Day Two: Actin' like you never seen a white person before

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Due to our jet lag and our midnight bucket fresh Indian friends, I did not wake until half ten, by which point breakfast had finished. Gutted. Meg had not slept well, due to the gents chatting in Hindi until the early hours.



We did not fancy being harassed for a tuk tuk or a taxi wherever we went, so after asking the staff at hostel we were directed to Ola. Ola is Indian Uber. We type where we want to go (New Delhi Zoological gardens) and they tell us the price before hooking us up with a driver. Can’t remember the guys name (sorry mate) but it was only 250 rupees for the journey to the zoo, so we were aware of being absolutely ripped off on our previous taxi. Our assumption is that it was airport rates and we move on.



Our driver did not know where the zoo was and actually took us to the back gate where a jolly security guard redirected him. The outside of the zoo was quiet. We are tourists in monsoon season and though as of yet we have not encountered the rain the lack of people in attendance pointed to this. This was our first encounter with tourist attractions and we learnt that Delhi zoo either don’t want tourists or want to milk them for all they are worth. 50 rupees for an Indian citizen however 200 per person for a “foreigner”. I’d love to see an angry American fork out £200 for Chester Zoo but there we go. In all seriousness I do understand it but (having written this a day later than planned) it gets worse. Much worse.



Into the zoo. It’s huge, rolling in an oval road for what seems like forever (in the best possible way.) Many animals seemed to be segregated individually but all generally seem happier, in part due to the climate I’m presuming. I would recommend going just because of the happy animals. You can see Marsh crocodiles (BIG Marsh Crocodiles I hasten to add) actually outdoors moving around, as opposed to lying at the back of a reptile house under a light. Other notable sights were 4 frolicking hippos, 84 different types of deer (slight (only slight) exaggeration) Lions, Tigers, Indian and African Elephants, the whole arc basically. They did go a little bit over the top with some things, like I’m not being funny lads but you can call it a “Brown Jungle Fowl” all you want, we both know it’s a chicken. The trek around the zoo took roughly 3 hours, and along the way you can view a family of Macaques who appear to not be tied to the zoo but prefer to stay for the company. And the bins. Probably the bins. The other time delay was the people staring at you, trying to take photos of you on the sly, asking for photos with you (just the one this time but again we will come back to that tomorrow.) there’s nothing wrong with that in my eyes it was just a bit unusual, and having read all the trip advisors my eyes for the most part remained glued to Meg’s backpack, just in case.







For lunch, just outside the zoo we entered a small food court. There were 6 separate food counters but one ordering booth. You ordered your food, in our case by pointing and saying “aloo” at the man because it’s a word we know, where we received a receipt to cash in at the counter we needed. It’s actually super effective as we found out. We had Aloo Ki Tikki (just one between us) which is boiled potato with a mild chilli (excellent) sauce with mango chutney and yoghurt topped. It was pretty tasty and surprisingly filling and for 40 rupee (50p) we had our lunch.



Now, earlier I mentioned Ola and what a great app it was. If you have internet access. EE charge you £6 a day for internet access in India. Not happening. This meant we had to brave the taxi madness. Within 1 minute of our feet touching the road by the gate they were on us. Tuk Tuk? Taxi? Tuk Tuk? Taxi? After haggling we roped down to 350 from 600. Well to be honest Meg did, I haven’t really been asked anything so far because I presume they think women are a softer touch (Never met Meg before clearly.) The taxi driver once again got lost on the way to the hostel but we were back, where a brief chill ensued.



Chill finished, it’s time to talk about Delhi Metro. It’s the dogs bollocks. We decided we didn’t want to fork out on the taxis any longer, and ventured to Greater Kailash metro station. It’s awkward as hell to get a token (That isn’t a misrepresentation, it is actually a tiny token) because the machines only accept certain notes depending on the amount you’re paying. For example, our first route was 60 rupees collectively but we could not use anything higher than a 100 bill. This begs the question, why would you dish out 2000 rupee notes at the airport like it’s no-ones business? Lets not get into that, I’ll be here weeks. The metro itself is as good as London Underground. Just as quick and effective, everything is in English and thus quite easy to navigate. Only downside is the occasional person who seems confused, or even slightly repulsed by our presence. Lovely.



We explored Lodi Gardens, a free to access park near _______ metro station. The park is large and beautiful, the rain of recent times creating a further 3 additional ponds. Central to the park are 2 mosque ruins from the 15^th century, and there is a large variety of wildlife, in particular a vast amount of hawks/buzzards, all sitting on the same dead tree almost directly in the centre of the park, along with 3 suicidal parakeets. Its serene and scenic, and if you can avoid the distractions of the many joggers (who wore jeans and polo shirts, I have so many comments about this but this already a lengthy report as it is) then you will be fine.



Upon our return to our stop, we were amazed that the 15 minute journey had resulted in the sun completely setting and night creeping in. Even in an area we were completely used to, it was a different beast at night, still the incessant honking, but now with bright lights everywhere. We opted to eat to stop the disorientation so stopped for some more street food. Momos are steamed mini dumplings in a hot (Nandos extra hot for all you cheeky connoisseurs) chilli sauce. Again delicious. The chicken inside was minced which caused some early confusion between myself and Meg, who is vegetarian and so has given me the ‘reluctant’ title of food taster. After polishing these off at the hostel, we wandered to the market to fetch another 4 bottles of water, dodging a woman who was sat down fine when we arrived but once noticing us had done her very best Shaun of the Dead Zombie impression as she stalked us for the taste of fresh Rupees, and returning before going to bed.



Total Steps: 25,000



Total Bites amassed: 2



Photos with the white boy: 1



Top Tip: 7/8 subway trips is the equivalent of one taxi journey financially. Remember that.

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