Delhi India and travels to Jodhpur


Two opinions of Delhi and sorry, no pictures.

First Sara says....
Wow, what a large, noisy, dirty, and different city. We took the advice of fellow travelers and booked our room ahead of time and had a little sign with our name on it for our driver picking us up in the Delhi airport. Good thing. We arrived at 11PM Delhi time and turned the television on to hear about the coup happening in Thailand. It all makes sense. Our last night in Bangkok, we noticed a few weird occurances with the police. Street vendors scattering like cockroaches, black plastic bags of bribed goods from stores, and car tires locked with big clubs in front of our hotel. But, the coup is not affecting anything in the tourism world...we still have traveler friends there and everyone is ok. Actually, their new big Bangkok airport should be open by now. I think we were some of the last to travel through the old one.

In Delhi, I had a minor breakdown, ready to ship back to the US or Samoa, or anywhere besides Delhi and we decided we would spend as little time as possible in the city and do our shopping when we came back through. We changed to a more reasonable hotel and were steered the wrong direction when trying to book our train tickets, but besides the men staring and me realizing the dress is more conservative than Samoa, I made it out. We booked a train to Jodhpur, Rajasthan and decided to spend our first week in that state. As we waited for the train, men and women were staring at me like I had six heads. I finally realized that my below knee length skirt made the men drool and the women give me a 'you slut' look. I packed that skirt away at the bottom of my bag, not to wear again until, well, I don't know when. Jodhpur is a little city that I spent my 32nd birthday. We splurged and spent almost $20US on a great top rooftop room of an old Haveli and had a great time cooking with the Nepali staff. Also touted for the best spice shopping, I jumped a bit too quick and purchased a few, which we now have to carry around for a while. I also jumped on a birthday outfit, a Salwar Kameez, the traditional (other than a sari) outfit that most women wear in India. We enjoyed the city and then headed out to Jaislamer.


Ethan says...
What an amazing place!!!
We arrived at the Delhi airport around 11pm after a two-hour delay leaving Bangkok
(Something to do with an unknown bag that had to be found). We were very tired and ready to get to a bed and shower. We booked a hotel the day before, one that included hotel pickup. As we walked in to the main terminal it was incredibly overwhelming. There were hundreds of people yelling and shouting to get our attention from taxi drivers, hotels, and beggars just wanting money. We found a sign with Sara’s name on it and I became a little more relaxed, booking a hotel with airport pickup prior to arriving, was defiantly the best way to go.
As our driver carried our bags to his car more and more people started following us. When we got to the car these random guys opened the door to the car and but the bags in to the car. I thought wow, everyone is very helpful… as soon as we got in and were ready to leave several guys stuck their hands in to the car and asked for tips. We told them that they didn't do anything, NO.
The 45 min. ride to the hotel was crazy, cars, trucks, motorbikes and rickshaws were everywhere blaring their horns and cutting everyone off. Hectic and I'm glad that I was not driving. When we got to the hotel we were helped into our room. The room was nice a/c, hot water, sheets the works. It was about $30 per night and the most we have spent on lodging on our travels yet. We had a great night sleep.
The next morning we ventured outside to check things out and find a cheaper place to stay. As soon as we opened the doors to the lobby it was sensory overload with the traffic, smells, cows, a man playing a flute, incense, and just about everything you can think of. We walked down the street and were immediately offered taxis and invited in to everyone's shop to take a look. The smells on the street were interesting from; great smells of food, exhaust, urine, and incense. We found a place that was ok after looking a few guesthouses with A/C and bathroom for $12. We didn’t really need the A/C but the room was sealed and kept out the noise from the busy street outside
After walking back getting out bags and putting them into our new hotel we were exhausted. There was so much going on outside we was nervous to go outside. We had a bite to eat and walked to the train station to get tickets. I thought that the airport was bad. If some one wasn't trying to sell us something they were steering us away from where we wanted to go (scam) telling us that the office was closed, or didn't sell tickets for trains today.
After finding the tourist ticket office, that was open and veryhelpful we bought tickets to go to Rajasthan for the following night. We were now getting used to the city and were not so overwhelmed as we were before. I wasactually enjoying the hustle. We found an Internet café and got caught up onwhat is going on in the world. We leave tonight at 8:30pm for our first trip on the trains of India, wish us luck! I'm looking forward to the adventure. I will write to you when we get someplace. I'm looking forward to the adventure. - Ethan


The clocktower in Jodhpur and main market.


View from our room in Jodhpur.

View from the top of the fort, where we had a birthday sweet.


Birthday dinner at the Haveli.


After Jodjpur, we headed to Jaislamer, where we took a camel safari into the desert to see the sunset. We also climbed a top a very old fort in the city and stayed in a sandstone guest house. The next adventure requires more time....so check back soon. Remember, check pics at www.fiataa.snapfish.com.