Delhi

Delhi Belhi. I should have known.

Perhaps it was the wrath of the literary gods, striking me down for turning a daily-observation tool into simple chrono-narratives. Perhaps a chef just decided to toss some lettuce with his left hand. In any case, I was laid low for a pretty good period.

I got some reading in, and kept trying to make it to Agra (Taj Mahal's city), though my GI system's needs and the five hour trip weren't compatible for about a week.

I finally decided to axe Calcutta from my plan and just get a ticket to HK, though I made one final push to make Agra before leaving. I got in and found a room ($3) late the night before I was to fly out of Delhi, and I woke up around 6 to see the sun's first rays play on the Taj. That was really worth the trip. There were also tons of monkeys playing around in the pre-dawn light. Awww, there's a family of them looking for breakfast on a rooftop! Now look at curious George hopping off to go after something... but wait, papa goes charging after him to stop Georgie from touching the - *BOOM*

Little Georgie jumped into the power transformer. The monkeys and the humans all gather round to catch a glimpse of the results.

After breakfast I went to the Taj, which is twenty cents for Indians, or $5 (plus a $10 'tax') for foreigners. The Taj marble is way too white for my retinas, so without sunglasses, I kept stumbling around semi-blinded. There are no photos allowed inside, however, since the inside really isn't that cool. I guess seeing photos beforehand might dissuade folks from paying $15 entrance. The acoustics inside are pretty amazing, though; some guide sang a note that reverberated for about twenty seconds.

As for Delhi itself, I did some of the sights, and there was plenty of cool stuff, but having been (and still being) sick, I don't feel so effusive right now. I did meet one very cool rickshaw driver, though. I had a load of books, and when he learned some were on religion, he asked if I knew much about Sikhism (his religion). I didn't, but was still curious, so he took the afternoon off to show me his temple and share his faith. Nice guy.

I got robbed, too! Not the rickshaw driver. One day I was looking through my guidebook when some beggar kids came up and wouldn't leave. I had my backpack in front of me, and I just caught one of the boys sneaking my leatherman tool out of my backpack (there's one pocket that won't take a lock). I gave him a cough and a browbeat until he handed it back sheepishly, but as they walked away, a man nearby came closer and told me "They have! They have!" I wasn't really sure what they had, but I hopped the fence and took off after them. They ducked into an alley, I lost them, but after taking inventory of my stuff, it turned out they took my business cards. Hah. Now I can wear the badge of having been robbed in India, yet for a fraction of the cost.

Hong Kong was cool; it would be a nice place to live and work. I went around a bit, but I was still pushing it. Now I'm in Beijing. I'm writing from good ol' WLE, and catching up on all the stuff I've missed for the past five months. It's getting chilly out. Anyhow, I fly tomorrow, so I thought I'd make an update, despite my continued delirium. But I love having excuses for crappy updates.

Stick with until I can debrief yall.