Travels in Delhi
Tues, 9 Sep 2007
I have had my first India bus experience. I took the night bus from Pilani to Delhi, 1-6am. It was crowded and hot, yes, and I had the most luggage, but the seats were comfortable recliners and with the windows open it was a pleasant, if bumpy, journey. The roads are not well-maintained, so I bounced up out of my seat and hit my head on the sleeper bunk above me too many times to fall properly asleep. My companion was a Bitsian student who spent most of the journey sleeping.
I have decided to start a journal of my travels, in the hope that I can write well enough to do the rest of my trip justice.
The car ride from Delhi to Pilani cost nearly 4,000rps. The bus back cost 125rps. If you visit and a university professor tells you to hire a car, it is only because they think:
a) You are too weak and in too much shock to handle a bus, and
b) They think all Americans have too much money (yes, even many professors believe this).
They hire cars, but the university or government pays for it! So be polite (always) but do not take their advice. The bus, even more so over-night, is a fine way to travel, especially for a student.
I am going to stay at the Youth Hostel in Delhi for a few days. Very reasonable and comfortable, but I have to wait until 11 to check-in (3 hours). I hope to visit the Nepali Embassy and an internet cafe today, and find what I can about obtaining hiking equipment here, after settling my (heavy) bags.
Youth hostel: 10 beds, public shower, 90 rps/night
I met a nice, peppy, pre-college girl who showed me some desert trek opportunities.
(Later...)
I soaked through my backpack and into the journal with sweat. I will need a new journal soon.
I am sitting in the park at India Gate as dusk is falling, listening to the discordant cawing of the birds. Already I am more content just to walk around Delhi than I was during my previous stay in Pahar Ganj. I think I have grown a little wiser and a bit more patient.
India Gate is lit up beautifully. When it gets a little darker I will take a picture.
I spent the afternoon napping. I think I needed it.
Writing in a journal rather than on a computer forces me to slow down and compose my thoughts more. I think I like it.
I wish I could find shops open after 5pm.
Wed, 19 Sep 2007
Last night I made a new friend and we toured the seedier side of Delhi in search of some after-hours drinking. My friend wanted to meet "some nice girls." You will be shocked to discover the auto driver thought we wanted prostitutes.
The nice Russian prostitute cost 450rps. The nice Indian prostitute cost 4,000rps. Both had friendly lips and sad eyes.
My impression of this side of sex in India is that it is cheap on the wallet and expensive on the soul.
As the Russian girl was being driven away she told me to say I'm not an American. I'm not sure why. Was it for my sake or hers?
Drunk, thirsty, irritated, and cheap, I don't think we made the best impression as foreigners last night. We gave up on the idea of getting an after-hours beer and went back to the hostel.
Thurs, 30 Sep 2007
Desperation will do strange things to a man. I ran out of bottled water, and the little hostel shop that couldn't is only open on the fifth Thursday of Neverember. So I thinks to myself, surely the hostel water, catering to international travelers as it does, surely its water, "filtered through reverse osmosis", surely it is safe to drink! I thinks.
I spent the last half hour cleaning diarrhea out of my pants in the public shower. There is no greater dignity. It is a good thing I am not particularly squeamish about my own feces.
I have become a razor-sharp negotiator. I talked a bicycle-rickshaw driver down from 100rps to 87rps. That is a difference of $0.325, for those playing the home game.
I submitted to an ear cleaning today. I hope there is no permanent damage to my eardrums.
The journal is now completely sweat-soaked and nearly unwritable, as are most of the papers in my water-resistant pack.
Sun, 23 Sep 2007
I flew from Delhi to Bangalore on Kingfisher Airlines yesterday evening, India's self-described favorite airline.
It is posh. Everything is geared towards a very pleasant catered experience completely inconceivable to those of us used to the ease, convenience, and pleasure of US airlines. Every passenger receives loot and a tote-bag, the meals are surprisingly tasty, every seat has its own television, and the flight attendants are hand-picked by "the Chairman", apparently for their derrieres and model beauty.
Kingfisher is India's premier brewery. Domestic flights are not allowed to serve alcohol. Discuss.
