New Delhi, India
Thursday, August 21, 2014
WOW!
Back in Delhi again we can't believe it. We never imagined we would ever be back.
And we have to say that from the bus that brought us from the airport - it's looking pretty trim and clean (for India!).
As we crossed over the railway tracks at Delhi Central Railway station where we got off, it was a good feeling to walk up the familiar street of Main Bazar with all its bustle, people shouting out to you, tuk tuks beeping, rickshaws and mopeds and the occasional cow. We love it!
We don't really have a purpose to be here other than to use it as a base to get to places in the north more easily
Delhi Streets at night
We stayed in the Hotel Shelton last time we were here and they have refurbished it a bit since then. And due to the currency conversion rates at the moment, it's only costing us £12 a night instead of £13. However, on the first night we were still awake at midnight due to the noise and banging of demolition/building work going on INSIDE the hotel. Well at 00:10 am Jody had had enough and got dressed and went down to reception where there was another angry guest in his underpants!
Joined shortly after by another man, the poor man on the reception desk didn't stand a chance and all three of us insisted we would not be paying for that nights room. The building work soon stopped then.
After a long sleep in after the antics of the night before, our first full day here was fairly relaxed. Bryan's Delhi belly is holding in there whilst Jody's is just starting, so we didn't feel too confident about straying far from the hotel. However we were both keen to go to India Gate as it is where we spent our last few hours on our last night of our last trip and it feels quite special to us.
India Gate
It hasn't changed.
It is still a really nice place to just hang out and people watch. There is a really nice atmosphere here, the street sellers and families all gather to eat, chat, play and just look at the monument. The monument itself is pretty much like Marble Arch. It's a memorial to the 70,000 Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the British Army in world war 1.
It felt really nice to be back there and we were glad we made the trip to it.
The next few days we just spent around the hotel as the Delhi Belly was still hanging around although Bryan's did slightly improve. Its a shame as there are some fabulous markets not too far away but neither of us are confident there will be good facilities there so probably best we leave it until we are back in Delhi in a couple of weeks time.
We did wander around the block though and guess who we bumped into?
Kareem!
For those of you who followed us last time, you may remember reading about him as he was our tuk tuk driver and completely took over our lives whilst we were here. Organising where we should go what sights we should see and taking us everywhere we needed to go.
We kept in touch for a short while
Delhi Streets - spices
We emailed him photographs we had taken of him and some other bits and pieces but contact dried up eventually as tends to happen.
We couldn't believe he would recognise us from just passing us in the street at night but he did.
And even more impressive, he shouted out Hey Bryan, Jody. Wow what a memory!
On Monday 25th August we set off by train to Chandigarh (a city north of Delhi) to meet some more people. It's right at the foothills of the Himalayas so a good starting point to head off to see some of north India as it is supposed to look like Switzerland.
We will let you know if it does!
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