Advertisement
Published: December 27th 2008
Hi,
The journey did not start very well when I awoke on my flight to Paris with a huge damp patch. Don't get the wrong idea....I had fallen asleep with a water bottle in my lap but clearly looked like I'd forgotten a Tena-lady. I said to the stewardess in a load voice "It's JUST WATER" so that fellow passengers heard too. I was given some small towels and a blanket to sit on. Fortunately managed to dry myself off before disembarking and pegging it round Charles de Gaulle to the terminal where my next flight was due to leave in 30 minutes. It was chaos as every passenger is security checked again by a jobs-worth with a shoe fetish.
Fortunately I was not alone and about 30% of the passengers did not make it to the Delhi flight in time, so they waited. Claire was already onbaord phoning me every couple of minutes to say "are you through yet?"
Arrival in Delhi was about 23:30 (5.5 hours ahead) and "our man" from the Hotel Legend was there to collect us. I think the name "Legend" may come from another era....where the photos on there website came from too. It is cockroach-free and I don't think that they do rooms by the hour, so it's not all bad 😊 I had a slight fit about mosquitos in the room and then managed to collapse unconscious cocooned in a silk sleeping bag with my own pillowcase for comfort.
We managed to drag ourselves up around half eleven to leave the "hotel" insearch of refreshment. There the culture shock really began. I feel that I'm now permanently dusty and dirty (no jokes please). We walked to Connaught Place which was designed (according to the books) with The Crescent in Bath as the template....ha ha ha! It is slightly curved with pillars. We hiked round all day, quickly learning NOT to get the Lonely Planet guide out in public and to stick sections of the map to the inside of sunglasses. This means we reduce the chances of guys approaching us to ask:
Are you English?
Do you know where you're going?
Do you want a tuk-tuk?
Do we want the Tourist Office?
.........and variations on this theme. Shouting "No" seems to be the only deterrent.
We have managed to book a car and a driver for tomorrow to take us round the historical sights in Delhi, and possibly a good massage place that's recommended in LP guide. We have been to the train station (also tout central) and we can book out tickets for a 5am train to Agra for Monday. Lack of ready cash means that we'll call back in early tomorrow.
Delhi reminds me of Bangkok in that 48 hours initially is enough in a capital city. We are giving off the aura of Newbies in a foreign place and are easy pickings. Otherplaces that we are going to are supposed to be more relaxed; here's hoping. I suppose being 2 females doesn't help either so we have started to stalk couples and western people, sticking close to them to avoid so much attention. I don't know how they feel about it though. I'm in the "Hotel" Legend foyer now, typing away and getting mauled by mossies so ciao for now.
Deb x
Advertisement
Tot: 0.063s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 7; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0365s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
ankit
non-member comment
welcome
Hi debbie, Welcome to india...hope u will enjoy your stay here....since you are in delhi i advice you to visit places like qutub minar, lotus temple , red fort...if u like architecture...qutub and red fort are world heritage sites, i guess u know it already. Akshardham is also a good option..but it takes lot of visit. Hope u have good time in agra...looking forward to follow your journey