Tim and I are early risers, as a general rule, and so we went to our convenience store for some milk and supplies. We decided to try some freshly squeezed orange juice from a street cart and were not disappointed. It was nectar and amazing! Teed with some fresh naan bread straight from the griddle of a street cart, we had our breakfast organised for a ridiculously cheap price. Luke remains fussy and unwilling to try new food but at least he enjoys the tasty natural yoghurt available here and "normal" bread and bananas.
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| Fresh orange juice. |
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| Naan bread in the making! |
As we are planning to travel to Jaipur later this week, I am keen to get tickets booked but it may be harder than we think. After a bit of Distance Education preparation for the 2015 Australian academic year's beginning, we trekked down to Lajpat Nagar station - a familiar route now. The streets are alive again after a very quiet public holiday yesterday.
We headed for the main New Delhi Railway station which was an absolute sea of people. Apparently half a million of people there per day. I was the only female in the pushy information queue but was told to go to Old Delhi Railway for the train we wanted. Karl suggested I go back into the throng and try to buy tickets. A gentleman who spoke good English told me that only Indians can buy tickets there and that we had to go to a Government Tourist Bureau. Karl was suspicious of a scam as the gentleman also organised a tuk tuk for a wild squashy ride through New Delhi to Connaught Circle for 30 Rupee (60 cents). The Bureau, whilst Government recognised, was not "official" and Karl wouldn't budge - embarrassing for me - even though, I believe the information was correct as Naz, the man we were dealing with, showed me the same webpages as I had already browsed for tickets. As it happens, the train to Jaipur only had 2 seats left, so it is not an option for our travel. There are other options for a bus or minivan which I would like to book ASAP but Karl, on full scam alert duty refused to do this today. As yet, we do not have transport to Jaipur which is many kms from New Delhi.
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| Photo from a crowded tuk tuk |
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| Slightly hair raising ride! |
As we were near Connaught Circle, we went to explore. It is a grand looking circle of recognisable brand shops with hundreds of street stalls dotting the squalid pavements. Karl with his black leather shoes was offered no less than 20 shoe polishes and we were constantly hassled by very persistent vendors, young and old. Our experience there made our little community in Lajpat Nagar feel tame as we are hardly hassled here and people understand our first "No Thank You". We did buy some delicious ice cream which resembled old fashioned "Eskimo Pie" ice creams from years ago. (Remember them?). Whilst I tried some fantastic puffed rice with peanuts and spices and crunchy yummy bits and tomato and onion (30 Rupee), the others went into an American Pizzeria and were charged a phenomenal price for two pizzas. The advantage of their choice was a clean toilet but personally I LOVED my lunch and time will tell whether or not I made a sensible choice...if you know what I mean!
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| Spicy, crunchy, delicious street lunch |
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| Ice creams |
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| Indian flag flying for Independence Day |
As the afternoon was still young, and we had finally eaten, we took the Metro to Central Secretariat to see the India Gate - a War Memorial Arch built to honour soldiers from WW1. In the afternoon haze, the Arch looked eerily majestic and the boulevarde leading up to it was still flanked with chairs and barricades from yesterday's Independence Day celebrations and ice cream carts by the dozens. We couldn't head towards Parliament House because Barack Obama is still in town and everything was cordoned off and heavily policed. We enjoyed a walk down the long boulevarde and Annika, Luke and I took advantage of a 10 Rupee tuk tuk ride to the nearest public toilet and back to meet up with Karl and Tim! We were hassled by many hawkers for various things and "No" means zilch to a poor Indian.
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| Tuk tuk to toilet |
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| By the Memorial Arch |
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| Lovely flowers under arch. |
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| Dapper guard |
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| More dapper guards |
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| Holding up the monument! |
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| Top of the arch! |
Under the Memorial Arch burns the eternal flame and it was decorated with beautiful flowers which were possibly there because of yesterday's celebrations. The big kids decided that this was definitely a good spot for a handstand!
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| Hand stand opportunity |
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| Luke in a remote controlled car for 50 Rupees - got to be a 7 year old boy in amongst all the sightseeing. |
We walked back to the Metro and braved the packed subway to our stop. Armed with some fried potatoes we settled in for the evening. It is so cold as the sun goes down, only 4 C tonight with one little blow heater to heat this large marble tiled apartment....CHILLY!
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| Karl rugged up at the kitchen table. |
The big kids are stressing about schooling but I am sure once it all starts they will feel less anxious. I am trying to motivate and encourage but it is difficult with Luke resisting big time and causing interruptions. Karl is keen for them to have "internal motivation" and the kids see that as a negative and a criticism so the next few weeks while they settle into a home schooling routine/unroutine is going to be tough. Eeeeeek! I can't stretch myself in three directions and support all of them at once!
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