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Published: October 14th 2013
Having to leave Rishikesh was actually really quite sad. Here we found a place that was calm, spiritual, friendly and a place that we both really liked. What probably didn’t help was the fact that our next destination was Delhi. It’s not that we had anything against Delhi, I mean, how could we, neither of us had ever been, however coming from such a place of peace and into India’s frantic capital, we were just hoping that our calm state could hold out until we eventually left the country a day later.
Having shared a Tuk Tuk with Ali and James, we exchanged our contact details, said our goodbyes, and were again back to ‘flying’ solo. Having been put on the waiting list for this particular journey to Delhi, neither of us had any idea how we would actually get on this train as our tickets were still not confirmed nor did we know who we needed to talk to get this sorted. As we walked onto the platform though, a sign pointing to an office for the ‘Chief Super Intendant’ seemed a great place to start and so we peaked our heads round the corner. The Chief was nothing
but pleasant, and 2 minutes after having walked into his office, he was back with two confirmed seats for our train as if by magic! This sort of thing hardly ever runs this smoothly in India, so we asked no questions, grabbed the tickets saying our Thanks and got out of there as quickly as our battered Flip Flops would take us.
Having had this surprisingly good experience, Donna and I were in a reflective mood. We reminisced about the various train journeys that we had taken since arriving here and spoke of some of the fun and some of the horrors that life on the rails had brought us. We were now seasoned travellers on the train and including this trip, we had accumulated over 8500kms….more than enough time to see plenty of what India is all about. Chatting about what we had seen and experienced, we were distracted more than once by some platform antics, and it seemed like India wanted some of these reminiscent thoughts of ours to manifest into real life situations. During the next hour we were about to experience some sort of surreal India montage……
Firstly, Donna noticed a rat. This was
something we had seen plenty of whilst here and especially at the train stations, however never had we seen one boldly strutting its stuff along the platform integrating itself among the train riding patrons like this one! Next we noticed a monkey lurking in the rafters of the platform. He seemed harmless enough until he jumped down to the platform, slashed open someone’s huge bag of popcorn sending it sprawling across the platform before running off with the few grains he managed to steal…more monkeys, more problems! Next I was asked by three lads to pose for a photo for each of them in turn being sure to show my tattoos to the camera. The fellas were friendly enough so I didn’t mind, but I must admit, this was starting to get old now! We were then lured into a lengthy and fairly difficult conversation with an elderly lady. The reason for the length and difficulty was due to our lack of Hindi and her lack of English….this small problem however did not deter her. We think she was interested in our lives, and we are pretty sure that she blessed Donna as we told her we had been together
for 15 years but had no kids….it seems here, this is a matter for the Gods to sort out. To round our hour of fun off at the platform, we were of course bombarded by what seemed to be every beggar in Uttarkarand. This of course is far from fun to see and is actually really upsetting, but again a reminder of something that is unfortunately so rife here.
So, once the ‘entertainment’ was finally over, and the train pulled in, we boarded our last Indian train. For whatever reason, we had been assigned a couple of seats within a carriage full of teenage kids on some sort of school outing which was a little on the raucous side, however we didn’t let it bother us. We were on the train, tickets confirmed and on towards the last stop in India, New Delhi.
On arrival, we had our wits about us. We had heard all manner of stories about the Taxi guys and so-called tourist assistants at the station and some of their scams, so we were ready. Bypassing and batting off what seemed to be hundreds of Tuk Tuk and Taxi drivers, we finally made our way
to the Pre-paid Tuk Tuk stand. We paid for the fare and then went off to find our ride. It was all very official with a policeman directing people to their assigned drivers, and soon enough we were shown our beast. It was clear from the off that when told the road of our hotel, the driver either didn’t want to go there or didn’t know where it was. The latter seemed unlikely though as our hotel was only a short journey from New Delhi station, and it is one of the main roads off of Connaught Circus, the main shopping district in New Delhi. Driving around for a while, we eventually found the road our hotel was on and so Donna, the driver and myself kept our eyes peeled for our hotel. We guessed this shouldn’t be too hard as it was a huge place called Connaught Hotel, and therefore should stick out like a sore thumb. A little way down this road, our driver started to make a few noises. We gathered from this that it meant he didn’t know where the place was and was starting to get the hump. Turning to us, it seemed he wanted
us to direct him to the hotel instead. Having never been to Delhi before in our lives, and the fact that he was a driver based in Delhi, we hinted to him that he probably had more chance of knowing where it might be than us….however we continued to look out of the Tuk Tuk to help with the search. After going some way down this road and it starting to thin out and become much darker, the driver suddenly started to get quite irate, and aimed his anger at us like this was all our fault. At one point, he got so frustrated that he simply pulled over, got out and sat on the side of the road shouting at us. Not really knowing what to do, we offered a few suggestions of where it might be ,based on the number of the hotel and our proximity to the start of the road, but this made him worse and now shouting ‘No English’ and clearly hurling abuse at us, told us to get out of the Tuk Tuk. By now, our tempers started to rise as well despite being calm up until this point, as for him to tell
