Delhi, our last stop in India
Trip Start
Sep 27, 2011
1
11
Trip End
Nov 11, 2011
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Where I stayed
Ambassador Transit Hotel, Singapore Changi airport
Delhi, India
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Murray up early for a last look at the hill he isn't game to climb on the last half-day, and looks at the early morning sunrise. Later we pack, book out and deposit our gear downstairs, then walk the town, getting as far as the waste land on the south west corner of the lake, and out into the adjacent village. Get some good local ugly pig photos. Walk a bit of the lake, and talk to a reasonable amputee guru under a bhodi tree or similar, who gives us some background information on Brahma, but doesn't insist on us saying an expensive puja with him, unlike some of the other unscrupulous people around here. Back to the Out of the Blue restaurant for the usual unsuccessful attempt to repeat the previous good dining experience.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our stay for the Pushkar Camel Fair. It is definitely one of the highlights of India.
After lunch, we wait for our taxi to take us to the train station in Ajmer for our train trip to Delhi. Wonder why it hasn't turned up at 2 PM, in spite of considerable negotiation yesterday. We take off up the road with two hotel boys, under the impression that the taxi will arrive, only to be intercepted by another organiser who normally arranges the taxis, to find nothing is arranged.
There is a lot of mobile phoning, we wait "5 minutes", and a black 4WD turns up. It has a child seat in the back, and obviously belongs to Anoop's family. We get in, then transfer to another car at Dia Guest House, and have an easy trip into Ajmer, around the other side of the lake, past some pretty impressive buildings. We get leaned on for extra for the A/C, settle for 500 Rupees plus a 100 Rupee tip.
We’re on the Ajmer to New Delhi Shatabdi Express for the 443 kms trip. This is a superfast trains that can travel at 130-140kms an hour, (but it averages 63 km/hr on this trip), with very few stops, and only travels during the day, hence it doesn’t have sleepers, and is air-conditioned. Tickets are 645 rupees each, and we paid 1,500 for the both of us, including travel agent’s fees. The train is waiting at Platform 1, we find our carriage and names, but the doors are locked. Dianne buys supplies while Murray guards the tied-together baggage. We are no longer surprised when Shiva’s bull wanders along the station platform. That’s what six weeks in India does to you!
We are quick to get in when the doors open, and find ourselves in a 2-seat at the back of the carriage, with room for the small pack behind it. Murray manages, with some effort, to lift the big bag onto the luggage rack, and tie it on with its own straps, partly against theft, partly to stop it crushing someone underneath.
We leave on time at 3.50pm, and almost immediately get water and a snack tray, some of which is quite edible. The windows are reasonably clean, and not too heavily tinted, so photography of alternating African-looking scrub and ploughed fields is possible.
There are some rugged mountains near Ajmer, but the land flattens out towards Jaipur. After dark, there is little to see, with it all looking pretty gloomy through the windows. Dianne has a short kip, while Murray holds the fort. Later we get a pretty edible non-veg chicken meal, with surprisingly good ice-cream to finish. Earlier Dianne got our waiter to organise a bottle of Pepsi, tipped him well, but after the meal, which was part of the fare, he hung around determinedly until tipped 20 Rupees.
The train made a few stops, and was getting pretty empty by the time we got to Delhi Cantt, the army base, and we had plenty of time to get ready as the train slowed down through the interminable railway yards. We got into New Delhi station at 10.40pm, not our preferred time to arrive in Delhi!
The platform was not on the street, so we had to brave the crush, and carry the bags up and down the overpass, ending up out in a car park full of taxis lined up 6-deep for 100 metres. It took a while to find where the pre-paid taxis should be, and there was a big queue waiting for them, so after some argument and wheeler-dealing, with some misgivings we settle with our urger for 200 Rupees for the non pre-paid taxi to our nearby hotel, with guaranteed change for a 500 Rupee note.
