Chaos & Contrast

Today I finally saw the "real" India. And my takeaway is that this country is a remarkable demonstration of chaos and contrast.

Our guide today calls it "controlled chaos." Driving around today (and last night as well) confirmed that. There has to be some type of control, but to the eye everything looks like a chaotic mess. I'm not sure how there isn't a crash (auto rickshaw, bike, pedestrian, cars, buses) every second. Driving is insane. People walking across streets is insane. Bikes in traffic is insane. And then there is the chaos of walking around - people everywhere, trash everywhere, stray dogs everywhere. Even monkeys.

Then there is the contrast. The high rise building with slums outside of it. The trash lining the streets and outside buildings, but an immaculate interior upon entering. And of course the contrast in people, between poverty and higher class.

I am sure I could be more eloquent about this with more sleep, and I certainly will try, but essentially that is my takeaway for today.

As for my adventure since the last post, here's what we've done:
-last night Rohit finally got here! (yay for my local Indian friend/guide!) I was so happy to see him, and instantly felt much safer. Some of our group, including Marian, Paul, Christine, Amit, and Rohit all went down to the city center and wandered around. We went via autorickshaw, which was interesting. Think trying to cross traffic that has a green light in a tiny 3 wheeled thing. We had an authentic Indian dinner, and then went to India Gate at about midnight. It was very beautiful lit up at night.

-this morning I couldn't sleep, so I hit the gym at 5:30am for about 1.5 hours in anticipation of our breakfast buffet.
-breakfast buffet. insanity. more on that later.
-bus ride to PTC (Power Trading Company) India to hear the Chairman and his staff present.
-bus ride to IndiGo Airlines. Think Southwest Airlines of India. The president of the company spoke to us for about an hour, and he was pretty incredible.
-Qutar Minar
-drive by the Royal Parliament
-revisit India Gate at day
-quick rest at the hotel before we go out to Old Delhi.

So with that, I gotta run!

And yeah, this place is like no place I have ever been.