India, Day 1: "Can we go to bed yet?"

Goodness, where do I even begin? Let me start by saying that this was not my first trip to India. In 1998 I spent a few weeks in India traveling around with 10 other people I didn't know. On that trip I got sick (salmonella poisoning, it took me months to recover), found bugs in my cereal on a regular basis, was woken up terrified by monkeys pounding on my window in the middle of the night, and didn't bring nearly enough money because everyone and their mother expects a tip for even the smallest of services ("helping" you carry your bags off the train whether you want them to or not). I was so tired of the dirt, noise, smell and lack of any personal space that I ran screaming from that country, swearing to never go back. Well, it took me 12 years, but I have finally worked up the courage to give India a second chance. When Kay, the Indian lady that I take cooking classes from, announced that she was taking a group to India, I said "I'm in!", and went home to tell David that I was going, no question. This time, I would do it right. Hotels where you don't have to use that extra sleep sack to make sure the bed bugs don't bite you, local tour guide so you don't have to fight with the cab drivers to get them to take you where you actually want to go and not their brothers'/uncles'/friends' rug shop, money for some real power shopping, and a kick-ass camera. And a plan to not eat meat the entire time. From the words of my doctor the last time I was there: "You ate meat? You never eat meat when you come to India, you have meat in your own country!"

A small caravan of 14 women (11 Americans, 2 Germans, and 1 Singaporean-Indian) took a midnight flight to Dehli, arriving at 4am and rising at 8am, ready to rock. My sisters-in-crime were Amanda, Kim and Cara:

Inside the grounds of the Trident Hotel, pristine and calm:

Outside the hotel, the real India, noisy and chaotic. And fascinating.

We only had one day in Dehli, so our guide didn't waste any time taking us to the see the sights. The first was Qutab Minar, a 240 foot minaret in red sandstone inscribed with excerpts from the Qur'an.

You used to be able to climb to the top, but it's closed now. Too many suicides, we were told.

There is a nearby mosque that was built in the 14th century.

The mosque was constructed using the remnants of Hindu temples destroyed for just such a purpose. The inside is a hodgepodge of ancient and even-more-ancient Hindu carvings, with all the faces of the gods and animals chiseled off to make them okay for the Muslim temple.

The mosque isn't used anymore, but is home to some beautiful little parakeets.

We left the mosque just before the masses arrived, including several groups of school kids, hamming it up for the camera.

Also seen on the way out: the first of many, many beautiful Indian babies:

On our way to the next monument, we passed by this gorgeous temple, built in 1938. A posted sign reads "...ALL HINDUS MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE DIALY WORSHIP...IN MUTUAL HARMONY AND GOOD WILL." And then further down on the same sign: "...BEGGARS ARE NOT ALLOWED IN OR NEAR THE TEMPLE." So all are welcome except the super-poor, I guess.

We also passed this happy guy on the way to India Gate, our next stop:

India Gate, the all-India war memorial, commemorates the 90,000+ Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for England in WWI.

The names of 13,000 Indian and British soldiers who lost their lives in the 1919 Afghan war are inscribed in the sandstone on the arch...

...and an eternal flame burns beneath it for those who died in the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971.

It turns out that India, land of Hindu vegetarians and Ghandi, has a pretty bloody past.

On our way from the monuments and as we heading toward our main event of the day (shopping!) we were pulled over by the police. Our guide noted that it was the end of the month, and they were probably harassing our driver for some money. Our guide stepped out and told them that there were Embassy people on board and the police scattered pretty quickly.

Our little bus was too big to fit down some of the alleys that would get us to one of the shopping centers, so we all piled on bicycle rickshaws and headed out.

Sari festivus!

It was about 6pm by the time we were done, and we hadn't had time to stop for lunch. Luckily, there was a McDonald's right next door. They make a mean veggie burger, which turned out to be our go-to snack for the rest of the trip when we got tired of granola bars.

8pm and completely exhausted, we still had one more stop - the sound and light show at the Red Fort in Dehli. It might have been interesting if a.) we didn't miss the first half hour and had no clue what the story was about and b.) we weren't going off of less than four hours of sleep and had to get up early again the next day. After taking one picture, I leaned back on the bench and fell asleep.

Namaste.