We’ve booked into the Hotel Palace Heights on Connaught Place which is rated by Trip Advisor as No. 8 out of 520 hotels in Delhi, and is described as a boutique hotel with sleek rooms in a very central position. This was a splurge, as it is 7,350 rupees per night, or nearly $170. What we hadn’t allowed for was the fact that we’re not arriving till nearly midnight, and we’re leaving really early on our last morning, so won’t be able to take advantage of staying here anyway.
It took a while to find our hotel, with our young driver quizzing local rickshaw drivers, but we find the Odeon Theatre, and shortly after, our hotel behind it. Wonder what the hell we’ve got ourselves into. The whole area looks like Armageddon. The whole street is a series of big holes, with piles of steel and building materials everywhere. There is dust everywhere, and a lot of the bitumen street has disappeared. We later find out that they are building a traffic underpass.
The hotel (and reception) is on the second floor of the building, with a very low-key street presence, but the reception is still operating at 11pm.
They are expecting us, book us in, and send a welcome drink to the room, and we settle in. Battle with the wi-fi, until eventually they give us a cable to get connected. Dianne internets, Murray watches TV, and we get to bed late, a bit keyed-up by our late-night arrival, and a bit apprehensive about the jack-hammering which is still going on outside till at least 3am, but it doesn’t overly worry us.
Wednesday 9th November New Delhi
Up fairly late. Take photos of the polluted air and construction chaos around us, and have a good breakfast (included in the room rate) at the hotel.
We’ve been to Delhi (population nearly 13 million) twice before (in 1977 and 1999) and have seen the main sights, so once again we’re interested in seeing something a bit different. We’ve heard that Delhi has changed a lot recently, particularly because of the Commonwealth Games being held here last year, and we’re interested to see if we agree. One of the new things we’re interested in seeing is the Metro. We have a station nearby, so we go in, and eventually negotiate the various ticket offers, ending up with a 1-day tourist card for 150 Rupees, of which 50 is refundable. We are considering getting the Metro to the airport, so decide to see how feasible it is. Our first problem is that we have our daypack with us, and all bags have to go through a scanner every time you go in, which becomes a nuisance after a while. The actual body pat-down is quite quick. Our first trip experience is a piece of cake. The train arrives half-full; we hop straight on, then off for the line transfer at New Delhi Railway station. Trace the fairly long route to the Airport Line, only to find our tourist card won't work on it, and it costs 80 Rupees, so we would need another ticket or token to get there. Typically distances out that far cost about 16 Rupees. The overall cost is still very reasonable, but reflects the same thinking as Sydney. Maybe Delhi Airport is owned by Macquarie?
We now want to go and see Humayun’s Tomb, one of Lonely Planet’s top choices for Delhi. We later find that we did visit it in 1977, but we don’t have much recollection of it, because we were on a very long all-day tour, and we were feeling pretty sick, and it was very hot, so we didn’t do much walking there, according to our diary.
To get there, our closest metro stop is Nehru Stadium, which is a little less straightforward, with full carriages and long lines each side of the door to get in. We manage to squeeze in, and hang onto our gear, then get out at the enormous stadium station. Take photos of what might be the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village, massive public buildings, some looking pretty under-used, and the stadium looming through the morning smog, surrounded by razor wire, and looking pretty sad.
We walk for a while then get a 50 Rupee trishaw to the Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Dargah Islamic shrine which is famous for the Sufi’s who sing here at dusk on Thursdays. We photograph a number of ancient sites, then walk through an Islamic ghetto area with slaughter houses, sheep tied up in the street, an extremely colourful goat, and the usual hustle and bustle of a Middle Eastern village.
Take some photos of sub-continent cricketers-in-training, some bowling over-arm orthodox, others using the prevalent baseball pitching style. We walk all the way to Humayun’s Tomb, braving some pretty savage traffic on the way. There are a lot of taxis and tour buses, so we know we are in the right place. Pay the 250 Rupee each entrance, but it is a UNESCO site. It is very attractive, and quite impressive. It is set out in an immense square walled garden, with four decorative gates at the points of the compass, and tombs in the grounds, and temples just outside.
