Day Two

After being woken up at six thirty by a strange voice on the phone we decided to stay in bed for another twenty minutes. Breakfast was being served at seven so as you can imagine most of us were rushing down to the restaurant for that time. Leaving the hotel at eight we started the day with a rickshaw ride, which was definitely an experience not to forget. Mrs Harvey for the best part of the ride screamed like a crow in poor Leo's ear. Nancy and Izzi's driver was racing with Nadeen and Tayla's driver through the tiny chaotic overcrowded streets of Old Delhi.

After this unique experience we headed for the biggest, oh yes parents, the biggest, Mosque in India, Jama Masjid. We were given special robes to wear which made us look like we were going to the hairdressers 'en masse'. Walking around the Mosque again we were approached for photos by other people and we noticed the intricate architecture on the surrounding towers.

After a few of us had purchased quaint bags for either ourselves or the lucky family and friends, we travelled to a Sikh Gudwara called Banglasahib. It was extremely white and we had to wear headscarves and wash our hands and feet before entering. The Sikhs are generous people and as they offer 20-25,000 people, of any class and religion, food each day, just in this Gudwara alone. We visited the vast kitchens with the huge curry pots and we witnessed how the chipatis were made.

Next, we approached the train station where lots of men offered to carry our suitcases on their heads! We got quite a few looks for this. We were then handed our tickets and waited for our train. Getting on the train was a trail itself as we had to spied the toilets on the way to our seats, we did make it on - do not worry! There were two types of toilets; Western or Indian style, as you can guess we opted for the Western styled one.


Spending the next SEVEN hours on the train was challenging as people, essentially everyone, kept on taking pictures of Leo sleeping, photos to come! Having the train suddenly stop was a surprise to us and after waiting for a considerable amount of time, Mrs Harvey decided to investigate. She discovered that we needed to jump off the train onto the tracks. Now parents, do not fret, we were safe, Mrs Harvey and Miss Jones deemed it safe to jump. We acquired a team of strong rescue men to help us down and to carry our luggage. Climbing down the ladder and jumping onto the tracks was an experience I don't think we will forget in a hurry. When we reached the "station" we were escorted by a number of cars to our hotel. By this time it was well past midnight and we were all extremely tired and reaching our hotel rooms we flopped onto the bed in a sigh of relief.