I have had my first India bus experience. I took the night bus from Pilani to Delhi, 1-6am. It was crowded and hot, yes, and I had the most luggage, but the seats were comfortable recliners and with the windows open it was a pleasant, if bumpy, journey. The roads are not well-maintained, so I bounced up out of my seat and hit my head on the sleeper bunk above me too many times to fall properly asleep. My companion was a Bitsian student who spent most of the journey sleeping.
I have decided to start a journal of my travels, in the hope that I can write well enough to do the rest of my trip justice.
The car ride from Delhi to Pilani cost nearly 4,000rps. The bus back cost 125rps. If you visit and a university professor tells you to hire a car, it is only because they think:
a) You are too weak and in too much shock to handle a bus, and
b) They think all Americans have too much money (yes, even many professors believe this).
They hire cars, but the university or government pays for it! So be polite (always) but do not take their advice. The bus, even more so over-night, is a fine way to travel, especially for a student.
I am going to stay at the Youth Hostel in Delhi for a few days. Very reasonable and comfortable, but I have to wait until 11 to check-in (3 hours). I hope to visit the Nepali Embassy and an internet cafe today, and find what I can about obtaining hiking equipment here, after settling my (heavy) bags.
Youth hostel: 10 beds, public shower, 90 rps/night
I met a nice, peppy, pre-college girl who showed me some desert trek opportunities.
(Later...)
I soaked through my backpack and into the journal with sweat. I will need a new journal soon.
I am sitting in the park at India Gate as dusk is falling, listening to the discordant cawing of the birds. Already I am more content just to walk around Delhi than I was during my previous stay in Pahar Ganj. I think I have grown a little wiser and a bit more patient.
India Gate is lit up beautifully. When it gets a little darker I will take a picture.
I spent the afternoon napping. I think I needed it.
Writing in a journal rather than on a computer forces me to slow down and compose my thoughts more. I think I like it.
I wish I could find shops open after 5pm.
Wed, 19 Sep 2007
Last night I made a new friend and we toured the seedier side of Delhi in search of some after-hours drinking. My friend wanted to meet "some nice girls." You will be shocked to discover the auto driver thought we wanted prostitutes.
The nice Russian prostitute cost 450rps. The nice Indian prostitute cost 4,000rps. Both had friendly lips and sad eyes.
My impression of this side of sex in India is that it is cheap on the wallet and expensive on the soul.
As the Russian girl was being driven away she told me to say I'm not an American. I'm not sure why. Was it for my sake or hers?
Drunk, thirsty, irritated, and cheap, I don't think we made the best impression as foreigners last night. We gave up on the idea of getting an after-hours beer and went back to the hostel.
Thurs, 30 Sep 2007
Desperation will do strange things to a man. I ran out of bottled water, and the little hostel shop that couldn't is only open on the fifth Thursday of Neverember. So I thinks to myself, surely the hostel water, catering to international travelers as it does, surely its water, "filtered through reverse osmosis", surely it is safe to drink! I thinks.
I spent the last half hour cleaning diarrhea out of my pants in the public shower. There is no greater dignity. It is a good thing I am not particularly squeamish about my own feces.
I have become a razor-sharp negotiator. I talked a bicycle-rickshaw driver down from 100rps to 87rps. That is a difference of $0.325, for those playing the home game.
I submitted to an ear cleaning today. I hope there is no permanent damage to my eardrums.
The journal is now completely sweat-soaked and nearly unwritable, as are most of the papers in my water-resistant pack.
Sun, 23 Sep 2007
I flew from Delhi to Bangalore on Kingfisher Airlines yesterday evening, India's self-described favorite airline.
It is posh. Everything is geared towards a very pleasant catered experience completely inconceivable to those of us used to the ease, convenience, and pleasure of US airlines. Every passenger receives loot and a tote-bag, the meals are surprisingly tasty, every seat has its own television, and the flight attendants are hand-picked by "the Chairman", apparently for their derrieres and model beauty.
Kingfisher is India's premier brewery. Domestic flights are not allowed to serve alcohol. Discuss.