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Published: March 14th 2010
By the time we had reached Delhi Philippe had caught up to me in the feeling rubbish stakes. Outside the train station we paid wildly over the odds to a taxi driver as neither of us were in the mood for negotiation. He eventually found the Grand Park Inn in Karol Bagh and left us 200rupees lighter for his trouble. Our room was ready, and it was fantastic.
Realistically, it was probably no better than a regular business hotel room in Europe, but after the filth of the last few places we have stayed, the sight of a “Sanitized” sign on the toilet nearly made me cry! There doesn't seem to be a middle range of hotels in India. You either stay in the budget places, or fork out over a hundred dollars for a room. As we survey our new palace, we were delighted to see that we had plenty of English TV and a normal enough looking room service menu. It was exactly what we needed for a few days recuperation. We took the decision that night to start taking the antibiotics that we had brought with us from Ireland. We were too far gone to get better
Sinead making a pig of herself
Well we hadn't eaten in five days!without some extra help. Antibiotics and dehydration sachets were our staple diet for next few days and slowly we turned a corner.
We extended our stay in the hotel by three nights. We weren't fit to leave the room, and were feeling particularly low. Even stepping foot outside the hotel to buy snacks left us feeling weak and paranoid. On day five we decided that we were on the mend. Our flight to Goa wasn't for another four days, but with the length of time it takes to get train tickets, we didn't really have time to travel to the north of India as we had previously planned. We decided to make the best of Delhi, but sadly it was time to bid farewell to our posh hotel.
We downgraded to an average, more affordable hotel down the street and made a plan to see a bit of Delhi before we had to leave. On our first day back in the saddle we took a taxi across town to the central area of Delhi. The guide book described it as a refuge from the madness of Karol Bagh. I had an ulterior motive. I had found
“the All American Diner” in the Lonely Planet, and now that we were back eating again, we were badly craving some 'normal' food.
The Diner was an absolute oasis. For two hours we vegged out in a booth that could have been in Dublin, Amsterdam or New York. We ate like pigs and rolled out of the complex with renewed enthusiasm for this travelling lark. It was a lovely sunny day, so we walked towards the
Lodi Gardens and soaked up the greenery and relative silence of the park. I hadn't realised how much I was craving some open space. We were clearly in the posher, more expensive area of town. I decided there and then that if I ever return to New Delhi, I will only do so if I am on a budget that allows me to stay around the Lodi Gardens!
We walked as far as the impressive
India Gate. We were nearly there when we were pelted by kids with water balloons. This wasn't as unexpected as you might imagine. We were aware that today was the pre-Holi Day Festival. As tourists we were like walking flashing neon targets. We were lucky to only get away
with a drenching. Often the festival is marked by throwing colourful water and powder at each other. We had seen a news segment on it and learned that the powder often contains chemicals that are dangerous if ingested or if they get in your eyes. We had a quick look around India Gate, watched a local game of cricket and then got a tuk-tuk back to our new hotel to hide out until the festival was over!
This meant spending the majority of the 1st March indoors. We ordered room service for lunch and only ventured out once the streets looked safe. From the top of the hotel we saw people running around in colour stained clothes, and a bucket of coloured water ready to pour on some unsuspecting victim. It was enough to get a feel for the festival. The participants were really enjoying themselves, but we decided that we have few enough clothes with us as it is to risk getting caught in the crossfire.
We left the hotel around six o'clock as darkness was falling. Our destination was the McDonalds that was two blocks away. We made it unscathed and enjoyed chicken burgers (the only
meat they served!) and chips, à la western. We were still extremely wary of eating in local diners. Our stomachs still hadn't recovered. It was strange logic, given that McDonalds wouldn't normally be your first choice when recovering from a dodgy stomach, but it was the safest option on offer in the neighbourhood!
The next day was our last day in Delhi. We were disappointed that we had missed our chance to go north to see the Corbett Tiger reserve, so we set off to Delhi Zoo to try and see some tigers there. We had to queue for thirty minutes to get our ticket and then get body searched on our way into the zoo, but once inside we had an enjoyable time.
The most obvious cultural difference was the comparison between the types of animals that the Indians were excited about seeing versus what we thought were cool. Most of their attention appeared to go to the deer. We barely gave them a second glance. Then again, the Indians practically ran by the beautiful white tiger and jaguars that we were amazed by. Over the course of the day we saw Hippos, Rhinoceros, Bears, Crocodiles, Giraffes,
Elephants and Asiatic Lions. Realistically we probably saw more animals than if we had have gone to the reserve up north.
At times during the day it was strange because we were attracting as much attention as the animals. We joked that we should have set up shop in one of the empty enclosures. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to being stared at for being foreign, but I'd want to get on with it, as apparently China is going to be much worse!
After the zoo we went to the nearby Khan Market, which is a mecca for all foreigners seeking the comfort of food from home. Luckily it was our last day in Delhi, because otherwise there was a high risk that we would have bought the shop! After picking up some essentials, we got a tuk-tuk back to Karol Bagh and packed up our bags once more. We had a mid-morning flight booked to Goa, and I must admit that it felt nice to be on the move again.
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