Delhi, NCT, India
Thursday, June 23, 2011
It took me 6 months to write this last entry. I am writing it in December and I already know that I am coming back to India next June. Tickets have been booked, flight to
Delhi on July 25, then rent the Royal Enfields in Karol Bagh, off to Rishikesh, cross to Nepal, visit Tibet, go back to India, Calcutta, Varanassi, Agra and back to Delhi. Thinking about my next trip made me want to read my blog and I realised I haven't finished writing the last entry, so here it is. Last 3 days in
Delhi as I remember them 6 months after the trip. Delhi got much hotter in the last month. It is unbearably hot in fact. You get to town and you cannot hide anywhere apart from air conditioned bars and restaurants around Connaught place or in shopping malls. But who would want to spend his or her last days in India sitting in a western coffee shop? I can as well do it upon arrival in London. Riding around
Delhi is quite fun now, when you feel like you know where to go, when to turn, how to get back to your hostel
. Feels a bit like home :) I went to see
New Delhi which took the most of my time on the first day. It is so very different from the old, crowded, smelly and loud old
Delhi. Wide roads, beautifully maintained grass, million dollar mansions, guards at the gates to their employers' properties... It's a rich enclave in the poor man's country and the legacy of English colonialism. I went to see the India gate, some government buildings, temples and churches (also Christian - I assume the English had to go to church somewhere when they still were ruling India). Back in the hostel I bumped into the two American girls I saw 4 weeks ago when I just arrived in
Delhi. India is a vast country, but touristy India seems to be quite small as we tourists bump into one another all the time. I also met a couple of Dutch girls who were very unlucky and spent the last 5 weeks in Delhi. Their coach had an accident and one of the girls broke her nose so badly that some of the bones were pushed inside the skull and she urgently needed a surgery. Everything finished happily at the end but her story gave me shivers. On the next day I went to Karol Bagh to get my pannier rack removed and tail light repaired, then off to the Red Fort and Ghandi Museum. On the way to town the chain snapped and I noticed how badly damaged my rear sprocket was. Three missing teeth one next to the other.. I wonder if they broke off just now or whether I rode with the sprocket like this all the way up to
Leh and back. Luckily I broke down only 20 metres from a roadside mechanic (something like RAC or AA but without subscription)
. He didn't have the chain link on him but said he would go to a local market and buy one and come back. 15 minutes later my bike was fixed and ready. Another day in Delhi made me a bit tired so I went back to my hostel in Saket to chill. On the way back I was cursed by a street beggar for not paying her money. I cursed her back with the devil sign but I guess her curse was much stronger as I woke up on the next day with a terrible headache and very very bad stomach. I think it could be the result of smoking too much sheesha and indian bidis (hand rolled small cigarettes) but being cursed by an Indian lady sounds so much better that I'll stick to that latter version. It was a curse! After, what it seemed hours, of lying on my bunk bed I decided to get up and return the bike back to Yoga Motors in Karol Bagh. The always suspicious auntie was very vague about the bike and seemed like she was thinking what to say to not give all my deposit back. She said that the piston in the bike was bad, but how could she or the mechanic tell? We were haggling for a bit. I produced all the receipts for the clutch, tyre, etc.. We agreed that I would pay her 500 rupees extra and the deal was done. I must say that the bike didn't run that bad all that journey but I ended up paying the same amount of money as I would at Lalli Singh who offer much better service and better maintained bikes. I would not recommend anybody to go to Yoga Motors. They will try to give you an old bike which you will have problems with along the way. If you do decide to get a bike from them, check everything yourself, even the tiniest bits and make them replace the parts before you pay. They will tell you that the parts are new but in fact they will be old and worn. I learned from my experience and this time I will certainly be taking bikes from Lalli Singh. I heard good things about them from all the fellow travellers I've met. My trip ends here. The bike is in Karol Bagh where it will be rented to another traveller. I'm back in Saket and getting ready for my flight. I hope my Super Tenere will start after a month spent in a parking lot in Heathrow.
