Smelly Delhi hits you in the belly like a hole in a welly
errrrrrrrrrrr
During the past six weeks I've collected some horror stories about Delhi, only to find myself enjoying Delhi more then a lot of 'nice' places I've been too. It probably had more to do with the people I met in the hostel more then anything else.
Delhi is probably the most Indian place I've been. It sounds silly but by that I mean its India intensified times ten. There are big holes on the street to sewers, I can smell it, there are a comparable number of beggars to Madurai and every bit of space is being used. There's plenty of good street food - not just samosas but I was welcomed to the north by the sight of men standing over tandoori clay ovens making thousands of naans throughout the day. Delhi isn't colourful but its full to the brim. Some corners look like Piccadilly adverts times ten (minus the electric lights and instead dozens of fading signs). It's hard to know where to look, or what to photograph, because something fascinating is going on 360 degrees around you.
One of the guys in the hostel was also into street photography ( about to purchase a Voigtlander) so he lead the way into some crazy narrow side streets (where the 'gang' had been the day before) filled with photographic faces and chaos. Not a tourist in sight, just lots of friendly faces. Yup, so far I've found the north pretty friendly, if not friendlier. It may just be my attitude and the people I was with. I've notices people speak a lot more to guys and they will never address me if I'm with a guy.
I'm not sure I would have stomached Delhi or gone so off the main roads on my own so I owe the folks I met my experience of that city. I also owe the weather - not too hot, freak cook period which allowed us to walk about all day long . It even rained and I had one of my best cups of chai siting on benches under the blue shelter of a chai seller in a street about meter wide. You could tell from the big smiles that it wasn't common to get white people down there.
Most of the people in the hostel had just arrived to India so we went for an 'educational' Bollywood film. I fully recommend Housefull 2 if you dont speak any Hindi. It was great albeit long, starting at 11pm and finishing at 2am. I dont know if this gives a fair idea as this computer has no sound, but hell..... here's the trailer. Be warned, it has some of the worst fight scenes I've seen in a long time:
In Delhi I also had one of the most successful shopping trips of my life- I bought trainers and a violin in two hours!!!!! After two months of not playing I was pretty nervous so I sat on the rooftop terrace of the hostel playing to Delhi. A man from the building next door (a building site really) came and watched , staring for about fifteen minutes until some of my compadres burst in stating that I sounded good, didn't need the privacy and thus demanded I play on. I still cant remember half the tunes so send me recommendations and I'll try learn them- I've got the time.... as long as the sheet music is online or a good vid on youtube.
Playing on the roof wasn't the only unusual situation that my strings were pulled .... I also ended up playing to a busy highway somewhere outside of Delhi . My first major transport misshap. Not bad after two months given that I've taken pretty much every available transport-Its not a bad list: by train: 2AC , 3AC, Sleeper, sitting, standing, Local buses, Sleeper buses, semi-sleeper buses, vikrams, rickshaws, taxis, ferries, bicycle rickshaws, feet........... How did the small one get kicked off a bus in the middle of nowhere? I booked a bus out of Delhi, at the bus station was told the wrong bus by the guys at the information office (but it was going to the same place so the driver told me it was going to my destination and in I hopped...). Twenty minutes out of Delhi the ported tells me its not the bus I booked, flags the bus down and tells me to get off at what was a sort of bus stop on the side of the road. It didn't occur to me then to just pay the fare since I'd clearly missed the booked bus.....
So with two men as an audience, who didn't speak English but seemed certain about the next bus, I played my confused fiddle to the passing cars.
In the end one of the guys accompanied me back to the main bus station and after all the craziness I decided I'd better stay another few nights in Delhi and chill out a bit.
So round two with the buses went well. Didn't pre-book so no chance of missing the bus.... Just jumped on the local bus to Haridwar: One of the most sacred sights for Hindu's as the gate of the Ganges. Pilgrims come to bathe in the waters and every evening they perform Aarti (worship) on the banks before floating bundles of lit flowers down the river. Its all quite beautiful aside from Officials asking you for donations every five meters. I don't mind donating to schools or giving the occasional street kid a few rupees but hell am I gonna pay for someone else's religious ceremony. It's pretty but I don't even understand it.
In Haridwar I met/went budget room hunting with an Austrian guy who'd been traveling 18 months.Clearly 18 months made him think he was king of the road and quicker to judge a book by its cover. When I pulled my 'big' camera out of my bag he called me a european princess.Coming from someone with a snappy canon pixar type who could afford to travel for so long I thought it was a bit rich. Europeans are all royalty in comparison with the majority of Indians...... It made me think a lot about how lucky we are and how we carry ourselves everywhere we go etc. (continue the pondering....................................................................................................................................
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he did have a positive attitude, especially to being photographed by Indians. So I got something out of the meeting (the positive attitude that is) ...
Now I'm in Rishikesh. Yoga capital of the world (i.e. that place the Beatles went to in India). Its beautiful...already in the foothills but set in the valley with a clean, turquoise Ganges flowing under the two suspension bridges which bring together the two sides of the town. I'm trying out Yoga..... so far so good. I can't understand the teacher so well but it's good to stretch some under-used muscles.....and prepare for the real mountains ahead.
lots of love
L x
errrrrrrrrrrr
During the past six weeks I've collected some horror stories about Delhi, only to find myself enjoying Delhi more then a lot of 'nice' places I've been too. It probably had more to do with the people I met in the hostel more then anything else.
