Everything started when my flight arrived to New Delhi's airport Indira Ghandi. The long walk through a fully carpeted spongy floor with a vintage design took me to the exit. There I was, inhaling for the first time the air of the Asian Continent.
As told and I read, people will start approaching you to sell you things or to offer you services. And they don't let you go until you tell them politely a "no thank you" for the fifth time or you turned them down politely. I followed the "metro" boards to the fast train that's connecting the Airport with New Delhi Station. I had on my pocket around 150 rupees that a colleague from me at work gave me as a present (approximately 2 euro's). She said it was going to be enough to get to my hotel with the metro. When I approached the metro ticket machine, an office guy was helping people to get tickets. The ticket price to New Delhi Station cost me 100 rupees (1.5 euro's) and I had 40 rupees left which I thought it was not going to be enough because I had to meet an Indian buddy who I met on Couchsurfing at GTB Nagar station. So back to the airport to look for an ATM machine. All of them are placed just outside the arrivals hall, out in the nude. There are at least three of them. In order to keep tradition with my 6 year's ago trip, the first ATM Machine was completely turned off, the second one did not process my transaction due to an time out error and the third one was thankfully working.
You cannot choose the denomination of the bills (as you can do in some banks in other countries) but it is important to make sure to get 100 rupees bills as maximum, it would be difficult for some people (as tuc tuc drivers) to give change for higher amounts.
With money in my wallet I headed (once again) to the metro. It is quite normal that every passenger and every passenger's bag go to a metal detector control at every single station in New Delhi. This is related to the previous bombing incidents occurred in Delhi. Once in a while, you can hear in the metro in English and Hindi, alerts to the passengers to contact the police if they see a package unattended. They are also warned no to touch it as it can be a bomb (as clearly as this).
The line from the airport is a separate line from the metro system. So I had to buy a token to get to my final destination. And here I got my first scam (naive tourist just arrived). The guy from the counter overcharged me 10 rupees more to sell me a token to my final destination.
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As told and I read, people will start approaching you to sell you things or to offer you services. And they don't let you go until you tell them politely a "no thank you" for the fifth time or you turned them down politely. I followed the "metro" boards to the fast train that's connecting the Airport with New Delhi Station. I had on my pocket around 150 rupees that a colleague from me at work gave me as a present (approximately 2 euro's). She said it was going to be enough to get to my hotel with the metro. When I approached the metro ticket machine, an office guy was helping people to get tickets. The ticket price to New Delhi Station cost me 100 rupees (1.5 euro's) and I had 40 rupees left which I thought it was not going to be enough because I had to meet an Indian buddy who I met on Couchsurfing at GTB Nagar station. So back to the airport to look for an ATM machine. All of them are placed just outside the arrivals hall, out in the nude. There are at least three of them. In order to keep tradition with my 6 year's ago trip, the first ATM Machine was completely turned off, the second one did not process my transaction due to an time out error and the third one was thankfully working.
You cannot choose the denomination of the bills (as you can do in some banks in other countries) but it is important to make sure to get 100 rupees bills as maximum, it would be difficult for some people (as tuc tuc drivers) to give change for higher amounts.
With money in my wallet I headed (once again) to the metro. It is quite normal that every passenger and every passenger's bag go to a metal detector control at every single station in New Delhi. This is related to the previous bombing incidents occurred in Delhi. Once in a while, you can hear in the metro in English and Hindi, alerts to the passengers to contact the police if they see a package unattended. They are also warned no to touch it as it can be a bomb (as clearly as this).
The line from the airport is a separate line from the metro system. So I had to buy a token to get to my final destination. And here I got my first scam (naive tourist just arrived). The guy from the counter overcharged me 10 rupees more to sell me a token to my final destination.
Coming out of the metro station you feel straight ahead the feeling that you might have arrived to India. Driving on the left, cows on the way, motorcycles and a particular way and own transit rules.
