Ba'hai Lotus temple.

Sadhu holy man.

Mahatma Gandhi's salt march memorial.

Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site.

India Gate

      Our first 2+ weeks in India have been like being in a whirlwind.  We arrived at international airport in Delhi about 10:30pm on Dec 2 after a 2 day stay in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.  Kelly Ch'ng a former exchange student at the Guilford high school had kindly invited us to spend some time with her and her mom.  She helped us book our flight to India on a budget airline, took us out to her favorite Chinese restaurant in KL and a roti restaurant for breakfast.  No major problems getting into India and what joy to be met on the other side of the customs barrier by Anushree, our exchange student from 6years ago.  She wouldn’t hear of us staying anywhere except with her and her parents in their flat (apartment) in the Dwarka section of Delhi. It will tell you a lot about their hospitality that when we walked in the door at midnight we were met with hot Indian chai (tea) and a complete Indian dinner.  It didn’t let down from there.  Her mother, Kusum, made sure we were fed well and often during our stay.  She introduced us to several different items of Indian cuisine which we had never had before.  Her father was helpful with information about some of the places we want to go and made suggestions about other places we might want to think about (which is why I am writing this in his favorite ashram).  A friend of hers arranged for a car and driver for the days we were in Delhi.  Anushree spent one whole day showing us around what she considered the “must see “ things in Delhi; which included Gandhi's Salt march statues, India Gate, the Parliament and other government buildings (all grouped together and viewed from the outside only) Rajghat; the memorial at Gandhi’s cremation site and finally the Akshardham Temple complex with incredible gardens, buildings, carvings and the evening ended with a musical fountain and light show. AWESOME! (and dinner when we got home!)

Taj Mahal

Family picture at Anushree's.

Anushree's neighborhood.

 The second day began at 6:00 when we got up to leave for Agra and the TajMajal. We went by car (11 hours round trip by auto (Steve mentions the traffic in an earlier blog) and a few hours at the Taj with Annushree and a guide telling us about it. It is even more awesome in person than in the photos.  Another day in Delhi we saw the Lotus Temple (Ba'hai) The Red Fort in the Twilight and visited a Kashmir rug shop.  Sam and I spent one day hanging out at Anushrees home doing laundry, going for a walk with her dad and dog Lobo and best of all for Sam he got to play with the neighborhood children.  Mind you that all of this is being enjoyed in the declining stages of jet lag! Our 5days with Anushree and her family were over way too soon and we barely scratched the surface of Delhi. Anushree and her dad, Rakesh, saw us off at the Delhi Railroad Station and we took the evening train to Amritsar.