Introduction to India: Get out of Delhi

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When traveling to India via Qatar we traveled in luxury. Qatar Airways treats it's economy class passengers like first class. We had hundreds of movies to choose from and two full meals. When the drink cart rolled by I noticed liquor, wine and beer. "What's the price", I asked. "It's complimentary, anything you need just ask." I could have traveled like that for a week strait, but, alas, we were on our way to India.

When we arrived in Delhi we were greeted by a thick haze. We arrived at 3am tired and ready to relax. Unfortunately, the driver we scheduled to take us to our hotel didn't show, or we couldn't find him. Luckily for us a friend we met in South Africa also traveled to India and her driver was there. So, after an hour of waiting we followed her to her hotel. It was fully booked, so the driver took us to another place all the way across town.

That afternoon we woke to the hustle and bustle that is Delhi. We stayed in Karol Bagh, near a large shopping area. To me Delhi is crowded, dirty, polluted and in my opinion joyless. Sadly, we didn't have onward plans which forced us to stay longer than we liked. We spent the next few days planning and getting the run around.

We met a lady and her son in our hotel that had experience with the local subway. She was headed to the train station to book tickets and we decided to follow. Once at the train station we were too trusting and got the run around. Our new friend went to the ladies only line and was refused service. The lady at the counter pointed to the left and shooed her away. She was being directed upstairs to the train station's tourist office. Instead she was intercepted by a man with paper and pen. He claimed the tourist office was not in the station and he would show us where to go. He said it had been move due to construction. We were suspicious but group think prevailed and we followed along.

We ended up in a tourist office and began discussing our options with a travel agent, not a railway clerk. They must be getting a lot of commission on trips to Kashmir because they were discouraging rail travel and recommending we go to Srinagar. They'd book a flight and house boat for us. We didn't do it because Kashmir is disputed land and a flair up could happen at any time. We were getting hungry and tired so we decided to join the lady and her son for lunch. The agent recommended a nearby restaurant which served in expensive Indian Thali. The place was empty but was in Lonely Planet, so we stayed. Shortly after our arrival two men sat down next to us for lunch. Promptly they began a discussion with us. We told them we felt the agent was ripping us off. These two guys strongly defended the agent. They said trains are hard to book due to the upcoming holiday and we should trust the agents advice. They said they were on their lunch break, but they didn't eat. We're convinced they worked for the travel shop.

Against our better judgment we went back to the shop. When a new rep sat down with us we knew we had to leave. The new guy was agressive and had a fake Canadian accent. He said "ay" every other word and wore a moose shirt. Ridiculous! We left the lady and her son and returned to our hotel.

Eventually, we realized trains were, in fact, difficult to book due to Diwali. So, we went back to an agent we met earlier and somewhat trusted. Finally we decided to book a car and driver for the next 16 days which began our whirlwind tour of Rajasthan.

Our driver, Hanomon, was named after the mystical monkey king. He was not however, mischievous like him. Hanomon is an amazingly talented driver. He was very careful and focused. These two attributes are a must when driving in India. One could very easily hit a cow, goat, camel, pig, horse, man, woman or child if they weren't alert.

Our first stop was Agra where the Taj Mahal is located. We were only there for one night but it was enough to see this impressive site. The Taj was built by Maharajah I don't know his name for his favorite wife. Yes, there was more than one. He built it as her final resting place after she died during the birth of her 14th child. The monument is perfectly symmetrical with his wife buried in the center. Sadly, this was thrown off when the Maharajah died because he was buried inside next to his wife.

When you step upon the Taj's foundation you are requested to remove your shoes. We opted to wear booties over our shoes, that's what you are seeing on our feet. The Taj is one of the few monuments in the world that looks as good today as when it was built. Removing your shoes helps keep it this way as well as shows respect.

When driving from one place to another I was amazed at how chaotic India is. I was equally impressed to see the locals thrive in this chaos. I have seen over loaded wagons carried by camels going the wrong way on the highway. Heaps of garbage being burned in the streets. Unimaginably poor children rag picking half naked in the piles of trash. BMW's with drivers driving India's elite past these same children. The streets of India are like nothing I have ever seen before.

The locals take what I see as almost chaos in stride. I didn't see a single instance of road rage. Large trucks hauling who knows what encourage drivers to "Blow Horn Please". Locals understand how things work and live life the best way they know how without letting it get them stressed out.

Our next journal will dive deeper into Rajasthan, starting with Jaipur.

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