amount of mercury was being added to the drinks as the stall owners worked right by traffic:
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 15:29:02 GMT
Parliament House. Taken during our bus tour. Parliament House accommodates the two Houses of Parliament, Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, the architects of New Delhi, designed this building. His Royal Highness, the Duke of Connaught, laid the foundation stone of Parliament House in the year 1921. It took six years to complete the Delhi Parliament House and its was inaugurated in the year 1927 by the then Governor-General of India, Lord Irwin. A circular building, it also houses ministerial offices, a number of committee rooms and a brilliant library. A close up: India Gate. India Gate is on of the important Delhi Monuments which was constructed in memory of the 80, 000 martyrs of World War I. Constructed under the guidance of Edwin Lutyens, India Gate is an arch structure of 42 meters of height. The walls of India Gate are inscribed with the names of those 70, 000 soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the first World War: Indira Gandhi has a museum dedicated to her. It's officially called The Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum. I found it fascinating. Indira Gandhi, the 3rd Prime Minister of India, was assassinated on 31 October 1984, by her boy-guards. She led an interesting life. Her son became prime Minister but unfortunately he too was assassinated not too long after taking office, in 1991: A bit morbid maybe, but in this glass cabinet are the remains of parts of the clothes her son Rajiv Gandhi was wearing at the time he was killed: Her bag and purse: By the way her daughter in law, Sonia, who is Italian by birth, is now very active in politics and has served as President of the Indian National Congress since 1998. This is the replica of Indria Gandhi's dressing room: And this would have been her study: Another shot of India Gate:
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 15:30:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 15:31:30 GMT
More of the streets of Delhi. Even though there were pavements, they were often taken over by merchants. So there was no where else to walk but the road! And the road was always busy with many kinds of vehicles, animals and people: The hotel across the street: 'Our' street: Our hotel in Delhi:
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2013 15:32:10 GMT
And onward to Agra.....
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 6:15:23 GMT
I love street scenes anywhere -- few things give you a better idea of what daily life is like anywhere. The 'Pandit Handloom & Cotton Store' looks like it plans to become a skyscraper little by little, with a penthouse apartment on the roof. Delhi appears to have lots of wide open spaces -- it was probably a real struggle at the beginning to create them and to stop people from moving onto those areas!
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Post by bjd on May 15, 2013 8:23:44 GMT
I agree with Kerouac about the street scenes -- so much more interesting than pictures of monuments. I'm glad you took hotels in those lively areas so we see more street life.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2013 12:04:29 GMT
Naturally, it helps not to be over sensitive to noise when staying in such places -- but I am not, so the noise (within limits) adds to my pleasure. I like being awakened by the sounds of morning activity in streets like that -- cattle grunting, carts rolling by, people beginning to talk, children starting to play... just don't start honking the horns too early!
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Post by nycgirl on May 15, 2013 13:01:19 GMT
The Lotus Temple has a lovely design. It does look like the flower, but it also reminds me of the Sydney Opera House.
The Indira Gandhi museum looks very sobering. How very sad to see the clothes a person was wearing when they were killed, and tragic that one family suffered so many losses.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 1:06:01 GMT
K an bjd, the streets of Delhi were forever fascinating. There are a lot of photos that I took that simply did not come out properly so I didn't post them up (I know, I know I need to invest in a better camera). I could talk about the things I saw, the things I came across until the cows come home (and there are a lot of them too haha...), but I don't know how interesting it would be to anyone else. I sometimes feel like I'm showing off my holiday snaps and you know it is... you smile and pretend to be interested and not to yawn to often ;D I was in a busy street, but there were many busy streets in Delhi. Although the area was hard to get around in, and the noises around me took time to adjust to, it really was the best place to be to see the real India, without the frills. Why would anyone want it any other way. I was always questioning - One time I saw a big telephone at the edge of the store on a table. People would come and use that phone and then hand over the money to the man who owned the shop. What was going on? Obviously they were making local calls and somewhere it was being timed and whatever they used, they paid for at the end of the call. from 'our' street where other streets and alleyways, in these streets life was being lived, small hotels were existing at very cheap rates, nobody would even know about them, unless they walked over there themselves. I met many people who were visiting India from abroad. October to February, is the' European season', after that it gets too hot and it's the 'Indian tourist season', we saw a bit of both. There were many people from England especially, and from other European countries and some of them had been there for weeks and even months! The hippies that once congregated in Goa where still there, or another generation of them. They just looked a little different, but they still come over each year for the parties and the beaches. Nothing much changes in that regard. Some of these travelers even country hop, by that I mean they go from one Asian country to another. And I saw at least a couple of families with very small children doing this! One family from England, with three small children, the eldest of which was 5 years old was nearly at the end of a year long country hopping 'vacation'.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 1:08:55 GMT
nycgirl, isn't it sad to see the clothes of a person who has died displayed in that way? I didn't really see the point in that, but there you have it. The Lotus temple has won awards for it's design, it's quite the structure.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 5:04:30 GMT
I have always been fascinated by those Europeans who manage to just wander around Asia for months and months. It must be really hard for them to fit back into "real life" if ever, when they finally decide for one reason or another (often money) that it's time to go "home."
