delhi

i was a very lucky boy indeed. if you scroll down a couple of mousewheel turns you'll see that the first day in shimla was covered in deep deep snow. the second day was thaw-day, so i got to see the last of this year's snow in that part of the world. isn't that nice? i decided to take a local bus down to delhi as i had already seen the toy train and fancied a bit of a roadtrip. the scheduled duration was 10 hours but in all it took about 12 (the indian time is officially i.s.t. - indian standard time. it really stands for indian stretchable time.) the trip itself wasn't too hideous, i had a fairly comfortable seat next to a window and the old man sat next to me was smelly, but tolerably so. the journey took me down through the foothills and onto the grand trunk road, which runs all the way from delhi to amritsar and beyond into pakistan. not much to report really. i ate some crisps and a few dozen samosas.

arrival anywhere after dark sucks a bit as it's really hard to get your bearings and it's impossible to get a feel for the place, and delhi was no exception. the bus depot was rammed with people, cars, rikshaws, buses and cows. by this point i was screaming for a wee so headed to the nearest 'convenience' which was a shed with a trough carved into the floor at one end. i was staying in paharganj which acts as a buffer between old delhi and new delhi. full of budget accommodation and plenty of backpackers. my hotel was ok (the hotel vivek if anyone's looking for cheap and smelly rooms in delhi) and it promised hot showers! the pipes in my room in shimla were frozen so there was no shower there, and in chandigarh and amritsar it was too bloody cold to even contemplate taking off one of the many layers i was wearing for fear of instant hypothermia. so yeah.. i needed a shower. big time. sadly it wasn't to be.. every time i switched the boiler on, waited the hour i was supposed to wait for it to heat up and turned on the shower on i was met with a stream of glacial water. grumbling i'd go into the corridor and check the boiler switch to see someone had turned it off. i asked the nearby porter / boy / manservant / chap who wore a grey top and didn't really seem to do much other than sit and drink chai what the crack was and he would smile at me and say "boiler off sir?" exasperated i'd try and explain that boiler off was the last thing i wanted him to do so i'd say slowly "please leave switched on" while pointing at the switch. "ok sir" would be the reply with a big grin and the head wobble they do here which could mean anything from yes to maybe to don't know. so i'd wait another hour and repeat the whole scene again. didn't look like i was going to be clean just yet.

delhi is a really weird place, paharganj is full of the backpacker crap you get used to seeing when you have been on the road a while, stupid tie-dye smocks and bags and whatever, and is full of the same people you see everywhere (wearing stupid tie dye smocks and bags and whatever.) i've been to a few places now and have marvelled at the lack of traffic accidents i have seen despite the craziness of the roads and drivers here. within 1 hour on paharganj i had seen 2 head on crashes between autorikshaws and bicycle rikshaws, and had myself been hit by a car. of course there were no great tragedies here as nothing manages to get above walking pace. every step you take you hear "hallo sir... see my shop... hallo sir... you want hash.. you want cock (i think he was offering cocaine..) you want rikshaw" which is now becoming more than annoying. at the end of paharganj is new delhi's main railway station, and nowhere on this planet is there a busier, louder, more mental place. on the other side of the train station is the new delhi metro station and i am so very impressed with their version of the tube. the stations were immaculate, the trains were large, airy and not crowded at all, and there weren't any of the hassles usually associated with travelling on the tube. i liked it a lot. 6 rupees took me all the way downtown.

near to this area about a 1km walk along chelmsford road is connaught place and the start of new delhi proper. it's a big circle with a park and a metro station in the centre surrounded by 3 or 4 larger circles all lined with shops, restaurants, and on final count 3 mcdonald's take aways. i spent my first afternoon in delhi wandering around there, looking at stuff and taking pictures to bore you all with when i get home! oh, and i had a macca's - they do well despite the lack of beef on the menu. i had a mcchicken maharaja mac meal and it was top.

jeez.... just seen the time. i've got a train leaving in 4 hours and i need to get to the train station and queue for a week to get a ticket. oo and find some food as well... i'll finish up later i promise (i might put some pictures on as well if you're good boys and girls.) i'm in hyderabad at the moment btw - sorry for the slack blogging but i'm having way too much fun looking at coolness.