Delhi Day One!
Trip Start
Nov 21, 2007
1
3
18
Trip End
Dec 30, 2007
Delhi,
India
Saturday, November 24, 2007
So- let's see. Since I can't see the last entry that I wrote while writing this one, please forgive if I repeat myself. I probably should have just gone in and edited the other but I got so irritated with that entry (I wrote a very long entry - twice - on top of, and went in and edited it all, including what is sitting there right now..) and I just don't feel like going back to it. Letting it go...
Okay, so, hm. I arrived last night, and after all that stuff I read about foreigners not being able to get a prepaid phone, etc., there was a kiosk before you exited baggage check at the airport where for a pretty healthy sum you could walk out with an operational phone in about 15 minutes. (I didn't want the more expensive color phone, but that's what they had there, and I didn't want to go looking for something else later, not knowing what lay ahead, exactly). The cool thing about my phone is that there's some weird calendar related thing on it that is uniquely Indian- I'm guessing holiday or some sort of related thing on there?- there goes all the studying I did for this trip- knowledge just brimming forth- not-- anyway, that's cool, and I have no idea what it is, but what's really cool is that it doubles as a flashlight! It's not a very strong flashlight, but handy! ...
Whirlwind tour pic #1...
as I discovered, when the power went out this morning in my room as I was waking up. I have my headlamp, but my phone was sitting there charging and as I was messing with it in the dark, voila'! Found a flashlight. Cool. Also it has Inidan pop (again- totally making that up- big ole guess) ring tones on it that are pretty fun. I am not exactly expecting a lot of calls but if anyone DOES call- I'll be enjoying it. Anyway- to anyone else wondering (and I will go back and post on the thread I was reading how simple it is)- it's really freaking easy to get a prepaid Airtel mobile as a foreigner, and you can really get one anywhere, as it turns out- and re-charge anywhere. The phone guy just takes a copy of your passport and you fill out a form. It was unnerving as I'm really ready (expecting) for someone to rip me off, so when I bought 500rp extra airtime, I didn't really believe it was put on there, but it was. So phone and extra airtime to call home ran me about $100US or so. Not too bad, considering how important it was for me to call home- once I found out about the latest bombings when I got to the guest house-!- and also the guy at the guest house has been really nice (not 'I'm creepy' nice, probably just 'I'd like a tip' nice, which is fine)- but gave me his card that has his mobile on it so that I can just call if I get lost. Anyway, I took my time getting ready to venture out this morning. I was going to shower but the warm water part seems to be a night time thing. I just sort of rinsed off and called it good from last night's warmish shower. I have to say that I had a pretty yucky feeling in my stomach (not Delhi Belly- yet-) just my entrance wasn't really all that happy-making. The airport's exterior pathways (not sure what else to call them) leading to the parking "lot" were home to homeless children... Everything smelling so rank and really generally... Not good. Entering Paharganj after 10:00 PM and then sort of winding through these weird alleys to find the guest house felt pretty dismal, actually. Poop and urine everywhere.
Qutb Minar
I am going with it being animal- in my mind that is far less offensive than human waste... And heaps of garbage, food scraps and just... Garbage, everywhere. The air is tangibly, visibly dirty- My lungs have been fighting me a little bit today. That's OK, I don't plan on moving here or anything. So- yeah, after arriving last night with the driver (who insisted that I tip him beyond the fare that I paid the hotel for my shuttle- which was kind of ok- but it just reminded me that even polite conversation in a place like this is not free and was discouraging to a point) and then arriving at my originally booked hotel (Smyle Inn- not so smiley after all, Sheryl...) to find that it was full, I was run off to another place which also rang true to tout scams I've come across in the past... And then once there finding out about the bombings in Varanasi earlier that day (one of the places I came to this country to see in the first place...) Well, my bubble was pretty burst. I was considering flying out and just vacationing somewhere (Thailand is so easy... No bombs... Fewer if any touts...) but decided to get a night's sleep before I got completely down on this place.I can tell that I am still seriously off my inner clock, the way I am rambling.
So- the new place I went to is the Dollar Inn- it's fine. Not great, not quiet, but my room is the only one on the first floor, so I get to hear the family (? another guess) who runs it in the fairly early morning, washing, talking, laughing, and then there's a group of guys (probably 20 to 30 something) who congregate with their buddy who works the travel desk all afternoon, playing music and laughing. I don't mind it so much, but when I went back this afternoon to take a nap after walking around this morning, it was clear that a nap was pretty much out of the question. The good news is that once I got out there during the day, it's a very lively and positive scene down Main Bazaar in Paharganj, where I'm staying, and there are quite a few foreigners, though not as many as one might think- not as many as I thought there'd be, anyway. I sort of want to compare it to Khao San rd.
Raj Ghat
in Bangkok, but there are far more tourists to locals there than here. There's tons of shopping and tons of people yelling for your attention, and men will try to follow and make conversation, but I simply totally ignore them. I got the smack-down from one guy- "You'll never know the good people from the bad ones unless you talk to them", and "You don't talk to Indians?" but guilt isn't going to work. Nobody's dangerous; I just don't want to make a "friend" that I can't lose again in five minutes.So yeah- lots of walking- got $ from an ATM- tried the internet at that place that kept throwing me off- and then got really good food from a restaurant recommended in the LP and also by the guy at the guest house. I was scared to eat, frankly, as I know that one of these times, sooner or later, that'll be the meal that tosses me on the bed (and toilet) for a few days. But I was hungry. So. Jumped on in, with the thought of the probiotics that I'd taken that morning as comfort. Got dinner tonight on a rooftop place at the far end of this strip- it was nice to get off the street somewhere and get up and away from the madness for a bit. Really good food, too. Back to the hotel (after finding it! It's in a funky alley and I still can't make landmarks of anything), booked a train to Agra for Monday morning, and also got a car for tomorrow's uber-tourist trap trip. For 600rp, which is I don't know, about $18US, I have a car and driver for 8 hours tomorrow. I am sure it'll end up costing me a little more than that, but I sort of want to get the hell out of Delhi, and booking a car to just bust out the major sites and staying off a tourist bus seems way easier with limited time than spending a little here and a little there (easily adding up quickly) and not being sure about where I'm really going. There are apparently (walking) tours given by a disadvantaged youth program for about $6 for 2 hours that give you the ins and outs of the homeless situation here for kids. Should be heart-wrenching, but the money goes back to the social program, and it sounds like something off the beaten path.
Delhi Subway
I went to the place today (orphanage, I think) and the office was closed but I'll come back Monday and hopefully there will be a group I can get in on that day. Leaving here Tuesday first thing; I was told that the train schedule is wrong in the pamphlet they gave me; that Agra is only three hours' ride away (as opposed to the near 10 that's in the pamphlet- I could be pretttyyyy disappointed) and the AM train is the fastest- I would prefer a night time train but not if I am going to arrive at 2:00 in the morning. I'll spend one night there and hopefully have some clarity as to whether or not I'm going to continue to Varanasi at that point. Probably safer right after a blast than when there's been no activity... Right?
Okay! Enough of this... One night and one day down. The hammering has turned to drilling. I'm out, til tomorrow then (after the tour!)