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 13:46:01 GMT
It amazes me how they bring their kids along with them for such a long stretch of time. I saw an English women with a newborn in a sling traveling in this way. I mean, that cannot be easy. Why do this and risk the child getting sick? The family with the three kids, I just don't know how they did it, I saw one of the boys almost hanging out of the top window of the bus, I was so worried he was going to fall out, and the five year old was just aimlessly wondering around the various buses. The parents were too busy chatting with others to pay any attention to them. I heard they were off to China for the last leg of their journey.
Walking down the street of our hotel one day, I came across a man who told me he was one of the original hippies back in the day. He spent a lot of time in Goa and knew it well.
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Post by htmb on May 17, 2013 14:19:53 GMT
I have friends now who are preparing to leave the US this summer with their six year old daughter. They will be spending a year traveling in India (as well as a few other countries later).
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 16:54:34 GMT
I must admit that I always admired the families with pre-school children wandering around Asia (they probably also wander around Africa and South America). I do understand how terrible it would be for a child to get sick in the wrong place, but at the same time just about all of these countries have excellent health care, if you can pay for it, but also for a fraction of the price of the developed countries. And I imagine that at least some of these families have insurance that covers emergencies.
It is quite probable that in the early part of such trips, there is quite a bit of diarrhea and upset stomachs, but most of these children (and their parents) build up local immunity quite quickly. I know that I did when I travelled around regularly in Asia eating the street food and drinking local tap water, at least in the big cities. I never avoided ice in drinks or eating salads, to the horror of certain other travellers observing me, and I never had a problem.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2013 18:16:14 GMT
The biggest worries when traveling with young children would be 1) healthcare and 2) schooling. Of course when they are under five or so, the schooling is not an issue. If over the age of five, they will need to be home-schooled, and while on the move, that is not always easy.
Some places in Asia do have very good health care, IF you can afford to pay for it and IF you are in the bigger cities. If not, what do you do? While in India my kids and I were covered by my own insurance company for 2 million dollars each, and the way it worked was that, as long as the hospital or health provider in India could direct bill the company, I would not have to pay the bill up front and then have to wait until I got back to Canada to be reimbursed. However, I have a feeling that most healthcare facilities in India are not connected in that way, so that could have been a problem. Thankfully we didn't have to test it out.
Travelling with very young children cannot be easy, for the kids or the parents. Of the families that I saw, they didn't look like the type to stay in expensive hotels or travel by any other means but buses or trains (just like we were), it was hard enough for us, as adults, it must have been harder still for the kids and their parents.
Travel in the more developed countries with kids maybe be a different experience however, I have no idea. Getting the various types of tummy upsets or parasites in your system doesn't necessarily give you immunity eventually, they can recur over and over again. Kids don't usually have the same immunity levels as adults, it can take years to gain these.
htmb, I'm curious, how long will your friends be in India for and which other counties are they travelling to? Are they places in Asia or elsewhere?
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Post by htmb on May 18, 2013 0:47:50 GMT
I'm not sure, Deyana, but I will ask. I got the impression they'd be in India most of the year, and they stop along the way as they travel back to the U.S.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2013 23:19:50 GMT
Sounds exciting. I hope they have fun and stay well.
