Delhi. Not that bad!
Everything I expected it to be - crowded, noisy, hot, chaotic - but not terrible, and I actually enjoyed myself.
Learnt the driving rules in the taxi from the airport. Adapted from Fast & Furious or something similar I imagine. He who dares wins irrespective of size, bonus points for extensive use of horn, points lost for length of time spent with your vehicle completely within a lane, points gained for length of time driving in monsoon rains without windscreen wipers and instant forfeit if you decide to defog your windscreen to allow you to see out (cheating).
Hotel was on a road taxis don't like to go down (narrow and chaotic even by Delhi standards) so he brought us to a rickshaw stand but we (proud backbackers!) decided to walk. In the monsoon, in the mud, amidst the chaos, getting slightly damp and looking great as the doorman let us into the shiny, marbly hotel lobby.
And in the great country of contrasts that is India we found ourselves in an ultra-modern James Bond villain hotel room with everything (including the blinds revealing the shower, raaarrrrrr) controlled by electronicky panel wizardry.
So safe in he knowledge we had a refuge to return to we explored Delhi. Some fabulous old buildings in tranquil (paying an admission fee is the key to peace and quiet - see photos below of SPACE) surroundings, crazy street life, poverty and affluence. You get whistled at loudly by Mr. Rule Enforcer if you break a rule (climbing on historic building etc.) which I must admit actually is more effective than a sign. Really interesting buildings (see photo odd shapes in dark red colour) from the beginning of the 18th century for taking astronomical observations. Impressive mosques. Fancy tombs. See photos below (internet connection precludes tidy editing/formatting).
Braved the Metro - full on airport-style security but with a "ladies" queue 'cause we're special, special seats "for ladies" fully occupied by very male looking people (oh to have a photo) and even special women only carriages. Braved the rickshaws where Karl briefly returned to his traditional haggling technique of bargaining up.
Then at the end of the day we'd return to the safety of our rooftop bar to satisfy the craving for an ice-cold beer in a frosty glass. Turns out the whole world is on the rooftops flying kites in the evening. Then a nice curry to end the day followed by the two step food scoring scheme. Step one: initial score (delicious, tasty, average). Step two: 12 to 24 hours later the score is finalised based on the presence or absence of Delhi Belly.
Karl fell in love with these little squirrel-like animals (see photo below) when he kept seeing one scampering around the rooftop near our hotel. Then we went to a park and saw one and he got all excited, then we saw another, then loads all at once. Then Karl exploded.
Old Delhi is typical old town narrow rambling streets. Then in the late 20s/early 30s the British decided build a new Delhi (New Delhi...get it?) to be their new capital so there's a big planned area of the city that's suspiciously familiar – a series of roads in small concentric circles with low, two storey, uniform white buildings with verandahs held with white columns. Familiar? Then nearby a big memorial to soldiers who died in WWI and leading from this for a couple of kilometres is a line of lawns and ponds and at the end is a huge Presidential Palace. It's Canberra! Now, the guidebook doesn't say anything about Burley-Griffin but did he cheat? Was one of these cities the trial run for the other? If so which was which?
We left Delhi 12 hours ago for the pure (if a little thin) air of Leh and so far (touch wood) we seem to have escaped without Delhi Belly!!!!!
Where's Wally game: bonus points to the first person who finds the guy in the check trousers relieving himself in the photos below.
Learnt the driving rules in the taxi from the airport. Adapted from Fast & Furious or something similar I imagine. He who dares wins irrespective of size, bonus points for extensive use of horn, points lost for length of time spent with your vehicle completely within a lane, points gained for length of time driving in monsoon rains without windscreen wipers and instant forfeit if you decide to defog your windscreen to allow you to see out (cheating).
Hotel was on a road taxis don't like to go down (narrow and chaotic even by Delhi standards) so he brought us to a rickshaw stand but we (proud backbackers!) decided to walk. In the monsoon, in the mud, amidst the chaos, getting slightly damp and looking great as the doorman let us into the shiny, marbly hotel lobby.
And in the great country of contrasts that is India we found ourselves in an ultra-modern James Bond villain hotel room with everything (including the blinds revealing the shower, raaarrrrrr) controlled by electronicky panel wizardry.
So safe in he knowledge we had a refuge to return to we explored Delhi. Some fabulous old buildings in tranquil (paying an admission fee is the key to peace and quiet - see photos below of SPACE) surroundings, crazy street life, poverty and affluence. You get whistled at loudly by Mr. Rule Enforcer if you break a rule (climbing on historic building etc.) which I must admit actually is more effective than a sign. Really interesting buildings (see photo odd shapes in dark red colour) from the beginning of the 18th century for taking astronomical observations. Impressive mosques. Fancy tombs. See photos below (internet connection precludes tidy editing/formatting).
Braved the Metro - full on airport-style security but with a "ladies" queue 'cause we're special, special seats "for ladies" fully occupied by very male looking people (oh to have a photo) and even special women only carriages. Braved the rickshaws where Karl briefly returned to his traditional haggling technique of bargaining up.
Then at the end of the day we'd return to the safety of our rooftop bar to satisfy the craving for an ice-cold beer in a frosty glass. Turns out the whole world is on the rooftops flying kites in the evening. Then a nice curry to end the day followed by the two step food scoring scheme. Step one: initial score (delicious, tasty, average). Step two: 12 to 24 hours later the score is finalised based on the presence or absence of Delhi Belly.
Karl fell in love with these little squirrel-like animals (see photo below) when he kept seeing one scampering around the rooftop near our hotel. Then we went to a park and saw one and he got all excited, then we saw another, then loads all at once. Then Karl exploded.
Old Delhi is typical old town narrow rambling streets. Then in the late 20s/early 30s the British decided build a new Delhi (New Delhi...get it?) to be their new capital so there's a big planned area of the city that's suspiciously familiar – a series of roads in small concentric circles with low, two storey, uniform white buildings with verandahs held with white columns. Familiar? Then nearby a big memorial to soldiers who died in WWI and leading from this for a couple of kilometres is a line of lawns and ponds and at the end is a huge Presidential Palace. It's Canberra! Now, the guidebook doesn't say anything about Burley-Griffin but did he cheat? Was one of these cities the trial run for the other? If so which was which?
We left Delhi 12 hours ago for the pure (if a little thin) air of Leh and so far (touch wood) we seem to have escaped without Delhi Belly!!!!!
Where's Wally game: bonus points to the first person who finds the guy in the check trousers relieving himself in the photos below.
Awesome post. Can't wait to hear about more adventures :-)
ReplyDeletePhoto 11
ReplyDeleteWell done Katrina. 5 points!
DeletePicture 2: Honey I shrank the Karlito! That's the most revealing photograph of Karl I've seen yet. He's just an open book!
ReplyDeleteMuy bueno! Mas, Mas...
ReplyDeleteThe Indian Wally is in the 11th photo under the A.P.U.8.1.C.I.T.Y sign.