"In India, everything is possible"
30/04/2017
I'm writing this from the lounge room of my hostel (Madpackers Hostel; #1 on Lonely Planet and "google famous" according to a tour guide.)
There is a buzzy atmosphere of young and older people speaking in foreign languages and accents, and many an elephant pant and anklet in sight.
I'm glad to be back here as my day so far had been hectic and that was just 7 hours out and about!
Started with a relaxed curry naan kind of breakfast in the hostel. I needed to book a train ticket; because they sell out really quickly. I went to book with the hostel but they said come back at noon because then the booking number needed will be free. I sifted around all morning and found two Brits who were keen to go exploring later.
Come 11.30 I asked about the train ticket and they said I needed to book tomorrow. Or go to the main station. I was given about 10 different instructions on how to avoid getting scammed.
Feeling ambitious armed with a printed out map, my new pommie pals and I set off.
Everything here today was like an adrenalin rush. Simply buying a token for the metro left us buzzing and high diving after. Taking the metro was like the tube in London, except more people stare at you.
Our first stop is India Gate; an arc de triumph type structure that was amazing with wide open space and locals abound. They all wanted to take selfies with us and talk about cricket. You rippa!
We then walked about 3km in the heat sharing travel stories, looking at the local boys bathing naked in the fountain and hosing our already dirty feet down under a sprinkler. We made our way to the Parliamentary house and embassies. It was a stark contrast from the previous city I was in; Ho Chi Min, where everything was stacked up on itself. Followed by tuktuks and trying to capture the moment in a picture.
Then to Lodhi garden, following an argument about tuk tuk prices, found a relatively posh area for lunch (Turtle Cafe) in a cool as bookshop. Headed to Connaught place; by this time, metro pros.
Went to the train station to buy the ticket. Imagine you have 8 children and they all want something and then there are 5 dogs barking and also a fire coming closer to you, and you have to balance a basket of poo on your head.
That is what getting to New Delhi station is like.
Instead we got sent to a tourist office which in hindsight I think was a scam but a really good scam. It took more than an hour to book a bus ticket to Rishikesh and a taxi as Rakesh, the booking agent, was trying to convince me that I would make a great wife and if not me then maybe my UK companion. He said he has the whole of India in his hand. We got free chai but it burnt my tongue. Kind of how he booked a night bus for me and said it would be good- one to a high standard for tourists.
My experience was the opposite. Not quite the type of bus where people are hanging off windows and doors but bumpy and they beeped their siren horn all night.
As a plus the other local passengers were nice and after talking to them about cricket, they helped me out.
We headed back to the Hostel relatively jaded and hungry. Ordered delicious food in, and retreated.
01/05 (Taj Mahal sunrise tour and Agra fort)
The pictures say more than I can; but I will just say that my driver told me that if I move to India I will become a Bollywood star in 6 months.
02/05
Solo mission.
Saw probably one of the coolest most ornate temples, Arkshradam, which was quite far away by metro. It's a glitter queen's dream in there.
Headed to Chandi Chowk, old Delhi. Getting out of that station was about as easy as blocking off a burst pipe with your baby finger; whilst a crocodile starts climbing out of your toilet system.
I got lost.
Haggled with a rickshaw driver to take me to the spice market after some sweaty walking and not much luck following the blue dot on google. The rickshaw was an experience in itself; and I made it to the spice market. My nostrils were flooded with cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and masala. Everyone was hacking and coughing as was I and it was a hilarious soundscape of shouting and spitting and coughing that any medieval film set could learn from. I got stuck in a narrow lane way because a cart loaded with sacks was trying to go through at the same time as about 15 people and 2 men with sacks of what I think could be potatoes on his head.
Found the delicious Samosas (lunch for $0.75! Yuss)
Went to a mosque commune and chatted with some locals. Then to lotus temple as it was described by Lonely Planet as "a pocket of calm in this hectic city" but it looked like the Sydney Opera House and it was crowded and I got yelled at because all I wanted to do was sit down.
So I retreated back to the hostel to prepare to head to the night bus.
That was a whole 'nother ordeal and whilst this blog has highlighted the calamities more than the most exciting things that have had my jaw dropping.
One thing that has truely taken my breath away is how I am so stimulated and challenged here. Surrounded by like minded people, in a very sometimes unrecognisable world.
I am completing this post in Rishikesh, in the north, where I am going to do 200-hour yoga teacher training. I have had little sleep, but the atmosphere is a gently buzz that can only be sealed with an "Om"
Jj
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