Blogs from New Delhi, National Capital Territory, India, Asia - page 13

New Delhi We stopped one night in New Delhi after a 32 hour train journey from Goa and before a 15 hour bus journey to our next destination: Manali - Himachal Pradesh. We did take a quick wander around Delhi during the day & to say the least we hated the noisy dirty grim city with a deep passion... We booking a train using the government website and Cleartrip which was relatively easy. We advice to use 2AC class as it will allow you to have a bed in a 4 compartments. Curtains blocked the others to spy on you and food/drink service operate on the train. Guys pass through the carriage every...5 min to sell cheese sandwich, samosa,tomato soup, crisps and cookies, tea, water, coffee. (It is nice to know people are concerned about your ... read more

Today we had a big drive back to Delhi and "the Connaught Hotel". We said our Goodbye's to Sanjeev our wonderful bus driver for the past whirlwind four day tour that we had undertaken. Sanjeev's familly live back in the mountains in Northern India, and he bases himself in Delhi to earn money and sees them only occasionally. We decided we needed an extra suitcase for the Souveniors we had acquired so embarked on the challenge of shopping in the Connaught area in New Delhi. The area was busy with market style stalls and loads of touters who were really annoying. They follow you for streets if you show any interest in their products such as Marco's desire for sunglasses! We walked for a while and ended up a laneway that had the strongest stench of ... read more

After stepping of the airplane from Pune my first thought about Kolkata was that it was the most humid city I had ever step foot in. However humidity and endless sweating aside, Kolkata was an amazing experience that I will never forget. The highlight of Kolkata for me was working at the Mother Teresa house. Like most of Kolkata, it is a unique experience, but also very sad. The first morning at the Mother Teresa house I worked at Prem Dan with women, many of whom are stroke patients or amputees, who are unable to care for themselves. When I first arrived I put on my red apron and started doing the morning laundry. Unfortunately most of the laundry is soiled sheets, not my most favorite thing to wash, and hand washing in120 degree heat with ... read more

I walked easy and slowly with steady steps. Its amazing, the feeling that you get when nothing goes your way and you're still ready to walk on. It feels as if you'be been stripped of every security and still you don't feel insecure. You feel the presence of a strength that comes from being in touch dirrectly with the world, the universe around you. You feel naked and yet you feel comfortable. You haven't slept or rested yet you feel strong. You walk alone yet you feel a strong presence around you. Its as if the cosmos stretches its arms towards you with a smile and asks you to just trust... to just go with the flow. I planned to go to Vasihno Devi (Jammu & Kashmir) the coming weekend by bus. But I didn't know ... read more

I've finally reached my last destination in Asia before I return to the western world, India! This day has been long awaited and it's almost surreal that I am here now. I spent a month fretting over my visa to get here and only one week before my flight was I able to obtain it. It was such a relief because otherwise I'd be left with unusable flights. We flew from Singapore to New Delhi via Indigo airlines for only $130! Such a great value and the flight was very nice. There were only 4 western passengers on the flight and this was our first sign that things are going to be very different from here on out. It's nice going somewhere that won't be filled with other tourists like places in Southeast Asia are. Arriving ... read more