VC & Desi Conquer: Delhi & Shimla

Warning: This draft blog entry was written 5 days ago and was emailed from a bad browser that didn't include gmail's spell check feature or gmail's address book, so when I was unable (do to browser limitations) to add it to my blog, I emailed it to the few email addresses I could remember (2/5 I typed wrong, anyway) and now I want to cut and paste this and give you my updates for the past five days, however I don't have THAT much time, and the formatting is TOTALLY messed up...so sorry for not fixing it:

Sorry but I can't add this to my blog due to the slow connection andmy lack of time!XOXOWell I'm sorry that I wasn't able to tell you all about my last days on myIsrael-Palestine trip, but I'll get to them soon enough :) [preview: meetingwith Hamas, charged-but-fruitless body search with cute Georgian securityguard in Tel Aviv airport, meeting a cool and mysterious friend from thepast]More pressing blog update: I'M IN INDIA! :)Nearing the end of my third full day in Delhi [note: this was draftertwo days ago, and I'm actually now 24 hours into my stay in Shimla,which you'll read about, below], and feeling a bit exhausted (I amsuffering from a terrible head cold that set in during the three daysI had in Cairo between Israel and India, and I *definitely* don'tthink traveling helped the congestion. I'm not completely deaf, but Iam still quite congested, have patchy hearing, and am coughing upthings that are best not described with too much detail on this blog(speaking of not much detail: I have a LOT to say, but right now Ineed to rush through some recaps before I see too many things toremember, so this blog will be more like bullet points of my vacationwith most of the thoughts, tangents, analysis saved for when I getback to Egypt...sorry!).ANYWAY, this is our last night in Delhi, for a while, ("we" meaning me andDesi -- I was originally to visit him in Bombay, but he's grown quitefrustrated with the sewage-filled construction zone and wanted usto stay in the North), and so I can recap some of the things I've seen.I have to say that you might find the richness of my India blogging to bedisappointing, mostly because I don't have any strong impressions of theplace. I think that when we travel alone, we are more contemplative, andalso enrichen the space around us with our own impressions (we fill in the
have a guide (as I do in Desi) then I think you don\'t do as much thinkingabout the things you are seeing. I also think (and I am not regretful ofthis) that it\'s as much a trip (if not more) about us then about India, andI find myself enjoying talking to him more than I am seeing monuments that,to quote Glam (see my former blog entries about this friend in Cairo) leaveme just "whelmed" (neither over- nor under-).I arrived with little hassle (minus my deafness) at almost 5AM at our rathercrap hotel (La Sagarita, in Sunder Nagar, for all of you future Indiatravelers), and although I was quite disappointed by Gulf Air (we actuallyalmost took off from Bahrain with a woman holding her chicken-pock COVEREDscreaming child in the seat behind me until the passenger next to her and Iboth chimed in...I told them that I\'d never had chicken pocks [I reallyhaven\'t] and the stewardess said that she was aware that they could be verydangerous to adults.Our first day by neither ambitious nor lazy. We had breakfast at what isour CURRENT hotel (just for one night -- and then two more when we are backon the 28th and 29th), a guest house in a large complex called the HabitatCentre (or Habitat World), that is a multipurpose kind of complex thatincludes a lot of NGO offices, conference centers, and an American-stylediner that is...whelming lol.We first went to the Lodi Gardens, which really were beautiful, and it\'swhen an eeriness about our time in Delhi first became apparent: it\'s notthat hot, not that crowded, and things are oddly quiet and empty. Eventoday, in the Old City, it was chaotic in a way that was predictable (and Ithink quite managable), but I\'d say that there have been many times whereboth of us have looked around (especially he, having lived here and having",1]
