DELHI -
Delhi is hands down the craziest place I’ve been in my entire life! There are some 14 MILLION people living in the city, and I would say maybe ¼ of the people are homeless and do nothing but beg tourists for money. The level of poverty here is insane! I’ve never witnessed such difficult living conditions ever. We flew in on Sunday afternoon after leaving beautiful, serene Gulmarg. Right when we left the airport to catch our ride to the hotel, a group of three guys tried to help us with our bags to the car and tried demanding a tip from us. Kashmir was a little weird with people asking for tips frequently but this was a new level of uncomfortable for most of us. The three guys who were clearly homeless would not leave us alone when all 7 of us were trying to get in a 5-person car, packed full of our luggage as well. So already we knew what lied ahead of us in this giant, poverty stricken city.
The hotel Rani Castle was actually pretty cool. It was a very traditional style Indian hotel and décor. The weather was also very nice, at a steady 60 – 70 degree range. By the time we were all situated in our rooms and everything, it was time for dinner. By now everyone but Joe and I have been sick from the food and we planned on keeping it that way. We got a couple of cabs, which in Delhi are three wheelers! Basically they are motor versions of rickshaws. And not to mention people here don’t know how to drive at all! Lanes, traffic lights, signs… Pay no attention to them at all because they are meaningless! Cars flying everywhere on the street, honking their horns all the time, bobbing and weaving everywhere. It was seriously scary riding around town trying to get somewhere.
We ended up heading to this part of New Delhi where there are a bunch of restaurants and bars to hang out. The place we ate was pretty good, though our drinks were twice as expensive as our food. That was a little weird, but the food was great and we all had a great time. Now it was time for us to check out the local nightlife. Again, we got some cabs to take us back to where our hotel was in town, which I can’t even begin to tell you where it was but whatever. So there was this bar by our hotel we wanted to check out for a little bit. We got in there and it was pretty much a disco. There were about 10 people inside and we rolled in, and all the locals were checking out the foreigners. So we grabbed a few drinks and just got out of there and went to bed.
The next morning I woke to James puking hard in the bathroom. Oh, James and I roomed together again by the way. Anyway, he was NOT feeling good at all and spent a good 15 minutes chucking in the toilet. So naturally I made sure he was ok and had some water and gave some Tylenol like a good friend. Then Ryan comes in to our room freaking out because he too vomited this morning. So while James went back to bed, I went with Ryan to try to find an open store to get some bottled water for him to drink. Little did we know that nothing in India opens before 9 am. So we had to chill in the hotel for a while and wait for stuff to open in an hour. After some breakfast and getting some internet going in Jen’s room we decided to get out and check out Delhi. We ended up getting some cabs to the Red Fort, which is a famous tourist attraction in Delhi. It was erected in the 16th century and is still very much in tact. Here we actually rode some of the famous rickshaws (or bikes with benches on the back). This was pretty nerve racking as well. We thought the cabs were crazy, and these rickshaws were even more nuts! They ride straight out in to traffic, with tons of cars and buses without even blinking. To enjoy this experience you really just have to keep your eyes off of what is happening and on other things around you.
After checking out the Red Fort for a while we decided to take the bike taxis to this mosque across the street. This ended up being the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. The whole courtyard on the way to the mosque was a plethora of homeless people begging for food and change. Also this entire lower area was completely polluted with trash, urine and excrement. Our rickshaw drivers even said they would only wait a short bit for us there, because they didn’t want to deal with the people in the area. We strolled up the stairs to see this giant mosque, which look beautiful from the outside. However quickly became very uncomfortable because everyone was mobbed by the poor children, scrounging for change of any kind. One little boy who couldn’t even speak wouldn’t leave Jen or Chad alone the whole way up the 50 steps to the mosque. Then when we got to the top, we were hounded by several other children & elderly. After about 5 minutes of this we all decided it was time to leave, quickly. So we hustled back to the few rickshaws that waited for us and got the hell out of there. This last portion of the day really made all of us very appreciative of where we live and enjoy every day of our lives back home! I really don’t think I’ve ever had a more humbling experience ever, nor do I think I’ll have one again. On a good note I did get a bunch of pashmina scarves for my girlfriend and friends back home for very cheap. So that was good.
Now it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready to leave India to return home. We got back around 3:00 pm and were hungry for lunch. Luckily there was a PIZZA HUT in our little neighborhood by the hotel! So we thought it was time to ease ourselves back in to American style eating. This was awesome eating pizza again and finally having something other than rice & curried veggies or meat. Cool to have some variety after 9 days of similar stuff. In fact Pizza Hut was so good, we ate there again for dinner before we left for the airport. So I thought I’d call KLM one last time to see if they finally got my bag back in to Delhi, and it was there! OMG, I thought it would NEVER turn up, ever! This was probably the most exciting news I’ve received in a while. However it was not sweet at the airport. All I wanted was for KLM to compensate me with an upgrade for my return home, which in my opinion is very fair and shouldn’t be a negotiation. So as I pulled out all the stops when talking with the people of KLM at the Gandhi International Airport, but had no such luck! I know, complete BULLSHIT! Guess I’ll try again once we get to Amsterdam. KLM / Northwest is seriously going to get it when I get home… Fo sho!
SHIT! I’m in Amsterdam now and just tried to get an upgrade and the ladies at customer service only hand me a damn complaint form! F that! This is some of the WORST customer service I’ve ever dealt with! That’s it, I’ve had it with this airline company! Fisher out. Also, I'll put some more photos up of Delhi, when i get the rest. so keep checking.
