Another world
Well, we made it to Delhi, to the smog, the noise and bustle. When we left Melbourne, the temperature was 40 degrees celcius and we had to wait on the plane for over an hour while they unloaded 9 tonnes of cargo as the weather was affecting the runway. Good old bitumen doesn’t really do well in the heat!
Once we took off, the flight was uneventful and we arrived safely in Delhi at about 9.30pm on the 28th Jan. Maria’s bag was one of the last out onto the carousel- late enough to make us have niggling thoughts about what really made up the 9 tonnes of cargo which was offload back home. But all was well so we headed out to meet out driver, one of hundreds who were crowding around either genuinely waiting to collect people or hopefully waiting to make someone think they were there to collect them!
The drive to the hotel was a typical introduction to India. Honking, pushing, veering and squeezing through spaces small enough to make us think that cars are made of some forgiving, flexible material here which molds into the needed shape on demand. The hotel was expecting us and Dey’s smiling face popped around the stairwell to greet us before we headed up to her room to meet the others.
Our rooms are again typical India. A boxy feel to them but lots of wasted space, rudimentary bathroom but the water was hot (most of the time). The quilt on the bed looks as though it is from the 70′s – brown velour with a trim of fluffy imitation Dalmatian! Looking down from the one small window, I can see a family living in the back lane under a tarp…
After breakfast of Aloo Parantha and curd, we headed to the Hanuman temple just down the road. As we approached it, a massive statue of hanuman rose into sight – at least the size of a 4 storey building. The entrance to the temple was through an open monkey’s month. Inside, a man was chanting beautiful rajas from a large ornate book, setting the scene perfectly.
Dey was feeling a bit sick so we headed back to the hotel and I took the opportunity to complete the superannuation form which Shell needed – I’d picked up a call while I was settling onto the plane back in Melbourne, before I had turned my phone off. It was amazing to observe how my stress levels rose while I was doing it – definitely some stuff there I need to process!
Maria and I headed out to do some shopping, buying a couple of salwaar kameez and arranging to have them stitched. Our sense of direction was off and twice we found it hard to find out way back to the hotel – but the 2nd time, we had taken the hotel address with us which obviously helped a lot!
We had a quiet night last night. David, Joh and Gary returned late from Vrindavan and Maria and I listened to David’s excited tales of the trip and the swami they met. Today we are off to Old Delhi to visit the spice market and weave our way down the packed lanes on bicycle rickshaws… A classic experience in this wild town of Delhi!
0 comments Nadine | India 2009, Travel