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blanks of interactions, looks, places we don't really understand). When youhave a guide (as I do in Desi) then I think you don't do as much thinkingabout the things you are seeing. I also think (and I am not regretful ofthis) that it's as much a trip (if not more) about us then about India, andI find myself enjoying talking to him more than I am seeing monuments that,to quote Glam (see my former blog entries about this friend in Cairo) leaveme just "whelmed" (neither over- nor under-).I arrived with little hassle (minus my deafness) at almost 5AM at our rathercrap hotel (La Sagarita, in Sunder Nagar, for all of you future Indiatravelers), and although I was quite disappointed by Gulf Air (we actuallyalmost took off from Bahrain with a woman holding her chicken-pock COVEREDscreaming child in the seat behind me until the passenger next to her and Iboth chimed in...I told them that I'd never had chicken pocks [I reallyhaven't] and the stewardess said that she was aware that they could be verydangerous to adults.Our first day by neither ambitious nor lazy. We had breakfast at what isour CURRENT hotel (just for one night -- and then two more when we are backon the 28th and 29th), a guest house in a large complex called the HabitatCentre (or Habitat World), that is a multipurpose kind of complex thatincludes a lot of NGO offices, conference centers, and an American-stylediner that is...whelming lol.We first went to the Lodi Gardens, which really were beautiful, and it'swhen an eeriness about our time in Delhi first became apparent: it's notthat hot, not that crowded, and things are oddly quiet and empty. Eventoday, in the Old City, it was chaotic in a way that was predictable (and Ithink quite managable), but I'd say that there have been many times whereboth of us have looked around (especially he, having lived here and having
city) and just thought that it was oddly calm...or not calm: subdued.What I\'ll say about the garden/tomb sights that we\'ve seen, in general, isthat what\'s so nice about them (at least when we were there) is that you arein a beautifully-green setting (but sort of simple: nice, sewerwater-fortified grass, with not too much jungle-like business elsewhere)amongst the ruins of kind of no-longer-remarkable tombs/monuments to formerLodi and Mughal leaders that combine to just be really peaceful and unique(in the way that I imagine the combination of the ruins of Angkor Wat in thejungle of Cambodia being a nice combination).We went from the Lodi Gardens to the Purana Qila (word to the wise: becareful when walking down the stairs in YOUR home library, or else you mightend up like poor Sher Shah!) and then Humayun\'s Tomb, which, like mostthings re-done with Agha Khan money, was quite well-kept and beautiful, evenas it started to rain.We drove south to a place called South Extension ("South Ex") and (like inLahore) another Defence Colony ("Def-Con"), where I had to buy like amillion hours in this cyber cafe (where they have ads for "ethical hacking"lol), and then we had dinner with Desi and a friend of his from years ago,who ran into friends of HIS (a gay India guy and his boyfriend, and hislesbian sister and her partner from London -- who was TOTALLY wasted lol) ata restaurant called Aqua (it wanted to be a chic 5-star restaurant hotel,but it was more like 5-star hotel airport lounge confused by the stylisticdirections in which it was being pulled). We attempted to go out afterdinner, but by 1AM everything was closed-down!Yesterday, both because he is a much less intense traveler and because Ithink he genuinely wanted me to rest my cold, we spent a lazy day bouncing",1]
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had quite a negative experience with the generally monstrous nature of thecity) and just thought that it was oddly calm...or not calm: subdued.What I'll say about the garden/tomb sights that we've seen, in general, isthat what's so nice about them (at least when we were there) is that you arein a beautifully-green setting (but sort of simple: nice, sewerwater-fortified grass, with not too much jungle-like business elsewhere)amongst the ruins of kind of no-longer-remarkable tombs/monuments to formerLodi and Mughal leaders that combine to just be really peaceful and unique(in the way that I imagine the combination of the ruins of Angkor Wat in thejungle of Cambodia being a nice combination).We went from the Lodi Gardens to the Purana Qila (word to the wise: becareful when walking down the stairs in YOUR home library, or else you mightend up like poor Sher Shah!) and then Humayun's Tomb, which, like mostthings re-done with Agha Khan money, was quite well-kept and beautiful, evenas it started to rain.We drove south to a place called South Extension ("South Ex") and (like inLahore) another Defence Colony ("Def-Con"), where I had to buy like amillion hours in this cyber cafe (where they have ads for "ethical hacking"lol), and then we had dinner with Desi and a friend of his from years ago,who ran into friends of HIS (a gay India guy and his boyfriend, and hislesbian sister and her partner from London -- who was TOTALLY wasted lol) ata restaurant called Aqua (it wanted to be a chic 5-star restaurant hotel,but it was more like 5-star hotel airport lounge confused by the stylisticdirections in which it was being pulled). We attempted to go out afterdinner, but by 1AM everything was closed-down!Yesterday, both because he is a much less intense traveler and because Ithink he genuinely wanted me to rest my cold, we spent a lazy day bouncing
