Welcome to India Miss McCormack

The train from Ernakulum in the south of India to New Delhi in the north takes two days. That is alot of time spent reading, contemplating whether you want the pao bhaji the random man walking down the aisle is hawking, and day dreaming about how much you wand to strangle the two year old of the family in the berth next door who keeps screaming. This also offers an opportunity to watch the landscape of India turn from bright green jungles packed with coconut trees, spreading to incorporate rice patties, and then finally melting into the flat dry landscape that surrounds Delhi.

We stepped of the train the same day that Meredith flew into Delhi on a late night flight. She arrived well prepared with only the bag she had carried onto the plane because her backpack did not make it with her on the connecting flight. However, she bravely wore the same outfit for the three days it took for her bag to arrive without complaint.

The three of us spent a day wandering around in the unbearable heat of New Delhi and then hopped onto the metro to visit Old Delhi for the famous Paratha Walli Gulli. This requires that you weave your way through the overwhelming and crowded streets of the old city. The street is more like a narrow winding alley that actually looks like it dead ends which is why we passed it several times. When you round the corner though it opens onto about six shops that are all crammed with large tawas, pans, and various other somewhat worn looking kitchen equipment used to make amazing parathas, chutney, and subzhee. Parathas were created in Delhi, they are bread stuffed with just about whatever spicy delicious filling you can think of, rolled flat, and then lightly fried. Amazing. Probably the best paratha I have ever eaten, and well worth the heat and confusion it took to find it.

Kara and Meredith made good use of their time in Delhi by visiting the Taj Mahal. I opted to meet my friend Becky in Alwar to witness her do her thing interviewing nurses at a sterilization camp... Bit of a long story but I basically missed going to visit the Taj again to learn about forced sterilization in Rajasthan and be offered the opportunity to watch a man get a vasechtomy. After that activity we hopped a VERy cramped train back to Delhi. There were twenty people or more riding on top of the train alone when it pulled in. I need to stop buying second class sleeper tickets even if it is cheaper.

Kara, Meredith, and I met up again on the train on the way to Aurungabad in Maharashtrah. From there we made train trips out to Nassik and Ajanta. Nassik is India's wine country and we went to Sula Vineyards and got to do a tasting and take a tour of the vineyard. Much better than I expected I have to admit. In Ajanta we visited the Buddhist caves that were carved into a mountaintside and have the most incredible paintings and scultpures in them. After that we were back on another overnight train back to Mumbai where we spent a few days before heading to Goa.