Namaste again, here to pick up on where I left off on Thursday. It is a Saturday night in MP, but not quite the weekend because all the trainees, volunteers, and staff have to work on Saturdays. Tomorrow(Sunday) will be our first "off" day. Let me resume describing my adventure in Paharanj first!
1) Paharanj/Delhi: As mentioned, I left the Delhi airport at 7AM and upon my arrival in New Delhi at Shrivaji Stadium, I had more than my share of "friendly" Indian males offering solicitous advice on what direction I should be heading...granted that I did choose to walk to Connaught Place when all the shops were still closed in the morning and was adamantly told this by the almost-exclusively male population walking about the place. Albeit some had good intentions, but I think the rickshaw driver was just looking for business (I was promptly advised that the rickshaw driver standing over there looking at me anxiously would take me to the "right place" for ONLY this amount, etc.) Regardless of the intentions, I was determined to see my share of the mostly empty circular plaza of Connaught Place and maybe even find one of the eateries suggested in the Lonely Planet...
But to my fortune, better plans were in the waiting. Out of nowhere I spotted a fellow female traveler (identifiable by the LARGE bag strapped to her back), sun-shading hat, and sturdy but bulky shoes...walking towards me. It turns out that she was a backpacker from Korea also arriving in Delhi that day, and she was looking for a guesthouse/hostel to stay in that day. Quickly I made the smart decision to tag along with her (because after all, two IS better than one and certainly more so in a foreign country, as a female, early in the morning in a deserted section of town). Her name was Jihyun and she had already been backpacking in India for 2 months...it was obvious that she had the navigation and common-sense capabilities down too, and with her Korean version of Lonely Planet we headed towards Paharanj (the "seedy" backpacker area according to LP), but with lots of budget accomodations available. After wandering down "Main Bazaar" street where stall after stall WAS open for business, she settled on Hotel Paypal, a tight but friendly hostel catering to young Japanese and Korean backpackers...and the dormitory had a lockbox! Thanks to Jihyun, I stored my 2-ton backpack in there and was able to semi-enjoy the rest of the day, before having to catch my train at the New Delhi Train Station around 7 that evening...
Ahh...what a relief it felt to be able to let my guard off that backpack and lay down for a while! While Jihyun went off to search for a travel agent office to book a flight to Paris (she is having one long and adventurous journey this summer, and who would object to Paris?), I tried to take a nap until the afternoon but with the heat and the droning of the fan above (it wasn't very effective), it was nigh impossible. Then I attempted to at least wash my sweaty armpits with the small stream of water running from the faucet (and leaking out from the pipe below). Later in the day, sat down in my first "Indian" restaurant with Jihyun and a Japanese backpacker who seemed to have made himself entirely at home in Delhi already, and at Hotel PayPal. Unable to eat, I ordered a mango lassi and a spicy chai. Exchanged travel experiences with Jihyun and Tayoshi for a while, relaxing and enjoying the scene of Main Bazaar activity from inside the establishment...
Later on walked through MB to see just what Paharanj had to offer: more stalls/shops selling everything...from Rajasthani instruments to good-looking but startling cheap handbags, plastics whatnot(with off-English names such that I had no idea what they actually were), printing and graphic design materials and old motorcycles...rickshaws and dusty cards honking from behind me and in front of me...and burning, suffocating, inescapable heat...only with the generous assistance of Jihyun was I able to survive my first and (only) day in Delhi. At around 6:30PM, we went to the NDLS and she saw me to Platform 3 after buying me a Mazaa mango drink and a handful of bananas, where I waited for Malwa Express 12920 and an 18-hour train ride to Indore. I will be ready when I return to Delhi, but I owe Jihyun a dinner or two for saving my life, as I was completely overwhelmed and disoriented by this vaunted Indian capital on my first "real" day in India.
Next update: on the train ride to Indore, arriving at the Institute, and my first days in MP
