January 30, 2019 -
“Time spent in India has an extraordinary effect on one. It acts as a barrier that makes the rest of the world seem unreal.” - Tahir Shah
It was the sounds of different bird calls that woke me. I slept hard trying to catch up to the ravages of jet lag. The birds were up early and managed to arouse me from my stupor. I went out to find dozens of vibrant green parakeets. They were quite large and very noisy. Apparently they are indigenous here and they provided bright splashes of color to the courtyard.
The hotel is a walled compound. You can hear the congested sounds of the Delhi traffic pour over the gates. But inside, you are surrounded by gardens of vegetables, fruit trees, pottery, flowers, British expats, and dive bombing parakeets. The whole thing had a shabby chic vibe (except for the concrete mattresses - pass the Motrin). As we ate breakfast this morning of roti bread, fried rice , yogurt, and eggs, the whole thing felt like a scene from the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
That’s when things got a little odd. We walked to a local park called Lodi Gardens. There are 3 beautiful , decaying Muslim tombs here and several hundred school children on a field trip. We were mobbed (well mostly Colleen was) with requests for ‘Selfie’ pictures. It was weird and wonderful at the same time. We loved getting to interact with these beautiful children who had so many questions.
It was a good first day
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