One day too many...

Day 7 (Jan 7th)

Today was "one day too many" in New Delhi. After a wonderful tour and a great day to ourselves at the temples we should have moved on, but instead we decided to go do some shopping. We got a taxi to take us to the Seik Temple first which was cool even though it was under major construction. You take your shoes off, wash your feet and cover your head, they had live music and chanting that I sat to enjoy for some time. It was just neat to watch the people and try to figure out what is happening all around you. Many devotees would bring flowers or scarfs to offer to the puja (ceremony), and it seemed that the man performing the ceremony (who I assumed to be some sort of a priest) would bless the items and then add them to the beautiful arrangement. In the back corner of the temple there was a very fancily decorated room with a bed in it…not sure who sleeps there, if anyone, but before anyone left the temple they would go back and kneel in front of the stained glass doors that enclosed the room/bed and bow/pray/give thanks and gratitude. On the way out of the temple you hold your hands out (right on top of left…in India you eat with your right hand and clean yourself with your left. Most do not use toilet paper but instead there is a facet next to the toilet and you clean yourself that way, so you never offer your left hand out to anyone or take anything with your left, only your right.) and someone gives you a little bit of something with the consistency of a thick oatmeal, I have no idea what it was but it sure did taste good! It seemed to me that it was something similar to communion in a catholic church. Outside of the temple there was a reflection pool with a lot of coy fish, many people were putting there feet in the water and splashing the water on their face and over there head. I think they do this as a way of blessing themselves with the water in which they believe to be holy water. While I was admiring the beauty around me a young boy asked me, in very few words, if I would take a picture with this old man. I don't know who the man was, maybe his grandfather, of coarse I did and they both were very grateful. 

Cool ladder:)

Again our driver waited for us and took us to Connaught Place for some shopping. This is where things started to get a bit crazy…we wanted him to just drop us off but instead  he drove around the entire shopping center and then drove us to a textile store. What you have to understand is that stores in India, from my experience, are not like stores in the USA. Here, the second you walk into a store you are getting haggled, but the thing is, you don't even realize it until it is too late! As soon as we walked into the store we were invited towards the right to "have a look", seemed harmless…within minutes they had us sitting comfortably on a couch serving us green tea and showing/explaining how they make these hand made rugs in Kashmir, AND THEN THE REAL SHOW began as they began showing us all of these beautiful rugs, having us take off our shoes to walk on them and feel how soft they are…man o man I wanted one so bad but it was out of my budget so I said thank you I would think about it, that I am traveling for 3 months and would be back in Delhi at the end of my trip and might come back if funds allow…oh no…he was not having that! He would not leave me alone, reminding me of the quality of the rugs, and how I am a friend of theirs so the price does not come from here( pointing at his head) but from here (pointing at his heart). My my. Finally I had to be very stern and tell him NO THANK YOU and walk away. Then I tried to buy some new shirts and the same thing happened! Well, thankfully  I stood my ground and survived my first shopping experience in India :) By the time we got out of there I was spent. I felt completely exhausted and sick to my stomach. When we got back out to the taxi he seemed very disappointed that we had not bought a lot of things…I don't know this for sure but it seemed like he would get some sort of a commission from our purchase…which is why he took us to a particular store instead of just letting us walk around! When we got back to the hotel I should have just taken a nap but instead I spent a bunch of wasted time on the computer trying to get us train tickets to Rishikesh for the next day but all of the websites were unhelpful and we were unable to purchase out tickets ahead of time so we decided we would just get to the station extra early to be sure we could get to Rishikesh. 

It was time for dinner but I was still not feeling well at all. I don't know if it was the green tea or just the crazy vibration of the city that was getting to me but I felt very sick to my stomach. We decided to check out My Humble House, the Japanese restaurant in the hotel. It was a very beautiful place, so elegant, I was sad I couldn't really enjoy it. I attempted to eat some clear broth vegetable soup but it was very hard to get down…towards the end of the meal the waiter asked me if I was okay, I told him I wasn't feeling well and he said he was sorry to hear that. A few minutes later he came with a pot of Jasmine Tea…he said it was very good for the body and it would help me feel better~ and it did!  We went to settle our bill for the hotel at the front desk so we wouldn't have to do it in the morning and then headed back to the room to pack so we would be ready to leave for the train station by 5:00am…the train would be leaving at 6:30am. First lesson…always set your own alarm!!!