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New Delhi
Hello, thanks to everyone who's still checking my site out.I took the overnight train from Aurangabad to New Delhi, it started off badly with a two hour delay then arrived four hours late taking a total of 26 hours, but it was okay it was pretty comfortable and I got some sleep and scrounged some food off a local Indian family as the ATM at the station was broken and I only had enough for a bottle of water and a couple of cups of chai. Their food was nice though, Indian burgers they called them, they were a lot like a veg samosa in a bap. They gave me three for dinner and three for breakfast and I was sorted.
I arrived I New Delhi mid afternoon and and headed for the cheap but badly rated Main Bazaar, it wasn't pretty walking up that street but it was definitely them place to get cheap accommodation which I was expecting to be a hole but I found a place off the main street slightly, which was cheap and clean and although they didn't serve beer the staff at the hotel had some sort of scam going to smuggle it in while distracting the boss, then served it in teapots on the roof terrace restaurant. It got quite funny the way they would come knocking on your door every evening go through the small talk then lean forward and with a quick glance around for others would whisper 'like some beer tonight sir?'
So my first day in Delhi I just wandered around checking out for restaurants, and bars, and getting my bearings. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The main Bazaar was a bit of a state but shopkeepers generally didn't give you two much hassle and there were very few touts. I found my way down to Connaught Place which I'd heard was supposed to be the wealthy part of New Delhi and I'd say it was and it showed greatly. I less than 100 yards I had gone from toothless old 80 year old selling fly covered, half rotten mangoes from a cart to big brand named air-conditioned shops and beautiful restaurants. It was a nice place to be and had a huge circular garden in the middle of it underneath which was the new super clean and efficient Delhi Metro.I got myself a huge thali in one of the restaurants down there and decided that like everyone else it was time to start using my hands, I made a right mess and got food everywhere, it's seems to be quite a tricky technique and very messy. The next day I changed all my travel plans again as I couldn't get to the places I wanted on the times I wanted then headed up to see Delhi's main attraction the Red Fort and surrounding area. As soon as I got to the Red Fort in the entrance I was hassled by a group of youths the eldest not more than 13. They wanted to know everything, name, job, country then they started hassling me for photos which attracted others over for the same. (I did notice quite a few other western tourists coming and going from the gate and not getting anywhere near the amount of attention I was). I started getting frustrated and bolted for the entrance. Once inside I got some peace and quiet and time to look around. It was huge and not what I was expecting at all. It seemed to be a fort built to protect several private mosques and vast gardens, all very nice in itself but not evident how it actually helped or protected Old Delhi in anyway. After I had a little look around Old Delhi and it was much like an extension of the Main Bazaar with lots of little vendors selling ornaments and sari's and fruit. It was stifling hot that day (unsurprisingly) so once I had a look and got my photos it was straight back to Connaught Place for air conditioning and smoothies. I got an early night as the next day I was catching the train down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal which I'll tell you about next time.
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