9th Nov- wake up and begin the day with a 3course meal! i was stuffed to ensure i had enough energy for my onward journey. There's indian hospitality for you. They offered me all sorts of food to take with me also, to ensure i never went hungry. They were particularly concerned as i was staying in a part of Delhi that is quite alien to them- very few people from the South of DElhi will ever delve into Karol Bagh, the backpacker area i was put up in.
The driver got lost en route to the hotel- even he doesn't venture into these parts of Delhi often. I think he was rather apprehensive leaving me when we eventually found it- it's known to be rather rough around the edges. The hotel wasnt the greatest but it wasnt too bad. At least i didnt have cockroaches in my room though the bedsheets werent the cleanest.
so i met the group who seemed like a good bunch but then again so did the last lot and remember what happened there!>! Anyway, we introduced ourselves and shared our initial exeperiences- it made me realise how lucky i'd been so far! one girl was explicitly groped- hands on breasts- on the street in the middler of the day. WELCOME TO INDIA! BY this time it was already evening so we headed to the first new group dinner. The tour leader, Shakti Singh from Udaipur, decided to take us to a local indo-chinese place- safer on the stomachs. I ate a good veg manchurian and rice. Im avoiding meat out here for now.
Everyone was tired at the end of the meal as well as overwhelmed and so we headed back to cockroach internationl ( Raunak Intl) for bed .
NOTE TO ALL:
ive decided for for this part o the blog to keep it short (as much as i can!) for 2 reasons:
a) judging by the speed at which i updated my last leg- i am lazy and can never keep up
b)we're touring Rajasthan which as a region is fairly same same. Therefore, I'll let my pictures on facebook do the talking for the most part, with an anecdote or special story added here for good measure.
10th Nov
Spent the day in Delhi doing the touristy things that i hadnt managed to tackle thusfar. I braved the market streets of Chandni Chowk. The main street was chaos i'll admit and crossing the main junction to see the red fort was pretty insane. Other than that, the market area and little gullies really werent so bad. I think my mini adventure to Amritsar few days ago had been good preparation. We visited the main gurudwara in DElhi (as an honorary sikh this must be done in all locations!) and jama masjid- cheeky buggers here charge 200rupees to take a camera in! Overall, I wasnt overwhelmed by Delhi as I'd already acclimatised to the hustle and bustle unlike the other awe-struck firangi's i was with!
What WAS interesting was taking the mtro from our area, Karol Bagh, to Chandni Chowk. Until now, I'd been getting from A-B in my car with a drivier taking me everywhere. I had seen the metro from my window but never considered taking it. I was pleasantly surprised- it's airconditioned, on time, clean and efficient. Very similar to Singapore's subway. It made me change my preconception of it being congested and uncomfortable. It was busy and a bit of pushing/shoving was necessary but for the most part it ticked all the boxes. It was most definitely quicker than sitting in a traffic jam for hours. They're extending the metro all over the city gradually which should encourage more people to use it and reduce fuel emissions.
That night, i took my first ovetrnight train from DElhi to Jaisalmer.
