Walking the inspirational corridor from our flight, we could already feel the heat of Delhi. There were airconditioners every 20 metres or so, all working, but it was still hot. It was 3am.
Being warned about Indian's tendency to be on the eager side of touting, Dean and I had organised our pick-up from the airport to take us to our hotel. As we walking through the entry gates we realised how m,uch this had paid off. Dozens of touts were there 'taxi taxi' being shouted from every direction. Actually, one week into the India-leg of our trip, it is still being shouted at us from every direction.
After some sleep, Dean and I headed for the Red Fort in Old Delhi - we found the cheapet way there despite having failed to convince our hotel man/travel agent that we are not rich. He still does not believe us. Sure, Australia is better off, but when you are at the end of a very long trip and seriously running out of cash, the assumption of everyone around that you are loaded with cash and should give it all to them can be quite frustrating. Sorry, back to the Red Fort.
The Red Fort is a massive complex of Red Sandstone (or some other like-stone). After walking through the entry gates you are met with manicured lawns with striped squirrels ruinning around and smaller white palaces and temples, used mainly for the Maharaja to meet his subjects. Most of these were made of white marble covered with floral decorations. They were now empty of the trimmings, but were still impressive. Monkeys ran around the walls, as they seem to do in most places we've seen so far, and by now, Dean and I were taking numerous sitting breaks as we adjusted to the humidity, thankful that at least on our first day, the clouds were protecting us from the suns rays.
Getting back to our area of Delhi (Connaught Place - i kid you not) was a little more difficult. The cheap 'fatfat savers' (phonetic of course), or jeeps, were no where to be seen. We walked every direction on the same intersection for about an hour. When we asked for help, someone would try to sell us something. Nothing is for free in Delhi. Eventually we resigned to the fact that we would have to get a rick-saw (a tuk tuk, re thailand), and with the help of a tourist police man secured one for a good price. The Cop took down the reg of the rick-saw so he could collect his cut of our fare later. As I said, nothing is free in Delhi.
By Day 2 in Delhi we realised we were a little thrown out by the time jump between Turkey and India and that a driver for the day was the best option for checking out New Delhi. So we treated ourselves to an a/c car and we were so smart to do so. According to our driver it was 47 today and the sun bright was shining for all of it.
Our driver, Ringku, took us to the Presidents Palace, a magnificent building, before stopping at India Gate, where, much to Dean's fright, a guy suddenly sat on the ground a metre away from us and whipped out his flute and cobra. This guy really appeared to come from nowhere. We also saw our first monkey dance - so wrong.
Next stop was Humayan's Tomb. Built before the Taj, you can definately see the similarities, although this tomb is built of Red Sandstone with black and white marble inlays. This place was really charming. Within its complex were other tombs also including that of the Maharaja's Barber - the only man trusted enough to have a blade to the Maharaja's throat.
In India there are many religious groups that day-to-day seem to get along as we all should. A newer religion (the name that i have forgotten, oops) that cites to respect all religions and acknowleges the similarities of them, has built a Lotus temple in Delhi. Pretty basic inside but most of us will find the architecture somewhat familiar....
No comments:
Post a Comment