Once on the road we drove pretty consistently all morning with only a couple of stops for pee breaks. We gradually left the desert behind us, and the countryside became more tame, with a little more colour. Not much though, because it is incredibly dry!
I mentioned yesterday about the people staring at us. It is quite an amazing phenomenom which we constantly try to understand. But wherever we go, heads turn, and men, women, and children stare at us with intense interest. If we go pee on the roadside, there will quickly be an audience, so we always have to have a "lookout". As we pass in the Truck many, many people wave at us, and of course we wave back. If we are pulled up beside someone in the Truck, they start talking to us. We have had so many conversations with so many Indians, some simple like "Where you from"; we reply "Canada"; "Where you go?" "Delhi". Others are more involved depending on the level of English the inquisitor has and can range from where they were born, to conversations about the government and elections coming up, education, health, etc. We really can't quite answer the question "Why are Indians so curious about white people?"; but when you think about it, we all like to watch other people with interest and see what they are doing. I guess Indians are no different, they are just not as discreet about it as we try to be because we are taught from and early age "not to stare....its rude".
We arrived into Delhi, back into the land of the horn blowing, thousands of trucks, cars, wagons, rickshaws, autorickshaws, camel carts, donkey carts, horse carts, any form of transportation that you can imagine. It seems a slightly more prosperous city than Mumbai. Immediately after arriving we had lunch, then I headed out with 3 others to do an intro site-seeing ride in an autorickshaw while Ray nursed a cold and slept. We saw the Gandhi Smriti where Gandhi was living at the time he was assassinated. There was a marvellous wax statue of Gandhi and his wife. It was as if he was sitting there smiling at you, his presence was so strong. Then we went to see the India Gate where Independence was declared from, drove down the Rajpath towards the parliament buildings, the president's official residence and some other government buildings. This is a huge tree-lined avenue with nicely cultivated parks on either side. It resembled our walk down Pall Mall in London; in the alternative it also reminded me of the walk from the Senotaph to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, although this is a more grassy route. This is where the Republic Day parade is held every January 26. We drove back to the hotel past the Gurdwara Bangla Sahi, a Sikh temple, with its beautiful gold domes, then to the supermarket. This was an occasion for rejoicing!! Dan has said we can't buy our truck food at supermarkets but have to use the local products from the local markets, so hitting a supermarket meant soo much civilization! It was air conditioned too which was a plus. In the evening we had a group farewell dinner as 5 members are leaving and we are getting 7 new passengers tomorrow.
I mentioned yesterday about the people staring at us. It is quite an amazing phenomenom which we constantly try to understand. But wherever we go, heads turn, and men, women, and children stare at us with intense interest. If we go pee on the roadside, there will quickly be an audience, so we always have to have a "lookout". As we pass in the Truck many, many people wave at us, and of course we wave back. If we are pulled up beside someone in the Truck, they start talking to us. We have had so many conversations with so many Indians, some simple like "Where you from"; we reply "Canada"; "Where you go?" "Delhi". Others are more involved depending on the level of English the inquisitor has and can range from where they were born, to conversations about the government and elections coming up, education, health, etc. We really can't quite answer the question "Why are Indians so curious about white people?"; but when you think about it, we all like to watch other people with interest and see what they are doing. I guess Indians are no different, they are just not as discreet about it as we try to be because we are taught from and early age "not to stare....its rude".
We arrived into Delhi, back into the land of the horn blowing, thousands of trucks, cars, wagons, rickshaws, autorickshaws, camel carts, donkey carts, horse carts, any form of transportation that you can imagine. It seems a slightly more prosperous city than Mumbai. Immediately after arriving we had lunch, then I headed out with 3 others to do an intro site-seeing ride in an autorickshaw while Ray nursed a cold and slept. We saw the Gandhi Smriti where Gandhi was living at the time he was assassinated. There was a marvellous wax statue of Gandhi and his wife. It was as if he was sitting there smiling at you, his presence was so strong. Then we went to see the India Gate where Independence was declared from, drove down the Rajpath towards the parliament buildings, the president's official residence and some other government buildings. This is a huge tree-lined avenue with nicely cultivated parks on either side. It resembled our walk down Pall Mall in London; in the alternative it also reminded me of the walk from the Senotaph to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, although this is a more grassy route. This is where the Republic Day parade is held every January 26. We drove back to the hotel past the Gurdwara Bangla Sahi, a Sikh temple, with its beautiful gold domes, then to the supermarket. This was an occasion for rejoicing!! Dan has said we can't buy our truck food at supermarkets but have to use the local products from the local markets, so hitting a supermarket meant soo much civilization! It was air conditioned too which was a plus. In the evening we had a group farewell dinner as 5 members are leaving and we are getting 7 new passengers tomorrow.
1 comment:
I have to wonder how they keep Gandhi's wax statue from melting in the heat. It must be special wax! The actor I mentioned a few days ago also visited this place. He sat on a chair beside the setee were Gandhi used to recline. He said that the rebel in him wanted to sit where Gandhi sat, but he couldn't do it -- the little man was still too powerful.
Randall.
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