So proud of myself - i travel like a backpacker!
Trip Start
May 06, 2006
1
8
Trip End
May 30, 2006
New Delhi,
India
Monday, May 29, 2006
I got up at 4am to catch the 6am train from Rishikesh to New Delhi.
Walking through the market for the last time feels like a religious ritual to say goodbye to the town. The morning breeze makes everything more romantic. Phone call from Jordan makes the walk along Ram Jurla even more beautiful!
I choose to belief that I got 'VIP treatment' from the assistant manager of the hotel because I called him the 'handsome manager', vs others hotel staff as 'manager', 'nice man ' or 'crazy boy'. After I got off the phone with Jordan on Ram Jurla at 4:40am, I got a motorcycle ride from the assistant manager to the other side of the river. He wanted to make sure that the cab driver arrives on time and things are okay
Last motorcycle ride in this trip
. It is always nice to ride on a motorcycle on the bridge, especially in the last morning of this trip.Because the A/C Chair Class is full, so I upgraded to AC Bed Class. This is my first bed class travel on train, not too bad. When you travel via AC Chair Class, they provide food, juice, masala tea, bottled water and newspaper for free, but in Bed Class, I have to pay for all these. Since I am very tired and I didn't need any food, I decided to sleep through the journey. Before the train departed from the station, I was already in my dreams.
Before I got off the train, I consulted the couple beneath my bed about the hotel that I am going to stay. It is recommended by the new friends that I met in Rishikesh. The hotel is called Ajanta, loved by the backpackers and recommended by the Lonely Planet, apparently it is also very famous in Taiwan. Two of the new Taiwanese girlfriends who travelled on their own stayed in this hotel and both have good things to say about the hotel.
I had not arranged car pick up at the Delhi train station as I was told that the hotel is indeed very close to the train station and I can jump into any cabs
Lobby of Ajanta
. The couple recommended me to take the 'prepaid cab' - I will order and pay to the cab station before the ride, so no bargain and no cheating. I hired a potter at RS50 to carry my luggage, then went to the pre-paid cab station - turns out that it's pre-paid rickshaw. Cannot beat the price - only RS55, compared to the usual cab ride of RS400+, so I jumped onto a Rickshaw, at 40.3C at noon in New Delhi. I even managed to ask the Rickshaw driver to stop by the 'Park Hotel' to pick up the luggage that I left there in the beginning of the trip, by giving him additional RS20 - at that time I thought when I return from Rishikesh I will stay at the Park Hotel.
Here I am at the Ajanta Hotel, I chose a RS880 AC room (though no AC will be provided during 6-9pm) after I compared a RS1000 Vs RS880 room, I like the cheaper but brighter room.
So here I am, on my own, carrying 2 backpacks, 2 yoga bags and 1 rolling bag, back to New Delhi, staying at a hotel that is 10 times cheaper than the one than the one in the beginning of the journey. I am totally on my own with no travel companions, but I am feel completely safe and happy!
I just had a good late lunch at the hotel - Buttered Chicken and Garlic Naan, hot chocolate as desert. I am ready to get a nap in my AC room before dinner at the same restaurant. I will have to wake up at 3:30am to catch a flight to go back to HK tomorrow morning.