I keep looking at the photo of the sad looking grey dog. There are so many stray dogs in India. I wish I could do something to help... It breaks my heart to see animals suffering.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 1:44:09 GMT
How to get to Agra from Delhi? A train? A bus? By private car? I wasn't really keen on going to Agra. I was already weary and had heard that Agra was one of the hardest cities to get around in. I'd been told of the masses of people that bug you as try and get into the Taj Mahal. I had heard it was a very rough city, dirty, full of scams, touts, beggars, you name it. The kind of town you just do what you have to do and then get the heck out of. I was still not over what I had come across on the streets leading to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, I wasn't ready to go through all that again.. My kids tell me "You can't come to India and not see the Taj Mahal". Yeah I know I thought, that wouldn't make sense at all. Perhaps we could go at the end of our journey? But what if we run out of time and then never make it? There was no choice, we had to go to Agra... "Do we really have to take another long train to Agra?" I asked. "Isn't there any other way of getting there?" The manager of our hotel suggested we could take a private car. Umm..no. I'd had enough of hiring drivers, I'd rather make my own way. So the bus it was. why not? After all it wasn't all that far away from Delhi - maybe about 4 hours on the bus (in fact it would take much longer - more like 7 hours). At the beginning of our trip, I had no idea that there were different kinds of buses, the private ones and the public (or government) ones. And the difference between the two types? I found there was not a lot. The private ones had 'sleeper' compartments, either single or double, depending on what you wanted. But you had to pre-book the tickets for these private buses and I thought that's going to take time. (Actually it doesn't - buses are much easier to book seats on then trains), but at the time I didn't know that. Then there are 'private' buses and another kind of 'private' bus. Confused? So was I. I never did find out how to get tickets for a real nice air-conditioned private bus, I knew they were out there, but where? So the buses we took, private or government - were all rickety, uncomfortable and basic. Some even had windows missing, and wooden boards placed where the glass should be. The next day we took a taxi from our hotel in Delhi to the government bus depot which was about 14 miles to one side of the City. "Why are you taking the government bus" asked the taxi driver. "I know of a much better bus company, be much more comfortable for you". He kept on and on, and was at the point of getting quite aggressive in his bid to sell us a 'private' bus ticket, with some company he knew. I wished he would just shut up and drive and take us where we asked him to. I found it hard to trust taxi drivers, they always tried to cheat you in some way or another. At least with rickshaw drivers you knew where you stood, and they didn't charge anywhere as near as these taxi drivers did. I hated the feeling of being closed in and at their mercy. But for the longer distances there wasn't much choice but to hire a taxi. Until we were actually at the bus depot, I was not 100% sure if he was even taking us in the right direction. I mean, what did we know, all I had was the name of the depot, nothing else. To my relief, he dropped us off where we were supposed to be. I told myself then and there I would avoid taking taxis in India as much as I possibly could from then on. We waited by the sign that said "Agra". Soon a bus came, we got on and so did quite a few other people. I noticed the window to my side was cracked and chipped, I hoped it didn't break off completely during this bus ride. We put our luggage (three back packs and one more bag with water and snacks) in the compartment above us. The bus went off and the conductor came and we bought our tickets. It would get more and more crowded, as we stopped at quite a few places on the way to collect more and more people. There were so many standing I wondered what would happen if there was an emergency and we all had to get out in a rush. About half way through the journey the woman in the seat in front of me started to vomit right out of the window on her side. I closed my cracked and chipped one, in hope that her vomit would not be flinged over to me as I sat behind her and the bus rolled on. We made a few stops for the toilets and to eat. But who had an appetite after all that? The toilets were very dirty with more pee on the floor than dry ground. Eventually we got to Agra. And so the hunt for a hotel was on. It always overwhelmed me the way the rickshaw riders would swarm around us as soon as got off the bus (or train). "Do you want a hotel? I'll take you there, I know of a good place, please come get on". How to get rid of them? We picked up our bags and walked across the street, to a mall we saw there. I guess we should have been more organized, but what can I say, we simply weren't. I had a bad feeling about this town, I just knew this was not going to be a good experience for us. And I was right.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 16:31:19 GMT
