After 2 days in Delhi, with a whirlwind tour of the sights we headed to Agra. We saw the immense but incredibly beautiful Taj Mahal. It was crowded, with mostly Indians, but the awesome presence was still there. The sheer amount of work that went into it is just amazing and totally pretty. That afternoon we were very skillfully tricked into going to look at a man's shop. He was a very sweet man who showed us his entire collection of old coins and money from around the world. We did end up buying a little necklace from him, well mom did. but he was so sweet I just had to share him with you all. The next day we went to Fatepur Sikhri. This was one of the capitals of the Mughals. If I remember correctly, Akbar was not producing heirs so he went to visit a holy man to bless his wife. When she had three sons after that, he moved his capital there and built an immense fort (as all of them were immense). The fort was only maintained for 13 years as there was not a great water supply. Then back to Delhi. NO MORE GUIDES! we were totally guided out at this point. Our final day we went to see the red fort in Delhi. And had the first rain in 6 weeks! Had a lovely final dinner at a revolving restaurant in Connaught Place. It's a little hokey, but worth seeing Delhi from that viewpoint.
Today will be our first full day without any family. We left Aleen yesterday, albeit at 5 in the morning, for the international airport in Delhi. We had a painless flight to Singapore. My first City-State. Is that the right term for a city that is also the country?
The aiport is by far the nicest airport i've ever seen. Now, it's possible that since I came straight from India the cleanliness surprised me more than I thought it would. So if that was the case, it is in my top five nicest airports. The design, cleanliness, layout, cleanliness, amenities, and oh yeah, cleanliness were all so beautiful. I know the clean impact wasa reaction from India. Alex has a friend who is on a graduate trainee program here with Glaxo Smith Kline so we first made our way to the McDonald's after Customs and Immigration to check our email, for free. We couldn't stay with her immediately, so we headed to the Backpackers Cozy Corner on the edge of the colonial district. The MRT was easy to navigate, and cheap at S$1.48 to go for a half hour to our stop from the airport. Upon arrival, they had my reservation (Sorry dad, I had to book somewhere the first time, to ease leaving you guys, but you should know I don't have any others booked). We freshened up and headed out. We ate in one of the food courts. Delicous food! I could be happy eating in Singapore for a long time. The culture here is from many Asian countries so the food here is usually pretty good. We had Bibimbab and a duck noodle dish for S$11 total. We then walked around for about an hour. Alex said a few times how he really felt like he was in the USA. The feel of the streets has a strange western feel. But when that humidity wave comes over you, you remember you must be in SE Asia. We are meeting up with Lorrie, Alex's friend this afternoon after work. And hopefully we'll stay with her for a few more nights so we can afford to stay in Singapore.
That's all for now.
love,
K
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