Welcome to India! Please walk through this door!
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
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201
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Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
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New Delhi,
India
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
After finishing my packing in the morning, I took the train and subway to the airport. It was interesting taking the subway. I looked around and everyone looked like a zombie. Most people were just staring straight ahead waiting for their subway stop. Some people were reading books or newspapers completely ignoring anything or anyone around them. This was so different from what I was used to seeing in Africa or the Middle East. In Africa, I would have seen perfect strangers talking to each other from the moment they sat next to each other to the moment they got off. It was normal to see a bus filled with strangers and yet everyone was talking to each other (while chickens clucked below the seats of course). If this was the Middle East, people would be screaming at each other (in the nicest way possible) and there would be kids running up and down the isles with their toys (most likely BB guns) having a good (and loud) time. Western society is definitely more reserved!
When I got to the airport, I ran into Garry, who works there for one of the airlines. She made time to see me off which was nice of her. I have arrived and left so many airports and bus/train stations over the last 7 months that it was nice to have someone wish me farewell.
The flight to Delhi was 7 hours long - a piece of cake considering the long bus rides I have taken on this trip. I spent most of my time planning my route in India. After getting a rough idea of where I wanted to go, I then read the India Travel Report that I printed from the Canadian Foreign Affairs web site. It was funny as the report stated that I needed to exercise a high degree of caution to most of the places I planned on visiting. I didn't realize that they had so many problems.
I ended up landing in Delhi at 130 am. When the door of the plane opened to let the passengers off, it was cool to see all the Indian people on the other side. Travelling for a year to all of these different countries is truly amazing! Entering a country is like opening a door and seeing something different each time. You walk through that door and you really don't know what to expect. You see unfamiliar faces but it excites me more than it makes me nervous. Seeing these Indian faces made me think about when I landed in Nairobi at the beginning of my trip and seeing all the friendly African faces at customs. It also reminded me of the time I took the train from Belgrade to Istanbul and seeing all the unfamiliar Turkish faces once got off the train. Another memory was when I took the bus from Ankara (Turkey) to Tehran (Iran). I remember saying goodbye to my Turkish friends at the bus station and then jumping on the bus where about 60 smiling Iranian faces were staring straight at me. Walking through doors and entering different world each time is a great part of traveling, for sure. It really has been a fascinating 7 monts.
While walking towards Customs, I noticed several ads on the walls advertising my current employer. It didn't surprise me as the company I work for is one of the largest employers in India. When I reached the immigration/customs agent, I handed over my Italian passport. I am officially traveling as an Italian now as I only have one page left in my Canadian passport. When the customs/immigration agent looked over my documents, he remarked that I didn't sound like an Italian. I felt like telling him that my co-workers may argue that point but I decided not to. I explained that I owned 2 passports and gave him the details as to why I was traveling as an Italian. For some reason he thought that it was strange that I had 2 passports. Surely he must have come across a lot of people who were in the same situation. He asked me a few question and I answered them. He seemed suspicious and hesitant to let me go but he eventually did. Hopefully this doesn't become an issue when I cross other borders. Maybe I should lay my Italian accent really heavy the next time I cross a border.
I decided to sleep at the airport until the sun came up. I didn't feel comfortable taking a taxi through the street of Delhi in the middle of the night. I ended up sleeping on some uncomfortable chairs by the luggage arrivals until 8 am. I then approached the pre-paid taxi counter thinking that it would be safer than grabbing a taxi outside the airport. I heard stories of Delhi taxi drivers taking you to places you didn't ask to go to so they could make commission on possible sales. I was in no mood to go through this. While at the pre-paid taxi counter, I met a Polish guy, Thomas, who told me he was taking the bus into Delhi. He said he knew the way and that it would be a lot cheaper. I decided that I would go with him. What great luck, I thought. It was great meeting someone who knew their way around Delhi.
