Learning curve
Trip Start
Jul 02, 2007
1
6
38
Trip End
Aug 03, 2007
Delhi,
India
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Despite getting in very late last night, I struggled to get to sleep because it was sticky-hot and also the air-con, which is an old style water cooler thing, makes a noise like a train. I dragged myself out of bed at 9am and had a cold shower out of a bucket. There is a shower head, but the water pressure is crap so shampoo washes out better if you tip a scoop over your head instead.
Then out to the internet place to try and book a train ticket. It didn't work [cue, "Say whaaaat?" moment and a fair amount of muttering] so I resigned myself to taking a rickshaw and braving the mayhem that is Delhi. Again I say, it's crowded, but no unbelievably so. At least nobody dawdles in your way like Christmas shoppers do in the UK.
On the way we saw monkeys just playing by the roadside. At the station it turned out I needed my passport to book a ticket. Grr. I don't carry my passport around if I can possibly help it - I don't want it pickpocketed and also I have a habit of putting things down and forgetting to pick them up again. I did so with a bottle of water I had bought. Anyway, back to the guesthouse - unfortunately it's quite a distance. As I was leaving the station it started to rain. Those monsoon clouds I saw from the plane are the start. The monsoon arrived yesterday. Oh lucky me. On the upside, my croc sandals are doing great. I've been stepping into puddles and everything, but when I got back to my room my feet were the only dry bit of me. So yey for that.
I changed and sat around a while waiting for the rain to stop. Monsoon doesn't mean it rains all day, just every day, heavily for a few hours. So it's ok, as long as you don't get caught out in it.
Heading out again, this time I went to Vidan Sabah metro station and got a metro train to Connaught Place. After a short wander ["Hello, where is Palika Bazaar?"] I found the entrance to Palika Bazaar and almost immediately found a camera stall selling 1GB XD chips for the camera. This means I have about 500 photos on the highest setting. Mum and Dad, or Jem, you are welcome to the chip when I get back.
Couldn't find a rain cover for my small backpack, but no surprise there. Time for a second assault on the train station, this time with a passport. I also changed the date to Friday, so I can see what I wanted to see in Delhi. To get there I flagged down a auto-rickshaw and the driver asked me if I was going to get a train or book a ticket. I said book a ticket and he duly took me to a 'tourist information' office. I used the man there to get advice [how long it takes to get to New Delhi station from Majnu ka Tilla etc, but he was determined to help me plan my Himachal Pradesh visit. He said I should fly to Srinagar, then bus to Leh and back to Manali/Shimla. I have heard Srinagar is not so safe right now, and stuck with my request for a train ticket for Friday to Shimla. He rang what appeared to be the station and they told him there were no seats available until the 9th. I said I'd come back later and left. My not-so-helpful-commission-seeking tuktuk man was still outside and offered to take me down the road to the market. It turned out to be a material store. I have done this before and I'm not stupid so I walked away. Honestly. He followed me and squawked a lot - the final evidence that he was in on it. I walked down the street and some guy fell into step beside me. He was friendly enough and didn't appear to be selling anything, but once I revealed I was headed for the station, he told me the tourist office would be shut. It was 5.30pm by then, but I waved him off and carried on. I flagged another auto, and this time he didn't ask which 'part' of the station I wanted. Upstairs to the tourist office, and lo and behold, every day for the next 4 days is available to Shimla. Little buggers.
So, train tickets bought. Delhi - Kalka, then the toy train to Shimla. It'll take all day and according to Ravi you can walk faster than it moves, but the views ought to be worth it.
I've heard it's good to arm yourself with small change. Even in Delhi it's been a problem. So I found a money changer and asked him to change 500 rupee notes into some smaller ones. He wanted 20% of it. I just laughed. Even what I did give him was likely enough [shouldn't he really give me the whole amount, since it's rupees to rupees?]. He was a long time gone, and it occurred to me that he could just walk off with my money. With this in mind, and the fact that he was keeping some of it, I sneakily used his phone to call home. Hehe!
Then back to the guesthouse for another shower and some food. This was the bug-meat. But it's been a while and I feel ok.
Sightseeing tomorrow me thinks.
