The Leroy Records 3: India

Whew! Today was crazy. Woke up, walked around the neighborhood with Ayush and Sloan. The realization that you are in a different world is immediate. We haven't walked a block before we come upon the neighborhood ironing man, ironing clothes under a small shelter. The women are dressed in bright, vivid purples and blues and often wear little red dots (bindis) on their foreheads. On the way to see the temple Ayush visits, we meet a coconut seller pushing a wagon attached to a bike. Ayush hails him, and the man chops the top off three coconuts, sticks a straw in each, and hands them to us. We have to drink fast because once we're done, he chops the coconuts in half and scrapes the cream off the shell for us to eat. The coconut water is good, even though I really dislike the coconut water thingies I've tried in the US. And the cream is an interesting, gelatinous but still firm texture. The street is buzzing with activity--next to the coconut cart, some men are busy tying re...

The 14 hour flight goes by like nothing. Hooked on "Immune", a colorful and eye-opening journey through the immune system, and enjoying complementary dinner and chai, I'm 4 hours into the flight before I even try to sleep. Sleep, wake up and read, sleep again, and we're in Delhi! A lot easier than the (still pretty easy) drive to JFK with Sloan... Immigration and customs is also almost a no-op. We grab SIMs for $10 cash each, decide not to change currency (probably not smart)... Where we get into trouble is the ground transportation. Immediately after leaving the airport, a dude attaches himself to us and demands to know where we're going, wants to offer us a cheaper fare. He quotes absurdly cheap fares for the city center (ok, ~75 rupees / USD, so ~13 USD / 1000 rupees, he quotes 200, our fare to a closer address ends up costing about 2000). He follows us for like 10 minutes! But confident in modern rideshare, we eventually find our way to the Uber/...