India: Smelly Delhi
After a three-hour flight in which I completely slept through, I arrived in dirty Delhi around 10:00 am, six hours after I was initially scheduled to arrive and meet Chris. I had figured Chris was asleep at the hotel, but after retrieving my bag, I was pleasantly surprised to find he had come back to pick me up from the airport.
Chris and Tiff...reunited!
We took a taxi through the busy morning traffic of Delhi, taking in the sights of the multitude of exhaust-coughing buses and cars, barefoot locals, and cows that packed the dirty, dusty streets. We finally arrived in Paharganj, a seedy, stinky area popular with backpackers near the New Delhi train station. We had breakfast at Ajay guesthoused, our new home, before crashing into bed for a much-needed nap. We finally roused ourselves out of our room that evening, and walked through the rain for dinner at the nearby Metropolis restaurant.
Saturday morning Chris and I did not awake until nearly 3:00 pm. We had a lazy breakfast/lunch before heading to the train station to buy train tickets to get us the heck out of town. We then walked through the streets to nearby Connaught Place, a central shopping area with various cafes and restaurants. We parked ourselves in a pub, where we finally caught up on the last seven months since we saw each other. We had a late dinner and pool match at our guesthouse before finally going to sleep.
Dirty streets of Delhi.
Unfortunately, the infamous "Delhi Belly" struck me that night, but after a few minutes with my head in the toilet, I felt much better. We had to check out of our guesthouse at 7:00 am this morning, so we hung out in the restaurant and internet cafe for a few hours before finally venturing out for a day of Delhi sightseeing.
Delhi is definitely the poorest city I have ever been to, as seen from the throngs of beggars, poor locals, and animals that roam the streets. We trudged up and down the mangy streets for over an hour trying to locate the Old Delhi train station, where I wanted to leave my rucksack. We jumped over cow patties and garbage, dodged erratic rickshaw drivers and taxis, all the while trying to breathe through our mouths to avoid the powerful stench of urine that we could never escape. Finally, giving up on our bad senses of direction, we hopped into a taxi for the trip to the station.
Part of Delhi's Red Fort.
After checking my bag into the station's cloak room, Chris and I walked through the Old Delhi district to the Red Fort. We wandered through the area with the throngs of Indian men and sari-clad women, stopping occasionally to rest in shade due to Chris' typical English inability to handle the heat. We then walked to the Jama Masjid, the world's largest mosque, but by then we were too hot and bothered to go inside.
Unable to take another minute in the heat, and tired of being on our feet, Chris and I took a taxi back to Paharganj, where we settled into a restaurant to relax. We finally could no longer keep our eyes open, and, realizing that we could not make it to 10:45 pm without sleeping, we checked into a room and took a power nap.
Love those saris!
We awoke at 8:00 pm, had dinner on a beautiful rooftop terrace, and have just arrived at the station. Our train is due to leave at 10:45 pm to Shimla, a hill station famous for its beautiful scenery, monkeys, and cool climate. We are ecstatic about finally leaving Delhi!
Chris and Tiff...reunited!
We took a taxi through the busy morning traffic of Delhi, taking in the sights of the multitude of exhaust-coughing buses and cars, barefoot locals, and cows that packed the dirty, dusty streets. We finally arrived in Paharganj, a seedy, stinky area popular with backpackers near the New Delhi train station. We had breakfast at Ajay guesthoused, our new home, before crashing into bed for a much-needed nap. We finally roused ourselves out of our room that evening, and walked through the rain for dinner at the nearby Metropolis restaurant.
Saturday morning Chris and I did not awake until nearly 3:00 pm. We had a lazy breakfast/lunch before heading to the train station to buy train tickets to get us the heck out of town. We then walked through the streets to nearby Connaught Place, a central shopping area with various cafes and restaurants. We parked ourselves in a pub, where we finally caught up on the last seven months since we saw each other. We had a late dinner and pool match at our guesthouse before finally going to sleep.
Dirty streets of Delhi.
Unfortunately, the infamous "Delhi Belly" struck me that night, but after a few minutes with my head in the toilet, I felt much better. We had to check out of our guesthouse at 7:00 am this morning, so we hung out in the restaurant and internet cafe for a few hours before finally venturing out for a day of Delhi sightseeing.
Delhi is definitely the poorest city I have ever been to, as seen from the throngs of beggars, poor locals, and animals that roam the streets. We trudged up and down the mangy streets for over an hour trying to locate the Old Delhi train station, where I wanted to leave my rucksack. We jumped over cow patties and garbage, dodged erratic rickshaw drivers and taxis, all the while trying to breathe through our mouths to avoid the powerful stench of urine that we could never escape. Finally, giving up on our bad senses of direction, we hopped into a taxi for the trip to the station.
Part of Delhi's Red Fort.
After checking my bag into the station's cloak room, Chris and I walked through the Old Delhi district to the Red Fort. We wandered through the area with the throngs of Indian men and sari-clad women, stopping occasionally to rest in shade due to Chris' typical English inability to handle the heat. We then walked to the Jama Masjid, the world's largest mosque, but by then we were too hot and bothered to go inside.
Unable to take another minute in the heat, and tired of being on our feet, Chris and I took a taxi back to Paharganj, where we settled into a restaurant to relax. We finally could no longer keep our eyes open, and, realizing that we could not make it to 10:45 pm without sleeping, we checked into a room and took a power nap.
Love those saris!
We awoke at 8:00 pm, had dinner on a beautiful rooftop terrace, and have just arrived at the station. Our train is due to leave at 10:45 pm to Shimla, a hill station famous for its beautiful scenery, monkeys, and cool climate. We are ecstatic about finally leaving Delhi!
posted by Tiffany Joiner at 11:06 AM
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