This could be heaven, or this could be hell.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Delhi, India
Arriving in Delhi via the airport, proved to be a far nicer experience than I had expected.
I got a pre-paid taxi easily from inside the airport, found the exit, found the taxi easily outside .
There were no crowds of touts outside, no assault on the senses from pollution, heat, cows, beggars.
Was I in the correct place?
An hour later I arrived, with no more unusual traffic, in comparison to the rest of South East Asia I had visited before.
Found the Guest House (GH) with relative ease too.
The owner was a hive of information, our room wasnt ready, but I was early, at least we got a (rather dirty) bathroom for ourselves,which wasnt in the deal, so who was I to complain.
The linen wasnt clean either, hmm, but I was too tired to bother complaining.
I met a friendly Zimbabwean family, whos family member was awaiting a kidney transplant.
Would you believe that India has some of the best, and cheapest medical care/hospitals?
Anyhow, I tried to rest my weary feet, by putting them up against the wall for sometime.
I always puff up on a plane, and end up looking like a dead warthog, in the African sun..
Not a pretty sight.
Martina arrived late afternoon, full of the joys of life.
She had been given business class from Dubai, for some unknown reason, and thoroughly enjoyed the perks .
We both remarked on our similar 1st impressions of India.
Day 2 - Saw us venturing into old Delhi
The metro was impressive.
Fast, aircon, and sky and normal trains.
We arrived in old Delhi, and here was the real India.
Immediately we were greeted by an enthused,"and no doubt, starved of business" rickshaw driver. We tried to stave him off but he was quite a persistent little bugger.
He gave us, and we eventually agreed upon, a fare for seeing a number of places.
We had breakfast, and then he took us to the Chandni Chowk market.
Wow! What a place!
It was crowded, colorful, noisy, dirty, interesting, smelly.
Upon entrance into the spice market, the fumes were so potent from the chillies, that we coughed, wheezed, and were all teary.
It was fascinating inside.
Our driver/guide took us up filthy stairs to 3 different levels showing us the interior of the spice market from small balconies.
On the rooftop we had great views of Delhi, nice and polluted.
And just what we expected.
After the market, we went to the Red Fort.
What can I say . I was quite disappointed.
It was expensive, because it is a Unesco Site.
It had an impressive, huge red stone wall, and massive wood carved doors.
I was expecting the rest to be just as impressive, but sadly there were only a few tiny places inside, which although beautiful, were not what I expected to see.
We did, however, have a very good laugh when we arrived at the entrance.
A sudden gust of wind lifted my silk skirt in an unexpected 365 degrees swirl.
Here I was, frantically trying to pat down my skirt, while the young men at the entrance were temporarily surprised, and I'm sure quite gobsmacked, by the sudden display of knickers.Lol.
There was a museum of fascinating, ancient to modern, weaponry, and there was a chain mail vest, with shoe covers to match, with the muslim prayer carved on each link.
After the Red Fort, we visited the Sikh temple, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, and got a free lunch. We sat in a huge hall, with hundreds of other people, all in rows of 2 each.
We were given a metal plate and a spoon and sat cross legged on the floor .
One guy came around handing out rotis, another followed him with a slop bucket of dahl (lentils), another a vegetarian dish, and all was slopped out into our plate with a soup ladle. Many people don't have food and come here for a daily meal.
The kitchen is staffed my one chef and the rest are all volunteers. They feed up to 10,000 people daily.
All in all, a very fascinating day.
Upon return to the train station, our driver tried to charge us 3 times the fare, so typical, and welcome to India!!!

Comments

Toerien
2016-11-06

Looking out for the next instalment cuz! Have a blast!

2025-02-09

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