Hey this is Kenji and Jackie- we are going to write a joint post. Before we begin, just want to make a comment about the discussion that was provoked by the prior post. I think it was taken a little bit out of context, and I didn't quite word it right in reference to women's options and responsibilities in society thing. Hopefully no one was offended, and if you were, then deal with it because I didn't mean anything offensive.

Anyway, we are in Delhi right now. We just got off a 15 hour train ride from Bombay to Delhi. Jackie fell asleep at 5:30 p.m., and slept for about 13 hours of the ride. I talked to this Indian woman for a few hours of the time, and she had bed bugs in her train fold down bed. It was gross. It was air conditioned so the ride wasn't so bad, but there weren't closed compartments, the whole train car was open with four beds on one side, an aisle, and two beds on the other, bunked. We took second class- I don't know how Zach and them are going to ride all the way from Delhi to Goa, especially in third, which will be something like 25 hours- that will be painful.

Yesterday (I can't believe it was only yesterday) we woke up and went to Elephanta Island. It was a little over an hour ferry ride to this island which had a bunch of caves that were hand carved out of the side of the mountain. On the ferry we met these students from Purdue, who were travelling all over South East Asia through school. They were staying in every single Taj Hotel (the nicest hotels in each city). They were definitely there as tourists, they were wearing western clothes and chewing gum and were very interested in buying souveniers. At the caves, there were a bunch of monkeys just running around- they'd walk by you from a foot away like you weren't even there. At one point we went into a little museum and the monkeys started running around and wrestling each other inside...needless to say, we left immediately. The island was really tropical, there was a nice view and it looked like we were in a jungle. It was also a lot cooler and cleaner than Bombay, although we sweated so badly that the sweat went through our shirts.

So anyway, today we got into Delhi, and this guy lead us off the train and to the India Tourism office. I thought he was going to scam us, so I was a little skeptical, but it actually turned out o.k. At the tourist office, a man booked a hotel for us, and told us that a rickshaw was waiting to take us to the hotel. At first, we thought he meant auto-rickshaw, and Kenji asked, "are you sure we can fit all of our bags onto the car?" The guy said, "oh yes, Indians are great at making adjustments". We get outside and it's not a motorized auto-rickshaw, it's just a rickshaw! One guy on a bicycle with a tiny little bench in back. Somehow, we managed to load on a suitcase, a hiking backpack, a regular backpack, another small duffell bag, and the two of us. The bench was probably a foot and a half wide. Driving down the road we couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous we felt- probably the most laughable experience ever.

The hotel we are staying at is pretty nice, it was only about $7 per person per night. The only downside- only one bed. It's going to be as hot as balls tonight in one bed with no airconditioning. The hotel we stayed at 2 nights ago was less than $5 per person, but it also didn't have a bathroom and a cockroach on the ground. About an hour ago, Kenji got his first experience with no toilet paper- he said it was the most disgusting experience he'd ever had.

Anyway, we'll post pictures in a second if we can figure it out.

Jackie and Kenji