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Published: February 15th 2006
Jama Masjid Mosque - Delhi
Shoes off and wandering around at 10am in the peace of a mosqueWell, we have arrived in a country that the Lonely Planet guide describes as
"a challenging country, particularly for the first-time visitor; the poverty is confronting, Indian bureaucracy can be exasperating and the crush of humanity sometimes turns the simplest task into an energy-zapping battle. Even the most experienced travellers find their sanity frayed at some point, yet this is all part of what makes India a unique travel destination." I don't think we could sum it up any better than that. Delhi was shocking - it's true that nothing can prepare you for it and it feels like India's 1 Billion people are in Delhi alone.
We got a taxi from the airport which drove us through the city to our "hotel". Our hotel (prebooked before we arrived which we instantly regretted) was a tiny doorway in a sprawling shop front. We were led upstairs two dark and narrow flights of stairs and were shown to our room which was covered in mould, damp, pigeon droppings, holes in the walls, filthy bed and I won't even describe the toilet.
We stayed regardless as we had already payed and after 34hrs of not sleeping we needed some sort
of shut-eye, so rather than risk the horrors of what lay in store when we rolled back the bedsheets we unrolled our sleeping bags and slept in those.
We did wonder in our first 24hrs what we had let ourselves in for on this 'round the world' trip - but we had to remind ourselves that everyone said Delhi was extremely tough - and one of the hardest places to adjust to for all travellers, so we did well to start there !!
The roads were absolutely manic - we've never seen anything like it ever. It's every man for himself - whatever lane you like, in which ever direction you like with the blaring of horns in a never ending cacophony of sound. There is no right/left side of the road - you start on one side, and if that is blocked you move to the other side, hence quite often you have cars heading directly for one another and then swerving to avoid one another at the last minute whilst auto-rickshaw drivers and bicycles manoeuvre in between. All the while, drivers lean on their horns.
Oh - and don't forget the cows .... here cows
Old Delhi - Man walking to market
A common sight is to see Indians carrying wares on their heads. are sacred here due to being linked with the God Shiva & Hinduism. Through this traffic, in every street, lying in the middle of roundabouts, standing in the middle of intersections, barring your way into shops are cows. Thin, filthy, skeletal cows who despite being worshipped are fed the rubbish left by people. Daily wheelbarrows and carts unload rubbish consisting of food, plastic bags, cans, cardboard boxes into the street for cows and scavanging dogs to come and rummage through. It is not uncommon to see a cow eating a cardboard Mars bar box or a plastic bag and that alone is a shocking sight.
The city is dusty, smog ridden and the smell of dirt & sewers and foreign spices/perfume mingle in the air to give you the most exotic mixture that strikes every sense.
Labourers sleep by the roads with their children in tents made of scraps of tin, plastic and the women in their colourful saris carry containers of dirt on their heads that their husbands have shoveled from deep holes. Meanwhile their children play in the gutters moving back only to avoid cars that come a bit too close.
Already we have met
Raj Ghat - Mahatma Gandhi's cremation place
Dave standing in front of Gandhi's black marble shrine with worshippers in background a number of travellers - Danish, Dutch, Australian, French..all doing the same thing - visiting this amazing country and sharing stories, experiences and advice. It's been a fantastic and horrifying arrival and Dave and I both said that even if our trip had stopped in the first 3 days, we'd have seen things to carry with us for the rest of our lives.
Our next stop is a tour of Rajasthan & the desert (Feb 1-Feb 15) which we'll update you with on our return. We'll be covering the following towns:
Manalia, Bikaner, Jaisalmer (to do a camel safari in the desert), Jodphur (where the riding trousers come from), Ranakpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur, Ranthambore (to a tiger reserve), Agra (to see the Taj Mahal).
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Sibs & Neil
non-member comment
Hello
Just read your e:mail about Delhi and am glad to hear you survived the first night!! If you get a chance to feed up the cows, please do so for me (Dave will know how much I love them)!! Hope the rest of India is slightly more welcoming and you find better accommodation!! Can't wait for your next update. Dave - if we don't get a chance to say it nearer the time, HAPPY BIRTHDAY for the 26th! Enjoy and take care. XXXXX