So, we sit there just outside of the mall, wondering what to do next. My sons were having a smoke and the next thing we know a couple of security guards come to us and tell my kids to throw their cigarettes away as it's illegal to smoke in public places here in India, anywhere in India, even outside. We knew this of course, but the boys always tried to get away with it. There is a 200 rupee fine if a police officer catches you smoking in public. Ridiculous? Yeah we thought so too. I mean, I'm not a smoker, and I can understand the banning of of it INSIDE buildings and public places, but outside too? hmmm.... maybe it's not that bad a thing after all actually, one of my boys actually quit smoking by the end of our India trip! ( ). Smoking is very frowned upon in India, and the men who do it, seem to always look a little guilty while smoking away, and of course they have to hide the fact as much as possible or get a fine! Anyhow, as we stood there, we found that a couple of the more ruthless tuktuk drivers had come across the road to try and encourage us to go with them. "I promise, if you don't like the hotel, I will take you somewhere else even better". Oh fine, take us, but we are not accepting any old place, lets just see what there is out there. We knew they were probably after the commission from the hotel owners, but at that point I was too tired from the long journey and too fed up to care! Anyhow it was not if we were going to be in this town for very long. Just see the Taj Mahal and we'd be outta here. A night or two at the most. The tuktuk driver took us away from the main road that we were on (and that hardly had any hotels anyway). We ended up in a much busier and more populated area, here the streets were narrower and congested. I must admit though, that it looked a lot more interesting than the more sterile main road that we just came from. So after looking at about three different hotels we chose one that promised to be 'family run, safe and clean'. As always and is the way, the manager asked us to have a look at the room first. It was not always easy finding what we needed, but there happened to be just the one family room available at the time. I had a quick look, it seemed it had been just newly painted, and it was quite a good size, and of course had it's own bathroom, which looked a bit strange (batman toilet). We took the room, it was only for one or two nights anyhow I kept telling myself. It was not until we moved in I realized that it had no window! Or in fact it was boarded up, and one fan (in the bathroom). On closer inspection I could see that the paint was there only to cover the dirt and the fact that the plaster or cement was slowly peeling off the walls. Before he left the tuktuk driver asked us if we wanted to hire him for the next day, he'd take us to the sights all in one day for a set price (300 rupees). Sounded good, yeah, sure pick us up here at about 10am. The next day he was there, but unfortunately after taking us the Taj Mahal, he seemed to disappear and we lost him for the rest of the day. When we got back to the hotel that evening, there he was. He apologized, told us he had only gone to get something to eat and we must have missed him when we came out of the Taj Mahal. Okay whatever, I paid him for half the day. He said he knew of a travel agent that could book us a nice bus for our next destination out of town. I said I'll talk to him later about that. A few photos of the streets of Agra. Lots of garage everywhere, piled up high, and all sorts of animals can be seen trying to find food in what is thrown in the pile, including pigs: Do you notice the 'medical store'? Here you can get all kids of medical supplies and drugs, including antibiotics, without a doctors prescription. These kind of stores can be found all over India, but for some reason there seemed to be more in Agra than any other city I saw: There also seemed to be more cycle-rickhaws, more than most other places. Generally it seemed to be an overall poorer place than most. I don't know why this would be, as lots of tourists come here all the time to see one the 'wonders of the world' (The Taj Mahal). Something is/was not quite right about this town. There was a feeling that it was being run very badly by someone, that's the only conclusion that I could come to. And it was true, for a tourist it's a very difficult city to be in, the locals are used to tourists and they have perfected their art on how to get the most out of them, by whatever means. And I'm pretty sure a blind eye is being turned by the officials of the city to these kind of activities. Maybe the bigwigs are just too busy doing their own (bigger) deals to worry about what the little man on the street is up to. After all they are only small fry. I have no way of proving anything, my assumptions come from what I saw here and there and as I tired to make sense of it all, certain things seemed to just cry out to me. Time for a shave?: It was still quite cold, we were still only in mid February after all, and still in the Northern parts of the country. Many people could be seen wearing these kind of blankets around them to ward off the cold. The blankets were almost always the same - same color, same texture, the same kind. It made me wonder where they got them from? Could they have been issued by the government for free to the poorer citizens to keep the cold off? On other streets, a little bigger, a bit more cleaner and a bit more organized: And of course stray dogs, nearly all of which had the same color kind of coat, a yellow/beige, but occasionally with a brown stripe here an there: colorful balloons for sale:
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 17:23:54 GMT
I'm surprised that Agra seems to be a poor city. Like you, I would expect it to be much cleaner and well kept due to its tourist attraction -- after all, one of the major sights in the world.
