Absolutely Blindingly Chaotic India

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I have wanted to go to India for about six years. Since I started teaching overseas and realized it was possible for me to get there. So when I moved back to Kuwait last August, I knew I wanted to go to India for my Christmas holiday. I really didn't want to go alone, for many reasons, even though I've visited many countries by myself. But I wanted to share India with someone. I wanted someone to eat with and walk with and comment on the sites with. I also wanted someone to deflect some of the attention away from me. I admit it. Lucky for me, my friend Annette who teaches in Hong Kong agreed to meet me there. We had an amazing trip, a sightseeing bonanza of a trip, a fantabulous food trip, and a tiring, exhausting, absolutely blindingly chaotic trip at times. We did a lot in our 16 days and I hope to share some of it with you. My feelings about India are very mixed and I originally though I should censor my comments on here, but that's not really my style. So there will be minimal censorship and maximum positivity as a compromise.

I left Kuwait at a reasonable hour, but after a 7 hour layover in Bahrain I didn't reach Delhi until 5AM anyway. I had arranged for a car and driver through Kalka Travels (Bobby Thakur) and was assured the driver would meet me at the airport. And he did. I just didn't see him. I vaguely remembered getting a detailed from Bobby stating where the driver would meet me in the airport, but my anal retentive self printed every email EXCEPT that one! My poor driver, Hardev, had been waiting at the airport for me since 3:30AM, but I didn't go to Gate 5 where he was, so I got a pre-paid taxi for 380Rs to Hotel Ashiana in one of the worst neighborhoods in Delhi. But I didn't know that when I rented the room. Annette was already there and had a few hours sleep, and when I arrived, I called the driver because Bobby had texted me his name and number while I was still in Kuwait. It was almost 6:30AM and my driver, Hardev, was STILL waiting for me at the airport! I felt so bad! Anyway, miscommunication over and now we were connected, so he came to pick us up at 10AM at the hotel.

We went down to the lobby and met him. He is Sikh, so he was wearing a black turban, had an impressive beard, and is only 25 years old. Not at all what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised as he was quite handsome. Annette and I were excited to finally be in Delhi and were ready for some sightseeing. I'd made the decision to hire a car and driver before Annette decided to join me because I thought it would be the easiest way for a single gal to get around and see a lot of stuff in a short time. Turns out, it is the easiest way to get around and for two single gals to see a lot of stuff. The car and driver was 28000Rs for 12 days because we had 2 airport transfers instead of only one and paid with a credit card, otherwise it is only 27000Rs for a Tata Indigo car, which was plenty of space for us. We were thrilled to have the car and Kalka Travels, Bobby Thakur, and Hardev took good care of us.

We needed some breakfast before meeting Hardev, so we walked down the street to a restaurant called Bikaner where you choose what you want, tell somebody, they serve you, you eat standing up, and then pay for everything. I had an amazing samosa and dal for less than a dollar and Annette had even more than me, for less than a dollar! It was so good and so cheap. First meal in India - success. Back at the hotel we met Hardev and were on our way. I really did not know what to expect from Delhi. I'd heard so many things so I just decided to ignore all of them and see what I saw. At the end of the day, Annette and I both realized that we'd taken the same roads everywhere and that Hardev was perhaps taking us on the more favorable routes through Delhi in order to avoid some of the poverty and slums everyone hears about. But we saw plenty of poverty, but no slums.

Our first stop on our sightseeing tour was Lakshmi Narayan Temple, a large red and yellow Hindu Temple. It was beautiful and clean and peaceful inside. It looked a bit wedding-cakish outside and lacked the opulence of the temples in Thailand, but it was impressive anyway. Free to enter, of course, but shoes, cameras and cell phones must be left in lockers before entering.

Afterwards we went to the Kalka Travels office to pay for the car and meet Bobby Thakur. We had coffee and biscuits and a nice chat, saw a video about the company and India that answered a few questions, especially about tipping the driver, and then we paid and were on our way to India Gate. Another free site, loads of school kids there, and also impressive, if a bit Arc de Triumphish. India Gate is dedicated to all those who have helped make India the country that it is today, in general. Specifically, I really don't remember its purpose. The school kids were excited to see western tourists and wanted to say hello. We weren't hassled or bothered by anyone, which was a surprise, although we did get several stares. Not so surprising.

Almost forgot about lunch! Our second meal in India was even better than the first. Hardev took us to Connaught Place, a rather ritzy area of Delhi, to a South Indian restaurant that is in Lonely Planet. We had lunch at Sarabana Bhavan and it was cheap and has a fantastic masala dosai and the best cold coffee I had in India, and I had a lot of cold coffee over the next 16 days!

After India Gate we went to the Bahai or Lotus Temple. It took quite a while to drive here. The walk to the temple once you get inside the grounds is really nice, and the temple is beautiful, but pretty underwhelming. The outside is way more interesting than the inside, which was fairly sterile. This is a modern temple. I find the old ones much more interesting. After the Lotus Temple we had time for one more site. Humayun's Tomb. This is the only site we had to pay to see all day (250Rs or about 5USD). This is actually more than we paid to see most sites in India, but it was interesting. The Taj Mahal was inspired by Humayun's Tomb and I could definitely see the resemblance. Inside the site was peaceful and really nice to walk around, no one hassling anyone. It was built in the early 16th century by a Mughal wife and I think it is definitely worth seeing.

We were tired, especially me since I'd had virtually no sleep, so we asked Hardev to take us back to our hotel. We'd had a late lunch, so back at the room we shared an apple and went to bed. I don't recommend the Hotel Ashiana unfortunately. We paid about 3500Rs for two nights/two people and there was no hot water, it was not clean and the room was small and crowded with too much furniture. And the neighborhood was horrible, except for Bikaner restaurant.

We survived our first day in India and it was a good one. Perfect weather, beautiful food, interesting sites, great driver, and minimal exposure to poverty. Also saw some parrots in a tree in a median. Don't see that every day. It was a good day and we were ready for more!

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Photos

Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple
No photos allowed inside, but it was very lovely inside as well.

Elephants
Outside Lakshmi Narayan Temple

Lotus Temple
for the Bahai Faith

Humayun's Tomb
It's in remarkably good condition.

Humayun's Tomb
See the resemblance to the Taj Mahal?

Humayun's Tomb
Symmetrical. I like that.

Nice View
The Taj Mahal has a similar view when you enter...