Four Days in Delhi

Delhi, our first destination, has been...interesting. François' curly hair has afforded him celebrity status, with numerous people wanting to take a photo with him. He too, has borne the brunt of vendor haggling (partially because of the unusual hair, partially just because he's the male).

We figured out the metro system (small victories) and managed to get ourselves to many of the "key" sites we wanted to visit (see photos). Our sleep is no longer so far off schedule and the food to date has been good- although the yummy-looking, significantly less expensive street food is tempting (though not tempting enough to risk

Lessons Learned in Delhi:

1. Everything is quieter in the morning. The airport. The streets. The metro. The sites. Most doesn't get bustling before 11am.

2. Honking is just another language here. Honk loudly. Often. And even if there's no one around, honk anyway....

3. If a vehicle could conceivable fit somewhere, why not give it a try. Bike, car, truck, bus, tuk-tuk. Think pedestrian alleyways are just for pedestrians? Think again! And make sure to honk. A lot.

4. Don't trust maps. Trust locals giving you directions less. Trust "tourist information" offices the least. I think they get some kind of points for giving tourists bad leads.

5. Stick close to locals when crossing the road. There is no such thing as jaywalking in Delhi. There is no such thing as a pedestrian crosswalk in Delhi. There is no such thing as vehicle lanes in Delhi.

6. You can almost set your watch by the 5pm power outage. Or by the hum of all the generators kicking in at 5:03pm. Everyday. On special days, you get multiple power outages. Can only imagine what it's like during Dawali when thousands of LED-lights strung everywhere get turned on.

7. The metro turns into a rugby-scrum at 4pm. Push to get on; push to get off. But yet every second train, which comes every 3min, is half empty.

We were told by some wise person that 2 days in Delhi is all you need.

They were right :)