Last Day in Delhi
Tuesday 1/15
We flew in from Kochi last night on Air India and had an uneventful flight. Part of the seat selection process included designating which type of dinner you would like served. Patti and Riley have food allergies for which they selected as appropriately as they could while Tara and I picked what sounded best from the most extensive list I have seen yet:
- Bland Meal
- Childrens Meal
- Diabetic Meal
- Fruit Platter Meal
- Gluten Intolerant Meal
- Hindu Meal
- Infant Meal
- Kosher Meal
- Low Calorie Meal
- Low Lactose Meal
- Low Salt Meal
- Muslim Meal
- Vegetarian Hindu Meal
- Vegetarian Jain Meal
- Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal
- Vegetarian Oriental Meal
- Vegetarian Ram Meal
- Vegetarian Vegan Meal
Patti was delighted to see her favorite right on top - 'Bland Meal'. As it turned out we were all served the same thing which means that that a couple dinners once again made their way to my seat.
While we waited for our bags we were a bit alarmed to see the rows and rows of piles and piles of luggage that had lost their way. We prayed that someone would not be looking with pity on our poor bags in a few days.
Our first nights stay in India was at the Smiley Inn in Dehli and the girls were not entirely psyched about it, the Hotel Florence in Dehli was the place for our last night in India. The Florence was 3 times as much as our first stay and was definately the fanciest place for the whole trip. In addition to the nice courtyard out back (pictured below), we had a hot shower (which was the most complex to operate yet), a toilet that was not under the shower, and more than one sheet on the bed. We are budget travellers and the sheets on this trip tell that tale. Most locations only had a sheet over the mattress and then just a throw blanket without top sheet. Very used blankets and well loved bottom sheets were the norm. Always with some amount of visible dirt, stains, rips, etc. The night before, when we stayed in Alleppey, we wondered if they ever cleaned the throw blankets. Negative. As we lounged on the deck waiting for our driver the rooms were being cleaned for the next guests that were also waiting with us. We saw that only the bottom sheet was replaced.
The Florence was our only place of accomodation that had a metal detector at the entrance. We have seen metal detectors in the airports but also in many of the tourist sites that we visited. All of them, without fail, went off every time, even when you had nothing on you. Then began the inevitable portable detector scan and pat down only to come up clean. India does differentiate and have dedicated and separated male and female lines which reflects other modesties which I respect in the Indian culture.
The toppest priority today was the final Henna treatment for the girls. The Henna which should stick around with them for a week or so once they are back. Patti had found one Henna artist via Google that was right near our hotel. On the store profile were various examples of very elaborate Henna for weddings. The Florence is right in one of the most popular bazaars in Dehli. There were all kinds of shops and many wedding related stores and apparently woman would have their wedding Henna done here. We used Google Maps navigation which has been so helpful for the few minute walk from the hotel. We could not find it. No store or anything. We asked someone, most people are very helpful, and he led us about 20 feet back the way we came and here we were. A sign and a few stools.
We were all thinking hmmmm, not what we expected, where's the door? Tara, bummed a little, expressed that she did not want to get her 'take home Henna' done on the street. Then as soon as we arrived we were whisked away to the store, which turned out to be the tiny, rather dirty, alley next door.
Again, not quite what we were expecting, he did a good job, and he was quick. He might have been a little cold as were were all chilly in the alley. He applied an oil that we had heard about that helps with the setting of the ink. Turns out the seemingly copious amounts of Henna sauce that he applied inhibited our next move out the door as we had to accelerate the drying process. The finished product looks great.
Later in the day we headed out to the spice markets and got a bit diverted. We hired a Tuk Tuk after we walked out the door and struck a bargain to take us to our destination. A few minutes en route and he stopped for a moment and someone who described himself as the drivers brother hopped in. In a minute we knew what was going on and decided just to roll with it. At our first stop I established what the terms of our relationship would be and we went from there.
We motored to Old Dehli and walked some of the really tiny alleyways and experienced our first legitimate human traffic jam. We were stuck in this mass of humanity on foot, bike, pedal cart, and motorbike. In these narrow streets it is only foot traffic that really flows well. Once you cram something in there with wheels then jam happens.
This is where they send felony telecom technicians.
We saw this typewriter outpost on the street where the old meets the new.
Images in 2019 Dehli - at some point - our expensive hotel has terrible internet connection speed.
Images: You might have to access the images in a different way depending on the size of your screen. For full size monitors the links should appear on the left, for phones and tablets you will need to select the menu drop-down icon on the upper left corner.
