delhi-agra (continued), 7 january
(continued from "agra (uttar pradesh), 7 january"... except here i'm still talking about what happened in delhi)
... a few minutes later, my thoughts went back to delhi, to perro's place, and we stayed up and talked and drank rum until almost 5am.
the next morning, rahul's mom woke me up and i was so confused and jet lagged that i only remembered saying some gibberish in spanish to her. rahul's mom (hencetoforth referred to as "auntie") told me i had a phone call. it was my sister and my jijeji (brother-in-law in hindi... but i hate that word in english), and they told me the hotel where they were staying and the area it was in were horrible. i got all worried but later they realized it was not as bad as they'd initially thought, but coming in at night anywhere in delhi could be dauntint, all the cows, sheep, and pigs in the street, the inexistent traffic laws, the never-ending honking, the beggars knocking on your car window, tapping on your shoulder, pulling your arm... and while all this happens, all people stare at you and it's impossible to be invisible. we got to their hotel and they had just returned from a walk in the main south ext I market and around the neighborhood. they took pictures of a cow giving birth in the middle of the street, even though people looked at them disapprovingly.
our first day in india started with a visit to q'tab minar, a 700-800 year old temple complex built by the first muslim ruler of delhi. the most impressive structure in this site is a 73m-high column all carved with moghul motives. apparently this was originally a hindu temple, which was later taken over by the moghuls, and they scratched all the hindu symbols carved on the temple walls, columns, and used the temple for their own religious purposes. dana thought that the whole site looked very much like chichen itza or one of these ruin sites in mexico. i didn't think so but i think i understood why she thought so: the wide spaces, the mix of temples in the middle of an archaeological site, the pure mysticism that emanated from the stone. after that, we had lunch at dragon palace, a sino-indian place much-recommended by perro. a street vendor sold paan to us, a wide tree leaf filled with a strange concoction of spices which is much loved by indians seeking to digest their heavy meals. we have a couple of videos of how this is prepared, and you must watch them, they are really funny. we then headed to perro's and had tea and indian sweets at his place, which, of course, rafa devoured. it was strange enough for me to be in perro's house in delhi with his sister and parents... but it was even stranger to be with then AND my sister and jijeji, and hear them argue with sakti (rahul's dad) about religion, temples in india, etc.
we left the house and stopped by india gate (delhi's answer to paris's arc de triomphe), the parliament, the president's house and the raj path. i loved that walk around india gate, where we saw all these street vendors selling everything from chai to pani puri to pakoras to cotton candy. it was fun to see indian men holding hands everywhere and then rafa and i followed suit and dana took a picture. despite the insanely polluted air (or perhaps because of it?), the sunset was gorgeous. we then ended our evening with drinks and a delicious dinner at punjabi, rahul's favorite restaurant in delhi. the drinks were yummy... but the best was the roasted leg of lamb... it was out of this world!
... a few minutes later, my thoughts went back to delhi, to perro's place, and we stayed up and talked and drank rum until almost 5am.
the next morning, rahul's mom woke me up and i was so confused and jet lagged that i only remembered saying some gibberish in spanish to her. rahul's mom (hencetoforth referred to as "auntie") told me i had a phone call. it was my sister and my jijeji (brother-in-law in hindi... but i hate that word in english), and they told me the hotel where they were staying and the area it was in were horrible. i got all worried but later they realized it was not as bad as they'd initially thought, but coming in at night anywhere in delhi could be dauntint, all the cows, sheep, and pigs in the street, the inexistent traffic laws, the never-ending honking, the beggars knocking on your car window, tapping on your shoulder, pulling your arm... and while all this happens, all people stare at you and it's impossible to be invisible. we got to their hotel and they had just returned from a walk in the main south ext I market and around the neighborhood. they took pictures of a cow giving birth in the middle of the street, even though people looked at them disapprovingly.
our first day in india started with a visit to q'tab minar, a 700-800 year old temple complex built by the first muslim ruler of delhi. the most impressive structure in this site is a 73m-high column all carved with moghul motives. apparently this was originally a hindu temple, which was later taken over by the moghuls, and they scratched all the hindu symbols carved on the temple walls, columns, and used the temple for their own religious purposes. dana thought that the whole site looked very much like chichen itza or one of these ruin sites in mexico. i didn't think so but i think i understood why she thought so: the wide spaces, the mix of temples in the middle of an archaeological site, the pure mysticism that emanated from the stone. after that, we had lunch at dragon palace, a sino-indian place much-recommended by perro. a street vendor sold paan to us, a wide tree leaf filled with a strange concoction of spices which is much loved by indians seeking to digest their heavy meals. we have a couple of videos of how this is prepared, and you must watch them, they are really funny. we then headed to perro's and had tea and indian sweets at his place, which, of course, rafa devoured. it was strange enough for me to be in perro's house in delhi with his sister and parents... but it was even stranger to be with then AND my sister and jijeji, and hear them argue with sakti (rahul's dad) about religion, temples in india, etc.
we left the house and stopped by india gate (delhi's answer to paris's arc de triomphe), the parliament, the president's house and the raj path. i loved that walk around india gate, where we saw all these street vendors selling everything from chai to pani puri to pakoras to cotton candy. it was fun to see indian men holding hands everywhere and then rafa and i followed suit and dana took a picture. despite the insanely polluted air (or perhaps because of it?), the sunset was gorgeous. we then ended our evening with drinks and a delicious dinner at punjabi, rahul's favorite restaurant in delhi. the drinks were yummy... but the best was the roasted leg of lamb... it was out of this world!
posted by adrián at 02:23
1 Comments:
WOW!!!! NO MAMES WEY I´M READING THIS AND I FEEL THAT I STILL THERE THANKS FOR ALL MY CUÑADO
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