Day in Delhi

Monday evening I caught the train once again, this time to Delhi. I had some lovely train mates- two Italians, one Peruvian, and one guy originally from Poland but who has lived in Varanasi for the last ten years studying Sanskrit. We had a long ride, about 14 hours, before finally arriving in Delhi. I had a day in Delhi before my flight left Wednesday morning at 4:00 AM, so I decided to do some sightseeing. I dropped my backpack off in the cloak room of the train station, and then headed out. I browsed the market a bit, saw some more temples (can you tell there are a lot of temples in India?) and saw the Gate of India that was built as a war memorial for the soldiers who lost their lives during World War I. I also saw the president’s house and several parliament buildings before going back to the market to do some last minute shopping for friends.

I waited the rest of the time in the train station ladies’ waiting room and amused myself by watching a rat the size of a squirrel scurry around. I thought to myself how my American friends would have freaked out at the sight of this, but the Indian ladies just calmly watched it go by their feet. I also managed to “shower” while I waited. The word shower is used very roughly in reference to this trip- most of my showers consisted of a faucet about knee height off the ground that you use to fill up a bucket with cold water. You then use a dipper and go for it. Other western amenities I missed during the trip besides hot water and water pressure were toilet paper and flushing toilets. No need to go into any more detail there, I’m sure you get the idea. So at some point I took a rickshaw to the airport, where I waited some more, before finally catching my flight back to Delhi, Munich, and finally uneventfully arriving back at good old Geneva. I met so many wonderful people, experienced so much hospitality, and had such an incredible time, but it was good to be back in Geneva.