Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Lisa & Ed's Adventures
Arrived in Delhi on Saturday 30 September 2006 at 6:00am after our luxurious flight with 7 inches extra leg room and width, after being upgraded to world traveller plus. We got through customs and got a stamp on our passports, then got whizzed away in a little taxi. Lisa's bag did not fit in the boot so was on top being held on by the driver's assistant! Got to Hotel Good Palace in Karol Bagh and had a disgusting coffee... they love sweet milky stuff here! Black tea and coffee is quite difficult to come by round here.
Had a wander into Karol Bagh. The streets were busy, smelly with cows, chicken and pigs wandering around, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, bikes, people and cars all just dodge each other, horns blaring, no traffic rules as such! We were accosted by a man (everyone wants to speak to you) who took us to his mate's information point. From here, we arranged a tour of the city in a taxi, where we got driven around to see the main sites whilst he waited for us.
We went to Gurdwara Bangla Sahib which is a Sikh temple. Here we washed out feet and had to wear head coverings before being allowed in. There was an area outside with a huge pool surrounded by marble pathway which was really hot on our sensitive feet!! It was around 36C in Delhi.
Then we went to a Ghandi museum which had a variety of interactive displays. We also went to Qutb Minar which is a really old, tall tower and ruins. We visited Lotus Temple (Hindu temple) which looks abit like the Sydney Opera House. There was a beautiful sunset at this time and feet got burnt again on the hot path that we had to walk up to get to the temple.
We were pretty exhausted after this as we had not slept since leaving home, so went back and straight to bed.
Got up late on 1 October and then had a late breakfast at the hotel. We got an auto-rickshaw to the Red Fort in Old Delhi. You really experience the driving methods... bit like the dodgems. As the rickshaw is quite open, you see how close you get to cars, people and bikes. We wandered around the streets, Ed got his leg pulled by a child street beggar and we visited Kotla Fort, which is a ruined fort. We also got a bicycle rickshaw which was hair raising! Everyone just talks to you and accuses us of being married... not a bad thing for Lisa, as she gets a lot of attention from the men and has had a few marriage proposals, so god knows who she'll bring back! Lisa felt like a bit of a freak show with all the staring!
We wandered through a street market with loads of books piled on the side of the street. We managed to pick up an India Lonely Planet guidebook and did our first bit of haggling.
We needed to get back to the hotel for 6:00pm as there was an "important meeting" with Intrepid, the tour operator, where we met the other eight people on the tour. There are a variety of people in the group from Canada, Australia, Germany and one other Brit. We went out for an evening meal as a group and enjoyed yet more curry and beer!
Early start on Monday 2 October and we had breakfast at a little place a few doors down the road from the hotel. We caught the bus into Old Delhi. The bus ride was fine and not as crowded as we expected. We visited Delhi's oldest mosque: Jama Masjid where we climbed up the minaret for fantastic views of Delhi.
We also went to a Sikh temple where we saw lots of food being prepared because they can feed around 30,000 people a day, but we didn't have time to eat as we rushed off to Connaught Place on the Metro. This is Delhi's new underground system and puts London's to shame and only costs 8 rupees per journey (about 10p). In Connaught Place, we got a coffee fix with the rest of the group. Since it was a public holiday, it was quite quiet. The holiday was for Ghandi's birthday and the end of the moon festival. Usually, Connaught Place is bustling as it is a major shopping area.
We got back to the hotel, checked out and taxied off to the railway station. The party atmosphere was starting in Delhi as we were leaving. We wrestled with our rucksacks through the station, then boarded for our 19 hour overnight journey to Jaisalmer. We ordered curry on the train which Ed promptly spilt down himself! We were in separate compartments so got talking to the rest of the group more. Ed was in a compartment with an Indian family who we got chatting to and they shared their home cooked food. Kirsty (Aussie) offered them vegemite in return, but don't think they were tempted!
Around 10:30pm, we made up the three tier bunk beds, were told to shut up by the Indian family and then everyone just went to sleep (kind of!) This was a slightly better class of compartment (AC3) as the lower class don't have beds at all or glass windows.
We eventually got to Jaisalmer at 2:00pm.
- comments