Delhi is a crazy place!
In Aravind Adiga’s book ‘The White Tiger’, the main character describes Delhi as a crazy city. He’s not wrong. It’s dusty, hazy, smoggy and noisy. The buses are built to take 60 but carry 160. The traffic goes both ways up a street regardless of the rules and rickshaw’s, tuk tuks, taxi’s, buses, cars and people all jostle for space on the streets. The pavement and roads blend seamlessly into one and traffic goes in any direction. The whole city is currently under construction (for the 2010 Commonwealth Games). Everything is being done at once. The roads, new metro lines, stadiums, refurbishment…everything being done – and nothing looks anywhere near completion. Most of the work seems to be done with bare hands with the odd exception of a pneumatic drill being used by a man in sandals!!
Anyway, the ardent adventurers we are, having found our hotel and had a bit of nap we venture in to Delhi – Connaught place – for a bit of a look around. We are the only tourists and so blend into the background perfectly with our white skin, western clothes and Delhi guidebook! Luckily, a nice young gentleman who just happened to be passing by is more than willing to help us. Funnily enough the way we were heading is terrible, but he will help us by taking us down some random alley to the ‘one and only’ tourist information shop. Here we go…
Having left the shop with only a free map – hurrah – our friend has kindly waited for us to point us in the right direction. We give our thanks and manage to shake him off. Luckily enough though we meet another very kind young gentleman – also just passing – who is happy to point us in a similar direction. WE ARE FAR TOO POLITE!!!!! Amusingly, this other ‘random’ passerby happens to be wearing the same shoes as our first friend. How about that?! 21 million people and two guys that are not connected wearing the same shoes. Eventually, we confirm that we want to go back in the original direction, and to his disappointment manage to say goodbye. On our way back…oh yes…you’ve guessed it. Tomorrow we will leave the book at home and try much harder to blend in!!
We sit in the park (not yet brave enough to eat or drink in any of the places we’ve seen) and watch the world go by. As it starts to get dark we decide to get a tuk tuk home, only the one we’ve chosen has absolutely no idea where our hotel is but of course says he can find it ‘no problem’. Our journey takes about an hour (hotel is approx 20 mins from town) but Phil eventually spots something he recognises and we’re out and walking on Delhi roads in the dark. Having made it back into our hotel safely away from crazy Delhi, there’s absolutely no way we’re heading out again tonight. So, in true adventurer style, we order ourselves an Indian take away!!
P.S. Happy Anniversary Dani and Pete. (18th Nov)
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