The site was infested with schoolboys, some better behaved than others. See a big group go into a half-destroyed tomb, not for information, but for urination.
We walk the grounds, then enter the main, Western gate. Get Taj Mahal-like photos down the narrow water channel. The white marble dome on the red sandstone and white marble base is quite impressive, but still not in the same class as the Taj. We climb the steep, dangerous stairway to the main podium, check out all the facades, look inside at the marble tomb in the rather plain central domed space, then look beyond the walls to the Iranian-style damaged tiled dome at the south east corner, and the very flash Sikh temple off the Northeast corner, before walking the square and exiting to the car park.
We get an offer in the car park from a large man we think is a trishaw driver. Dismiss his offer of 70 Rupees to the stadium, or 200 Rupees all the way home. Beat him down to 130 rupees, then find he actually has a van, not a trishaw.
We have a slow ride right up the spine of the road system toward Connaught Circuit, passing the interesting area at India Gate, with lots of people playing, a lake, and the massive Gate of India Arch, then take side roads and run into problems with a police road block, and our driver abandons us, still demanding the full fare.
We have a difference of opinion, with Murray not wanting to walk up Janta Mantar Marg, which has been blocked by police, and where we have seen a mob of protestors heading. However, there is still some traffic in the streets, but as we get near Tolstoy Marg, we can hear shouting, and see trucks full of protestors, and are happy to turn away onto Tolstoy. This was virtually the same place we encountered a demonstration 12 years before.
The area around Connaught Place hasn't improved a lot, still pretty rough in the alleys. We look for food, but there are only expensive restaurants, and we don't want to fill up too much in anticipation of our Deli food adventure in the evening, so have a foraging meal in the room. Out about 4.30 PM to find the Metro absolutely packed. Let one go by as we reckon there’s no way we could fit on, but when the next arrives just as crowded, we join the locals, and push our way on, hang onto our goodies in the crush, and fight our way out at Chandni Chowk station, in Old Delhi.
Once again, we’ve gone to Trip Advisor, which we have found very reliable to date. "Delhi Food Adventure" (http://delhifoodadventure.com/) is rated No. 1 of 26 in Things to Do in New Delhi (though we’re in Old Delhi), and costs 1,500 rupees each.
We are early as we want to have a bit of a look around before the tour. Have a look at the park, then take the long walk out to the street, find Chandni Chowk the main street, look at the big Sikh Temple, then walk towards the Red Fort for a photo, then back to the park where a weary Dianne had a rest, then to the meeting place outside the Metro station.
Prabhat, our man, is early, and doesn't have his trademark hat as he lost it a couple of days ago, but he can recognise tourists when he sees them. Meet the rest of the bunch (there are usually a maximum of 8 on each tour, but we have an extra today) outside Haldiram, a surprisingly modern, clean and very busy multi-storey restaurant on Chandni Chowk. Go up 3 flights and organise seats for 10, introduce ourselves and have the first of many courses, at a whole range of food outlets, including a small kitchen beside the subway access with no seating, various bread based dishes at the street of the bread makers, drinks upstairs at an incredibly grotty ancient eating house, with the grime of the century on the walls, good kebabs of chicken and goat, mainly in minced form, at Karim's, a large complex of seating and kitchens in the Muslim quarter, then around the corner to Al Jawahar, in an upstairs ninja floor for mutton (read goat) stew and chicken in gravy, with flat bread.
Travel between venues was either walking or by a hurriedly assembled fleet of pedal rickshaws. Sightseeing between venues included the street of the ribbon sellers, the jewellery merchants, and a quiet street of ancient small havelis, in reasonable repair.
When we came out of the bazaar, the Sikh temple was a mass of cascading lights, as tomorrow is a special day, celebrating the birthday of Guru Nanak Dev ji, the founder of the Sikh religion, and free lunches are arranged in the Gurudwaras and people participate in community service.
One rickshaw trip deposited us near the enormous Jama mosque, India’s largest mosque which can hold 25,000 people, and was built between 1644 and 1658. Unfortunately we haven’t the time to have a good look (and it’s closed to us at this time of day anyway).
