Hi Gang

Well February 10, Sunday, we got up to travel back to Delhi. Had a nice breakfast on the lawn before the long 7 hour trek back. If anyone should come by this way, this is a must place to stay. It's called the Corbet Jungle Resort. It consists of about 16 small buildings built about 13 years ago. Each building has two units with an adjoining door, great for families. There is also a fire place in the master unit. A fire would be lite just before you wandered off to bed. They would also put a hot water bottle in your bed. (Yeah, yeah I know It just seems wrong to have been there with Phil instead of on a honeymoon or something).

On the drive back we had to take a detour through the back roads of a small town. It was here that I finally saw some half decent houses other than in Delhi. Most of the poorer people lived along the roadside while the "more well to do" lived away from the main road. They had nice walled in small secure homes. Oh, did I mention that there is no such thing as a front or back yard here. Your place is either next to another house, the road, a shop or a farmers field. There is also an election going on right now. Since the majority of people don't have radios or TVs, small vehicles were constantly driving around with loudspeakers blarring hindi speeches and music.

When we got back there was a screwup in our hotel and we ended up at an expensive one. This was one of many which I won't go into detail about. Suffice to say that Phil has already started a "this guy sucks at his job" letter. But I'll have to agree with him on this one. I can only explain properly when I get back.

Next day was my sight seeing day around Delhi. Since Phil had seen everything he stayed home and slept in. It was raining that day but I went out anyways. Visited the Red Fort and Gandhi's grave, well actually just drove by as they were closed. Visited the largest Mosque in India next to Old Delhi. Took a rickshaw through the narrow little streets of Old Delhi. That was cool. A tomb and another Mosque and then I was taken to a Kashmir carpet making shop where they tried to sell me a carpet.

That night we went downtown to a restaurant called Gaylords. On the walk down we passed some younger locals, one whom pointed at me and laughingly said "Hollywood". This happened the first day I arrived also. I guess I look like somebody, but I'm not sure who. One of the strangest things I saw was in Delhi that night was after coming back from the restaurant. There was a small group of tent homes along a main street. They consisted of blue tarps strung up with poles and rope. As we passed by in the rickshaw I saw two TV's within the tents. Where did they get power outlets from?

The next morning, Tuesday, February 12th, we got up for a 3 hour drive to visit the Taj Mahal, and the Agra fort in Agra. Agra has a population of two million, but when you see it, it was hard to believe that there were that many there. I actaully liked the fort better than the Taj even though we could only see about 1/4 of it. The military occupied the rest. Oh yeah, there are alot of army men around the country, I mean alot, everywhere. I've never seen so many.

Of all the stories about the Taj, the best would have to be about Phils' attempt to get in. At most of India's major sites there is a big price difference between a native Indian and a foreigner. A native payes R20 to get in to see the Taj, while whitey, like me, gets to pay R750 (about $25). Phil tried to enter as a local. But these guys were a little smarter here. They played, "Answer me these questions three". Of course he got his name right and his favorite colour but when he was asked who the Chief Deputy Minister of India was, he busted. Snicker, snicker.

That night we got ready to leave early for Darjeeling in the morning.

Martin