Two Beers and a Pretzel

I was starting to seriously court the idea of going back to the beached of Thailand for my last 2 weeks of the world tour (and yes, the funds are drying up, so the months of endless travel are approaching their finale).  Southern India was great fun traveling with Sreekanth, but after parting ways, it doesn’t have the “instant friends” backpacker culture of other places I’ve been.  Delhi cured that ill and gave me hope enough to stay in India or 2 more weeks.

On the way to the Mumbai airport, I convinced the cabbie to take the brand spanking new (opened less than 24 hours) Bandra-Worli Sealink to bypass the city and be possibly the first person in the world to record a time-lapse video of crossing over the new landmark.  The bridge cuts over part of the bay to bypass 45 minutes (to a peak of 2 hours) of packed city travel with a 7 minute jaunt on a $1 tollway.

Then to the airport.  I got another really cool video while the plane was on landing approach in the clouds.  The sud and clouds were just right to create a shadow of the plane surrounded by a complete double rainbow.

On the bus to the terminal I met Jamilla from Sydney.  She had booked a really nice backpacker place for about $12 a night, so I got a room in the same hotel.  The next day we met her Ethiopian/Israeli friend Bayush and booked a cab to see the city.

If I thought I knew the rock star treatment before, now I know what it’s like to be Beyonce’s bodyguard.  Bayush was getting the stare down from every guy, everywhere we went (well duh - tall, pretty, curvy, and dark - walking around with 2 white people).

We saw the Red fort (started in 1638) - which has changed hands and been used by many regimes over the centuries…

The massive Jama Masjid mosque (largest in India)

The Lotus-shaped Bahai Temple

The Qutb Minar Complex.  The highlight of this UNESCO World Heritage area is the 73m tall Qutb Minar tower.  The tower and mosque were both started in 1193.  The tower was completed in 1368, and modified by the Brits in the early 1800’s.

Finally, Delhi’s “India Gate”

A guy in the Government Tour Office was recommending Kashmir to me.  I was planning on Leh (nearby, but in Jammu, not Kashmir).  A number of people have said it’s safe right now, but it appears that they are all from Kashmir and trying to get you to go there.  The US State Dept and a number of other official sources still say Leh and Ladakh are totally safe, but Kashmir is still very questionable - especially Srinagar in the summer.

FYI: Vodaphone is worse in India than it was in Australia.  I haven’t had a decent signal since Bangalore.