Better than exchanging Dirhams for Rupees

Burj Khalifa

Best purchase of our trip, so far

Pad Thai

Pad Thai, Rice, Shrimp in Curry Sauce

Thai Style Lobster

We were up at 6am to check out of our hotel to fly the relatively short 3 hour flight from Dubai to Delhi. The Dubai airport is huge and getting bigger. Last year it was the busiest airport in the world. I guess it is east to make runways on flat land.

After clearing customs we went to the lounge (which is the biggest airport lounge I have ever been in – size doesn’t always matter – Virgin Atlantic at Heathrow is the best lounge by far). Right outside the lounge was a duty free wine shop. Since we had only spent $ 20 in Dubai (that’s a personal best for us anywhere) and we knew that good wine in India is hard to find – we decided to purchase some good wine and take it with us. This also simplified the issue of exchanging the $180.00 worth of UAE Dirhams we had left for Indian Rupees.

On the flight we read and discussed our feelings about Dubai. I guess one of the reasons our marriage works is we have exactly the same feeling, sometimes! This was sure the case about Dubai It had the artificiality of Las Vegas with none of the fun. Glad we went there however, every travel experience is a learning one.

The new Airport in Delhi is good looking and extremely efficient. We breezed right through. Most international flights arrive at night, this is the only time I remember arriving in Mid-day. The city was green with vegetation, and the streets were relatively light traffic wise. No rain, today was not a Monsoon Day!

I love the New Delhi of Luytens: he designed New Delhi, with broad streets, no traffic lights and large white homes primarily one story in height sitting on huge lawns. They are modestly called bungalows. Which they aren’t – they are mansions.

This was Indian Independence Day. We celebrate July 4^th with fireworks and bar-b-ques.  India won its Independence on August 15 1947, a date marred by the bloodshed of partition and the celebration of freedom, the day lives on in the minds of many contemporary Indians and is memorialized in by a grand assembly in the Capital.  The newly elected Prime Minister, Modi appears to have invested in him the hopes and aspirations of his country. His association with right wing Hindu organizations, and his lack of intervention when Muslims were brutally murdered by the hundreds in Gujarat (the state he was Chief Minister of) has many Muslims on edge here in India. So security was high today, over 30,000 security troops were deployed here.

We arrived at our Delhi Home: The Imperial, a hotel out of the British Raj, old, majestic, tradition bound, dark woods and marble. We have stayed here many times and we were ushered into a large suite overlooking the pool. Took a little reminding them of our repeated stays to get this suite, but all is “Thik” as the native says ("Thik" is OK in Hindi).

Because it was Independence Day no alcohol is served in India. Strange in America I make Margaritas for Independence Day. I like our tradition better. All of a sudden the 3 bottles of wine that we purchased in Dubai at Duty Free became a precious cargo that we took personal pride and extreme care in getting into the Hotel. In our room, we opened the wine and gave a toast to all those who suffered and continue to suffer in the Sub-Continent. After completing our bottle we went to dine.

They have an exceptional Thai Restaurant here in the Hotel, and we always eat there the first night. I like traditions about food. So dine we did. Lobster again, spicy and good, Pad Thai and Rice, Shrimp in Curry Sauce. The food was excellent, Jet lag finally caught up with me and I knew it was time for a little reading and going to bed.

I am on a detective reading jag, and have read 3 books so far on this trip, all are on my Ipad, all center on a retired alcoholic police detective: Mathew Scudder who is faced with interesting moral choices.  The author is Lawrence Block. I recommend the series.

I am writing this at 5:00am after waking up at 3:00am, Jet lag won todays battle, we will see how tomorrow plays out. Tomorrow is a shopping day, with a Dinner planned at my all time favorite Delhi Restaurant: Veda – where tradition binds me to order Manchurian Gobi, and proclaim to the staff, this is my favorite dish in all of India. And it will be and we will have transformed our selves from mere tourists to friends welcomed home.