We flew in from Kochi last night on Air India and had an uneventful flight. Part of the seat selection process included designating which type of dinner you would like served. Patti and Riley have food allergies for which they selected as appropriately as they could while Tara and I picked what sounded best from the most extensive list I have seen yet:
- Bland Meal
- Childrens Meal
- Diabetic Meal
- Fruit Platter Meal
- Gluten Intolerant Meal
- Hindu Meal
- Infant Meal
- Kosher Meal
- Low Calorie Meal
- Low Lactose Meal
- Low Salt Meal
- Muslim Meal
- Vegetarian Hindu Meal
- Vegetarian Jain Meal
- Vegetarian Lacto-ovo Meal
- Vegetarian Oriental Meal
- Vegetarian Ram Meal
- Vegetarian Vegan Meal
Patti was delighted to see her favorite right on top - 'Bland Meal'. As it turned out we were all served the same thing which means that that a couple dinners once again made their way to my seat.
While we waited for our bags we were a bit alarmed to see the rows and rows of piles and piles of luggage that had lost their way. We prayed that someone would not be looking with pity on our poor bags in a few days.
Our first nights stay in India was at the Smiley Inn in Dehli and the girls were not entirely psyched about it, the Hotel Florence in Dehli was the place for our last night in India. The Florence was 3 times as much as our first stay and was definately the fanciest place for the whole trip. In addition to the nice courtyard out back (pictured below), we had a hot shower (which was the most complex to operate yet), a toilet that was not under the shower, and more than one sheet on the bed. We are budget travellers and the sheets on this trip tell that tale. Most locations only had a sheet over the mattress and then just a throw blanket without top sheet. Very used blankets and well loved bottom sheets were the norm. Always with some amount of visible dirt, stains, rips, etc. The night before, when we stayed in Alleppey, we wondered if they ever cleaned the throw blankets. Negative. As we lounged on the deck waiting for our driver the rooms were being cleaned for the next guests that were also waiting with us. We saw that only the bottom sheet was replaced.
The Florence was our only place of accomodation that had a metal detector at the entrance. We have seen metal detectors in the airports but also in many of the tourist sites that we visited. All of them, without fail, went off every time, even when you had nothing on you. Then began the inevitable portable detector scan and pat down only to come up clean. India does differentiate and have dedicated and separated male and female lines which reflects other modesties which I respect in the Indian culture.
The toppest priority today was the final Henna treatment for the girls. The Henna which should stick around with them for a week or so once they are back. Patti had found one Henna artist via Google that was right near our hotel. On the store profile were various examples of very elaborate Henna for weddings. The Florence is right in one of the most popular bazaars in Dehli. There were all kinds of shops and many wedding related stores and apparently woman would have their wedding Henna done here. We used Google Maps navigation which has been so helpful for the few minute walk from the hotel. We could not find it. No store or anything. We asked someone, most people are very helpful, and he led us about 20 feet back the way we came and here we were. A sign and a few stools.
We were all thinking hmmmm, not what we expected, where's the door? Tara, bummed a little, expressed that she did not want to get her 'take home Henna' done on the street. Then as soon as we arrived we were whisked away to the store, which turned out to be the tiny, rather dirty, alley next door.
Again, not quite what we were expecting, he did a good job, and he was quick. He might have been a little cold as were were all chilly in the alley. He applied an oil that we had heard about that helps with the setting of the ink. Turns out the seemingly copious amounts of Henna sauce that he applied inhibited our next move out the door as we had to accelerate the drying process. The finished product looks great.
Later in the day we headed out to the spice markets and got a bit diverted. We hired a Tuk Tuk after we walked out the door and struck a bargain to take us to our destination. A few minutes en route and he stopped for a moment and someone who described himself as the drivers brother hopped in. In a minute we knew what was going on and decided just to roll with it. At our first stop I established what the terms of our relationship would be and we went from there.
We motored to Old Dehli and walked some of the really tiny alleyways and experienced our first legitimate human traffic jam. We were stuck in this mass of humanity on foot, bike, pedal cart, and motorbike. In these narrow streets it is only foot traffic that really flows well. Once you cram something in there with wheels then jam happens.
This is where they send felony telecom technicians.
We saw this typewriter outpost on the street where the old meets the new.
Images in 2019 Dehli - at some point - our expensive hotel has terrible internet connection speed.
Images: You might have to access the images in a different way depending on the size of your screen. For full size monitors the links should appear on the left, for phones and tablets you will need to select the menu drop-down icon on the upper left corner.
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