Day Two: The Edge of the Himalaya

9/7/11

We got in to Delhi last night without any problems. Our 6 hour flight went smoothly, and besides the taxi getting lost a bit, we made it to the hostel ok.

Map of the day's travels 

As soon as we got to the train station this morning, we were surrounded like vultures by porters that insisted they take all of our baggage (for a charge of course). Because many of us had ridden in cars separate from our baggage, it was hard to get a hold of our own baggage, and it all got easily scooped up by these red-jacketed men who then hauled ass with it, with all of us trying our best to catch up to our luggage while still keeping track of 13 other people. It was a funny sight.

On the train they fed us. I liked the picture on the front of this jam.

 Wuhoo! Train to Chandigarh.

 Stop 2.1 Rupnagar Archaeological Museum

Our first stop after arrival was the Archaeological Survey of India. We couldn’t take pictures there, but they had a cool gate.

 The driving was pretty ridiculous all day. I’ve noticed that the drivers tend to feel that they can drive in any part of the road that they want, only needing to get over when there is another car coming. It is almost like continual games of chicken to see who will move over first. Our drivers seem to know what they’re doing, though, and we’ve made it without any scratches so far! Honestly, despite the crazy driving, they all seem to be used to it because that's just the way it is. I've been far more terrified in New York City taxis.

Speaking of driving, all of the buses and trucks on the road here are super colorful.

First geological stop!

Stop 2.2: The Janauri Anticline: Leading Edge of the Himalaya

And now for a cool bug…

Tonight we found out that apparently there was a bomb that went off in Delhi and killed 10+ people. To those of you who listen to the news, we weren’t in Delhi anymore when this happened and we weren’t affected by the bomb.

It is now 11:30 pm and I am extremely exhausted! Staying the night tonight in Bilaspur. Until tomorrow…

PS. Food here is AWESOME!