(althuogh I *hate* buying jeans that don\'t fit perfectly). I justrealized that people (like me) are so silly, because when we try onclothes we basically look at ourselves in a million different angles:"No. No. Fat. No. YESSSS! I\'ll take them!" and when we hit onthat magic angle then we think: "Ok, now these TOTALLY work!" which isso stupid, because in reality you can\'t, like, scoot into a roomdisplaying yourself to onlookers at that ONE angle that makes you looklike John Abraham (google him -- hot Bollywood it-guy). The jeanswere in Connaught Place, and while we were there we met with anice-but-unfortunate-looking boy Desi had been chatting with online.I thought that we should give him at least an hour ofcoffee/conversation/polite goodbyes, but Desi thought that, especiallysince he was 15 minutes late, 15 minutes was enough and we had ourquick goodbyes. We also bought a new memory card for my camera (Desiengaged in some skillful bargaining that I want to blog about more ifI had time), and then went to a colony called GK-1 ("colonies" areneighbourhoods, often with a gated entrace, and self-sufficient inintent in the way the blocks in Islamabad are) where I bought someIndian clothes in a place called FabIndia! :) We had dinner at aSouth Indian place (and were basically the ONLY foreigners there) andthen went out to a bar/club that is gay on Saturdays that I don\'tremember the name of!(transition to short discussion of that, which is as unsatisfying tome in terms of how I have to rush through it as the rest of thisblog...I really think when I go back to Delhi at the end of my tripI\'ll do proper updates and narrate some of these things better)We met Desi's friend from the night prior with his boyfriend at a",1]
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around mostly doing things for me. I bought a new pair of jeans(althuogh I *hate* buying jeans that don't fit perfectly). I justrealized that people (like me) are so silly, because when we try onclothes we basically look at ourselves in a million different angles:"No. No. Fat. No. YESSSS! I'll take them!" and when we hit onthat magic angle then we think: "Ok, now these TOTALLY work!" which isso stupid, because in reality you can't, like, scoot into a roomdisplaying yourself to onlookers at that ONE angle that makes you looklike John Abraham (google him -- hot Bollywood it-guy). The jeanswere in Connaught Place, and while we were there we met with anice-but-unfortunate-looking boy Desi had been chatting with online.I thought that we should give him at least an hour ofcoffee/conversation/polite goodbyes, but Desi thought that, especiallysince he was 15 minutes late, 15 minutes was enough and we had ourquick goodbyes. We also bought a new memory card for my camera (Desiengaged in some skillful bargaining that I want to blog about more ifI had time), and then went to a colony called GK-1 ("colonies" areneighbourhoods, often with a gated entrace, and self-sufficient inintent in the way the blocks in Islamabad are) where I bought someIndian clothes in a place called FabIndia! :) We had dinner at aSouth Indian place (and were basically the ONLY foreigners there) andthen went out to a bar/club that is gay on Saturdays that I don'tremember the name of!(transition to short discussion of that, which is as unsatisfying tome in terms of how I have to rush through it as the rest of thisblog...I really think when I go back to Delhi at the end of my tripI'll do proper updates and narrate some of these things better)We met Desi's friend from the night prior with his boyfriend at a
