Hi we are Joerik and Pauline from Holland! We just completed our 18 months long trip. Follow us.
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Alright a first update
After a good flight with transit in Moscow we arrived at 3 am. At the New Delhi Airport. Although we are planning to travel low budget. We had already booked up-front a nice hotel for our first two nights. An Indian driver from the hotel was waiting for us and we recognized our names on the sign he was holding. It's the middle of the night both Pauline and I are still not believing we are in India at the start of a beautiful trip.
We take our first step outside. Wham! It’s the middle of the night and a warm, strange smelling wave of air touches our face. The smell of India. Oh yes we’re back! Pauline has been in India first last year. Me 6 years back. At the parking lot the driver reminds me how Indian People (especially in the big cities) got a whole lot of tricks to take money from tourists. He asks us for 180 Indian rupees parking fee for our free airport pick-up. Our conversation that we started friendly falls dead when I choose not to cooperate. I stare out of the car window looking at the empty wide streets of New Delhi.
The Hotel is even better than we expected. We let ourselves fall down on the big and soft bed. When I wake up the next afternoon Pauline comes out of the shower and says: C’mon lets explore the city! People stare at us and we get approached by scammers several times. But soon enough we find out how amazingly friendly Indian people can be. In a jewelry store Pauline gets free help with her ear-piercing that was infected. The man walks outside and comes back later with a small Neem-tree branch. He replaces the piercing with the neem. In ancient Ayurvedic science this helps against infections. The next day her ear is almost fully healed.
A Indian characteristic is that everything always goes different than planned. We had planned to travel up north to Rishikesh but from different persons we hear there is a huge religious festival going on in that area which will take 10 days. Rishikesh known for its tranquil vibe will probably wont be that tranquil with 15 million male pilgrims around. It would have been nice to be there for a day but definitely not more. We decide to change our plan and take a two week detour before heading up to Rishikesh.
The rest of the day we visit Delhi with as highlight Hamayuns Tomb; a tall structure with big similarities to the Taj Mahal.
The Taj Mahal is what I see when writing this story from nearby rooftop. Its almost surreal. Looking more like something from a fairy tail. Tomorrow we will have a closer look.
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In our #3 update we will write about Rishikesh. The Yoga capital of the world. In case you missed post #1 Click here to read the post where will introduce ourselves. Thanks for reading and voting.
Bundi Palace - Rajahstan
