Tuesday
What a day!!! What a way to spend our last full day in India. This was the top of the world for me! I think it was the coolest experience of my life…. And I’m not kidding!
We left the house at noon with the itinerary being to drive to see the government buildings, the India Gate, the presidential palace, the Parliament building, before driving over to the Old City. We drove to the Red Fort and parked. From there we jumped on the bicycle rickshaws that Aslam had set up (a guy he knew) for a two hour ride. The plan was to see the Red Fort, ride to Jama Masjid (the largest mosque in India), eat lunch at Karim’s (a historic restaurant in all of India), ride around the old city via rickshaw (through markets and streets which were maybe two rickshaws wide and were a mass of people), and then return to our car and come home.
On the way in to the parking, I saw Aslam motion to a guy on a bicycle rickshaw. As we drove on I thought, “is that dude going to track us down or did Aslam just flag him down and now things have changed and we’re going to find another driver. Yet as we walked out of the parking lot and to the street, the rickshaw driver and another bicycle rickshaw driver were waiting. Kathee, Eve, Esther, and I got in one, and the second rickshaw held Karl, Aslam, Gideon, and Hope.
It’s here that my mind was blown, and would be for every minute we were on the rickshaw. And it was awesome. I thought driving was crazy in a vehicle. In a bicycle rickshaw it was insane. And so much fun! Beeping of horns, honking, cars, trucks, took-tooks, bicycle rickshaws, cow-pulled carts, horse-pulled carts, walkers, etc, etc, etc. People everywhere. It was stimulus overload. We rode down a main thoroughfare, past a sidewalk market filled with mounds of clothing and other things. We passed the sidewalk dentists and doctors, who were working on patients right there on the sidewalk, and then veered into the street that took us to the old city and to the mosque. Traffic jam! Insane! And our rickshaw driver was amazing. He knew every square inch of his bike. Jostling and moving and veering in and out of the line, moving us ahead. It was crazy. We were impressed! After riding by the temple to the monkey god, he dropped us off at the base of the steps to the mosque (maybe a mile or two… I’m kicking myself for not using Strava to map our ride for distance, speed, elevation gain, etc). We climbed the steps to the largest mosque in India, paid for entrance, and walked around, taking tons of pictures.
This was Kathee’s and my second time being there. I can’t remember if Gideon and Hope have been there before or if that was the first trip we came on to India. I was surprised how many people took pictures of us. They love seeing Eve being carried on Kathee’s front in the backpack. I watched as many people subtly took pictures of us as we walked. Most were taking pictures of Kathee and Eve. One guy even asked if he could take a picture of Kathee and Eve. Although he was told no, I’d be willing to bet he was among the many that did anyway!
After we walked around the courts and took pictures, carrying our shoes as everyone has to take shoes off in the mosque (another interesting thing is that women who aren’t wearing sleeves or were showing legs all had to wear coverings), we walked out of one of the other gates, down the steps, out the metal detectors, across the bustling street, down an alley-street, through a walkway, and into one of the most historic restaurants in all of India. Karim’s is a traditional Indian place and we ate like kings. We had the best butter rotis I’ve ever eaten. I love rotis. We ordered them three different times throughout the meal. We ate chicken kabobs, mutton, buryani chicken, and Coke. It was so good! So good.
After lunch, we walked out to the street, met back up with our rickshaw drivers, and the crazy continued. We headed through three markets. And by markets I mean alleys with shops about the size of a single-stall garage. But they call them streets. The streets are about two rickshaws wide (maybe) and are filled with more people than I’ve ever seen. It was crazy. So fun. I can’t even describe it. Words honestly escape me. It was so cool! And it seemed to go on and on and on. It was so cool!
We ultimately rode through three markets- one was the wedding market where the color gold filled the air and beautiful saris lined the street. We didn’t go through the spice market as Aslam and Karl were concerned that the smells and whatnot might get into our eyes and cause disturbance to the kids. So we didn’t go through that market. So once we hit a main drag, we veered onto the main road, went down the street one way, u-turned and headed back. Along that route we went by Buddhist temple, Jain temple, Sheik temple, Baptist Church, Muslim mosque, and Hindu temple. I thought of Paul in Athens in Acts 17 over and over again today in the Old City. We then turned back on to the main road and headed back to the parking lot and were dropped off. It was incredible.
Aside from Eve white-knuckling a cross bar the entire time, and Esther falling asleep on Karl’s lap on the way back (for the life of us, with all the noise and commotion, we are not sure how she was able to sleep), the kids loved the trip. It was truly an adventure of a lifetime.
When we got home, Kathee and I got everything packed up for our trip to the airport tonight (and by that I mean mostly Kathee with a bunch of grand-standing from me). Esther and Eve slept, and the older two played. Gideon and Karl made a trip back to the village to pick up some rupee coins he wants to give to his classmates. When we asked where they got the coins (because of the currency shortage in India right now), Karl told us that they got them from the mobile chicken butcher I’ve been enamored with since the first time I saw them (a chicken butchering operation in the back of a van parked on the street—I so want to upload pictures but they allowed me to take pictures if I didn’t post them to facebook—so I may post them on the blog once we get back to the States). Since Aslam’s wife and son are in town, and Gideon has struck up a friendship with the son, Karl, Gideon, Aslam, and his son were the only ones to go to the village. I think that’s very cool.
For supper, we invited Aslam, his wife, and their son, up for McDonald’s delivery. Learning my lesson last week that the McChicken is dryer than a popcorn fart in a crackerjack box, I went with the fish fillet sandwich and was quite pleased. Kathee ordered the same. The kids all got kids meals. They were happy.
After supper they went back to Aslam’s place, we put the girls down, and finished up cleaning and getting ready to go. The taxi to get our luggage to the airport arrives at 11:45pm tonight. Karl and Gideon will ride in the taxi to the airport. The rest of us will ride with Aslam. Our flight leaves from Delhi at 3:45am and heads to Doha, Qatar. We have a three-hour layover in Doha, before flying 16 to Miami. Then 3 ½ layover in Miami before flying the three hours (I think) back to St Louis. My friend Hanbeol Kim is going to pick us up and get us back to Covenant. I hope it’s not cold as we don’t have coats. And I know that once we get home, while it is supposed to be well past bedtime, my kids will be rip-roaring, ready to go for the day, probably wanting lunch before afternoon naps.
And so the reverse jet lag will begin. Eve has struggled mightily in India. I think with jet lag, a new place, a new bed, constant (and startling) noise at all times day and night, being in the car a lot, people trying to touch her, talk to her, take her picture, etc, etc, etc, I think she’s just ready to be done. Oh yeah, she also cut her first tooth and started to crawl here. The rest of the kids have been magnificent! It is such a joy to parent them. We are blessed beyond measure. Our Father takes care of us, looks after us, and has blown us away on this trip. Wow!
Thanks for reading this blog entry. I’ll probably have two more entries over the next few days, one to cover our travel adventures back home, and one in reflection of all that has taken place on our trip. Be well. Good night!
