Delhi

In what many people would view as a crazy move, we've left the beautiful calm laid back world of the Goan coast, for the absolutely insane world of central Delhi. People did warn us how much of a shock it would be but I really don't think we were expecting it to be this different!

Our last days in Palolem were good fun, but we had a quite a lot of rain - we decided to make good use of my last minute CBT course in the UK and rent a scooter. I'd just about figured out the driving system (everyone over takes at all times whilst beeping none stop seemed to be the important parts) so we boldly rented a little black thing from the guest host we were staying at. Only cost about a quid for the day, so it was pretty good value.

So we set off, granted a little wobbly at first, but the roads are very quiet and we quickly got the hang of riding with someone on the back. There wasn't really much problem about getting lost, as there were only really 4 roads in the area. It was pretty good fun pottering around, we found a market so Alex had to try and buy as much as she could carry; this time she held herself back and only bough some pomegranates and some Indian sweets. Embarrassingly enough I couldn't figure out how to undo the straps on my flipping helmet, fortunately the locals were pretty handy. (Ok ok the strap release bit was broken, honest!)

We thought we'd head over to the next beach, as an Irish couple we'd met the night before said it was worth a visit. Halfway there we started to see other people stopping their bikes under trees by the side of the road seemingly randomly, but after 30 seconds the heavens opened. They have some crazy 6th sense about when its about to rain... anyway, we got soaked and managed to pull in at a closed restaurant with a covered bit at the front. Then came the thunder and lightening, and lots more rain. After about an hour we gave up waiting and rode back at a crawl, getting hopelessly wet through. Good fun though =)

That was the last adventure for Goa, the next day we packed up our stuff and went around the town looking for the cheapest cab we could get to the airport. Sure enough a chap offered a knock down price and we thought our luck was in... but it turned out he was a total mentalist. Anything that moved caused him to hit the horn 1-3 times (seemed to depend on the size of the thing that moved, bikes = 1, cows/rickshaws = 2, trucks = 3+) which quickly became annoying. He also seemed to go faster the nearer we got to the airport, so we practically flew the last few km with us holding on for dear life in the back. A false economy if ever there was one.

The flight was uneventful, I made another Indian friend (although this was our first invitation to dinner, people are very very friendly it would seem) but Alex was starting to feel a bit poorly...

So Delhi - the first impression was the incredible heat. It was pretty hot in Goa, but very humid, but Delhi was like a furnace. Thankfully it seems a lot less humid, but that is replaced with smog/fumes/dust. The taxi ride into the city really opened our eyes to the typical tales of Indian driving - what seems to be a pretty good system out in the sticks seemed totally crazy when scaled up in the city. Mopeds and autorickshaws weave between the other cars with about 2 inches of clearance; the cars and taxis jostle constantly to try and get their noses ahead at each junction. Quite the introduction to the city thats for sure.

We found a room pretty easily, the first place we tried from the guidebook looked really nice but was full, but thankfully we found something similar just around the corner. We arrived around 6pm, which must have been evening rush hour as the whole place was just swarming with people - imagine central London at rush hour but with roads the size of pavements, and everyone and everything trying to get passed each other at the same time.

The room we found looked dodgy - the fluorescent light wasn't working, and the aircon wasn't going. What with our massive culture shock we were coming up with all sorts of con style conspiracy theories, but it turns out there was just another power cut. (Thank god for my head torch or we wouldn't have been able to see a thing, thanks M&D :)) By that point Alex was feeling really rough - we'd only been in Delhi a few hours and already she'd got the signature ailment. I wont say anything else in that department, other than it was a tough night but shes feeling a lot better today!

So slowly but surely we are getting used to the non-stop hustle and bustle. We managed to make it into the centre of town today - and within 30 minutes we had been approached by 4 people trying to con us into visiting one of the fake "official government tourist offices". Fortunately the rough guide had done a good job of warning us about the scams (they take you to a shop that has been made to look like the tourist information office, get a cut of massively expensive train tickets etc etc.)

This was at a place called Connaught Place, part of the British designed bits of New Delhi. The whole area is a huge set of concentric circles, which makes the con even better - unless you really know the area you've no idea which segment of the circle you are on, and the shops pulling the con are in pretty much the same spot on each of the segments. So all in all a pretty hard going morning. It would seem we need to be a lot more cautious about the previously friendly greetings we've had.

This afternoon was another mission, this time booking train tickets for our visits to Agra (Taj Mahal), Jaipur (Pink city, and Alex's birthday; the guide book said it was the best place for shopping in Asia...) and then up north into the mountains near Shimla. Thats a total of about 40 hours on trains, so hopefully splashing out on the air con seats will be worth it.

Alex spent the afternoon sleeping it off, so I had to visit the station solo - it was amazing how much less hassle I got from the rickshaw touts and other people marching around with a grumpy look on my face by myself =) I think we are both starting to acclimatise a little, so for once I wasn't dripping with sweat which might also help a bit.

Tonight we might risk taking the camera out and getting some photos, and maybe venturing out to get a bite to eat and hopefully a beer! Until next time...