India, part 2

   Well, being exhausted didn’t help us sleep. I got about two hours of sleep and Paul didn’t do much better. Ugh, jet lag big time.

    We meet Joy for breakfast at eight a.m. in the hotel lobby. There is a buffet and it is huge. The variety of food they offer is amazing but there is no beef, (cows are sacred), and I didn’t see any pork products either.

   After breakfast, Paul and I check out the courtyard where there is a beautiful pool, water gardens, along with plants and trees. We make a few laps around the courtyard to get some exercise.

   At ten a.m. we are picked up by a driver whose name is Aman. Joy booked a tour for us with a company called Delhi Magic where we will tour the bazaar in Old Delhi on foot with our guide. Aman is quite talkative but still seems to maneuver through the insane traffic in Delhi. There are only two lanes, but the small cars and motorcycles turn a two-lane road into at least a four-lane road. The depth perception of Indian drivers must be incredible because I swear there is only a few inches between us and the vehicles next to us. There are several times when I let out an audible gasp because I am sure we will be hit by another vehicle. There is constant honking of horns, but it isn’t angry. The drivers seem to “talk” to each other by using their horns.

   Aman stops in an area where we are to pick up our guide and after a short wait he appears. Our guide is a young man, whose name I can’t recall. Aman continues driving but doesn’t talk much now that we have our official guide who takes over giving us information about Delhi. When we reach Old Delhi, we exit the sedan and begin our walking tour of the bazaar.

   The streets are busy, congested and noisy with cars whose drivers are constantly honking their horns. There is activity everywhere which keeps one looking in all directions. Our first lesson from our guide is that when you cross a street, hold up your hand and the cars will, (hopefully), stop for you. Our guide walks fast and between dodging moving vehicles and the horde of milling people it is hard to keep up with him.

    There are little shops everywhere that sell food, spices, clothing, jewelry, and on and on with the wares for sale spilling out onto the sidewalks. The smell of cooking food mixed with car fumes adds to the overload to your senses. Constant noise in your ears, incredible colors and activity for your eyes, and the smells of a bazaar that offers a variety of goods is overwhelming.  Paul asks our guide at one point how the store owners can get everything sold when so many people are offering the same items in their shops. I am not sure we really got an answer, but when you have 25 million people living in Delhi, I suppose that explains it.

The photos in Old Delhi are mostly Paul’s taken with his phone. A few from Joy. I didn’t even take my big camera.

    It is impossible to walk down the sidewalk without being jostled and bumped by the human traffic. One oddity is that the shoppers and shop keepers all seems to be men.  It is with some relief that our guide turns into an alley, and we continue our walk here. We don’t go far before the noise subsides, thank goodness. The bad part is that this alley is filthy but at least there are less people here.

    Our guide leads us to a large area where men are unloading and moving bags of spices. He warns us that we will walk through the spice area until we are overcome with sneezing and coughing. I think he is joking but he definitely was not! After a few minutes we are all beginning to clear our throats along with coughing on occasion. Our guide takes us down another alley and we are happy to leave the spice saturated air behind. I can’t imagine having to work in that place all day long. You have to wonder what state those workers lungs are in.

    This alley is full of jewelry stores, some fancy clothing stores, while other shops are selling hats and shoes. If I remember correctly a lot of these shops cater to people who are preparing for their weddings.

   Once we leave this place our guide goes over to a line of rickshaws and visits with a few of the owners. He chooses two of the dozens he could have picked from, I suppose the pair that were selected gave him the best price. He puts Joy and Paul in one and he and I get into the other rickshaw. Again, I can’t imagine spending all day pedaling a bike as you pull a cart weighed down by your passengers.

    We exit the rickshaw after a few blocks, and we now wait for our guide to choose a motorized cart. I guess he wants us to experience various types of transportation in Old Delhi. Several people are trying to get his attention, but he chooses an older man, and we climb into the cart which comfortably holds four people.  Our driver takes off and joins the throng of traffic consisting of cars, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, motorcycles, and humans. Geez. Our guide warns us to keep our arms and hands inside the cart as there is little wiggle room between all the modes of traffic clogging the street.

   Our driver tries to finagle his way in front of another motorized cart and ends up bumping into it. He achieves his goal of getting ahead of his rival but due to the mild contact the offended driver begins shouting at our driver. A loud argument ensues and our driver speeds up. The offended man follows right behind us and continues to yell at our driver. To the relief of all of us the angry cart driver finally turns off on a side street. Our guide never says a thing so maybe this is a normal incident.

