Blogs from Delhi, National Capital Territory, India, Asia - page 2

We arrived in Delhi at 1245, only 25 mins late after a pleasant overnight train from Varanasi. After our arguments with tuk tuk drivers before in New Delhi we decided to walk to our hostel. Despite only being 2km in the midday heat, with our back packs it was a fairly unpleasant walk down the side of a main road. During our walk we saw cycle rickshaws, ox & cart and horses which we found odd in a capital city. The pavements were either dug up or used a motorbike routes so the road seemed safer! There were large piles of rubbish all along (including by a sign threatening fines). There were also a lot of very poor looking people, and beggars, although we did at least walk past one food station which people were queuing ... read more

Got woke up by the room phone ringing we had over slept and the rest of the group were in the hotel lobby waiting for us, met our tour guide Joe who went through the itinerary for the day. Straight on coach and off to do tour of New Delhi and old Delh, visited the largest mosque in India (jama masking - the largest mosque in India)) had to take our shoes off and the floor was red hot but we coped!! Had a rickshaw ride round the old Delhi market which was good, with it being Sunday lots of the shops were closed, highlight of the day for me was visiting mahatma Gandhi’s tomb and hearing the story about his life and listening to the history of how India became so divided oh and we ... read more

Leider habe ich den Blog aus Versehen zu früh publiziert, hier also die Ergänzungen: Qutab Minar ist ein fast 100 m hoher Turm, dessen unterstes Geschoss vom islamischen Eroberer als Siegessäule errichtet wurde, seine Nachfolger liessen dann die oberen Stockwerke errichten. Gleichzeitig liess er alle Hindutempel auf diesem Areal (der Zelle von Delhi) abreissen und baute mit diesen Steinen eine erste Moschee. Das führte dazu, dass an der Moschee teilweise recht erotischer Bildschmuck erscheint, was eigentlich für Moslem verboten ist. Da unser Morgenflug gecancelt worden war, flogen wir erst Mitte Nachmittagvon Delhi über Bangaluru (Bangalore) nach Trivandrum in Kerala. Wir hatten ein schönes Hotel oberhalb des Strandes mit Palmen, einem Pool und gutem Essen, wo wir 3 Tage faulenzten und uns ayuervedisch behandeln liessen. Natürlich waren wir auch am Strand: schwimmen kann man nicht, da... read more

This one is short, but I wanted to post something because I've been behind due to illness, travelling, lack of internet, and attending functions, and with more functions coming up, I'm not sure when I'll have time on the computer again. Wednesday was well spent with Ishan’s cousin (Manoj's nephew for my colleagues reading this) on a Delhi bus tour. We took the metro to our first destination, and I was given a taste of homemade halwa, which was like mashed potatoes, but sweet. Remember the aforementioned deathtraps that I would never ride in? Well, I rode in one. And it was nuts. It's basically a three-wheeled scooter with seats and a shell/roof. I don't think I'd mind driving one back home just because I already have a scooter, and that's pretty awesome, but here, not ... read more

Did you know that humans have more than 21 senses? Neither did I, until I spent a week in Delhi. To properly gauge my ‘travel insanity’ scale, on my way out of Delhi, I asked this German guy sitting next to me on the train what he thought of India so far. In an exasperated Elmer Fudd voice, he said "Unbewevable!" He had no idea why I started laughing, and why I couldn't stop. Elmer was right, Delhi was Unbewevable! Now, I'd like to think I'm a pretty seasoned traveler, but Delhi, Delhi actually knocked the shit out of me. No, not literally. Although, I did walk through an awful lot of poop. See: assaulted sense number 13. My initial appallment of Delhi was impossible to pin down to one thing. Was it the mental traffic? ... read more