went to the bar which was very "down market" as far as most Indianswould be concerned), and as soon as we walked up the stairs I saw akind of handsome (although way too young/fresh-faced, and skinny) guychecking us out with his friends, and I made eye contact. Desi and Iwent over to them, and as it turns out he had met Desi at a party afew weeks ago when he was in Delhi; I sort of thought his friend wascute, but we found out that the place was JUST about to close. We(read: me ... but Desi could have totally done it for us, so I can\'tclaim to be the transportation hero) got them to take us to an"underground" party in a market nearby, and as we were leaving (minusa brief interlude with a supposedly well-known fashion designer fromBombay who was interested in...everyone...and made a weird referenceto going to Cornell) a guy who ALSO met Desi, as the original had, atthe same place a few weeks ago, chatted him up and got directions forhis friends to go to the party.We proceeded to the next party, where we were surprised to find theboyfriend of our friend from the past two nights (he was also at thefirst bar), and mostly the same people as the first place (\'tis alwaysthe case with supposedly "secret" or "private" parties lol). The onlyguy there, other than the one who was the friend of the one weorignially saw (who disqualified himself by being a bit too drunk anda bit too unclear in the directions of his ambitions for the evening:me, the designer, n\'importe qui?), who I thought was hot was a guy wefound out was Muslim (not sure why I think that\'s relevant) who Ithought looked really Iranian (except with blue eyes). I was GOING togo say hello, but then this UGLY guy literally walked up to him, spokea few words with him, and they started MAKING OUT! I was kind of",1]
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restaurant near the bar, sat with them for a few minutes, and thenwent to the bar which was very "down market" as far as most Indianswould be concerned), and as soon as we walked up the stairs I saw akind of handsome (although way too young/fresh-faced, and skinny) guychecking us out with his friends, and I made eye contact. Desi and Iwent over to them, and as it turns out he had met Desi at a party afew weeks ago when he was in Delhi; I sort of thought his friend wascute, but we found out that the place was JUST about to close. We(read: me ... but Desi could have totally done it for us, so I can'tclaim to be the transportation hero) got them to take us to an"underground" party in a market nearby, and as we were leaving (minusa brief interlude with a supposedly well-known fashion designer fromBombay who was interested in...everyone...and made a weird referenceto going to Cornell) a guy who ALSO met Desi, as the original had, atthe same place a few weeks ago, chatted him up and got directions forhis friends to go to the party.We proceeded to the next party, where we were surprised to find theboyfriend of our friend from the past two nights (he was also at thefirst bar), and mostly the same people as the first place ('tis alwaysthe case with supposedly "secret" or "private" parties lol). The onlyguy there, other than the one who was the friend of the one weorignially saw (who disqualified himself by being a bit too drunk anda bit too unclear in the directions of his ambitions for the evening:me, the designer, n'importe qui?), who I thought was hot was a guy wefound out was Muslim (not sure why I think that's relevant) who Ithought looked really Iranian (except with blue eyes). I was GOING togo say hello, but then this UGLY guy literally walked up to him, spokea few words with him, and they started MAKING OUT! I was kind of
the Muslim guy, and THEN (I need to comment on this whole eveningmore) my guy\'s totally dirty dancing with a crossed-dressed thing,fake bra strap and all. I later went up to him and told him I thoughthe was gorgeous but had bad taste (which didn\'t stop him from TOTALLYgiving me the stare down when we were leaving -- when tends to be a"get what you can before you walk out the door" kind of speed-dating,I\'ve found out), and I basically spent the evening there REALLYenjoying myself dancing with the two original guys and their friend(they are kind of a trio) and our friend\'s boyfriend. It was a bitawkward in the sense that there were DEFINITELY competing designs(that they even joked about in front of me), but what was even weirderwas that, in the end, everyone was happy as long as they gotSOMETHING. I felt bad for Desi that I wasn\'t interested in going homewith them, and we had a good discussion back at the hotel about whyand what that means -- I should talk more about that, later, but as apreview that doesn\'t represent my point of view with any sort ofcompleteness: being with someone for only one night is fine, but thenI want my night with that person to be might night with that person,and I require a certain exclusivity in their "gaze." I don\'t want tobe what they go home with because I\'m decent enough and the closestperson to where they are standing when it\'s time to go home, and inthe same way that I expect people talking to me to make eye contactand not be looking all over the place, I feel the same way if someonewants to be romantically/sexually/whateverly involved with me, nomatter how short the lenghth of time. In sum: I found it tacky andoff-putting and sad (not for me, but for them) that Desi could makeout with one guy at the bar while two guys teased each other about",1]