The food was generally excellent, if sometimes a bit spicy, our host looked after us well, producing supplies from his "baby-sitting bag" to keep us reasonably clean and healthy.
The company was interesting, mainly newcomers to India, four almost straight off the plane from the UK, and another couple with a daughter, whose other daughter was playing for NZ in the current hockey tournament.
As one of the reviewers on Trip Advisor wrote – “This is not just a gastronomic experience, but also an 'in at the deep end' intro to the sights, sounds, smells and mass of humanity which are the backstreets of old Delhi”. We couldn’t have said it better. Prabhat trained as an Engineer, was in IT, and only started leading tours as a weekend hobby, but it has now gained in popularity to the extent that he is doing it full-time. Part of the success is obviously due to Prabhat’s attention to detail – he’s aware tourists are worried about cleanliness, so he now carries hand sanitiser, serviettes, plastic plates and spoons etc. People on our tour asked if he could send us a list of places visited and food we tried. Within a few days he’d forwarded the list, complete with pictures of each of the dishes!
The full list of the places we went to, the food we tried, and the food type is as follows:
Haldiram - Raj Kachori, Samosa, Onion Kachori, Water Balls - North Indian Snack
Natraj Bhalla Corner - Dahi Bhalla (made from dal - split black gram skinless) + Tikki
North Indian Snack
Paranthe Wali Gali - Peas Parantha + Mixed Parantha + Sweet Parantha (khoya) with vegetarian curries - Deep Fried stuffed Indian bread
Old Famous Jalebiwala Jalebi (Really Sweet!) - Deep fried crispy Indian Sweet
Nirmal Restaurant - Parantha Stuffed with Indian Curd Cheese (Paneer) + pickle
Stuffed Indian Bread
Karims - Mutton Seekh Kebab + Mutton Bhurra + Mutton Shammi Kebab
Mughlai Specialities
Al Jawahar - Mutton Korma + Changezi Chicken + Tandoori Roti + Rice Pudding
Mughlai Specialities
Everyone split to go their separate ways at the Chawri Bazaar Metro, with us leaving first as we already had our tourist cards. The metro was still pretty crowded, even at nearly 10pm at night, and we were glad once again not to have gear with us.
Back at the hotel, we sorted out our bill, paying with the rest of our rupees and credit card. When we organised a 4.45am wakeup call, they advised us we could have breakfast as room service, although the literature says it’s not available at that time. We are paying a lot for the hotel, but they definitely do go the “extra yard” to look after you. Confirmed our taxi booking for the morning, and packed our daypack in a manner suitable for roughing it one night in Singapore, with our baggage booked all the way through to Sydney.
Thursday 10th November Delhi - Singapore
The morning all proceeds smoothly - wakeup, breakfast, cab there when we go downstairs, smooth trip on almost deserted roads to Indira Ghandi International Airport. Book baggage through to Sydney, and write up the never up-to-date diary while waiting.
The plane entertainment is a bit limited (not as many English movies as normal) and the system fairly old, with not much instruction, but Dianne nuts it out, and we get to watch movies "on demand". Good meals, but once again not as good as we usually get from Singapore Airlines. Have a window seat, but "Over the wing" again. Are these the last in the pack? We will have to nut out how people book the seats months ahead, as we are invariably among the first to check in, but all the good seats are gone.
Get into Singapore Changi airport about 4pm. Had originally intended to get the Metro into the city, and find a hotel, but we’d been hearing good things about the Ambassador Transit Hotel at the airport, so decided to give it a go. It’s 76.51 Singapore dollars for 6 hours, and 15.30 SGD for each extra hour. They have a vacancy, so we book for 10.30pm to 7.30am (9 hours), and wander around the airport till 10.30pm. There is plenty to do, with free wi-fi, a free movie-theatre, free computer games, a swimming pool (which was closed by the time we thought about it) etc etc. Our daypacks and computer bag are pretty heavy, which makes walking around a bit hard, till we suddenly realize we can use an airport trolley – something we’ve never considered using before! We’ve never considered using a transit lounge before either, and have spent all night in a few airports trying to get some sleep, including in this one. We may not be accepting old age gracefully, but we are starting to accept it!
