I am now in Delhi, having travelled up by train from Mumbai (previously Bombay) on Saturday night. I have met lots of new friends here already, and have been going round Delhi with a couple from Sweden (I seem to keep meeting Swedes everywhere - are there any left in Sweden??). We have toured New and Old Delhi, been to the National Museum, and will probably go on a day trip to Agra on Friday to see the Taj Mahal. On Saturday I travel to McLeod Ganj, the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile - should be a chance to get a bit of Tibetan culture after all the Indian culture. Talking of which... After everything that people had told me or warned me about India, the reality is much easier to cope with than I had expected. Generally, its much more friendly than Egypt, and things here are genuinely cheap, without feeling like you are getting ripped off as a tourist all the time (I'm sure we are for some things, but its still crazily cheap). The hostel I am staying in has en-suite facilities, TV and 24 hour room service for 200 Rs/night - about 3 pounds or 5 US$. While you do get hassled in the street all the time, generally people here stop bothering you as soon as you make it clear you are not interested, unlike Egypt. However one thing we realised very quickly is that if you actually get your Lonely Planet book out in public to check the map, it gets noticed by every rickshaw driver within a 100 metre radius, and it then takes a few minutes to get rid of them all again! We have tried a rickshaw once, but most of the time walking is preferable because walking on the pavement is slightly further away from all the exhaust fumes (but its not as bad as Cairo). The traffic lights here have a very friendly feature - the red lights have the word RELAX across them! Crossing the road in Delhi is a bit safer than Cairo as most of the rickshaws are not much bigger than you are so they do tend to stop or steer round you, unlike Cairo taxis which would happily drive straight over you if you're not quick enough. However, for those of you old enough to remember but young enough to have been interested, the whole experience does remind you a bit of the early-eighties video game, Frogger (remember that one)! We have been making quite a bit of use of western fast-food restaurants to get our fill of safe, reasonable food while it is available (i.e. while in the big cities), although the Indian idea of 'fast' food is not exactly, well, fast! Still, its an experience in itself - how about Lamb burgers (no beef, of course), Mango-flavoured milk-shakes or the Indian version of the Big Mac - the Maharaja Mac! Our hotel is on a narrow street near New Delhi railway station - the street is a VERY crowded market - walking down it is quite an experience in itself. You are likely to get caught in the middle of an auto-rickshaw jam, or get run over by a cycle-rickshaw or even a cow! Nigel
I am now in Delhi, having travelled up by train from Mumbai (previously Bombay) on Saturday night. I have met lots of new friends here already, and have been going round Delhi with a couple from Sweden (I seem to keep meeting Swedes everywhere - are there any left in Sweden??). We have toured New and Old Delhi, been to the National Museum, and will probably go on a day trip to Agra on Friday to see the Taj Mahal. On Saturday I travel to McLeod Ganj, the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile - should be a chance to get a bit of Tibetan culture after all the Indian culture. Talking of which... After everything that people had told me or warned me about India, the reality is much easier to cope with than I had expected. Generally, its much more friendly than Egypt, and things here are genuinely cheap, without feeling like you are getting ripped off as a tourist all the time (I'm sure we are for some things, but its still crazily cheap). The hostel I am staying in has en-suite facilities, TV and 24 hour room service for 200 Rs/night - about 3 pounds or 5 US$. While you do get hassled in the street all the time, generally people here stop bothering you as soon as you make it clear you are not interested, unlike Egypt. However one thing we realised very quickly is that if you actually get your Lonely Planet book out in public to check the map, it gets noticed by every rickshaw driver within a 100 metre radius, and it then takes a few minutes to get rid of them all again! We have tried a rickshaw once, but most of the time walking is preferable because walking on the pavement is slightly further away from all the exhaust fumes (but its not as bad as Cairo). The traffic lights here have a very friendly feature - the red lights have the word RELAX across them! Crossing the road in Delhi is a bit safer than Cairo as most of the rickshaws are not much bigger than you are so they do tend to stop or steer round you, unlike Cairo taxis which would happily drive straight over you if you're not quick enough. However, for those of you old enough to remember but young enough to have been interested, the whole experience does remind you a bit of the early-eighties video game, Frogger (remember that one)! We have been making quite a bit of use of western fast-food restaurants to get our fill of safe, reasonable food while it is available (i.e. while in the big cities), although the Indian idea of 'fast' food is not exactly, well, fast! Still, its an experience in itself - how about Lamb burgers (no beef, of course), Mango-flavoured milk-shakes or the Indian version of the Big Mac - the Maharaja Mac! Our hotel is on a narrow street near New Delhi railway station - the street is a VERY crowded market - walking down it is quite an experience in itself. You are likely to get caught in the middle of an auto-rickshaw jam, or get run over by a cycle-rickshaw or even a cow! Nigel