Delhi

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First stop delhi. The plane was late because indians carry way too much luggage, the pilot announced that he'd never seen that much. Our taxi to the hotel introduced us to the mental driving. Seems like the done thing is keeping the lane dividers in the centre of the car. If anyone has the cheek to be going slightly slower than you for a second you drive at them really fast until they have to move. At the hotel we got given chai masala tea as it seems you do when you go anywhere in India. Got a review of our travel plans from the headteacher style hotel guy.  We headed out into the craziness for a bit although without a map at night we didn't go too far. It's pretty hard to describe. Everywhere you look something ridiculous is going on. It's like everytime someone is about to do anything someone else has said 'hey, why not do that in the road'. Have a bath, a sleep, a piss, make dinner. The next day we got a map and tried to walk to the red fort. We walked for about a mile dodging cows, rickshaws etc, and saw a lot of the stereotypical scenes like people sifting through rubbish tips and pulling carts of what looked like junk either by hand or cow. As we were the only white faces we saw the whole time that explains the thousands of stares which didnt bother me, with the occassional 'hallo' thrown in. We got a bit lost and got a cycle rickshaw to the fort. It's basically a big area surrounded by the fort with a collection of old buildings, some nice, some not. And also a museum about how the british fucked things up but gandhi sorted it. Got a few people wanting photos with us or just taking photos on their phone as we walk past. Its quite amusing being a racial celebrity but everyone was really friendly. We then got a cycle rickshaw 'tour' where he took us to places where he got commission. First stop was to a Hindu temple which looked like a terrace house in the backstreet of a backstreet but was amazingly decorated with paintings and gold from the tenth century. It was free to enter but obviously a bloke (i think he said was a priest) started giving us a tour and at the end wanted 100 rupees but we only had 50 in change. He was a bit of a nob and kept saying 'as long you know, my income down 50 rupees'. I felt like saying that because of us it was up 50 and he should stop sulking that his 'don't tel there's a price until the end' backfired. We then got taken to a pashmina shop where we made it clear we weren't buying but the bloke was happy to show us stuff and talk to us about England etc. We got taken back to the train station, not our hotel as we asked, the driver said it was just round the corner. He wanted 300 despite being 200 before we left. After a brief argument we just paid which I'm sure is all part of the plan and getting ripped off hasn't been unexpected. We got a bit lost looking for the hotel but got to see more of the city. We new the hotel was near the station but the opposite way the rickshaw bloke said. Went and had lunch on the roof top terrace (not as posh as it sounds) then had a nap. Yes were pussies but we missed a nights sleep on the plane. Had a quiet night before getting the train to jaipur in the morning. The train was comfortable despite being in 3rd class. Got a view of delhi's slums with ridiculously makeshift houses covered in animals but also with satellite dishes. I don't know if the train tracks are part of the morning commute but you'll never see more people shitting and brushing their teeth at one time right in the middle of the several lanes of tracks. Towards Jaipur the landscape became more hilly and desert looking. First glimpses looked less busy but still mental and with more camels.

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Photos

Delhi by night
The street outside our hotel

Racial Celebrity
Hayley and her new friends

The Red Fort
Me squinting outside the Red Fort

Cycle-rickshawing
Travelling through the jam-packed backstreets in a cycle-rickshaw

Comments

[Will]

lol!
Loving this blog mikey, keep us posted you racial celebrity haha! How's the food there?

[Joe]

awesome
sounds cool mate cant imagine the crazyness keep us posted babe

[Tom Bailey]

Sounds crazy!
Get used to being ripped off! Sounds like you are having fun, keep up the blogging! Tombo