Singapore to New Delhi

My flight for Varanasi leaves in a few hours so I have some time to write more and take advantage of a fast internet connection.

So Singapore was fantastic. I got in on the evening of 2nd and took a cab north to Louisa's house. Louisa is Jimi's friend from his study abroad program in Bordeaux. I met her briefly once in France but really didn't remember her but Jimi got us in touch and she said I could stay with her for my couple nights in Singapore. I liked the city right away. No hassles, very clean, and pretty. Lousia met me at her house after work and then took me to a local dinner of chicken rice and then we went to China Town which was super busy because Chinese New Years is coming up on the 14th. Sampled cool Asian sweets and walked around the markets. Even though it was crowded it had a nice vibe to it. Tne next day Lousia had to work in the morning so she gave me specific instructions on how to catch the bus into town which was really easy and let me use her sisters cell phone for the day. She arranged for her friend Lydia to meet me at the bus stop in the city. Lydia was such a doll and shared my love for India. She took me for a walk around the city and we had dim sum for lunch where Louisa joined us. In the afternoon we went to a couple malls and her friend Shawn met up with us and he showed me where I could buy a cheap watch. We hung out near the water in the evening until Yvonne and Michelle (Jimi's other friends) got off work and we all had dinner together. I felt like I was eating constantly all day, but there was so much to try and so little time. We took a beautiful walk after dinner along a row of restaurants and bars and drank champagne before going home. I was in very good company all day which probably had a lot to do with why I liked it there so much. I was so glad I got a break from the third world for a couple of days to let me guard down and relax a bit.

I left India on the morning of the 4th and flew to New Delhi. I've heard all kinds of things about India's capital and expected it to be scary and crazy. It was about a 6 hour flight and when I arrived I ended up standing in the immigration line next to a girl from Hawaii who also went to Chapman. Small world. Anyway Delhi wasn't that bad. My hotel picked me up at the airport and I checked into my small room which was very nice by Indian standards and had great customer service. It felt so good to be back in India. The hotel is located in the Karol Bagh aread and I was able to buy everything I needed within a block of my hotel- a couple nice scarves, toothpaste, water, and a good book. Yesterday was my only full day in Delhi so I went to see this astromony site built in the 1700s with a huge sundial and structures to measure the planets and sun. In the afternoon I went to see the Lotus Temple which was gorgeous, really a site to see. It was a huge white temple in the form of a lotus flower surrounded by pools and gardens. It is a temple built be the Bahai faith which believes in universality and welcomes all religions to come and pray or meditate in the temple. The inside is a huge open room with long rows of benches to sit on and no talking is allowed inside. It was one of the prettiest temples I've seen. My 2 nights in Delhi were spent reading and watching tv and eating room service in my room since I didn't want to be out by myself. But that was very nice too.

So today I leave for Varanasi where I will be meeting up with my friend Liz who I met at the ashram last year. She should get in late tonight. We're gonna stay in Varanasi for a few days and then head up to Rishikesh together. I'll be staying at a couple ashrams there for 2 weeks and then going to Dharamsala for the rest of my time in India. This is a change from my original itinierary where I was suposed to go Amritsar first but I checked the weather and it is literally freezing up there and I'm not prepared for that weather so I flipped my itinerary around.

Time to pack it all up again and head out.