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grossed out, especially at the wild ass-grabbing of the ugly dude tothe Muslim guy, and THEN (I need to comment on this whole eveningmore) my guy's totally dirty dancing with a crossed-dressed thing,fake bra strap and all. I later went up to him and told him I thoughthe was gorgeous but had bad taste (which didn't stop him from TOTALLYgiving me the stare down when we were leaving -- when tends to be a"get what you can before you walk out the door" kind of speed-dating,I've found out), and I basically spent the evening there REALLYenjoying myself dancing with the two original guys and their friend(they are kind of a trio) and our friend's boyfriend. It was a bitawkward in the sense that there were DEFINITELY competing designs(that they even joked about in front of me), but what was even weirderwas that, in the end, everyone was happy as long as they gotSOMETHING. I felt bad for Desi that I wasn't interested in going homewith them, and we had a good discussion back at the hotel about whyand what that means -- I should talk more about that, later, but as apreview that doesn't represent my point of view with any sort ofcompleteness: being with someone for only one night is fine, but thenI want my night with that person to be might night with that person,and I require a certain exclusivity in their "gaze." I don't want tobe what they go home with because I'm decent enough and the closestperson to where they are standing when it's time to go home, and inthe same way that I expect people talking to me to make eye contactand not be looking all over the place, I feel the same way if someonewants to be romantically/sexually/whateverly involved with me, nomatter how short the lenghth of time. In sum: I found it tacky andoff-putting and sad (not for me, but for them) that Desi could makeout with one guy at the bar while two guys teased each other about
then be TOTALLY willing to go with me in the end, and then Desi andone of the two guys who were my potential matches could make out whilethe other one turned to me with a "so I guess that means it\'s you andme" kind of attitude. I\'m not the Virgin Mary, and I don\'t expect amarriage declaration the first night (or ever) but even "fun" for mehas certain boundaries.ANYWAY, the next day we moved to the Habitat Centre from La Sagaraita(where we\'ll also be staying when we get back), got my train tickets,saw the Old Fort, attempted to see a Jains temple (but were toogrossed out at having to take our shoes off outside ont he streetamongst running raw sewage and live [we think] fowl), and had dinnerat the Italian place where we\'d met the couple the night before(Azurao?), where I had the best garlic bread of my life and a nicedesert wine while waiting out a rain storm.Our trip the next day (yesterday) to our current hilltown locationnorth of Delhi was as painless as 9+ hours on trains can be, andalthough the "toy train" that takes you from your Delhi-Shimlatransfer point at Kolka was TOTALLY over-rated, Shimla is REALLYbeautiful and I think out hotel (the Hotel Commbermere) is asteal...I\'m so prone to judge cities based on my hotel! lol We havebeen taking it easy (things close REALLY early) and although it\'s ahuge tourism center, most are Indian, so we are enjoying strollingaround without being harassed and without having to rush from onemonument to another. Other than a run-in with two officers and abitchy advocate, today, at the High Court (Simla is the capital of thestate of Himchal Pradesh), things have been really relaxed, and I\'mquite happy (especially since I\'m better, although only very slightlyand I\'m mostly joking, since I know he\'ll read this, than Desi at",1]
