The Arrival In Delhi

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After a pretty smooth arrival through customes we were good to go making a beeline for the pre-paid taxi booth as we realised that we didnt actually have the address of where we were staying aaaarrgh!! We new it was on the main bazaar but supidly that wasnt really enough the plan was to get out and just walk it. It was midnite on Indian independance day there was no internet shops open and rather we were greeted by so many new sights and smells. We had done a lot of research prior to visiting Delhi however nothing could prepare us for our immediate shocked little faces when we arrived and even more so when we drove into the main bazaar. By night it was full of bodies lying along the street, cows, dogs, cats and the smells.... mmm less said about that the better. It was very humid and our hostel was a bit of a dump although very cheap.

I awoke in the morning in a pull of sweat and rather nervous about entering the main bazaar. I was greeted by bright colours, the lovely burning smell of insense and it was very busy. From there we made our way in the sweltering heat to the train station desperately trying to look like we knew what we were doing but iam sure we looked far to intrigued, sweaty, hot, flustered, lost - making us a prime target for touts. Before long we made our way to some "government tourist office" dodging the many rickshaws, bikes,cars, people i have nver exp such chaos.

We booked a taxi to drive us round the city and take in the sights. A lovely air-conditioned car made life so much more pleasant. We saw the grand Red Fort, India Gate,Humayun's Tomb with the help of Rakesh our delightful driver. He gave us some good advice and some history on each sight we were beginning to relax and enjoy Delhi. I personally enjoyed Humaguns Tomb the gardens were beautiful and very tranquil (away from the noise and plloution giving us the chance to breath a little). I think paul maybe preferred the Red Fort.

Later that night we went shopping along the bazaar bought some more appropriate clothes that would help keep me stay cooler went for a drink in the Gem bar and prepared to leave Delhi the next morning for Kashmir.

Delhi was far too hot and humid for us to stay another day. This is our first time in India and we were struggling with the pollution, the chaos, the heat. There was something quite charming about the bazaar and iam sure i would grew more accustom had we given it a chance but the sound of the cooler himilayan hillfoots was just far too tempting.

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Photos

The gardens
so peaceful