March 1nd
woke up to someone asking me if i want tea.. saw Brigesh and his wife were already up.. my dad asked me how i slept laying in the upper cot next to me... the train arrived to the station an hour early or "an hour early" you could say. we said our good byes to our kind passage mates ..double checked all of our items were with us and off we went... inside the station it was once again very busy.. we had two bag boys load our bags..but where you ask? on their heads! that's like 85lbs! ... as we waited inside the airport everyone did the ole deep stares at Monika and i.. my dad went off to go check for the driver. as we waited Monika and i played the "your team" game... picking and choosing people to go on each others teams. once the driver arrived we loaded the bags inside the drivers car.. groggy and feeling "dirty" after the long 18 hr train ride we began to ride around new Dehli... a much better driving system and a lot of British influence in the well structured buildings. we took a stop for breakfast..and to use the much needed clean restroom at a beautiful 5 star restaurant. we all snacked on pastries ..had tea and fresh juice.. great way to transition prior to our new day in new Delhi.
as we left the hotel ... we met our driver... we drove around the city...there was a lot of British influence... we went to many sites including.. the red fortress which was gigantic! it was beautifully constructed..we saw .. after we saw the red fortress we went to visit Indian gate which is the memorial for the Indian soldiers who died in ww1 and ww2... India gate was another beautiful and large structure.. it had lovely opened fields and fountains...tons of people gathered there as we observed and shot pictures. finally we saw the best site..the Gandhi memorial which was a huge park dedicated to him with the eternal flame in the middle. the park was beautifully decorated with flowers,wide green grasses,large trees,lovely fountains... at the time we went to visit we saw a school of children on a field trip they were in very good moods with smiles and cheers! upon entering the flame which was centered in the middle of the park..we had to remove our shoes ..the flame had a very empowering essence inside... it was a great feeling and a great site!
as we hopped back into our drivers car (Subwinger as Monika called him) he took us to a gift shop right before we had to go to the train station at 4pm for pow.
as we drove our dad spoke to the driver in Hindi making conversation...Monika and i sat worried in the back thinking the driver was meddling through our bags haha.
on the way to the shop we stopped by a MacDonalds really fast (yes a McDonalds in India) there we were swarmed with beggars prior to walking in (a good tourist spot)... inside tons of Indians and white travelers. a nice McDonalds and the food wasn't too bad either...as we left we saw another American tourist get swarmed by the beggars... thankfully we at least had dad who could tell them to go away in Hindi.
when we finally reached the train station my dad and Monika checked us into the palace on wheels with our tickets.
the pow had a nice welcoming setup for us.. chairs for us to sit and we had a warm welcome with flower necklaces and tikas ...we shot our pictures met our attendant and made our way into the train for our welcoming glass of wine.
we met some new friends as we sat at the bar... once we entered our room the first reaction was "wow this is small" and it was... a 7x7 room with bathroom...a tough fit for 2 men and 1 woman. as we roughly settled in we rested and were to meet in the bar at 7pm sharp for a group meeting...unfortunately we were still exhausted from the long train and ended up being a bit late to the meeting...it was bit of an embarrassing first impression for the trip to be last in to the meeting and have to have the staff bring extra chairs...as the man spoke with a horrible sound system set up...my dad fell asleep on the chair...Monika looked like she was day dreaming..and i starred out the window at all the Indian poverty...a very dividing line from pow and sitting next to a fire surrounded by trash.
...as the night came we rested back at the room got ready for our dinner, ate and went to sleep. ...
woke up to someone asking me if i want tea.. saw Brigesh and his wife were already up.. my dad asked me how i slept laying in the upper cot next to me... the train arrived to the station an hour early or "an hour early" you could say. we said our good byes to our kind passage mates ..double checked all of our items were with us and off we went... inside the station it was once again very busy.. we had two bag boys load our bags..but where you ask? on their heads! that's like 85lbs! ... as we waited inside the airport everyone did the ole deep stares at Monika and i.. my dad went off to go check for the driver. as we waited Monika and i played the "your team" game... picking and choosing people to go on each others teams. once the driver arrived we loaded the bags inside the drivers car.. groggy and feeling "dirty" after the long 18 hr train ride we began to ride around new Dehli... a much better driving system and a lot of British influence in the well structured buildings. we took a stop for breakfast..and to use the much needed clean restroom at a beautiful 5 star restaurant. we all snacked on pastries ..had tea and fresh juice.. great way to transition prior to our new day in new Delhi.
as we left the hotel ... we met our driver... we drove around the city...there was a lot of British influence... we went to many sites including.. the red fortress which was gigantic! it was beautifully constructed..we saw .. after we saw the red fortress we went to visit Indian gate which is the memorial for the Indian soldiers who died in ww1 and ww2... India gate was another beautiful and large structure.. it had lovely opened fields and fountains...tons of people gathered there as we observed and shot pictures. finally we saw the best site..the Gandhi memorial which was a huge park dedicated to him with the eternal flame in the middle. the park was beautifully decorated with flowers,wide green grasses,large trees,lovely fountains... at the time we went to visit we saw a school of children on a field trip they were in very good moods with smiles and cheers! upon entering the flame which was centered in the middle of the park..we had to remove our shoes ..the flame had a very empowering essence inside... it was a great feeling and a great site!
as we hopped back into our drivers car (Subwinger as Monika called him) he took us to a gift shop right before we had to go to the train station at 4pm for pow.
as we drove our dad spoke to the driver in Hindi making conversation...Monika and i sat worried in the back thinking the driver was meddling through our bags haha.
on the way to the shop we stopped by a MacDonalds really fast (yes a McDonalds in India) there we were swarmed with beggars prior to walking in (a good tourist spot)... inside tons of Indians and white travelers. a nice McDonalds and the food wasn't too bad either...as we left we saw another American tourist get swarmed by the beggars... thankfully we at least had dad who could tell them to go away in Hindi.
when we finally reached the train station my dad and Monika checked us into the palace on wheels with our tickets.
the pow had a nice welcoming setup for us.. chairs for us to sit and we had a warm welcome with flower necklaces and tikas ...we shot our pictures met our attendant and made our way into the train for our welcoming glass of wine.
we met some new friends as we sat at the bar... once we entered our room the first reaction was "wow this is small" and it was... a 7x7 room with bathroom...a tough fit for 2 men and 1 woman. as we roughly settled in we rested and were to meet in the bar at 7pm sharp for a group meeting...unfortunately we were still exhausted from the long train and ended up being a bit late to the meeting...it was bit of an embarrassing first impression for the trip to be last in to the meeting and have to have the staff bring extra chairs...as the man spoke with a horrible sound system set up...my dad fell asleep on the chair...Monika looked like she was day dreaming..and i starred out the window at all the Indian poverty...a very dividing line from pow and sitting next to a fire surrounded by trash.
...as the night came we rested back at the room got ready for our dinner, ate and went to sleep. ...
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