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Published: December 24th 2011
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Delhi
Humayun's Tomb Madness! Absolutely nothing could have prepared us for the onslaught that is India. From the crazy traffic, to the scores of cows wandering down the streets, the autorickshaws weaving insanely around any and all obstacles, the endless hooting, fresh and old cow dung, and the fresh and old human dung, it is a completely bamboozling experience!
Delhi's air feels thick with pollution and likely as a result, people seem to be constantly coughing, hacking and spitting, and if that's not bad enough, no wall is immune from being treated as a urinal and the smell of urine and rotting rubbish frequently fill your nostrils. Delhi's population is in excess of 13million, and boy do you know about it! No where more so than in New Delhi train station and on the metro, during the rush hour. It was also here where the piercing and often unfriendly stares we got, from mainly men, were most oppressive, and this with the suffocating crush of the crowds, made some of our journeys very uncomfortable. Things were so bad that we even decided to buy ourselves some cheap 50p wedding bands to try to fend off a few unwanted approaches. It didn't seem to
Delhi
Lotus Temple have much effect.
Worse than all of this are the countless beggars on the street, often disabled, unwashed and painfully thin. It is so heartbreaking and distressing to see them and it churns you up inside as you struggle with whether or not to give, whether anything we did give would really make any difference and the fact that what we were seeing is only a tiny insight into the depth of poverty that is a constant struggle here.
Despite trying to process all of the above, and also battling with jet lag, we discovered that Delhi has some very interesting sights and spots of real beauty and calm amongst all the chaos. Humayun's Tomb is an early version of the Taj Mahal, built from red sandstone and white marble. Visiting it around sunset was surprisingly peaceful, as was being inside the modern Lotus Temple, built in 1986, which despite the hoards of tourists outside, was an oasis of tranquillity and silence. We wandered round the wide avenues of New Delhi, visiting the the National Museum and the Gandhi memorial, the sight where he was shot. We enjoyed ice creams whilst strolling the 2km from the Houses of
Delhi
India Gate Parliament to India Gate, a 42m high WWI memorial, despite being constantly harassed by autorickshaw drivers, offering us a lift.
The residential neighbourhood, where our guesthouse was situated, was also a welcome break from the city crush. Here we enjoyed seeing children playing in the streets (even if they did shout black and white at us as we walked past), the outdoor ironing sheds with their coal heated irons, tailors peddling away on their Singers until late in the evening, and entire blocks decorated to the nines in honour of a wedding.
This couldn't have contrasted more than with the bedlam of Old Delhi, with its narrow and unbelievably congested streets, which house colourful bazaars, each street specialising in a specific product, e.g. one street selling every kind of paper product you can think of and another selling nothing but watches. We travelled through the streets at snails pace, riding cycle-rickshaws, which often got entangled with other vehicles, people and cows, all competing for space. Whilst in Old Delhi, we climbed the minaret of Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, which can hold 25,000 people, with hopes of a fine view across the city. Unfortunately, the only thing we
Delhi
Jama Masjid could see was thick smog. We also attended a sound and light show at the Red Fort, built by the same Emperor who built the Taj Mahal, and although the light effects made for an atmospheric setting, we both fell asleep at some point during the show!
After 5 five days in India's capital we were well and truly ready to leave and were happy to board our night train to start our journey through Rajasthan.
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Alex
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Delhi
I am really enjoying your blog. I do not know who is writing it but it is so nicely written, it feels very professional. Keep up the writing.