Delhi

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Arrived in Delhi with nowhere to stay and not knowing anything about the city in general. Probably not the best way to start. However, we had a Rough Guide to india so felt safe. Found a hotel through the airports tourist information office which seemed nice in the pictures. We were put in a car and driven to the hotel which turned out to be in what apperared to be the slums of Delhi, although for all we knew, all of Delhi could have been like that.

It turned out that this was mostly true as we explored a little more of the city. We weren't allowed to walk anywhere and were ushered from place to place by taxi, or rickshaw. We went to an 'official' government tourist office, however it seemed that all the tourist offices were official ones. Organised a tour for the next day and some accomodation which we were promised would be better than where we currently were and right in the city centre. After this we went for some food, and a well deserved beer.

Next day we were taken to our new hotel in the morning which turned out to be neither better than the other place, or in a better location. The view from the window was of the dumping ground across the road. We were then whisked off on our tour where we saw Jama Masjid, a temple type thing (the culture of which we obviously greatly appreciated). After this we saw Raj Ghat, the site where Mahatma Ghandi was cremated along with some other important people. We didn't go to the Red Fort because apparently there was a problem there that day, or possibly our driver just couldn't be bothered. After this we went out of the old city and into New Delhi, although there was no discernable difference between the two. We went around the government buildings and India gate, which looks a lot like the Arc de triomphe. Following this, we saw Humayun's Tomb and Qutb Minar, which were both perfectly nice although by this time we were quite hot and tired. Our final stop on the tour was definitely the highlight of the day, we were taken somewhere without really being told what it was and ushered through a pair of tinted doors. The place we walked into was not exactly what you'd call a tourist destination, it being a rug shop. The man who greeted us seemed as perplexed as we were at our presence in there and obviously could tell from our expressions that we weren't really in the market for any rugs or carpets. We left there pretty quickly.

After our tour we decided (and had been told by almost everyone we'd met) that 2 days in Delhi was enough or even too much. So we attempted to head for the train station to get out of the city. Our next destination was to be Agra and the Taj Mahal. However, we were unable to book a train so were forced back to another 'official' tourist office who practically forced us into getting a taxi to take us to Agra, he insisted that this was the only possible way to get there. The price for the taxi seemed to be higher than what we'd pay for the same length of journey in England, but by that time we were just happy to be heading away from Delhi.

We were picked up early the next morning for our road trip to Agra. But not before Rosie discovered a mouse in the shower. On the positive side of this, it meant Rosie's shower was probably the quickest in her life.

Next stop Agra

More Soon

Neil and Rosie
xx

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Photos

Raj Ghat
Mahatma Ghandi's samadhi (memorial plinth)

Qutb minar
Apparently walking around this pole with your hands behind your back (as Rosie is ably demonstrating) gives you good health, or something like that.

Comments

[Angela McNeill]

Hey Neil and Rosie All sounds like such an adventure, hey rosie hope the mouse was not put under a coffee cup!!!! Have loads of fun and look forward to hearing from you soon. Angela xxx