Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

A year in Delhi and I have not visited anything. No time !          
I had to fix this so I went to see Tughlaqabad Fort. A touristic spot almost unvisited! A fortress with 6 km of fortifications. The third city of Delhi. It dates back to 1320 and is completely in ruins, but it just gives it a charm ...
And then there are monkeys - I almost panicked when one of these simians followed me on a tiny path, monkeys are not your friend here, they are not nice –, there are some kinds of deers, and guys showing their muscles. A nice place! Really liked it!!

Then I visited the Lotus Temple.     
Not the same trip as the fort!! It is super packed!!

A live illustration that the diving attracts more than history...  

It is a temple of the Baha'i religion – a 150 year old faith. I hardly understood anything except that it looks like a monotheistic religion that wants to be open to all the other religions.    
The shape of a lotus flower, and nothing inside except an altar, dozens of Indians and silence ... That is a miracle just by itself!            
But no, I have not found faith there... Not that I am looking for it anyways...

Delhi - Novembre 2012

 A friend of mine told me that I should try and do everything I could in Delhi like if I was going to leave tomorrow. And she asked what would I do? I told her nothing… She thought I was showing attitude but well, making a life in Delhi was not really about visiting all the monuments there are… And I’ve seen a lot of them anyway. 

However there was something pending on my “list” and this was horseback riding. And it is probably the most incredible experience I've had.  

I was taken to the Army Polo and Riding Club located in the “lungs” of the city. Right there, in the middle of Delhi, you have plain jungle!

You arrive there, tell the name of a horse and they hand it over to you, all ready to go – in France most of the time you need to clean your horse, put the saddle and stuff… 

You go up some steps and land on the horse – in France you put your foot in the stirrup and heave yourself up however you can. 

And here you go! 

You can go to the arena, or on the trails, you are completely free – in France no one will let you go before checking your riding skills and making sure you know the area. 

So you have dozens of people riding around…

As for us we went on the trail. I was put last. No ride for at least 3 years… These guys started trotting and I realised I had a very uncomfortable horse and an even more uncomfortable saddle. I asked when we were going to gallop and was told the trail was too narrow. Never heard something like that! So I let them trot, hold my horse back and kept catching up galloping!! Full speed… Live your life like if you were going to die tomorrow… 

After 40 minutes I was sweating and out of breath but damn happy!!

I could not feel my legs when I went down. I had two painful blisters on my fingers. And then I found out about the huge bruises all over my inner thighs and ankles. I also found out about muscle sores later but this I knew it would come… Not like the bruises!! Never had that. But it was so cool!!

I've never liked my neighbour too much (see our first and only encounter: here) but he has never complained about the noise (of my sound system) and that’s good enough !

The other day my landlord came over. And hold on tight! I think he was hitting on me! It is not too surprising except that he is in his eighties... And so he was, asking me to sit closer on the sofa and all... But once he got really comfortable he started discussing his prostate problems and then, how to tell, it killed everything...

To get back to our subject, grandpa called the neighbour in, his grand-nephew or something like that. We came to discuss electricity bills. My neighbour, a 30 year old lawyer, was really upset: "Can you believe it? If you don’t pay your bill, they send someone to your house and if you don’t pay, they cut the wires immediately. I called to ask them how they dare do this to me? To me! A lawyer! »

Yes you arrogant idiot, lawyer or not, you pay your bills. And if you're never at home like me, you pay them online. Yes yes...