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Published: July 20th 2008
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Well, here we are..only three days into it and already it feels like we have been here for weeks. We are having a great time and coping better than expected!
Tomorrow morning we train out to Agra for a few nights before moving on to our next stop.
After a fantastic flight on Jet Airways (my new favourite airline: fantastic new planes, friendly staff and great food - not that it mattered since I was so zonked out on pills anyway!) we arrived in Delhi.
What an arrival it is! Whoever said 'no amount of reading or watching India DVD's can prepare you for India' was certainly right.
Delhi certainly has a level of poverty that blew me away and yes, on the first day I walked along the street and cried. Children shifting through garbage mountains, playing in the dirt next to filthy pools of water, grubby naked toddlers sitting in the middle of motorways, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, people sleeping half naked on footpaths, tiny, dirty kids performing 'circus tricks' at intersections - while their mother sits behind with a newborn baby waiting for the kids to run out into the traffic to get money from
the passing cars... until now, I have taken our everyday life for granted.
The city is huge and has so many zones to it. We are staying in South Delhi, where the roads are wide and tree lined - yet even here people sleep on the street and seem to do what they can to survive. Considering all this, the hassle factor out here has been surprisingly low. Of course we have had the rip-off tatics of the auto rickshaw drivers "lets go to the market, yes, yes sir, SHE wants to shop, come to this special market, very nice things.. jewels, (head wobble) all very nice, you are from New Zealand, yes cricket sir, yes Steven Flemming, (head wobble) so come to my market, yes you don't have to buy, just look, good for me, good for you, just to look (head wobble), yes you want to come I know..." and on and on but this is expected and considering the number of tuk tuks we have used so far, we have only had to deal with this crap a couple of times. While these instances are tiresome, we have never felt in danger, even on our epic
trip into the heart of Old Delhi today where even the rickshaw drivers were saying "this place is danger for you, many poor people all too poor for you" I guess it helps to have a six foot three male in tow - there is no way I would come here with another female - the hassle wouldn't be worth it.
This particular foray into Old Delhi took us into an area where we started out walking - the sights were saw in this place were unbelievable. We didn't encounter a single Westerner the whole time, It was a strange but kind of an exciting feeling being in the middle of this seething mass of humanity. We didn't take any photos during our little adventure as it didn't really feel right photographing people's lives like that. Also, an SLR camera would have drawn even more attention and I certainaly didn't want anymore than what we were getting! We would have continued walking except we came across a pack of the most horrific, scabby, hairless and slighty crazed looking dogs. The small one was screaming like a mad thing and made a lunge for one of the guys walking in
front of us. That was enough for me! I jumped into the tuk tuk driven by a guy who had been following us for the past ten minutes. It was just the opportunity he had been waiting for - we had to listen to a banter about the Red Fort "being closed today" (lies - don't they know we have heard it all before?) but at least we were free from a potential rabies case!
This part of the trip was 'character building' but the rest has of our time in Delhi has been about seeing the sights. Our favourite was Humayun's tomb which is a world heritage site. Qutab Minar was also much better than we expected and India Gate and the Parliment House area was totally unexpected. A slice of Europe in amongst the madness of Delhi. The lotus temple was a bit unusual and Connaught Place just didn't really do it for me. The areas most frequented by tourists are also the homes to the scam artists and most annoying touts. The mix of pestering street children, busy Mcdonalds, KFC and Levis stores made for a strange combination. (Although in saying this, my God those Levis
were cheap - only about 9 quid - but I resisited - for once in my life I think I've been put off shopping...) The Red Fort was more impressive from the outside - would have been more enjoyable in cooler temperatures. The heat is unreal at the moment - we are sweating bucket loads and have got through about 14 litres of water in the past 3 days. We were lucky enough to be driven around yesterday in a lovely airconditioned car as we met up with one of Chris's old workmates. What a saviour that was!
Despite of all the poverty, there is def another side to Delhi too. There is also a huge amount of wealth here and the middle class appears to be doing very well with the new economic growth. The western clothes are becoming popular in the shops and food places like Mcdonalds seem to be booming. Our friend said that people are doing much better today than they were in the past. Delhi is on the up but still has a long way to go. There is a cool scheme here called 'Teach India' that appeals to educated people to teach english
to the poor. Hopefully these schemes will do well.
Rich or poor, people on the whole have been generally helpful and it is nice when the oldies smile at you without asking for anything. Safety-wise, I def think that Paris felt more 'dodgy' than Delhi!
Anyway, it's as hot as hell and I think I've nearly put myself to sleep with typing. Luckily it's free internet at our (overpriced) guesthouse and no one else has come in to use it yet!
Chris is lying under the air conditioning unit in our room - think I might go and join him! Tomorrow we are prepared for the ultimate in tourist hassle as we train on to Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal. Take care everyone, see you in six weeks!
PS - no case of Delhi Belly as yet, woohoo!
PPS - friggin heck, I am now standing on the chair and typing. A rat has just run out from under the sink. It is now hiding behind the fridge. I am not making this up. I think it's time to go to bed.
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andrew
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i am on the precipice of blowing up my life here and taking the trip to india that i've always dreamed of. i enjoyed your account very much. i wish you luck and will continue to look for more of your stories here. i must decide this week, so reading current accounts is very entertaining and informative. thanks