Honk your horn

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The raucous group of Indian guys on the flight from Bangkok to Delhi should have hinted to us of the forthcoming noise, invasion of privacy and machismo that we were about to land into... great for specatating and everyone gets a ringside seat in Delhi!

Today has been our first full hot (34 degrees) day in Delhi and after
a wary start (many people told us it would be bonkers and dodge
here), we have very much enjoyed our first day in 'honk-your-horn'
Delhi. We have just been wandering around (Connaught Place mainly)
and absorbing this crumbly city with its flaky paint and frenetic
energy. Went to National Museum this pm which was excellent and has
certainly given us some context from which to understand this
multi-faceted country!! I was amazed that their culture was so well
developped as far back as 2500Bc with broze casting, pottery,
weighing standards and wax stamps - seems bureaucracy is in their
blood! Next door to the shop we are now in are two rubber stamp shops to fuel Indian bureaucracy and we thought about buying a "wish you were here" stamp for postcards!

Tomorrow we have hired a driver for the day to take us to some of the
sites/temples/parks that interest us and then Saturday we meet our
Intrepid travellers to start our 2 week overland tour to Kathmandu.

We are staying at Hotel bright which from their website looked
quite swanky, but in reality is extremely basic (read grubby) and I think the name comes not from the clean condition of the rooms, but from the neon lighting that shines all night into our room from the hallway!!
Nonetheless, we imagine that this is probably the norm for Delhi accom and adds to the flavour. The passage to the bathroom actually goes outside and through an area of rubble and 'renovations' - more like a blitz scene than salubrious hotel. Still, the poeple that run it are nice people and how can we judge their standards and priorities by our own?! The bathroom and sheets are clean which counts for much in my opinion.

It's great to be back in the sensory and perspective challenges of
asia and we are really excited about the rest our trip now. Only
today have we startde to feel relaxed after the long running stress
of leaving work, packing up and organising our trip.

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Photos

Delhi 1
Little did we know how familar we would become with the words Honk Your Horn in India

Delhi 1
Lotus temple in south Delhi - have they outdone the Sydney opera house - I thought so!

Delhi 2
Colour abounds in India

Delhi 4
Me at Humayan's Tomb, Delhi

Delhi 5
Crazy streets of Old Delhi

Delhi 6
Lucy eating a chapati we had made at a Sikh temple we visited in Old Delhi. The Sikhs were very friendly and their temple made for an oasis of calm in Old Delhi

Taj Mahal
Us at Taj Mahal - amazing place and deserves all the acclaim. Very busy but mainly Indians there which made the place more colourful.

Orchha village life
We visited a village near Orchha where we watched the local potter making small candle dishes for the upcoming Diwali (festival of lights) festival - the kids were an entranced as we were

Sunset on Ganges
We sailed down the Ganges for two days which was in credibly peaceful - we saw a dead dog and Ali in our group saw a dead body. We prepared for Varanasi!

Comments

[Jecca]

wish I was there!
Fantastic idea - to blog! Wonderful photos - beautiful! Have fun and be safe - dont forget to honk your horns - ooer! Greetings from sunny Hants!