Sweating it out in Delhi
I'm finally starting to feel human again ... I arrived in Delhi Thursday morning ... the flight itself was great ... one of the best I've been on with Jet Airways ... never heard of them before, but the plane was new, only 2/3rds full, and the service and entertainment great.
All this was a bit of a blessing.
The morning I left Cardiff my back went for some inexplicable reason, I hobbled onto the train in Cardiff to Reading, which had a problem and was an hour late. The connecting airport bus ran into traffic problems on the M4 - apparently some guy went for 11kms on the motorway the wrong way and caused a major pile-up (it was on the BBC news in Delhi!) and I JUST made the plane ... whew!! However after a couple of glasses of wine and a snooze on the plane things began to look up.
Everyone who has been to India has told me that nothing can prepare you for the experience. I now believe them. I'm staying in the old part of Delhi - the hotel is not bad, however the heat, chaos, noise is outside the door is overwhelming.
I've heard it said that India is a rich country full of poor people ... 40% of the worlds poor live here ... and they are everywhere.
While one part of Delhi has wide streets and all the modern corporate amenities, the larger part is incredibly crowded. And wandering through all the filth are the implacable sacred cows. Ox carts compete with Mercedes for their share of the crowded street .. and of course .. everyone wants to sell you something. The beggers ... lame, disabled, ragged can be quite heartbreaking - yet the city also has a dynamism - and many people are incredibly friendly, genuinely helpful and most speak English well.
I came down with the renowned Delhi belly in about 24 hrs ... despite taking all the normal precautions. Some travel book advice suggests you should let things take their course to develop an immunity but I chose to treat it. I'm feeling much better today.
I was supposed to be leaving this evening for Dharmasala in the mountains but I've was informed an hour or so ago that the "luxury" a/c bus I was booked on has broken down. Faced with the choice of an non a/c (the trip is 12hrs) I've rebooked for tomorrow and will take it easy till then. So it's off to find something to eat .. and maybe a Bollywood movie tonight.
That's all for now ....
All this was a bit of a blessing.
The morning I left Cardiff my back went for some inexplicable reason, I hobbled onto the train in Cardiff to Reading, which had a problem and was an hour late. The connecting airport bus ran into traffic problems on the M4 - apparently some guy went for 11kms on the motorway the wrong way and caused a major pile-up (it was on the BBC news in Delhi!) and I JUST made the plane ... whew!! However after a couple of glasses of wine and a snooze on the plane things began to look up.
Everyone who has been to India has told me that nothing can prepare you for the experience. I now believe them. I'm staying in the old part of Delhi - the hotel is not bad, however the heat, chaos, noise is outside the door is overwhelming.
I've heard it said that India is a rich country full of poor people ... 40% of the worlds poor live here ... and they are everywhere.
While one part of Delhi has wide streets and all the modern corporate amenities, the larger part is incredibly crowded. And wandering through all the filth are the implacable sacred cows. Ox carts compete with Mercedes for their share of the crowded street .. and of course .. everyone wants to sell you something. The beggers ... lame, disabled, ragged can be quite heartbreaking - yet the city also has a dynamism - and many people are incredibly friendly, genuinely helpful and most speak English well.
I came down with the renowned Delhi belly in about 24 hrs ... despite taking all the normal precautions. Some travel book advice suggests you should let things take their course to develop an immunity but I chose to treat it. I'm feeling much better today.
I was supposed to be leaving this evening for Dharmasala in the mountains but I've was informed an hour or so ago that the "luxury" a/c bus I was booked on has broken down. Faced with the choice of an non a/c (the trip is 12hrs) I've rebooked for tomorrow and will take it easy till then. So it's off to find something to eat .. and maybe a Bollywood movie tonight.
That's all for now ....
posted by Andrew Smith at 2:49 AM
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