Walking

We have discovered that there are many places you can walk to from our hotel. Yesterday, Mary and I decided to take a walk down Cunningham Street. That is the street we were supposed to walk down to get to Pizza Hut on Friday night (see the post below). It is much easier seeing where you are going in the daytime. We walked out toward Cunningham road and were accosted by a rickshaw driver asking us if we would like to hire him for an hour or two. We said we just were taking a walk and didn't need a ride. He said he knew of a craft shop we would love to see and that he would take us there. We said we just wanted to walk and we kept on walking. A few seconds later he was right along with us walking and telling us about the shop. He had parked his rickshaw and was escorting us down the road.

We kept walking about 3/4 mile and began to pass the shop he was telling us about. It was the one we had been taken to the night before. We told him we were not interested and kept walking. He gave us his card and said we could hire him anytime. We thanked him and walked on.

I forgot to tell you about the curve of death, the wires of peril and the stones of instability. Each of these things were part of the rite of passage -- we had to pass each one in order to make it to our destination, Cafe Coffee Day.

The stones of instability are really just large stones used to construct the sidewalk. Many of them are missing (thus you walk on the street) and some of them rock when you step on them. This can be frightening until you get used to it.

The curve of death is a very long curve with no curb and no sidewalk. You are forced to walk the tight edge of the street with honking cars passing briskly. It is exhilarating and very doable in daylight, not sure we would have survived last night!

The wires of peril are some power (or phone) lines that were hanging about 4.5 feet from the ground. Mary almost got them wrapped around her neck! We know where they are now. There are also other transformer boxes that have their doors ajar, they might be more formidable if you were to insert a finger or hand.

We were able to get some great photos of the city as we walked yesterday and today. I even tried to get a video while walking but had to stop when I tripped on a stone of instability.

There are a number of people who really are destitute begging on the side of the street. Your heart really goes out to them when you see their condition. We had one young girl come up to us and ask for food money. I reached into my pocket and got out a coin. Then she followed us for quite a ways asking me to take her picture. I got to a good stopping place and took a shot and showed it to her. You can see her above.

Yesterday we saw a restaurant (Shezan) that advertised Indian, Continental, and Chinese food. Today at lunch we decided to try it out. We walked there and went inside. They offered us a table upstairs. I was looking at the menu trying to decide which Chinese dish to order when the manager came up and talked with us. He said I would recommend the beef steak. I asked about the Chinese food and he said he would recommend a steak instead. So, I told him I would take a steak, fries and coke. Mary had decided on the London Fish & Chips.

When our food came, Mary had two large pieces of fluffy breaded fish,(done to perfection!) tartar sauce, and fries. I had 4 small filets of steak, onions, veggies and fries along with an order of garlic bread. The food was excellent and a huge meal. Mary barely finished the fish (along with my help). When the bill came, the price was RS 339 (339 Rupees or around $7.88). I think we will be going back to that place again! For anyone coming out in the future...definitely recommend it!