We arrived in the New Delhi Airport, which was being renovated, and seemed very small and primitive for an international airport. There was a line in customs for Indians and one for foreigners. Both lines just stared at each other.
Outside the airport we found the pre-paid taxi booth, which is essential for both Indians and foreigners who don't want to be charged ridiculous prices for taxis. The weather was a shock for us, 43 degrees! We found a taxi driver, but he drove around in circles for a while, unable to find the place. We had been warned that taxi drivers are likely to make up some story to tell you your hotel has had a fire or something and then take you to one where they get a commission for bringing you, so we insisted that he find the place or we wouldn't give him the pre-paid voucher.
The Dodgy Hostel
Garden chairs?? Dodgy.
Eventually he found the place, which had no sign - the first sign of dodginess from the hostel that we stayed at. The address we were brought to was a travel agency that functions as the head office for a couple of hostels in the area. We were dropped off there, and then walked to the hostel, which was through a maze of little alleyways. The hostel was on the fourth floor of an appartment block, and looked more like someone's home than a hostel.
We left the hostel with the escort of the guy who looked after that building. We wanted to ask for a good place to eat, so he took us back to the reception. Instead of taking us to a restaurant, they invited us to eat with them. We chatted about the cricket and other countries, while eating dahl and rice.
After dinner, one of the guys offered to give us a map of Delhi, so we followed him into his office. Big mistake!! As soon as we sat down, he started planning our trip around India. We gave out as little information as possible, but he had gleaned some from when we were chatting, and formed a plan based on that. He basically told us where we were going and that it would be with him. We managed to get out of there by saying we'd have an answer in the morning.
The next morning, we came for our free breakfast, which was served at the desk in his office! Talk about pushy! After lengthy arguments and discussions, we managed to get across that we wanted to get a second opinion before booking something. So he let us hire his driver for the day for sightseeing and to check the prices at another agent.
Touring Delhi
The driver took us to another travel agent of his choice, not the one we asked to go to. We insisted on being taken to the official government tourist office. Unfortunately we got confused, and went to the one that couldn't actually book anything for us, they could only give us advice. We went to an agent that they recommended, but he didn't have many good options or prices for us. We should have gone to the office at the train station which we now realise can book things for you, legitimately too! Instead we took the offer of the guy from our hostel, because it was cheaper than the other quote we got, and it felt safe to have our train tickets and hotels booked and waiting for us.
After booking the tickets and hotels, we headed off to see the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid Mosque. The driver dropped us off down the road from the mosque and we walked for the first time through the busy streets of India.
It was quite hard to take it all in. It was another 43 degree day, and the sights and the smells were strong and confronting. There were women in beautiful saris and muslim women completely covered in black, there were rickshaw drivers calling out to us everywhere, and slaughtered goats heads and other pieces of meat sitting covered in flies on shop benches.
We eventually got to the Mosque, where we were told that a prayer service was in progress, and we'd have to come back in 45 minutes. The Red Fort was just down the road so we decided to see it first. The heat made the distance seem at least 5 times longer, and we kept taking the wrong roads to get to the entrance of the fort. Eventually we gave up and decided to get the driver to take us back there later.
We went back to the mosque which was now open, and walked through the unmanned metal detectors, which went off at every person, but no one cared. We then climbed the huge flight of steps to get to the entrance. We had to leave our shoes at the entrance, and walk around the steaming hot red-sandstone courtyard. There were a few pieces of material to walk on, but they were so hot from the sun, it didn't make much difference.
The mosque was beautiful, and we saw several people at one wall praying. Many others just lay around in the shade. We also walked to the pool of water in the center of the courtyard, where people washed their feet. It was so nice and cool after the hot, dusty roads. There were also swarms of pigeons eating seeds in one corner of the mosque.
We drew a lot of attention from the locals, and several groups of young people wanted us to take photos of them.
There was a group of girls in colourful saris, and a couple of cheeky young boys.
The Red Fort
After seeing the mosque, we got the driver to take us to the Red Fort. It was even further to the entrance than we thought, so it's a very good thing we did. The fort was enormous, and the security was tight. We both got frisked by the security guards, and sent through metal detectors. Thankfully they had male and female guards!
The fort was built in 1638 - 1648. The walls of the fort extend for 2km, and the moat is 10m deep. There were so many buildings within the fort itself. Some looked like English mansions, others looked like Roman temples filled with pillars.
There were gardens surrounding every building, and there were empty channels everywhere, where fountains flowed in seasons with no drought.
Back at Fort Dodgy
After seeing the Fort, we returned to the travel office. They had booked our first overnight train, and we needed to go over the travel plan, and have dinner before we left for our train. Nothing seems to happen quickly in India, and we wasted most of our time in his office going over the details and the prices.
We finally escaped to a restaurant, where we sat stressing while we waited for our food. We were not disappointed though, the food was incredible! we haven't had paratha (Indian bread) as good as that since. Artur is not a big fan of Indian food, but he really enjoyed both the curry and the bread.
Our First Indian Train
We were rushed off to the hostel to grab the bags, then drive through the crazy traffic to the train station. The station was crazy and smelly, and we weren't sure where our carriage was. Loren waited with the bags while Artur searched for the right car. The first carriages we came to looked like cattle cars. The passengers had their heads and arms hanging out the windows.
Thankfully our carriage was a little more like what we were used to. It had closed windows with airconditioning and two levels of beds that also functioned as chairs before 9pm. There were also curtains around each bed area for privacy. Every few minutes, a young kid would walk through the carriage calling out 'chai, chai', which means tea. We tried some, and quite enjoyed it. It was of the milky sugary variety that the Indians drink, not spicy though like the chai that most westerners know.
Some friendly passengers on the train started conversations with us, and told us a lot about the religion and marriage practices of India. One of them was planning on studying in Australia, the other owned a company that trades in commodities. So we were definitely travelling in the middle class carriage.
The older man told us lots of linteresting things about marriages in India. Before a marriage is arranged, the parents check that there is no relation between the couple for at least the last 8 generations (they don't check as far these days though). The couple must be from the same caste, which is not supposed to be recognised, but still is when it comes to marriage.
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