New Delhi:

January 2nd, 2005 - January 4th, 2005

We arrived in New Delhi just after midnight because the train was late (big surprise there) and we went to our hotel.

We thought the pollution was bad in Jaipur and Agra, but nothing compared to the thick air of Delhi. After a day around town, we wiped our foreheads with napkins and there was black soot all over them. Also gross were the pitch black boogers that come out of your nose - sorry for being graphic, but the extent of the pollution had to be illustrated!

We got a driver for the first day in Delhi and saw the major sights - while avoiding a major scam. Our driver didn't speak English and even though we showed him a list of what we wanted to see, he still seemed to have "problems" ... after the first sight, he drove in circles for a bit before stopping in front of a hospital. He just sat there for 10 minutes on his cell phone. Finally, some guy came and got in the car with us. Sketchy, yes. But luckily, we had been around India for a bit and knew what was up.

The guy said he was called by the driver to help translate because we were having a communication problem. Right away we made it clear we had no money to give him! He was cool with that - so it seemed. We ventured on to the other places we had to see, taking similar routes each time (we figured this was to try and get the kilometer total over 80km so he would get more money).

After the next sight (which was the amazing Baha'i temple), the English speaking dude tried to get us to take a lunch break. We declined, knowing it would be to some "friends" place at a crazy price. He then said our next item on our tour was closed for lunch and that he could show us some local handicrafts. Sure!

Anyway, he started taking us to the crafts store, but we opened our guidebook and saw our place was not closed and demanded to go there. Once there, and realizing we were not going to see shops and other crap, the guy mysteriously had to go! We were finally rid of him... and amazingly enough, our driver was again able to understand where we wanted to go - which included a stop at Subway for a sandwich; which made our day.

The next day in Delhi was spent trying to change our travel plans. We decided to opt out of a trip up to Corbett National Park due to cost. Instead we arranged a flight to Khajuraho.

We also tried to mail some stuff home - which was much harder than expected. In the end, we hired a rickshaw driver for the afternoon and had him take us to the post office. At the post office, people put your stuff in a box for you and then sew it shut with fabric - quite interesting. Then you mail it. All the while, 100's of people are milling back and forth doing whatever and there is no way to tell who actually works there!

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