We’re amazed by just how many rooms there are in the Transit Hotel (and there is one in each Terminal). The room is large, just like a normal hotel room, with a comfortable bed and a good bathroom, and we have a good night’s sleep.
Friday 11th November Singapore – Sydney
Book out of our room at 7.30am, have some breakfast in the transit terminal, and have a leisurely morning waiting for our 9.40am flight, as we got our boarding passes in Delhi, our bags our booked through, and we don’t have to go through immigration, as we’re still in transit. We’ll definitely be repeating this exercise again.
Have an uneventful flight home, getting in on time about 8.35pm, too late for Lisa to pick us up as it’s past Anna’s bedtime. We get a cab (A$73 – it’s going to take a while to get used to Australian prices, after six weeks in the sub-continent!) to Northbridge, where we left our car, as our unit block is being renovated, and the cars can’t be left in the car park. So ends a remarkably easy trip to India.
Summary of our Thoughts on our Independent Travel in India
Although we enjoyed both our previous trips to India, we found that after six weeks or so we’d had enough, and needed to leave, as the hassles just got too much.
This time we decided to go more up-market in standard of accommodation, and class of train travel, and to book them in advance to get rid of two of the major hassles – getting a room, and getting train tickets. We also made the decision to mainly go by train, rather than buses, as we’ve had some pretty scary trips on buses.
Booking rooms and train tickets has been made much easier, compared to 12 years ago, by the availability of internet. Not only can you book through the internet, but through sites such as Trip Advisor, Lonely Planet and blogs, you can get a good idea of the standard and reliability of what you are booking. This really worked, and we had no real hassles at all.
Everyone has been saying how much India has changed, and we were interested to see if this was true. On this trip we only went to places that were of major interest to tourists, quite often because of their religious significance, which meant lots of local “colour”, which is where you are least likely to see the changes. This proved to be true, so that although we did notice some changes, what was more obvious was how much had NOT changed. We loved Varanasi, just as we did 34 years ago – there was so much happening along the ghats on the Ganges, and there was plenty to photograph with all the colourful clothing and processions. However it was just as dirty, if not dirtier than it was, with the locals still urinating and defecating all along the river banks, and urinating wherever there was an available wall, and there was cow dung everywhere. The traffic was worse, as you now had to contend with kamikaze motorbike riders.
On our train journeys we passed LOTS of rural areas, where the people were living just as they were 34 years ago, including heading to the fields, and the train line, for their morning toileting.
We absolutely LOVED Pushkar and the Camel Fair. Once again this was an opportunity to see the local people practising their religion, and living as they’ve done for centuries, and there was not much obvious change, apart from the fact that the town had grown a lot.
We only spent one day in Delhi, so obviously didn’t get to see a lot of it. There are obviously lots of new modern areas, and the Metro is world-class (and already reaching maximum capacity at times, judging by our experiences). However Delhi has obviously paid the price for this development, as while we were there the air was so thick you could almost cut it. For example, we were quite close to the new stadium, but could hardly see it through the haze. We came across this air pollution quite a bit during our stay, particularly in the mornings.
India is still an amazingly cheap destination. Even though we were staying in very nice accommodation, we only paid about A$24 in Jaipur, A$80 for an especially beautifully decorated place in an excellent location in Varanasi, and A$60 for an ordinary but well-situated place in Pushkar at the time of the Camel Fair, when everything is five times the normal price.
Our train fares were incredibly cheap – for a 678km trip in air-conditioned (IIAC) apartment we paid about $24 each, and for an overnight 17-hour trip (in IIAC) with bed and bedding we paid about $26 each. Food was also cheap, and we could a have a main course, depending on the location, which ranged from $1.20 to about $7.
All in all, an interesting and enjoyable addition to our Indian travel experiences
