Hot in Delhi

We arrived back in Delhi last night, but don't fly out until 2:20A tonight. So we thought that we should at least get out of the hotel room and stretch our legs. Armed with the metro map and plans to go to Old Delhi we headed out. Right away we ran into a guy who asked if we needed directions. We said we were going to the metro to Old Delhi. How helpful he was. Pointed towards the metro but told us not to waste our time. He's an employee of the Royal Plaza Hotel (where we are staying and from whence we just came) and was getting off work. But there are demonstrations and strikes and the metro isn't working between here and there. Best that we take a tuktuk (which miraculously appeared in front of us) for only 10 times the cost of the metro fare. Well, we didn't fall off of the puri truck just yesterday. So we said, "No thank you." Walked back the half block to the hotel and asked the concierge if there are strikes and demonstrations and/or any problem with the metro. Nope. No trouble at all.

So off we went again having been warned by our travel agent to avoid the metro during rush our (before 10:30A) because it would be crowded. Suffice it to say that even at noon it's crazy. But we made it to Old Delhi, fought off the tuktuk drivers there and found the Red Fort. Debated going in because who really needs to see yet another red fort. However, we'd come all that way so we figured we should go in. Yup, another red fort. Check, check.

Unfortunately, we were stupid enough to head out on our adventure without a bottle of water so we were dying of thirst in the 107.6 degrees (42 C) heat. Fortunately, we walked past a McDonalds and stopped in to cool off and to split a coke. We sat at the window and watched folks walk by. Just outside one man sat on a curb with what looked like a needle doing something on the side of another man's head. We were intriqued. He was working on the other side so we couldn't see. Was he shaving him? Was he tattooing him? What? Then two more men appeared in the corner of the window, money exchanged hands, and then one of them commenced cleaning out the other guy's ears. No kidding. Seriously. If we hadn't stopped for the coke we would have pushed right past without seeing this for what it was. And it just goes to show you that no matter how much we travel, how many places we go, we can still be surprised.