New Adventures In Backpacking

After the adventures of my trapped luggage and sleeping off the jetlag I finally made it out of my hotel.

Given I was staying in the Pahar Ganj area of Delhi, known as a backpacker area, I was surprised how few travelers and white people in general I saw and those who I did see were of the elder statesman/expat variety which both surprised and disappointed me a little. Jumping onto the streets for the first time was my first ‘sh1t I’m really in India’ moment. The streets were jam packed with rickshaws, tuk-tuks, cars, people and of course cows. Even though I was well aware of the sacred nature of the cow in India there was still something quite surreal about seeing cows just strolling down the road as if they were in the countryside without a care in the world. At home they would usually be found in McDonalds between a seeded bap! There was also the challenge of dealing with people throwing bags in front of you to have a dancing Cobra pop out. Even that doesn’t happen in Glasgow. For the acrophobic amongst you, don’t hang out in Pahar Ganj.

I also learnt on my first day that you don’t wait for a gap in the traffic to cross the street because there simply isn’t one coming and you just cross the street. The traffic moves so slowly here that you need not worry about being hit by anything. The streets of Pahar Ganj are lined with market stalls, internet cafes and small local restaurants. The Scooby Doo effect as it’s called in the backpacking world.

I took a day trip around the sights of Delhi on the second day. My own guided tour which was a very cheap 350 rupees which later that evening was a sweetener to gain my trust (more soon). I was chauffeured to the red walls, various temples and parks, none of which were of any great excitement to me though it was nice to finally see some greenery. Delhi really is a concrete jungle. I have never seen pollution like it. The smog cloud hangs over Delhi ominously making it hard for the sun to break through so it never actually got hot. I could feel my lungs crying. Ten times worse than Beijing. They are hosting the Commonwealth games here next year. I hope there isn’t a marathon.

The highlight of my tour around Delhi was the Humayans Tomb mainly because it was just so quiet there (being a tomb probably no surprise there) , but they also had tombs which was a welcome break from all the temples. I can see myself being templed out by the end of this trip. The tombs really are beautiful though with high arched entrances and a stunning bulbous dome. There were also a lot of Indian tourists at the tombs, mainly school children who perhaps don’t get to see to many Westerners, certainly not young fit modest good looking ones like me in ridiculous tight trousers and I was unable to move a couple of yards without posing for pictures with some local teenagers. It reminded me of being in Tiananmen Square in 2004 without the jealous girlfriend (just checking you are looking Nina) who wouldn’t let me have my pic taken with females on my own.

Humayalan Tomb

The rest of my time in Delhi was spent trying to get out of Delhi, which will be a blog of its own within the next few days.

I stayed at the wonderfully named Hotel Cottage Yes Please. I decided to go for a mid range place for my first few days in India in case of any of the usual health issues you associate with a trip to India. Thankfully these were not forth coming. Yes Please is a lovely hotel with air conditioning, a television in your room to watch the endless Indian news Channels (they don’t like the Chinese at all), as well as a fridge which was good for storing my last three bottles of Irn Bru for a long time. My only complaint was that it was a tad quiet but I should expect that from a mid market place. The clientele was mainly 50+ except for 3 Japanese girls who sat in the reception of the hotel with their facemasks on the entire time I was there. They just sat looking out of the window I presume too frightened to move. In a way I kind of understood why as well.

So it’s fair to say that I’m by no means Delhi’s biggest fan. It’s over crowded, ugly and the most polluted city I’ve ever been in. Though this does not mean my trip has got off to a bad start by any means. I’ve enjoyed the experience and I’m sure the hustle and bustle has set me up very nicely for the rest of the trip.

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