Back in Delhi and something is wrong

Trip Start Apr 09, 2008
1
81
115
Trip End Apr 19, 2009


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of India  ,
Friday, January 30, 2009

We arrived in the airport in Delhi. The sun was shining the air was clear staff were smiling and offered to help. You may remember my description of my previous arrival in Delhi. I was confused, it seemed to be the same airport, everything was arranged the way I remembered it but yet it seemed different somehow. After collecting my bag from the conveyor belt we walked outside, unhampered by taxi drivers, and boarded a bus to New Delhi train station. Walking down main bazaar, a task I had avoided whenever possible during my last stay we were only bothered by tout on a very small scale. It was then that I realised, I wasn't being shouted at any less, my experience in India and Nepal had deadened my ears to the hails and the salesmen didn't bother me any more. I was wise to their games and lies. I felt ready to conquer India.

The next day, after booking a train ticket and various other odd jobs I put some work into seeing at least a portion of the sights of Delhi. I took the Metro a couple of stations up the line. Walking into the metro is like entering another world. As you decend the steps to the platforms below Delhi's streets the dirt and the noise fade away behind you and you enter a clean modern utopian society (relatively I mean) where trains run every five minutes. But to remind you that its still india helpful signs inform passengers "Riding on the roof of the train is dangerous". I got off the train at chandi chowk and, humming the theme from charlie chalk, weaved through the stalls selling clothes or fruit, heading towards Jama Masjid.

Jama Masjid is the biggest and most important mosque in India that must ranks it high in the world mosque charts. I happen to know India has the second biggest muslim population in the world, second only to Indonesia. The mosque is an impressive building in an unimpressive neighbourhood. Making it stand out even more. It is a peaceful place, unmistakably spiritual. It is closed to visitors during prayer but I had seen muslims making friday prayers filling the streets of Kulkata and while I walked around I remembered this scene. Outside the mosque are futher market stalls but selling more interesting items, engine parts, door knobs and panes of coloured glass amongst a million other things. I stopped to have lunch at one food stall and ate until I was full for 11 rupees. (about 16p english money)

After the market I walked around the Red Fort, I didn't pay to go in, knowing I would see plenty more forts over the next few weeks. And through a maze of alleys and back streets, stopping to buy fruit juice or Indian sweets or to watch a passing wedding parade. It is wedding season now in india and weddings are a huge thing for indians who can afford, with days of pre-parties, parties and after-parties. Eventually I found my way out onto the main road and jumped back onto the metro to take me back to my hotel. That night I ate a fine meal in an expensive restaurant to say goodbye to a long term travel partner. The next morning I was up early to take the train to Agra.
Print this entry Mumbai (Bombay) hotels