Hello Delhi, namaste Nepal

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So Delhi! How to get to Delhi when you are recovering from diarrhea and feeling scared!You basically get up at the crack of dawn and get on with it! After two days of laying in a miserable hostel room in Kathmandu, with the most uncomfortable bed I had slept in yet (as Lizzie said, they resemble army beds, but she is sure that army beds are more comfortable) I was lamenting the morning that I would finally have to face Delhi. I somehow picked up my 20kg backpack, made it to Delhi on Spicejet, I somehow bought that prepaid taxi ticket, I somehow argued with the driver to ditch his friend and I made it to my hotel! It may seem like I am harping on about not a lot, but it feels like a major victory - an enemy that I defeated!

Being in Delhi felt so strange after six weeks in Nepal. It felt so rich! So glamorous and developed. I had not really seen cars in about 6 weeks, or proper roads, or adverts, or real pavements without chickens wondering around. There were so many billboards with pictures, so much more media, so much more money! You knew you could buy anything, eat anything, enjoy anything that you really wanted, if you had the money for it. In Nepal, no matter how much money was in your pocket, what was on offer was limited, you ate dahl baht and accepted it. In Delhi, I said hello to consumerism and capitalism again. It sort of felt welcome, like one step closer to home and also sad, like one step further away from the nature I had grown to love.

So that sums up Delhi. I made the mistake of wondering out to the New Delhi train station to check it out, and what a decision that was! After the demure and pretty stress-free entry into Delhi, I thought it would be fine. Not! It is a complete assault on the senses. With just a few sandal steps on that pavement, I was welcomed with a bang. My stream of consciousness pretty much can be summed up by; horns, rickshaws, screeching, motorbike, people, horns, beeping, canstant beeping, pavement, filth, flies, cow in my way, cow dung 'excuse me maam, pashmina, scarf, inside', screech, horn, louder horn, flies, pile of poo, 'maam, you want taxi', everyone looking at you like they have never seen a women, 'beautiful', eye contact, avoidance of eye contact, perspiration, pounding heart, 'maam, you want taxi, sidestep people, brush past people, something has bitten me, horns, screech, 'maam, you want taxi', stares, more beeps, more filth, 'maam, taxi'......

So, a quick 15 minutes later, I was back in the hotel room! I am now in Jaipur, in a lovely hotel that Jennie booked, the Sundar Palace. I got a train at 6am and it was fine. Jaipur feels so much more chilled out than Delhi and I really think I am going to like it here.

It's just a short one, so I shall go off to have a nap and maybe some lunch (post pep talk with stomach).

Namaste
S

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