Delhi, As you Like

HONK! HONK! BEEP! HONK!Welcome to the noisy, dusty, crazy city of Delhi. First step off the plane and we could already smell the difference. A mixture of curry, dust, people, and sacred cows meant we had arrived in New Delhi, India. This new smell brought butterflies of excitement and anticipation of our India adventure about to begin.

Arriving very late at night (after midnight) there wasn’t much to see, but as soon as the staff of Ajanta Hotel greeted us with a bindi being marked on our foreheads, we knew we were in India.

The follow morning, we woke up to the busy sound of New Delhi. Hustle and Bustle was already happening on the streets of Pahar Ganj. We ate a quick breakfast and were off on our first TUK TUK adventure. Wow and what a crazy experience those means of transportation are. In and out of traffic, almost crashing every 5 seconds. Our first stop was Connaught Place; a common spot for shops of all kinds. Thanks to our Lonely Planet book, we were well aware that almost 99.9% of TUK TUK drivers would take tourists to the same shops where they make a small commission (and funny thing, each time we’d ask to go somewhere for authentic clothing, we were brought to the same 3 places). And they were all over priced for us “tourists” of course.

Day 1 and first stop we were brought to a nice carpet shop where they say us on comfy sofas, brought us delicious Kashmir green-cinnamon tea, and explained the making and history of each different type of carpet. Once we came to the prices (he of course left this until the end of the speech), we kindly got up and left. Had we stayed, I’m sure we could have bargained for a much lower and more affordable price. But our first day in India on a 78 day planned trip, dropping Rs 13000 (approx $330 Canadian) wasn’t part of our budget plan.

We also saw the Red Fort (located in Old Delhi), and had dinner at an OK touristy/Indian restaurant called Splash.

On our 2nd day, the 2nd of October, Gandhi’s Birthday & National Holiday in Indiam we set off to Raj Ghat. This is the exact location to where Gandhi was murdered on January 30th, 1948. Although we missed the ceremony, there were still many people there praying and paying their respects.

Having the full afternoon free while in Old Delhi, we bumped into a very nice girl, who is actually the vice president of Delhi University. She asked us if there was anything she could do to help us. (We were hungry at the time so we asked for a good place to eat). We then headed by TUK TUK to a busy place called Karim’s Restaurant, which was right in the heart of a Muslim Bazaar. It was so busy in there Jeffery and I didn’t know which way was up or down. After sitting beside a nice Indian couple from Mumbai, we were off to see what the side streets had to offer. Even with this day being a holiday, the streets were still so packed and crowded. I don’t even want to imagine walking down there when all the stores are open. All and all, Delhi is overwhelming but very interesting. You have to come with an open mind, being ready to experience the unknown and to try new things. Constant noise, dust, people and culture, I still need to take it in small doses.