We jumped on a bus and paid 50 rupees (US $1). I would have paid 500 rupees if I took the taxi. Thomas told the conductor that we wanted to get off at the Old Delhi train station. As we took off for the streets of Delhi, I looked out of the window and was amazed how orderly everything seemed. The streets were paved. There were a lot more cars than rickshaws. I actually didn't see any rickshaws at all. People also seemed to be driving in an organized fashion. I expected pandemonium on the streets. However, this was all about to change once we got to Old Delhi. We got off the bus and saw people pissing everywhere. There was cow shit everywhere on the ground. Auto and bicycle rickshaw drivers raced towards us asking us if we wanted a ride. Cows were walking calmly down the streets while eating any garbage they though was good enough to digest. Beggars approached us asking for money. Now this is what I expected. I guess that's why it wasn't a complete shock to me. I took it all in stride. I could tell that the last 7 months (and my previous travels to poor countries) really prepared me well for everything that I was seeing. I was still glad that I was with Thomas. I probably would have been a little uncomfortable without him there.
It didn't take much time for us to get lost though. Thomas was going by memory and since it was 7 years since he last visited Delhi he wasn't doing a very good job of finding the backpacker area. At one point Thomas had absolutely no clue where we were and how to get out of there. It was obvious that we were in a really poor area from the way people were dressed. Meanwhile people would just stare at us while we were staring at our maps failing to pinpoint where we were exactly. We definitely weren't in the touristy part of town. Local men would crowd around us each time we opened and scanned our maps. I remember seeing this on the Amazing Race. We would ask them how to get to the backpacker area (Paharganj) and some would point us in a direction but each time we felt they really had no clue where we wanted to go. I also didn't see any other foreigners around so I knew we were pretty far from where we needed to be. I eventually found out what the problem was. Thomas made the mistake of thinking we had to get off at Old Delhi when I realized from looking at my map that the backpacker area was in New Delhi. We found a metro station nearby and took it. It wasn't long before we were in the backpacker area. The whole experience was probably a good introduction for me. I was actually pleased that it happened as I learned a bit from it.
Thomas and I ended up sharing accommodations at a half decent guesthouse. We only had to pay $3 each. I am going to love India if it continues to be this cheap. My budget really needs India right now. I immediately took nap. The sounds of rats or mice scratching the other side of my bedroom wall woke me up a couple of times. I was still able to get some rest though. Once I woke up, I walked around the area of my guesthouse. The area was what I expected from a backpacker area (or many areas) in India. There were lots of power lines mashed up together along the old crusty buildings. Colorful signs of local businesses (or scams posing as businesses) crowded the streets. Crowds of people were everywhere. Food vendors at every street corner. Poor and disabled people begging for money. The noise pollution was unbelievable as cars and rickshaw drivers were honking their horns continuously. Drug dealers would approach me every 10 steps asking if I wanted to buy some "Mary Wana". Men pissing everywhere against the walls of buildings resulting in the constant smell of urine. Cow shit always at your feet. Small piles of garbage everywhere serving as a potential snack to the wandering cows who were taking up as much street space as they wanted and causing traffic. I knew I was going to like India! I wondered if this was as bad as it gets or if it could be much worse. Time will tell. I could handle a few more degrees of chaos but not much more. As long as the touts weren't aggressive, I think could handle everything thrown at me. The poverty was the only thing that did have a bit of an impact on me. Some people here have absolutely nothing. Their home is the sidewalk, the wardrobe is whatever they are currently wearing, and their next meal is always at someone else's mercy.
In the evening, I met up with Thomas. We just walked around the area together. We stopped at a little hole in the wall to grab something to eat. We were the only foreigners there and the locals seemed amused by our appearance. My stomach has been great on this trip and I hoped it would continue to be strong. India would be a great test as I knew I would eat a lot of food from the street vendors. However, I plan on being a complete vegetarian while in India. I don't trust how the meat is stored here.
Tomorrow I am off to Kathmandu (Nepal). I take a flight in the early morning. I look forward to returning to India in about 3 weeks time.
Dino Vagabond
