The past two days in Delhi have been eye-opening, jam packed, and amazing to say the least. First of all, Mike and I are adopting a "trust nobody but ourselves" mentality. There are just too many "trustworthy" incredibly polite and overly generous Indians everywhere we go. No more "Vicky's", no more "government-endorsed" travel agencies, no more "special deals just for us".... You have no idea how much crap we have had to listen to from EVERYONE. Even the "India Tourism Development Corporation", the "real" government run toursim agency, tried first to book us a 3 day trip to Kashmir, where after a quick internet check and call to the US embassy, we found out we should absolutely not be going right now. Look up what has been happening there over the past week if you really want, but trust me, its just not a safe time to go.
Well, even for adventurers like us its better to be safe then sorry, so we refused the tempting offer to visit "heaven on earth". I have made a pledge to myself that one day I will come back when it is safer and spend time there, because it looks and sounds amazing. Anyways, the agency then tried to book us on a very expensive 2 week trip around rajisthan, which, we were very skeptical about. Sure enough, after talking to nice Scottish girls, Bella and Kirsty, whom we met while sightseeing today and shared a delicious dinner at the great vegetarian restaurant "Sonu" in the Paharganj area (near our hotel), we know that the only people we can trust are ourselves. By that, I mean we are going to book our transportation directly from the Train companies, our hotel reservations directly from the hotels, and see what we want to see and go where we want to go. This is the right way to see India.

For example, we decided to ditch taxis today (day 2) and walk ourselves to the sights we wanted to see. yes, it was hot and the walk was long, but WOW we saw, smelled, and experienced SO MUCH more in one afternoon than we did all of the first full day, when we paid someone to take us around all day. Constantly wary and alert, we had no problems on the streets of Delhi, and we saved a ton of money. I think I drank several gallons of water today during our adventure, which is good because the sun was sweltering and i was literally dripping in sweat. Regardless, I felt great -- the energy of the dirty, bustling city keeping me going, with new things around every grimy, crowded corner. We saw everything from a bird hospital run by monks who believe in the value of all living things, to mountains of garbage on the streets with people searching through them, to masterful local chefs, the Delhi Stock exchange, rode teh metro (which is so nice btw! almost like the DC one. Almost.) and spoke with local students, religious gurus, and all sorts of locals of all walks of life. Did I mention, this city is so dirty! Even the "posh" area's buildings are stained withdark streaks caused by the choking smog thats present everywhere you go. Thats not to say there aren't beautiful things to see. Highlights include Humayun's tomb, India Gate, Qatab Minar, The Red Fort, and several enourmous and ornately decorated mosques. As soon as I find a way to get some photos to you I will, and I promise they will be incredible. I think I'm already close to filling up my memory card. To tell you the truth, I personally like taking photos of people and unique experiences rather tahn buildings. TO see them in person is amazing, but you can always find great photographs of places online no problem. The majority of my photos are street scenes and people, and I can't wait to show you.

Anyways, it's late, so I'm going to head to bed because it will be a full day tomorrow. First, we will be heading out to the last of the must-see tourist destinations, the Lotus Temple, and then we are heading to Darjeeling by train. We are planning on spending a few days out east over there, and volunteering a bit at an organization started by Mother Theresa. Should be a great experience, and there will be tons of new adventures every day. Catch you later,

NPW