We woke up later than ever and headed down for breakfast only to discover the dining room closed just before our arrival. The time was about 1035. So, we headed back to our room to call room service. Our breakfast order arrived soon thereafter. When we adjusted our time settings from Hanoi to New Delhi, we discovered there was an hour and a half difference in the time zones. 1030 in New Delhi was noon in Hanoi. That means we didn't get to bed until about 2:30 a.m. Delhi time. So, we got 8 hours of sleep. Again, too many time zones. More confusing, who ever heard of a half hour change in time zones? We soon discovered India is not like anything we have yet experienced.
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| One Mode of Transport |
After breakfast, we decided to do a walking tour of the area around our hotel. Vietnam prepared us well for the traffic. We were getting pretty good at dodging motor bikes, tuk tuks, cars, trucks and now cattle that come at you from all directions. Horns were constantly honking as drivers jockey for position and warned pedestrians to get out of the way. The advantage we had here is the vehicles are traveling slower than in Vietnam and there were fewer motor cycles scooting about at high speeds. Instead, we had to deal with many more tuk tuks which took up more of the roadway than scooters and were less maneuverable. We also had to watch out for dog doo doo and avoid tripping over the many dogs that roamed the streets without apparent owners. These were the mangiest dogs we've ever seen.
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| Tuk Tuks |
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| Motor Cycles (Yes, Domino's Pizza Delivers Here) |
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| Another Motorcycle and a Vendor's Cart |
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| Our Hotel Laundry Bike |
The Hotel Aman Continental is probably considered up-scale for the average middle-class Indian. Rooms run from 2,700 to 3,800 rupees which is a lot when you consider our 45 minute ride from the airport was only 500 rupees. What would you pay for a 45 minute ride to the airport in the US? More than $8. The area around the hotel is filled with vendors and shops selling a wide assortment of goods. Dwayne bought 3 locks for our suitcases for 90 rupees (30 rupees or 48 cents each). Carla bought a nice pair of shoes for 200 rupees or $3. One of our biggest challenges was converting our large denomination bank notes into smaller denomination bills. The ATM gave us 500 and 2,000 rupee notes. Many vendors, like the lock seller, couldn't provide change for a 500 rupee bill. We ended up going to a money exchange (of which there were many) to change a 2,000 rupee bill to 100s and 50s which we were finally able to use to make purchases. The money changer charged 50 rupees for his services. So, it cost us a little less than a buck to get change which got us through the rest of the day.
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| Produce Vendors Line the Street in Front of Shops |
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| Vendors Fill the Center of Squares Creating a Round About For Traffic |
Manufacturing was going on in some of the streets. The furniture and mattress makers were numerous. We also came across a mall where shoes were made and sold. One shop was doing metal work and hammering out lock boxes that were the size of a foot locker on the small end to perhaps 24 cubic foot monsters with heavy duty hinges and hasps. We saw people working at foot peddle sewing machines creating all kinds of things from a variety of materials - cotton cloth, canvas, plastic, etc. The skill of some of the workers was amazing when one considers the limited number of quality tools they were using. The fellows building furniture below the shoe mall were particularly friendly as they smiled and waved as we took pictures.
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| Furniture Being Made On The Street |
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| Furniture Factory |
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| Fabricating Lock Boxes |
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| Manufacturing Mattresses |
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| Mattresses Ready to Ship |
We had a wonderful lunch of tandoori chicken (extremely good) and butter chicken with naan bread while seated at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the umbrella covered vendors in the square below us. We were serenaded by honking horns and street noise from the vendors. Our total bill to include beer and Pepsi came to almost 1,400 rupees or $21 for the 4 of us ($5.25 each). For dinner, we ate atop a restaurant across the street from where we ate lunch. Dinner was tandoori chicken again along with chicken curry and naan. Janet ordered tea. Brian, Dwayne and Carla ordered beer. We were a bit surprised when the waiter showed up with 4 pots of what we assumed were filled with tea only to learn discretely that 3 of the pots contained beer. Apparently, the place did not have a liquor license. The beer was good and we didn't mind drinking out of tea cups. Once again, we left with full bellies and smiles on our faces and only $5 per person lighter. So far, we liked the Indian food. We were getting tired of soups, boiled or stir-fried vegetables most of which we couldn't name, noodles and rice. Three weeks of that stuff was a bit more than our American tastes can handle. We were now back in the land of the fork, knife and spoon (thanks to the British colonials). Dwayne had a real challenge with chopsticks - particularly eating rice. The locals must of thought him odd to be eating rice with the ceramic Asian soup spoon. Only one more chopstick country left on our itinerary.
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| Shop at Ground Level |
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| Living Quarters Above Shops - Mind the Steep Step Ladders |
We had our laundry sent out and we were very pleased with it when it was delivered to our hotel room. Carla was very happy to see it pressed and neatly folded. Dwayne was happy with the cost 350 rupees or $6). We'll get what we wear in India washed again before we leave. This was the best and cheapest laundry service we have yet to encounter.
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| Brian In Front of the Hotel Aman Continental |
The weather here has been super. Low 70s in the day and sunny with only 20% humidity. Nights were cooler. So, a light sweater was needed to stay comfortably warm. The forecast was for higher temperatures later in the week - up to 80F and sunny. Can't beat it. Our kind of weather.
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