   We are almost back to the area where Aman dropped us off this morning when a car begins backing out of a parking space. The car comes within a few inches of hitting us. Really! I am so happy to see Aman waiting to take us back to the hotel. The bad part is he will have to drive through heavy traffic for nearly an hour to deliver us to the hotel.

    I suppose we dropped our guide off where we picked him up but truthfully, I don’t remember. I know we all thank him and give him a tip. When Aman drops us at the hotel we also thank and tip him. It is 2:30 and I am really hungry. We eat at the hotel restaurant where I have, wait for it, spaghetti. Most of the items on the menu are spicy and I am not taking a chance on that. Paul has stir-fried noodles which have plenty of zip. Joy settles for rice and steamed vegetables.  

   We take it easy for what is left of the afternoon. Since we ate so late Paul and I just eat some fruit we brought up from the restaurant and some complimentary cookies that were in the room this evening.

   We go to the lobby for the meeting with our trip leader, Allwyn, and to meet the other members of the group at seven=thirty. We are ushered into a small, doorless room off the main lobby. Allwyn, pronounced Alvin, introduces himself to us and then has us all introduce ourselves. There are fourteen of us in total and I am guessing all of us range from middle sixties to around eighty. Once the introductions are finished, Allwyn proceeds to tell us how to pack for our domestic flight tomorrow. We can only carry on a personal item, all liquids are to go in our checked luggage, and all batteries, wires, anything electrical must be in our carryon packs. When we get to the airport, we must remove all batteries and electrical things and place them in a tub, plus your binoculars must also be taken out of their cases. Great, basically we have to unpack our carryon. Allwyn then tells us what time to have our luggage out of the room and when we must be in the lobby. Allwyn answers any questions we have and after socializing a bit, we head up to our room.

     I slept for two hours and then was wide awake. Paul is awake too and we both reluctantly decide to take a half dose of ambien. That gave me another three hours of sleep while Paul managed to get four hours. Thank goodness for downloading books on our tablets.

    We pack everything we can, then Paul and I take a few laps around the courtyard before going to eat breakfast with Joy. We go back to the room and finish packing and set our luggage outside the door. We leave for the airport at 9:15. Allwyn, gathers all of our passports and checks us in, then hands out the tickets. He also checks every one’s luggage in. I would assume this might help keep all our luggage together. After we unpack our backpacks to get through security we have a short walk to our gate. We board the plane shortly after arriving at the gate and after an hour and a half in the air we land at Jabalpur airport. It is a small airport out in the country, and we don’t have to wait long for the luggage to appear. We exit the airport and there are five SUV’s waiting to drive us to Bandhavgarh National Park. Nope, I can’t pronounce it or even remember the name. Joy too, has problems saying the name of the park. Paul on the other hand has no problem pronouncing or remembering the name.

   Joy, Paul, and I walk over to one of the SUV’s and lay claim to it. The driver’s name is Bonsei. He is a very nice man, with limited English. He proves to be a good driver, and he doesn’t excessively use his horn. On our four hour drive we pass through many villages even more colorful than usual since the people are celebrating Holi which is a Hindu festival celebrating color, love and springtime. I looked that up😊. One of the ways they celebrate is painting their faces with various colors and splashing each other with paint. We even see some dogs that have joined the celebration whether they wanted to or not, their coats splashed with red or blue paint. For some reason I did not capture any of the villagers that were covered in paint, but Paul did get one great photo with his phone.

    After some heart-stopping moments during our drive, we arrive at Bandhavgarh Jungle Lodge by late afternoon. The staff was waiting for us with big smiles and waves as we drove into the parking area.

   After being shown to our comfortable rooms, Paul and I get somewhat organized and then shower before going to supper. Paul ordered a beer which is the biggest bottle of beer I have ever seen, a whole liter! I share a little bit of the beer as we listen to the manager of the lodge give an informative talk about the park’s history and the animals that can be found here. That of course includes tigers!

    Once the presentation is over and questions from members of the group have been answered we proceed to the buffet. I quickly learn that most of the food is too spicy for me so thank goodness they have Naan (flat bread) which is delicious. Other members of the group love the spicy food; a few are like me and can’t tolerate it while others like Paul can eat the dishes that are somewhat spicy but don’t set your mouth on fire.

    Allwyn gives us our instructions for tomorrow. We are to be at the main building by 5:45 where the staff will have tea, coffee, and porridge ready for us. Shortly after 6 we will load up for our first game drive. I can’t wait.