Travel Blog 1. India, Delhi

Finally in India

About two hours ago we arrived New Delhi after been stuck on the same plane all the way from Oslo. We were tired and found a taxi, after we had got our baggage. The taxi was small, but the taxidriver seemed very nice. He talked about all the attractions and temples we had to visit, and about a restaurant he recommended. I think he called it "Yin Yang". It was funny to hear an inner talk English, because it was so different from the British English.

We passed officebuldings, colorful temples and small three houses. In the horizon we could see gigantic mountains with patches of snow and high grass dancing in the wind. It was like a landscape of a fairytail.We arrived the hotel, checked- in, and went to bed.

What an alarm clock!

Waking up to the sound of the imam shouting for Friday-prayer 7 o'clock in the morning was a new experience. The Friday-prayer was hold in Jami Masjid, India's largest mosque, with a capacity of 25 000 kneeling worshipers. I couldn't sleep and went out of bed to see how the weather was. The yellow shinning orange was looking down on me with a big smile.

After we have eaten breakfast, we were ready for some sightseeing. First- stop ;India Gate. It was much bigger than I thought it was. I heard that it was a memorial for the Indian soldiers who died under World War 1., when they fought against Afghanistan. The memorial wasn't a big stone with a lot of names on, but a great portal. It was surrounded by green parks and gigantic pools.

After walking around in different parks and taking a few pictures we decided to find the restaurant the taxidriver had recommended. It was a great place with excellent food and good service. Ingrid ordered Chane ki chaat(Indian chickpeas salad) and I ordered Gobhi alu(a dish consisting potatoes, rice, cauliflower and bread).

We were well fed and on our way out of the restaurant, when I managed to fall over a Hindu decorative jar. A man came running and helped me up and asked me if I was alright. He introduced himself as Shah Rukh Khan and we introduced ourselves and told him that we were from Norway. "Aah Norway, skiing, he said"After talking with him for a while about skiing, Delhi and Norwegian food, he told us that he was an actor. He didn't look familiar to us, so we didn't think he was a famous actor, but when we got back to the hotel and googled his name we found out that he was a well- know Bollywood star. He had played in many popular Bollywood- films and was very famous. Amazing! He was born in New Delhi and married to Gauri Khan, a well know model, producer and TV host. This was unbelievable; we had just talked to a Bollywood star!

We went to bed early this evening, because tomorrow we are going with the first plane to another continent, Oceania :)