Michelle's Year in Southeast Asia: New Delhi, India

Where to begin…Before going to India, I had so many mixed feelings. I have wanted to go to India all year and the opportunity finally arrived. I have to admit I was a bit more nervous than excited. It seemed a lot more foreign to me than any other country I had visited in Southeast Asia. After asking a few people that have been, they had a few tips: cover your legs, don’t drink the water, don’t eat the meat, and don’t trust anyone. Easy enough. We arrived in New Delhi and the airport was surprisingly beautiful. After ten minutes of driving towards our hostel, it became exactly what I had imagined. Complete chaos! The roads were filled with tuktuks, bicycles, buses, cars, pedestrians, cows, dogs…pretty much anything you can imagine. How did we never get in an accident? I still couldn’t tell you.

Welcome to India, the New Delhi aiport

The chaotic streets The next day, Shelby and I a little intimidated, decided to go out and conquer the city. We hired a driver for the first leg of our trip to take us around New Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. His name was Mr. Singh and he ended up being great! In the morning he took us to Humayun’s tomb, which is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. It was absolutely beautiful and the first taste of the types of beautiful temples we were going to see. We then went to the India Gate and different temples and mosques around the city. The whole day really give us a taste of India along with quite the culture shock. Mr. Singh was nice enough to invite us back to his village to meet his family and make us a homemade dinner. His village had rundown buildings, shops, wild animals and crowded alleyways. Which seemed to be the typical living arrangements for most people in the city.

Typical New Delhi streets

Humayuns Tomb

India Gate, where Shelby and I officially became local celebrities His house was very small with concrete walls and two rooms. One room for the kitchen and the other room for himself, his “Misses”, daughter and son to sleep. He did have a television and fridge, which was quite surprising. His wife made us a delicious meal with fresh naan bread, Ali Goobi (cauliflower and potatoes), mutter paneer (peas and cheese) and Indian sweets. It was one of the best meals we had on the trip. What was also interesting was the way they sit down to a meal in Indian culture. First the guests eat, than the males, than the females and than the children. Definitely not like home. The dinner was lovely and truly an authentic experience for Shelby and I. Next up Jaipur!