A taste of Delhi
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
212
451
Trip End
Ongoing
Delhi,
India
Friday, November 11, 2005
Lucy is the one when it comes for rooms. At 06:00, she went in a few. She was pretty disgusted. Once she was happy, we then read the fine print on the wall. Checkout is the same time as check in, plus 1/2 an hour. Fuck that, so we went and sat on the street for an hour !!! Once this was up, Lucy found a different hotel, cheaper price and satellite TV. No cricket, so we did a little channel surfing, and then it was time to go and see what this city has to offer
We walked, straight down the road where the hotel is located. And it hit us both. We were on the Kho Sahn Road of Delhi. Street sellers everywhere, mixed in with the rickshaw drivers. We ignored everyone and started to walk to Old Delhi. It was nice and busy. Loads of hellos and stuff, and through into the Muslim part of town. And there it was, but first, over the last couple of months, we have seen the Jameh Mosque, which was replaced with the Jami Mosque, and now, directly before our eyes, was the largest mosque in India, the Jama Mosque. Up the stairs, and, as it was close to lunchtime closing, the sign stated that you had to pay 150 Ruppees to carry a camera !!! Fuck that, as we were only walking through to the otherside, I told them all to fuck off, and we did as we said, straight through to the otherside. The reason being. Well, the Red Fort was there. And it was huge. Up to pay, $2.00 each, cheaper than 100 Ruppees, and then in through the Lahore Gate. It was very impressive. Bigger than the one in Lahore, the Brits used to be stationed here, and the Indian army only pulled out in 2003. There were ugly old barracks that the Brits built, but then, to make up for it, was the old marble buildings that the Mughal Emperor had erected. They were very impressive, but unlike Pakistan, the guards would not let you onto the floors of these building. So we admired them from as close as we could. Into a couple of museums that were very crappy. Once all this was done, we went back into the mess that is Delhi, and was instantly mobbed by the rickshaw drivers. We ignored them, and walked up to the Jain temple, but it was closed !!! We moved onto the local Gurdwara, but it was not giving any food. Onto the Fatehpuri Mosque. It was ok, but after Iran, it was well, ok !!! Back into the crowd, I decided that we would walk over to Karol Bagh area. Home of motorbikes in this city. It took a while, but eventually, we found the place. We spoke to some Westeners who had hired them, and the prices for both buying/hiring, were out of our league. We went to another place, and they were more competitive. Now I need to convince my ex BT mates Paul and Al, to come over and ride for a month !!! Back for street food, and then crashed. What a great start to Delhi.
Up early. No, up late. As I had not slept when we came down from McLeod Ganj, it was great to get some sleep. Once we had our acts together, we decided to walk around New Delhi, but first, we needed to buy some tickets to get us to Agra. As we are foreigners, we get to go in our own line. We grabbed some paper that needed to be filled out, and lined up. Once it was our turn, it was only half filled in as we had no idea what we were doing. The seller was not impressed and told us so. He told us to get to the end of the line again. We told him to fuck off and fill it out himself. He did so, and we were then the proud owner of tickets to Agra. Off we went, straight into Connaught Place, which is one huge round-a-bout. There are dodgy book sellers everywhere, so we bought some reading material. Had been weeks since we had read anything, so it had to be done. We moved onto the markets area, where Lucy went crazy looking at bags. None suited her, but it was great hassling out the sellers. We went looking for Jantar Mantar, a huge observatory. However, they charge us 100 Ruppees, whilst the locals pay 10 !!! I gave the seller my thoughts, and did not go in as there is a larger one, that is cheaper as well in Jaipur. So we thought we would wait till then. A couple of K's away, was India Gate, so this was our next stop. Once there, it was huge. Loads of names of dead soldiers over it, but they would not let you get up close to it. So we admired it from a afar. Eventually, a kid came over and started sprouting that India was the best country at everything in the world. I told him that he was an idiot and maybe he should leave this country and see what is out there in the big old world. when you have cracked the 50, come and see me then !!! While I was talking to him, a group of soldiers started marching around. ignoring the kid, I got up to join Lucy and watch them. Obviously they were raw recruits. Their marching was shit, and they were being yelled at and being told that they were shit !!! We walked back to our road, and had dinner and hung out again. So far, Delhi had been good. Other than the fact that the locals piss and shit everywhere, it was all good.
