Happy Delhi Diwali

To Delhi, India

By the time we awoke, around 6:00 in the morning, the train had substantially cleared out. For most of the night, there was someone sitting down by my feet, though I fortunately still had plenty of room to stretch out.  

Like Dex, during the last train trip, I should have put on some warmer clothes as I was a little cold using just my thin, silk sleep sack. Kylie had my sleeping bag.  (Meg's note: I warned him....) Nevertheless, I didn’t feel too bad in the morning, especially after a couple small dixie cups of piping hot chai.  Somehow, the best chai we’ve had has always been on the trains.  Some young, enterprising guy always walks up and down the aisle with a giant pot chanting “chai, chai … chai, chai….”  

We watched the early morning activities of life along the railroad tracks as we neared town -- people walking along nearby roads, a few outdoor fires here and there, the normal morning sweeping, people washing, brushing teeth etc.  The entire city was shrouded in a fog-like mist of smoke and smog, which made the colorful hanging strands of Diwali lights stand out even more against the early morning grey.

When we arrived in Delhi, we actually scored a tiny, four-wheeled taxi for the 10 km ride into the Paharanj District, just a few blocks from where we had stayed a week ago. This road was almost comically loaded with hotels, all with their hotel names spelled vertically using a series of square, backlit signs.  We fortunately were able to check in at 7:45 when we arrived.  In almost exactly twenty-four hours, we’d be off for the airport and our flight to Kathmandu.

Father and son (presumably), who asked to have their
picture taken as we walked past.  Happy Diwali

Our only activity for the day was searching out the Children’s Park we had seen a sign for on the way in.  There were a few older, metal swing sets and slides, which Dex and Kylie played on for only a few minutes.  After that, we found a small patch of grass (not fenced off) and Meg and I read while the kids played with their HotWheels and KinderEgg toys.  On the way to and from the park in our tuk tuk, we invented a new game to pass the time. Whenever we passed within a few inches of another vehical or barrier, we would reach out and touch it -- kind of like Nemo in Finding Nemo daring to touch the small fishing boat. By the time we'd returned to the hotel we'd racked up a combined score of thirteen: five tuk-tuks, two taxis, one "tuk-truck," three cycle rickshaws, and two cement barriers. Don't try this at home, folks.

No spitting zone

The park, it turned out, was very close to the large Gate of India and there were a fair number of people gathered in the open space nearby, which we surmised might be for evening fireworks. Today, was the third of what we understood to be the five day Diwali celebration and was the day for firecrackers and fireworks. Boy, howdy!  Had I not known, I would have sworn we were in a war zone with the almost continual fire crackers starting around 7:00 p.m.  After dinner, Meg bolted to the hotel after an M-80 practically blew out our ear drums in the narrow alleyway. We retreated up to the top floor to view fireworks and get farther from the firecrackers.  

As we watched the small fireworks being fired off from various nearby streets, we struck up a conversation with three Americans who happened to be enjoying the view and a beer.  Karen, Marilyn, and John had just arrived from Michigan that morning and had spent the day sightseeing. They seemed to be relishing the noise and chaos of their first day, and Dex and Kylie were eager to share stories from the last couple months.  Happy Diwali!