Have been meaning to post sooner but the PC at the guesthouse in Delhi is from the days of the British Raj and keeps crashing...We've just finished our 2nd full day in the city after landing quite late on Monday then waiting for an hour in immigration as officials worked there way through 10 planeloads of passengers.
We would have been through sooner but there were only two offiicials checking foreigners in and about 20 for Indians - this got even more annoying (but admittedly did liven the wait up) when a group of Kazakhstanis were allowed to join the 'Indian' line.
Apparently they were in a Kazakh 'band', and one of the people waiting carried what must pass for a camcorder in Central Asia - but looked more like a Soviet-era rocket launcher.
After finally making it through we set off into the night to find our guesthouse - along the way we saw whole families crammed on motorbikes rickshaws transporting all manner of things...an hour or so later and after being driven across roads that would not look out of place in a warzone we finally made it.
Our first full day was spent - somewhat by mistake - in the Chandni Chowk area of the city which is quite possibly the most hectic part. Luckily though we met up with a fellow traveller Jos from Holland and teamed up to see the sights. We got to see the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid mosque and literally billions of other things that my brain is still trying to understand and comprehend. Along the way we passed through several bazaar and slum areas and it really was an assault on the senses.
After saying bye to Jos on the Delhi Metro (the cleanest, coolest place to be), we decided it was time to take our first tuk-tuk ride and brave the madness of Delhi's roads. I think the Delhi Highway code (if it even exists) probably contains one rule: Don't hit anything.
Other than that it's pretty much every scooter, bus, truck, car, rickshaw, and cow for himself - everything bustles onwards without any kind of order.
I am literally going to have to sign off now before this PC dies - again, but will update with more soon.
1 comment:
The Red Fort and Jama Masjid mosque are cool. In fact if you look at my facebook picture thats where it was taken at the Jama Masjid mosque. When buying a train ticket just run to the front and dont let anyone stop you. If they stop you they will try and tell you the ticket office for tourist has burnt down and you need to get into a tuk tuk to get there. LIES ALL LIES keep going to the front of the station and you will see the sign, your reward will be a train ticket.
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