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their fight over me, the Muslim guy could make out with two people andthen be TOTALLY willing to go with me in the end, and then Desi andone of the two guys who were my potential matches could make out whilethe other one turned to me with a "so I guess that means it's you andme" kind of attitude. I'm not the Virgin Mary, and I don't expect amarriage declaration the first night (or ever) but even "fun" for mehas certain boundaries.ANYWAY, the next day we moved to the Habitat Centre from La Sagaraita(where we'll also be staying when we get back), got my train tickets,saw the Old Fort, attempted to see a Jains temple (but were toogrossed out at having to take our shoes off outside ont he streetamongst running raw sewage and live [we think] fowl), and had dinnerat the Italian place where we'd met the couple the night before(Azurao?), where I had the best garlic bread of my life and a nicedesert wine while waiting out a rain storm.Our trip the next day (yesterday) to our current hilltown locationnorth of Delhi was as painless as 9+ hours on trains can be, andalthough the "toy train" that takes you from your Delhi-Shimlatransfer point at Kolka was TOTALLY over-rated, Shimla is REALLYbeautiful and I think out hotel (the Hotel Commbermere) is asteal...I'm so prone to judge cities based on my hotel! lol We havebeen taking it easy (things close REALLY early) and although it's ahuge tourism center, most are Indian, so we are enjoying strollingaround without being harassed and without having to rush from onemonument to another. Other than a run-in with two officers and abitchy advocate, today, at the High Court (Simla is the capital of thestate of Himchal Pradesh), things have been really relaxed, and I'mquite happy (especially since I'm better, although only very slightlyand I'm mostly joking, since I know he'll read this, than Desi at
For those of you wondering about I\'m faring, gastronomically, sinceyou know I love Indian food, I am sad to say that I\'ve only hadsamosas ONCE (although I\'ve had 3 or 4 daal-enriched meals), and amnot even getting the chai masala that I love so much! As is my cursein Egypt (with my taste for felafel), and in Afghanistan (with somemilk/wheat/rice kind of dishes) I tend to like the simple food that isbasically street food (or peasant food, as some have jokingly toldme), which means that a lot of nice restaurants don\'t serve samosas :( We found a pretty chic place to go to tonight, though (relatively,speaking -- ARE in a hill town 9 hours outside Delhi!) so I\'moptimistic about dinner tonight, though :)I\'m sorry to race through all this, and want to put on the back-burner:1. More on the night at the bar2. More on how Desi and I navigated Delhi (from beggars to bargaining)3. More on what I think about the historical sites we\'ve seenXO to you allVCPS: Desi has told me (and I have gotten similar feedback from 1 or 2more of you, which constitutes about a third of my total blogreadership, lol) that the name "Veiled Chunk" grosses him out. Is"Gelatinous Fun" better? CAST YOUR VOTES! :)PPS: Waitlisted at Stanford, and totally don\'t care (except thatPookie is hilarious in his congratulatory tone...I think we\'ll need totell our non-couples counselor in NYC that he doesn\'t ALWYAYS have tobe silver-lining oriented with my life lol)PPPS: I can\'t use gmail\'s spellcheck feature on this browser. Sorry!",0]
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ping-pong, which we have played in the rec center in our hotel.For those of you wondering about I'm faring, gastronomically, sinceyou know I love Indian food, I am sad to say that I've only hadsamosas ONCE (although I've had 3 or 4 daal-enriched meals), and amnot even getting the chai masala that I love so much! As is my cursein Egypt (with my taste for felafel), and in Afghanistan (with somemilk/wheat/rice kind of dishes) I tend to like the simple food that isbasically street food (or peasant food, as some have jokingly toldme), which means that a lot of nice restaurants don't serve samosas :( We found a pretty chic place to go to tonight, though (relatively,speaking -- ARE in a hill town 9 hours outside Delhi!) so I'moptimistic about dinner tonight, though :)I'm sorry to race through all this, and want to put on the back-burner:1. More on the night at the bar2. More on how Desi and I navigated Delhi (from beggars to bargaining)3. More on what I think about the historical sites we've seenXO to you allVCPS: Desi has told me (and I have gotten similar feedback from 1 or 2more of you, which constitutes about a third of my total blogreadership, lol) that the name "Veiled Chunk" grosses him out. Is"Gelatinous Fun" better? CAST YOUR VOTES! :)PPS: Waitlisted at Stanford, and totally don't care (except thatPookie is hilarious in his congratulatory tone...I think we'll need totell our non-couples counselor in NYC that he doesn't ALWYAYS have tobe silver-lining oriented with my life lol)PPPS: I can't use gmail's spellcheck feature on this browser. Sorry!