Abhi helped me book the hotel in Paharganj, one of the districts in Delhi that would receive the most travellers. Arriving to Paharganj wouldn’t be my personal recommendation for an traveller. Describing it, it was more like a market/bazaar with narrow streets where people, tricycles, tuc tucs, cars, people, dogs and cows will transit altogether. The hotel that I booked for aprox. 10 euros was quite comfortable and the personnel was also very friendly. I had my big bed and my own bathroom. But for what Abhi said, there is no physical division between the shower and the toilet in most Indian hotels that he knows. In my case I had the toilet, the shower next to it (no curtains or shower door) and the sink next to it. Everything aligned in a row along the wall.
That same Monday, there was not much option to do, as the museums and monuments were all closed. So it was time to take a visit to Delhi from the outside. I bought a metro card for 150 rupees (50 for the card and 100 to use to travel around). This card is handy if you want to use the metro system. You can charge it always and when you leave you get all your money back but 20 rupees.
So, that day I went to the Deer Park/Hauz Khaz to relax and walk around. It’s a nice park where you see people jogging, walking, sitting, playing badminton in the fields (yes, with a net and everything). After hat I went to Connaught Place (the business district of Delhi) where all restaurants, stores and bars are placed around a big park in a circle shape. I found that night a very nice Punjabi restaurant to have dinner. The Punjabi food is typical from the Punjabi region on the north(west) of India. Definitely worth trying it. After that, I needed to head back to my hotel, but first try to find out what would be the normal rate to pay for a tuc tuc. With a simple greet in Hindi followed by plain English, I asked a guy on the street: “Namaste. Do you know where I can get a taxi?”. He had the courtesy to negotiate in Hindi for me the taxi price. So when he got a price agreed he told me: “90 rupees, you don’t pay more. Ok?”. So 90 rupees it was.
Coming back to the hotel around 11 p.m., I expected Paharganj to be a dead street where the cows, dogs, tuc tucs, taxis, tricycles and the rest would have gone to sleep. Well…wrong! The street was more alive than before, but this time in the dark and with glowing colorful boards with the names of the businesses all over.
In Delhi you have two kind of people. The ones who want to see you as a walking fountain of money and the ones who don’t. Well, focusing on the second ones, they are definitely helpful and welcoming.
Day 2, still jetlagged and waking up at 11 a.m., I went to see more of Delhi. First destination was the Red Fort, a fort that held the palace of the one time emperor and his wives. It was also used as court for the trials. This fort was lately taken over by the British. Coming to the fort with a tuc tuc for 120 rupees made me experience the traffic in Delhi where you really don’t move as all want to go forward at the same time in the best way that they can fit on the road. Arriving to the fort I was approached by a guide that offered to show me the fort for a negotiated amount of 7 euros. During the explanation, it looked that the guy was reading a book out of his mind, having it all memorized and looking to the empty space while he was explaining what he knew about the fort. But this was not the only funny thing, next to it while we were walking from point to point; he was having little dialogues in Hindi with himself. This whole experience was totally worth it. He was also grateful to have helped me.
After leaving the red fort and with a hunger that would make me eat a whole cow…wait, I cannot do that in India, I head through one of the busiest roads in Delhi where another bazar spread along several streets. The first “clean” place that I found was a Mc. Donald’s where I decided to try the adapted Indian Menu (no beef). I ordered the Chicken Maharaja. By eating it, it did tasted very Indian. I would give it a point worth trying it.
After that I headed to the Lodi Gardens (worth a visit). Where you can see the big tombs of previous rulers of Delhi. This park is also a very relaxing place where you can see different people just enjoying the quietness and peace that these gardens can bring you for a while transporting you to a place where the chaos of Delhi does not exist.
After recharging batteries laying on the grass for a while, I went to the Lotus Temple. Temple built in Delhi with no specific religion but where all people of all religions can go and have a moment of connection with the entity they believe in.
Going that night for dinner. I joined Abhi. He took me to this amazing vegetarian place at Connaught Place. Food: South India. Simply amazing! I’m in love with the food of this country.
My next stop will be the home of the Taj Mahal: Agra. There are two typical and affordable options to get there; one is with a train or with a bus. A train will take me there. Curious already of how a smaller city in India will be, although it is still a very touristic destination, things will tell me that it can be a great experience.
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