Good brakes, Good horn, Good luck....Delhi

India. Where to start. It is rich in colors and cultures and smells...definitely smells. We arrived in Delhi on Monday morning at around 1am and as soon as we stepped off the plane we were hit with the India heat. A big change from London but not an unwelcome one. By the time we got to the taxi we had finally had our first real experience carrying all our luggage on our backs and were covered in sweat. After some failed attempts at talking to the driver I just sat back and took in the city.

 Market Vendors

I've read a lot about traffic in Delhi and no one was exaggerating when they said it was crazy. There are no rules, and the lines in the roads only serve as suggestions. People use their horns for everything. There's a constant sound of car horns, bicycle bells and the buzzing of engines going by. A taxi driver later told us that you need three things to drive in India, 'good brakes, a good horn and good Luck."We were both shocked by the number of dogs walking casually through the road, some napping near the curbs. Homeless people lined the sidewalks asleep for the night and some even set up camp in the medians of busy roads. I think I scared the driver when I saw my first wild monkey. He was sat on a fence watching the traffic go by. We pulled up to our hotel and after considering running back to the airport and catching the next plane home I took a deep breath and walked in. The people were friendly and the room was nice. We had hot water most of the time and the bed was comfy. You can't ask for much more on our budget.

 The Jama Masjid Mosque

The next day we booked a driver for the day and went exploring. His name was Singh, well it wasn't but after we failed to repeat his name correctly the first couple times he told us to just call him Singh. Delhi is by far the biggest culture shock I have ever experienced. The first place we went was Old Delhi and the Red Fort. The driver dropped us off and because I wasn't quite confident enough to walk on our own yet-after seeing a man almost hit by a motorbike, a rickshaw, and a cow I decided I would wait- we got into a rickshaw and a lovely young boy drove us around. He told us about all the various markets while we both snapped as many pictures as we could. The streets were full of cars but that didn't stop people from setting up market booths selling everything from spices to goats heads. Our cunning little driver told us about a great little underground market we had to go to. Turned out it was a store in a basement that he clearly earned commission on sales. I still bought a pashmina because I needed something to cover my shoulders in the Mosques and we left. Mark paid him the agreed price and asked for change and suddenly our well spoken driver could no longer speak English, funny how that works. It's hard not to get frustrated with the constant begging and people trying to trick you into paying them for services you didn't ask for.

 Mark in the Jama Masjid Mosque

We went to the the Red fort next and I'm so glad we did. After doing some research it didn't seem like something to go out of your way to see but it is gigantic and gorgeous. The sun hits the red stone and it just looks majestic. Next was a Muslim Mosque and it was beautiful. A little boy followed us around trying to give us information and when we told him we would rather walk alone he tried to charge us for what he had told us. Next,The driver took us to a huge garden that holds the ashes of Ghandi. It was the first place in Delhi that was well kept. It's obvious how much the people of India love and respect this man because the gardens were immaculate. it was then onto Humayun's Tombs but by this point we decided that the combination of heat, hunger and lack of sleep was making it hard to enjoy ourselves so we headed back to the hotel for some food and rest.

Humayuns Tomb

Wedding Market in Old Delhi

Tomorrow we're off to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

-H