I am well versed in how uncomfortable one can feel with the aggressive taxi or tuktuk drivers in so many places -- perhaps even more than you since I nearly always travel alone and am considered to be easier prey. But I have learned to stare them down and pretend to know exactly where I am going even when I don't have the slightest idea.
It is amazingly true that in so many parts of Asia, the hoteliers actually seem surprised that you want a real window in your room. I have been shown so many windowless rooms over the years (and every now and then actually had to stay in one) that it is a detail to which I play close attention. Sometimes when you demand a window, they almost give you a discount, because they assume that any normal person would want a quiet dark room rather than a place where noise can get through.
As for the yellow mongrel dogs, they seem to be identical everywhere in Asia. Whatever "race" has been created from all this mixing, it is certainly very hardy and will put up with eating just about anything. (When I saw that cats in Thailand did not mind eating a plate of plain rice, that was a revelation to me as well.)
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Post by htmb on May 19, 2013 17:46:03 GMT
I fear, at this point, I would personlly have been completely overwhelmed with stimulation, Deyana, and it would have taken a real "talking to" inside my head to keep me putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on. I would have found the large crowds of people, as well as the various sights and sounds, a bit too much to take in at times.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2013 17:51:52 GMT
We refer to this condition as "sensory overload."
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Post by htmb on May 19, 2013 21:59:34 GMT
Yeah....that, too.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 20, 2013 1:11:27 GMT
Your way of capturing street life is truly amazing.
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Post by mossie on May 20, 2013 7:18:33 GMT
Yes, an amazing insight into a very different world. You have a lot to say about healthcare at one point, but a little earlier you had shown us a roadside stall which could treat a wider range of ailments than our local big hospital. The egg man amused me with his piece of newspaper on the plate waiting to soak up the grease from the fried egg ;D Thanks
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 18:31:52 GMT
Kerouac, Most of Agra seemed poor to me, or maybe it just seemed that way because we had just been in Delhi? Not sure. There were perhaps better areas in the city, but I personally didn't come across them myself. They city could do better, the opportunities are there for it to do so, but someone has to put it all into practice. A lot of people come a long way, even from other parts of the world, especially to see the Taj Mahal, they deserve better than this, it's a bit embarrassing to be honest. I know I don't personally hold any responsibility for the kind of mess I found there, but being Indian, I kind of feel that I do. Seems like other parts of Asia are very similar in some ways then? That's interesting. The friend who travels to China each year, (his wife is from there), told us before we left that we'd find ourselves in the same sort of situations as he does when in China. He was right.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 18:36:01 GMT
I fear, at this point, I would personlly have been completely overwhelmed with stimulation, Deyana, and it would have taken a real "talking to" inside my head to keep me putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on. I would have found the large crowds of people, as well as the various sights and sounds, a bit too much to take in at times. At times I felt the same way, htmb. It did take some getting used to. By the end of the journey I was much more relaxed about things, but it did take time. My kids kept my spirits up, it's always fun watching life being lived from a young persons point of view. I was very ready to come home much before the 10 weeks was up though!
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 18:44:19 GMT
Thanks for your nice words, ansh and mossie.
I tended to just snap a way at every day life being lived in India. Most were taken just on the spur of the moment.
Yeah, the newspaper is used for all sorts of things over in India. They even cut it up into strips and squares, glue them together and make bags to put merchandise (sweets, trinkets and what have you) in and then give to the customer. Wrapping or putting food in newspapers is quite common on the street. One reason I tended to stay away from street food. I wondered how the egg man washed the plates he used to put the eggs on and give to his customers. And then I saw it - he just wiped them over with a rather dirty cloth he kept to one side, and that plate was used for his next customer. Now that was NOT good!
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