Delhi is probably the most Indian place I've been. It sounds silly but by that I mean its India intensified times ten. There are big holes on the street to sewers, I can smell it, there are a comparable number of beggars to Madurai and every bit of space is being used. There's plenty of good street food - not just samosas but I was welcomed to the north by the sight of men standing over tandoori clay ovens making thousands of naans throughout the day. Delhi isn't colourful but its full to the brim. Some corners look like Piccadilly adverts times ten (minus the electric lights and instead dozens of fading signs). It's hard to know where to look, or what to photograph, because something fascinating is going on 360 degrees around you.
One of the guys in the hostel was also into street photography ( about to purchase a Voigtlander) so he lead the way into some crazy narrow side streets (where the 'gang' had been the day before) filled with photographic faces and chaos. Not a tourist in sight, just lots of friendly faces. Yup, so far I've found the north pretty friendly, if not friendlier. It may just be my attitude and the people I was with. I've notices people speak a lot more to guys and they will never address me if I'm with a guy.
I'm not sure I would have stomached Delhi or gone so off the main roads on my own so I owe the folks I met my experience of that city. I also owe the weather - not too hot, freak cook period which allowed us to walk about all day long . It even rained and I had one of my best cups of chai siting on benches under the blue shelter of a chai seller in a street about meter wide. You could tell from the big smiles that it wasn't common to get white people down there.
Most of the people in the hostel had just arrived to India so we went for an 'educational' Bollywood film. I fully recommend Housefull 2 if you dont speak any Hindi. It was great albeit long, starting at 11pm and finishing at 2am. I dont know if this gives a fair idea as this computer has no sound, but hell..... here's the trailer. Be warned, it has some of the worst fight scenes I've seen in a long time:
In Delhi I also had one of the most successful shopping trips of my life- I bought trainers and a violin in two hours!!!!! After two months of not playing I was pretty nervous so I sat on the rooftop terrace of the hostel playing to Delhi. A man from the building next door (a building site really) came and watched , staring for about fifteen minutes until some of my compadres burst in stating that I sounded good, didn't need the privacy and thus demanded I play on. I still cant remember half the tunes so send me recommendations and I'll try learn them- I've got the time.... as long as the sheet music is online or a good vid on youtube.
Playing on the roof wasn't the only unusual situation that my strings were pulled .... I also ended up playing to a busy highway somewhere outside of Delhi . My first major transport misshap. Not bad after two months given that I've taken pretty much every available transport-Its not a bad list: by train: 2AC , 3AC, Sleeper, sitting, standing, Local buses, Sleeper buses, semi-sleeper buses, vikrams, rickshaws, taxis, ferries, bicycle rickshaws, feet........... How did the small one get kicked off a bus in the middle of nowhere? I booked a bus out of Delhi, at the bus station was told the wrong bus by the guys at the information office (but it was going to the same place so the driver told me it was going to my destination and in I hopped...). Twenty minutes out of Delhi the ported tells me its not the bus I booked, flags the bus down and tells me to get off at what was a sort of bus stop on the side of the road. It didn't occur to me then to just pay the fare since I'd clearly missed the booked bus.....
So with two men as an audience, who didn't speak English but seemed certain about the next bus, I played my confused fiddle to the passing cars.
In the end one of the guys accompanied me back to the main bus station and after all the craziness I decided I'd better stay another few nights in Delhi and chill out a bit.
So round two with the buses went well. Didn't pre-book so no chance of missing the bus.... Just jumped on the local bus to Haridwar: One of the most sacred sights for Hindu's as the gate of the Ganges. Pilgrims come to bathe in the waters and every evening they perform Aarti (worship) on the banks before floating bundles of lit flowers down the river. Its all quite beautiful aside from Officials asking you for donations every five meters. I don't mind donating to schools or giving the occasional street kid a few rupees but hell am I gonna pay for someone else's religious ceremony. It's pretty but I don't even understand it.
In Haridwar I met/went budget room hunting with an Austrian guy who'd been traveling 18 months.Clearly 18 months made him think he was king of the road and quicker to judge a book by its cover. When I pulled my 'big' camera out of my bag he called me a european princess.Coming from someone with a snappy canon pixar type who could afford to travel for so long I thought it was a bit rich. Europeans are all royalty in comparison with the majority of Indians...... It made me think a lot about how lucky we are and how we carry ourselves everywhere we go etc. (continue the pondering....................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................)
he did have a positive attitude, especially to being photographed by Indians. So I got something out of the meeting (the positive attitude that is) ...
Now I'm in Rishikesh. Yoga capital of the world (i.e. that place the Beatles went to in India). Its beautiful...already in the foothills but set in the valley with a clean, turquoise Ganges flowing under the two suspension bridges which bring together the two sides of the town. I'm trying out Yoga..... so far so good. I can't understand the teacher so well but it's good to stretch some under-used muscles.....and prepare for the real mountains ahead.
lots of love
L x
So lovely to read your adventures , sounds wonderful.x
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