Dawn in Delhi
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2010
1
69
79
Trip End
Jan 15, 2011
Where I stayed
Delhi, India
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
We travelled for around 26 hours through Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore and eventually, after the ordeal of getting our Indian visas, arrived in Delhi at 0230 local time. Skinner had bought Beth some UGGs as part of her birthday and she was overjoyed with them now. They were the only warm item of clothing she had with her!
Our pre-arranged pick up did not show at the airport which led us onto the beginning of a series of rip-off attempts. One 'helpful' gent offered to phone our hotel, which he did, and on speaking to them Beth was told that there had been a water leak and the hotel was closed. Skinner had been given a heads-up on this style of trick so we ignored the call, which the guy had obviously made to his friend around the corner and arranged a taxi of our own.
Delhi airport had been enshrouded in a thick fog, as is typical of North India in January, and the drive through the city was like the stormy scene in Aliens where the tank is riding through the deserted colony. We got to our hotel after navigated a range of roads that had been sealed off by the police?
After a freezing cold sleep in a room void of any heat source we asked our receptionist for a taxi to Connaught Place in the city centre. After agreeing we hopped in the taxi which immediately took us to the receptionists mates place. We bared with the tour operator but having heard the booking vouchers/tickets you get from one of these operators aren't worth the paper they're printed on, we had a massala tea and left only with a city map of Delhi.
We managed to get through the city tube with the assistance of a nice local man. With all previous contact with the locals resulting in them wanting something from us, Skinner was very sceptical when this man approached the lost looking foreigners. The man picked up on this and stated that he was not after anything, but Skinner was not convinced until the man left them in Connaught Place and walked away. Beth felt that the man was always genuine!
As we only had ten days in India we got booked through the Indian Travel Consultants with all the places we wanted to see. Time was getting on, partly due to the amount of times the agent described Jaipur as 'The pink city of India', so we bailed out of there and toured Old Delhi for the rest of the night.
We took in the Red Fort, Meena Bazaar and the Delhi Gandhi memorial (surprisingly as we hadn't asked to go. Dropped off, walked in, 30 seconds later we were out of there!
We finished up with a good Indian meal at Karims. We shared a table with a lovely German couple who were just finishing six weeks in India. Next day of to see the Taj Mahal...
