Our few nights in Delhi were quite the experience. I can imagine the immense culture shock someone would have exiting the metro and entering this frantic world straight from the USA. Old Delhi really is a sensory overload and while we’re very glad we experienced it, we were also very glad to leave.
A sign in our hotel, haha, so true! And a delicious curry meal we had one night.
We decided to visit the Red Fort (on one side of Old Delhi) and then immerse ourselves by walking back through the narrow streets to our hotel which was on the opposite side of Old Delhi. It was quite the adventure.
We started by arguing with rickshaw drivers before finally finding one that seemed slightly trustworthy and accepted 2.5x normal rate. We then pushed through the “lines” to get our tickets to the Red Fort. Once inside the sandstone walls, it was a bit more relaxed and we walked the grounds for a few hours. A large portion was closed for construction, but it’s so large we wouldn’t have been able to see it all anyways.
On the walk back, we visited a mosque and then passed through a spice market where the air was so thick with spices it was difficult to breathe. The spice bazaar was followed by incredibly narrow (maybe 10ft wide) streets that make up most of Old Delhi and the surrounding areas.
We spent about 45 minutes on these streets and were met with all sorts Delhi life. Kids pulling our hands. Flattening ourselves to a wall so an ox cart wouldn’t run us over. Crouching to walk beneath many people carrying massive, wide loads on their heads. Not to mention anything and everything for sale that has ever been created.
We finally made it back to our hotel around 2pm and basically slept through until the next day. Intense.
After the first day’s experience we took it (a bit) easier. We jumped on the metro out to a park in New Delhi, and it was like a different world. It felt like embassy row back in Washington D.C.
The park had a bunch of old stone mosques, graves and structures. The amount of detail in every little thing is incredible.
After the park, we decided to walk back, since we’d then be able to hit a bunch of sites along the way. We ran into a troupe of monkeys along the road. They didn’t really seem interested in us, thankfully.
We made pretty good use of the Delhi metro system to get around and get to/from the airport. It’s surprisingly one of the nicest metro systems we’ve used.
All of the walking might have been a bad idea, as I started to feel ill the next day, but we managed to see quite a lot in a couple days. I couldn’t imagine staying in Delhi much longer than we did. By the time we left Delhi we were jaded and frustrated. I think it would take someone much more patient and adventurous than myself to enjoy Delhi for long.
Amazing contrasts