Delhi in a day

Arrived in Delhi late at night on Tues after a seven hour flight direct from Nairobi. Impressed by Delhi airport – very clean and modern. Whizzed through passport control, bag waiting already, dollars exchanged for rupees and the driver waiting when I exited – smooth. May be it’s because I’m used to African roads but the roads in Delhi seem amazing and much of the city is very modern and developed.

My taxi driver spoke very little English other than they word “tip” which he must have mentioned at least five times. I get it – you are expecting a tip! Our budget hotel is in the cheap touristy area known as Paharganj near the New Delhi train station. Most of the hotels are down tiny little alleyways off the Main Bazaar so the taxis can’t get to your actual hotel. So if you want a tip Mr Taxi Driver, then I suggest rather than stopping the car and vaguely pointing to your left that you actually get out of your car, carry my bag and escort me down the side streets to the door of the hotel. With the promise of rupees, the taxi driver duly obliged.

One thing that strikes you on arriving in Delhi is how very unfriendly people are and how they have no concept of personal space. The national pastime seems to be spitting. Throughout the night, I could constantly hear men spitting in the streets (and dogs barking). Apparently, they are trying to cleanse themselves of evil spirits. Walking around the streets of Delhi the following morning, I narrowly missed being spat on several times. As you would imagine, Delhi streets are buzzing with people, taxis, auto rickshaws and cycle rickshaws everywhere. People constantly trying to sell you something, the sound of car horns, the smell of incense and street food mixed with urine (not so pleasant – Delhi seems to have numerous street urinals).

After meeting Di for breakfast in the morning, we took a stroll around the Main Bazaar area, drank delicious lemon and ginger tea, then took an afternoon tour around some of the city’s main sights such as Lakshmi Narayan Temple, India Gate, Qutb Minar and Lotus Temple. The Lotus Temple (or Bahai House of Worship as it is also known) was built in the 1980s as a modern place for any religion to go and worship. It is supposed to represent a lotus flower but actually looks quite similar to the iconic Sydney Opera House. The best site of the day was Humayun’s Tomb – the red sandstone and white marble colours looked beautiful as the sun was starting to go down.

We had planned to spend two full days in Delhi and then take overnight train to Varanasi tonight. However, due to limited train availability, we have taken an earlier but very slow train to Varanasi. That means no time in Delhi for the Red Fort or Old Delhi area, although I’m assured by Di that the Red Fort was rather run down. Di arrived in Delhi a couple of days before me so given the choice of taking this train or waiting a few days, there is no contest. And to be honest, I would be bored in Delhi as big cities bore me quite quickly. Can’t be wasting time as there are too many other places to go in India!