India, Day 3 continued (April 23)
Next we visit Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque. It's a fairly impressive building and you can imagine when at capacity how crazy it must look.
This is another place where you have to take off your shoes. This time we're outside and the rock is hot. Very, very hot. Thankfully there are some place mats leading around on the inside so if I stay on the place mat and walk quickly between place to place, stopping in the shade I can survive it. Definitely a place where socks would have been helpful.
After more sitting on the bus for a long drive around the city we arrive at the Qutab Minar, the world's tallest free standing minaret and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I suppose I should be more impressed but I'm not.
In this same area is the Quwwat-ul-Islam Masjid, the first mosque in India. I do like walking around this park. It's a very pretty area and the first opportunity we have to just walk and explore. This is really the kind of traveling I prefer. while it is hot; almost unbearably so, it's nice to get out of the bus and escape the rest of the tour folk.
I think this was our last stop for the day. On our return we ask our guide the same question as the day before "where should we go to eat". His recommendation? There's a McDonalds and a Pizza Hut a short walk away.
That's it. That's his recommendation. Again --really?
Pressed a little more he finally tells us about a South Indian restaurant that is also within walking distance.
Jeff and I journey out to find this place a little later. On our way we are stopped by multiple people --they tell us it's unsafe and we should not be walking around. They recommend we hop in a tuk-tuk who can take us to a market.
It is mentally exhausting. You can't tell what is what. Are these people scamming me (working in partnership to get us into an over-priced tuk-tuk)? If we're truly unsafe then I don't want to be reckless. We try to press on and it would have been my suggestion to not talk to anyone along our way. We had a good idea of where we needed to go and it was only supposed to be a few blocks away.
Jeff, silly him, starts to engage with those on the side walk when they talk to us. I think he believes they are just friendly folk talking to the funny foreigners...being sociable. I never do make eye contact and try to shake our first guy, but then a second joins and then a third. WTF Jeff.
I'm inclined to get in tuk-tuk ---I don't want to be unsafe. Jeff is concerned they're going to take us on a multi-stop ride to get additional rupees out of us. We finally decide to turn around and head back. At the hotel we ask them about the market area we were going to --they said it was fine and safe.
We run into some folks from the tour group that are also walking over so we head out with them. No one bothers us this time.
There is a little market with cheap shops selling linens and other junk. The group is going to McDonalds (we say no way). We find the Indian restaurant and it's crazy busy. With Indians. This is a good sign. When we finally get seated we get a menu. No English. Another good sign.
Jeff orders a really good dish. I'm not so lucky. Mine was tasty just...incomplete. I end up getting what looks like a webbed rice bowl with a side of coconut milk. It's served on this huge platter. It's very obvious you are supposed to order something to put into this bowl. I think the equivalent would be to order a bread bowl with no soup or a side of tortillas....with nothing stuff inside of them.
So, reluctantly, I tore apart the rice "bowl" and dipped it in the milk. Tasted good, but I'm pretty sure someone saw us and was laughing. Certainly the server had to think it was weird!
After dinner we walk back and join a tour person for a drink at the bar. Places are heavily overpriced. Think $40/pitcher of beer. I wouldn't even pay that in U.S. but in rupees it's ridiculous....should have cost us minimal amount. But, we're determined to have a good time.
The bar is converting into a night club so they move us into a seated VIP section. This is sort of fun and perfect for people watching. Many drinks, dancing, and silly photos later it's roughly 2:30 AM and time to go to bed.
Tomorrow we depart for Agra.
