New Delhi- Welcome to India...

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We arrived in New Delhi early on Saturday and managed to not get ripped off taking a taxi from the airport to the city!

We got dropped off at the bottom of the Main Bazaar and it was quite an experience walking the few hundred meters to our hotel; The Smyle Inn (grand hotel all things considering, our rooms were very clean and the staff were very pleasant).

...The whole place smells of incense, curry, cow manure and urine and there are people everywhere. Literally everywhere you look there are hundreds of people just standing around. If you could freeze frame just one small section of the Main Bazaar at any given time, day or night, you would have at least two stray cows, four stray dogs, one man pissing, two women arguing, one man sleeping randomly on the ground (looking rather peaceful surprisingly!), twenty people selling things you don't want, two guys frying samosa's in oil that is at least as old as i am, one begger robbing me blind and fifty people standing there looking at everyone else... it is very surreal.

It is also about 40 degrees and humid as hell.


I felt like i was on a movie set the entire time i was in New Delhi and looking back it is like i am looking back on a film i watched recently, i haven't got my head around the fact that i stood there in the midst of it all (and survived!).

Day #1 we spent wandering around the locality and sleeping off the jet lag.

Day #2... was amazing... We booked a very random trip to Srinigar, Kashmir (against our better judgment and departed the following morning!)- hooked up with a 19yr old boy from Jaipur who lives in Delhi and his uncle, who drove us all around the city and acted like guides to us all day- we visited the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid (both are very impressive structures) and we bought (overpriced!) Indian clothes (from a market that employs local people to hand make quality goods at a fair price). The boy- Raju- came for dinner with us and we had a few beers in celebration of our first proper day in India!

Having heard a lot of negative things about New Delhi, i was rather surprised to find that it wasn't what i had been expecting, in a good way. We were not hassled nearly as much as i had been warned to expect and the Indian people are incredibly hospitable. On the plane on the way over, the Indian gentleman sitting beside me actually invited me and the others to stay with him and gave me his number so i could contact him in case anything went wrong or we needed anything. He was completely sincere and there was no hidden agenda.

Over all I believe we have been very lucky thus far and have started out on a very positive note...fingers crossed the good luck continues...

Next stop: Srinigar, Kashmir.

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Photos

New Delhi
An introduction to India

New Delhi
An introduction...

New Delhi
The Jama Masjid

Comments

[Dad]

So far so good.....
It sounds as though you are having a wonderful time, that is great!! Take care and be safe. Keep in touch. I am looking for some postcards. (subliminal message) I love and miss you. Dad

[Scott Schrimsher]

Great blog.....
This is a great blog.....it is more than obvious you are having a wonderful time, your commentary is very descriptive and insightful. I want more !! Take care and be safe..... p.s. What is the name of the Company that you used to book all your trips?

[Dad]

Chiang Mai
Hey kid !! Hows it going? When you get to Chiang Mai you can get a decent cup of coffee at a joint called the Cat Eye. I am waiting for a postcard. :) Have fun...take care and be safe. Dad

[Dad]

You might want to check out the Brasserie on Charoenrat Road..... Keep in touch. Dad