Delhi
Surprisingly our 26-hour train from Goa to Delhi arrived on time. Then having negotiated the very efficient and spotless Delhi Metro we came above ground just yards from our home for the night. We were never under the illusion that we were staying in a well-heeled area of Delhi, but the smell of urine on the street as we walked to the hotel was overwhelming.
Our overnight train journey hadn’t involved much sleep. The bunks opposite us had been inhabited by an Indian Family with a 2-month-old baby and a six-year-old ‘Spider-Man’. Exhausted we decided not to explore the area around the Jama Masjid. But we had a perfect view of it from our hotel window.
We ate at the hotel restaurant on the rooftop terrace. It had an exceptional view over the city and its Red Fort, which we resolved to visit the following day. Delhi suffers from exceptional levels of pollution. This day was no exception with the warnings at critical levels. The smog hanging in the air gave the evening light a hazy glow.
The following morning after breakfast we hired a bicycle rickshaw to give us a 90-minute tour of Old Delhi bazaars.
Much of this was set up to cater for tourists. Three months of travelling around India left us wise to the price hikes in this area and its shops.
The wholesale Chilli market however was amazing to see one floor up over the spice market. After months of travelling around and seeing small-scale drying of produce locally, the volumes of chillies here in Delhi were bewildering.
We also discovered a Jain Temple which you could enter, ….. for a donation.
Arranging to be left at the Red Fort. Having paid (the Tourist rather than the local) price to enter we were both a bit surprised to discover that the reality was nothing more than a walled garden.
Admittedly a rather large walled garden, with a step well, beautiful Islamic architecture, and a muted light from the smog. It’s also quite peaceful after the madness of the surrounding city.
It was, by far, the least impressive Fort we had seen in our 3 months of travelling India.
We returned to the metro to take us out to the airport and our long journey home. Two flights with Emirates changing in Dubai. We finished with a Flix bus from Gatwick to Cardiff and a train home.
It’s going to take some time to process the memories of the places we have seen, and the people we have met. It’s been an epic journey, making new memories, and revisiting old memories and people from decades ago. With the exception of a few ‘humps in the road’ including three bouts of food poisoning and the common cold which put in visits almost too numerous to mention (always a downside of travelling with Public Transport), we both mainly stayed well.
The change in our diet and consumption of alcohol made a difference to our waistlines. This was ruined by the last three weeks in Goa. Unfortunately, Kingfisher beer made a reappearance in our diets. I doubt that the reappearance of Rum and Full Fat Coke would have helped either
You can’t help but wonder what this trip would have been like to embark upon 25 years ago. The impact of tech on our ability to move around the globe easily is well established. For us the tech worked so efficiently that our journey really was so easy to arrange. At no point were we ever lost or confused about our next steps.
I’d like to think we are not the people we were three months ago. I’d like to think we are calmer, more relaxed, slower to be irritated. Perhaps there is something to be said for all this tea? A beverage which has even won the heart of my coffee-loving husband.
We are people who can’t wait to leave on our next adventure – but we just need to get Christmas out of the way first…….just give us a couple of weeks.
