NEW DELHI TRIP

It was an early morning for us as we left for the airport at 3:00 in the morning! Many didn't sleep. Our crazy Indian driver rushed us to the airport in an hour and fifteen min when usually it takes at least two hours! As we met up with the other van, we heard they almost got into a wreck but they had to slam on the breaks. Brenda, one of our rising stars, got thrown forward pretty hard and gashed her leg! OUCH!!!
When we arrived in New Delhi we took a rickshaw ride (the bicycle riders with the wagons behind them) through the old town and new town of Delhi. The streets are once again crowded with so many different people, vehicles and animals. The alleyways are very narrow dirt and brick paths that people have to push their ways in. The rickshaws we were on could barely make it through the narrow alley. Many times I thought we were going to crash into the people, or tip over due to the huge potholes in the road.
When we reached the spice markets, you could distinctly smell the peppers! It cleared out my nose in a hurry! We walked up on top of a roof to look down onto the spice market. Everything is SO crowded. There are people everywhere walking with huge spice bags on top of their heads. When you look up at windows and doorways, you can see many people hang hot peppers out to ward off the evil spirits. We went into a spice shop where I bought some authentic spices to go back home and make authentic Indian food!
Our tour guide took us into a really unique hindu temple. Their temples are very colorful with many different looking elephants that they worship. These elephants and different animals represent different gods. Much like the greek god times. Their beliefs are much different than ours. If a woman is on her period, it is forbidden to step into the temple.
Our last stop was to the most delicious Indian restaurant. I never was sure I enjoyed Indian food until I ate this food. It was so flavorful. I got the butter chicken. It is a curry chicken that you dip nan into.
The next part they don't really tell us about until we are on the bus then they inform us we were in for about a 6 to 8 HOUR BUS RIDE to Agra. The bus we had isn't like the American luxury buses either. We had a small bus that fit all of us in very snugly. I was in the back corner of the bus with little circulation flowing. I made it through the bus ride, but this is why I am in the airline industry...It is so much easier to fly! :-)
Our long bus ride paid off when we reached the LUXURIOUS RADDISON hotel! American showers once again, a toilet that isn't a hole in the wall, and VERY SOFT COMFORTABLE BEDS!!! Yes, the majority of American people are spoiled.