Delhi, April 25, 2008
After traveling in from Varanasi, we slept until 8 AM on the 25th. After 7 days of getting up at an average of 5 AM, it felt decadent. After breakfast, we met our guide for a fantastic last day tour around the city.
We first drove through the governmental sections of the capital, down “embassy row”, by the Prime Minister’s former residence and the Presidential Palace, by the Secretariats, governmental ministries, Parliament and the India Gate. To get an image of this area, picture a perfect combination of the Champs Elysees and the Washington Mall. After visiting many Indian cities where the crowds were thick and chaotic, the openness of these spaces was captivating, and offered us an entirely different perspective.
We boarded the gleaming and almost-new Metro for a ride to Old Delhi. Delhi is hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010, and much of the city is under construction preparing for the Games. It was quite a shock to emerge from the quiet underground up into the hubbub and chaos of the market area in Old Delhi. However, after our experiences in the other cities, the rickshaw ride through the markets was not the shock that it may have been for those just seeing these streets for the first time.
We found our way to the Jama Masjid, also built by the Shah Jahan as he moved his capital from Agra to Delhi and the Red Fort. The Jama Masjid is the largest mosque in Asia, and can accommodate 25,000+ worshippers. After lunch, we visited the Gandhi Museum.
As we explored the city, probably the best thing was the great conversation with our wonderful guide. We discovered more about Delhi in particular, and the country in general. We talked politics and religion, learned about the caste system, discussed the varied cultures of the country, compared raising families, and in general, got a great insight to living in the country. It was a nice way to wrap up our visit to India (but not before a little last minute
souvenir shopping (and tattooing)).
Somewhat surreally, we then headed back to the hotel to hang out, have dinner, rest and pack before leaving for the airport at 11 PM. Our flight departed at 2:25 AM on Saturday morning, so talking just in EDT time, we headed out for the airport at 1:30 PM on Friday, April 25th, and will arrive back into Greensboro at 6 PM on Saturday, April 26th. We are now onboard the flight from Frankfurt to Washington, which is ironically the exact same routing that we took to start our trip back in August (Greensboro-Washington-Frankfurt and then on to Cairo). As we were playing spades in the Frankfurt Airport McCafe during our layover in Frankfurt this morning, we of course thought back to almost exactly eight months ago when we were transferring through the same airport starting this year .
We all look forward to getting back into the flow of our “normal” lives, and to hopefully seeing or catching up with many of you soon. We will not bore you with our wrap up thoughts for the year, as we are pretty sure that you are growing tired of hearing of our travels. Suffice it to say that we have had a blast, and would do it over again in an instant (if we were not so travel weary at this very moment!).
Thanks for following along with us, and allowing us to share this experience with the friends and family who are so very important to us.
