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Published: November 18th 2007
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You never get a second chance at a first impression
Another traveller's first thoughts on Pahaganj, Delhi:
"...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." "We have been trying, desperately, to try to see the bright side of the trash heap that is India. We came here with high hopes, but most have them have been trampled by beggars, con-men, autorickshaw drivers, and whole bunch of other bullshit" The second comment was taken back after a week or so and the couple who wrote it had a thoroughly enjoyable time
in the end!
It's interesting hearing other people's first impressions on a place, or watching someone who is just discovering something for the very first time. It reminds you that you never get a second chance at a first impression.
It's funny how time dims your memory of certain things - the memories of some things fade, while others are greatly exaggerated. And to a certain extent, you remember what you want to remember. India is a country that most people love and hate - usually at the very same time.
I've had a really enjoyable few days back in Delhi. The curries are still delicious and the men are still seedier than ever. The cows still eat cardboard and everyone still tries to charge 10 times too much for everything. And the public urinal at the end of "my alley" still smells fantastic!
And if anyone asks - no - I don't need a husband, a toilet brush, a mars bar or a camel!
Overland from Delhi to Kathmandu - 18th October
Thank god it's over!! It turned out to be yet another epic mission. After elbowing my way through hoards of staring men to
board the Vaisahli Express I was shocked to discover that i'd be sharing my cabin area with 7 Indian men. SEVEN! In fact, there were only 3 other women in my entire carriage - all being escorted by their respectable Indian husbands of course! And I was the only westerner!
Wake up, and welcome back to India Dulkara, I thought to myself. When the train rattled into Gorakhpur (a town 2 hours from the border) I was still alive and had been pleasantly suprised by my male company. Although I did resort to facing the wall after a seedy holy man stared at me for a bit too long from the opposite bunk. It arrived 2 hours late, typically. But 2 hours Indian time is equivalent to around 2 minutes Swiss time, so I was quite lucky really. At the train station I ran into some other tourists who had come from Varanasi and we had a very interesting 2 hour ride to the border with 14 people squeezed into a 7 seater jeep! For those of you who aren't aware of the pitfalls of travelling in a country that's mostly Hindu - it's the belief that your second life
will be better than your present one that makes for suicidal drivers! But for a dollar or two, road trips could be marketed as cheaper versions of popular theme park rides (at your own risk!) The border was hassle-free and it took less than 1 hour to get my visa. After a huge argument with a rickshaw driver (who doubled his price at the end of the journey) I met some other tourists and we organised a mini-van to Kathmandu. It was a really random trip - a wheel burst in the middle of nowhere & we kept driving on it for half an hours before switching vans. The trip that was supposed to take 6 hours took 12 and the driver stopped the van 10km from the centre of Kathmandu and started throwing people's bags off the roof, telling us to get out or pay more. It was the middle of the night by this time and we were in a really dodgy area full of savage dogs and homeless gang members! But we got there in the end.
I shared a room in Kathmandu with a Dutch girl and hung out with her and 2 south africans
who had spent the last 3 years travelling around the world. They had plenty of wonderful stories to share!
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Wendy
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HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY Dulkara and what better way to spend it than traveling!