us to get out and walk in a strange city late at night (it was 11:45pm by now) with a woman present was too much for our patience to stand. Now, both the driver and I were involved in a full scale shouting match, we simply refused to get out and told him either find the hotel or take us back to the station where we can sort this out ‘’Shout all you like pal, we aint getting out….. ’’
Finally, he seemed to notice that we weren’t moving and so, he got back in and drove us towards the first person he saw. This guy directed us to an Ice Cream seller (at 11:45pm on a deserted road….Okaaay??) and fortunately, he knew exactly where the hotel was. He spoke in Hindi to the driver and gave him directions, and from his hand signals, it was clear we had passed the hotel already. We noticed him directing us back where we had come from and then at some point we should hook a right. Thanking the guy as the driver didn’t seem to want to, we were off again back in the opposite direction. Sure enough, a minute down
the road and turning right, we arrived at our hotel. Relief was the main emotion by then, relegating frustration and anger, and disembarking from the Tuk Tuk, we thanked the driver. Whether this was ironic or because we are British and therefore too polite for our own good, I’m not sure, but thank him we did anyway. This then brought the most amazing response I think we have ever encountered…….the driver, saying that he had ‘’driven a long way’’ (suddenly speaking a bit of English) asked for a tip of 50 Rupees!!
Shocked, I firstly asked him if he was for real and being serious, and when he held out his hand, this confirmed that he wasn’t joking. I took this opportunity to then give him a calm and controlled (I had calmed down from my previous bout of shouting, and returned to my post Yoga course serenity) yet thorough dressing down, lecturing him on the way he behaved, his willingness to leave a woman in a strange city late at night, and that his unnecessary shouting and ranting was bang out of order. In a controlled manner I told him, in no uncertain terms, that his tip would
not be forth-coming, and rather hilariously that he was a ‘’Very BAD man indeed!’’….There, that ought to show him…can’t see him doing that again anytime soon!...
Following the Tuk Tuk debacle, our one remaining day in India was to be spent in Delhi….what to do? Well, after waking up and fully gorging ourselves on the hotels amazing buffet breakfast, we peaked outside to assess the weather and decided to do…….naff all! The weather was dreary, and it was Monday which meant most of the things we wanted to do were closed anyway. So, having decided to be lazy, we did very little during the day, and decided to head out in the evening for our last authentic Indian meal and to treat ourselves to a couple of beers in the process. Having not consumed any alcohol for a while, it wouldn’t take much for us to be tipsy anyway, so it was always going to be a cheap night for us!
That very night, we put on our least skanky clothes, and headed off into town. One last good coffee at Café Coffee day was had followed by a rather bizarre and amusing trip to Rodeo bar. Here,
the beers were two for one, the bar itself was a strange Tex-Mex fusion with Fajitas on the menu, saloon doors on the entrance, and the bar stools were made from horse saddles…..how could you ask for better than that! A few beers long and followed by an amazing Indian meal where we ate way too much, rounded off a great evening in Delhi, and more importantly, a fantastic 2 and a half months in India.
Our time here really was incredible. The ups and downs we experienced were phenomenal and although we kind of expected this, I don’t think you can ever really prepare for what India has in stall for you. Some of the places we saw and some of the people we met during our time here will long remain embedded in our thoughts and in our hearts, and to counter this, there are things we saw on this trip that will probably haunt us for some time too. An assault of the senses, a land of contradictions and a place where you should expect the unexpected are all clichés that truly are reality here. We experienced moments when booking a flight out was not just a thought but a real possibility as well as times where we debated staying longer. To fully put into words the things we have seen and done here (and waffling like I do) I could honestly write a book about this amazing place.
There have been some of the loftiest highs here and certainly some of our very worst lows since we started travelling. If someone was to ask where India ranked in my favourite places travelled, it would probably struggle to get in the top 10, perhaps even 20, but for unforgettable and awesome experiences, it would probably rate top 5. So, would we ever take back this experience?.….Never.
India is an enigma, a beauty and the beast-esk land of everything and anything. Moving on will be both a relief and heart breaking, and so we thank this land profusely for what it has given us.
Farewell India, you crazy bastard, and I’m sure one day, we will meet again!
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
It's been a great ride!!
But a lot has to do with budget. Bare bones backpackers vs. something a bit more. What do you think the minimum would be per day for a half decent hotel, food you won't get Dehli Belhi from, and an air conditioned sleeper train? Any other advice as to how to make a trip more pleasant?