Blogs from Delhi, National Capital Territory, India, Asia - page 9

Geo: 28.6137, 77.1834 I arrived at the Delhi airport late Friday night after a surprisingly fairly pleasant day of travelling. One big surprise, on the second flight from Kuala Lumpur to Delhi was that I was in the first row behind first class: lots of leg room, space for overhead luggage, more room to move around, all things passengers now pay extra for when purchasing their tickets. However, I quickly realized that the other three seats adjoining mine were to be occupied by a family of four, including a baby who had made himself known back in the waiting lounge. The flight was about six hours long; we were to arrive before 10PM, so I thought everything would be okay as it was not an overnight flight. The baby turned out to be delightful. He had ... read more

After months of planning, saving, daydreaming and talking about India it finally arrived. D-Day. After a tiring but uneventful flight I landed in Delhi, first step into what promised to be the exhilerating, illuminating and insane world of India. Exhausted, sweaty and slightly crabby after having to wait what felt like an eternity to retrieve my pack from the carousel, I stepped out into arrivals expecting to be greeted by a placard bearing my name held aloft by a Pre booked driver. 25 minutes of scanning the multitude of faces all scrutinising me and hollering names of varying nationalities (none of them mine), I admitted defeat and made my way outside, sidestepping the dozens of taxi wallahs, touts and plain conmen all offering to take me anywhere I desired. After locating the Pre Paid Taxi booth ... read more

Flying via Bangkok arrived into the capital of India, Delhi. First introduction to this crazy new world was via a psychotic auto-rickshaw driver, holding on tight as we hammered through the busy streets at maximum speed while he shouted abuse and just missed crashing his flimsy battered vehicle. Breathed a temporary sigh of relief on reaching the hotel, before heading out to the train station to book a ticket to Agra – ambushed by several lying travel agent touts en route, I was diverted via a couple of fake “official government” offices before eventually discovering the genuine bureau back at the main station. Next day meandered through the twisting, stall-lined backstreets of old Delhi, assaulted by a panoply of smells from the stench of festering garbage in the hot streets through to the mouth-watering aromas of ... read more

After a good workout in the hotel gym (I am traveling with Leo) and another great breakfast in our hotel, we met our driver (DP) and our guide for the day “Luke”. We headed from central New Delhi to Old Delhi to begin our touring. As we approach Old Delhi you can see how the buildings change. They are older and more compact. Our first stop focused on the Muslim residents of Delhi. Interestingly, although all religions appear to live with each other peacefully in Delhi, there is a definite divide in this part of town, the Muslim live on the ‘left’ and everyone else on the ‘right’. You could see the difference in dress and the stores on either side of the road. We made our way to the Jama Mosque, the largest mosque in ... read more

Having a down day to recover from a bit of Delhi belly. I've been somewhat fortunate, escaping any sort of troubles so far. We think it is because the malaria medication I take is also an antibiotic, while E's is only for malaria. Anyway, it always good to have day to relax. To read books, to write and to reflect on all that we've seen and experienced so far. Next up, the temple of love over in the eastern part of the country, will update in a couple of days.... read more