Making a concerted effort to get up early, once again, it did not happen !!! We had breakfast and went back to the Jama Mosque. Shoes in our bags, camera out, I was asked for 300 Rupees !!! I said fuck off, your only getting 150 and we then used three cameras !!! We were going to climb the tower, but they would only give you 5 minutes at the top. Fuck that. So we walked around. We took a few photos and people were asking us to take photos of them. My response. 100 Rupees. If they want to use me as a photographer, they can pay for it !!! We walked out and back to the Jain Temple. Only to find it closed up again. We asked when it was open and they said from 18:00 to 22:00. Giving it a miss, we then went around the back of the fort along piss/shit street. It was everywhere as usual, so we held our breath and carried on. We walked on and then found a huge park type complex. Upon close inspection, it was revealed that here, in this very park, was Shanti Vana, or otherwise known as the Forest of Peace. Indira Ghandi, had been cremated, so we did the touristy thing and took some photos. Around the corner, was a far nicer place. This was the spot that Rajiv Ghandi had been cremated. I always found that one hard, as he had been blown up !!! How did they find his pieces !!! Then the biggy. Street sellers were manning the pavement. Here it was. Raj Ghat. Mahatma Ghandis bar-b-que spot. We walked around the top of it. It was really nice and calming. We went to go in one entrance, but there was tape, so we went to another entrance. Once at the bottom, we took off our sandals, and put them into our bag. We were then told, that this was not allowed. An Indian came up, dropped his shoes off, and was told that it was 15 Rupees per pair. He went off. He said it was meant to be free !!! Lucy went in, and ran into a man in shoes. She came out, and was told that it is ok for workers to wear shoes in there !!! I gave him a mouthful, and told him that he was an idiot. Lucy came out. I went in. The entrance we did not use, people were coming in with their shoes. I came out and Lucy was giving him a mouthful, so I gave him another one !!! We walked back into the Muslim area of Old Delhi. It was nice to walk around, and then we were back in the area of our hotel. we had dinner at our usual, then did the old movies thing again.
First thing in the morning, well, first thing in the morning for us, we packed our bag, had breakfast and then went to the post office. We had a parcel to send to Melbourne, and as it had been straight forward and cheap in Pakistan, we thought we would send more home. We got the sewing wallah, to sew for us, then we lined up. Now, in Lahore, 4 K's cost $11.00, but in Delhi, 1.5 K's cost just under $20:00. We told them that they were more expensive than London to Melbourne and way more than Lahore Melbourne. They laughed at us and basically told us to fuck off !!! So we paid and did. We also lined up for some stamps. It was as bad as lining up for railway tickets. Elbows and fends, Lucy was in her element, but you can only have so much fun. It was our turn for the stamps, so we bought them and left. Outside, I knew we had a fair walk to our next stop, Humayun's Tomb, and as I was feeling shit with my bird flu, I convinced Lucy that we should take a rickshaw. A quick negotiation, and the Jewish blood in me had it for a cheaper price. Once there, we jumped out to have a look. The are a was huge, with tombs everywhere, all shaped kind of like little Taj Mahals. Then we went through a big gate and Humayun's was there. Built out of red sandstone with white marble inlay, they say it is kind of related to the Taj. as this is where we are off to tomorrow, it was good to compare something to. We stayed for ages, which was a good thing, as it cost us US$5:00 each to get in, and I wanted to make sure we got our moneys worth !!! We decided to leave, and catch another rickshaw because we were fucking miles out. We tried negotiating with a few, but they were rip offs, and I wanted it cheaper this time !!! After about 5 minutes, one did come around to my way of thinking, and gave us a really cheap price. He dropped us back at Connaught Square, where we had another walk around the bag section for Lucy. The prices were way to high for her. She tried some prices but she does not have any of that Jew in her !!! I keep telling her I am willing to put some in her !!! We went back to our area via a cake shop, as we can, and let the night roll on. We sat and did the usual movies thing, which was now becoming quite boring. We are now ready to move on to Agra, and suffer the agro of the INdians there
Delhi was fun, but very stinky. I think I will miss it slightly, but India is a big country, and there is always something else to see, but I have a feeling, we will be back.
