We arrived in Delhi around 5.20am local time. We’d all got a few hours of interrupted sleep on the floor of Singapore airport and a few more hours on the flight to Delhi.
The first thing that struck me as I walked from the plane to the airbridge was the smell – smog.
I was expecting slight chaos getting through customs and I was somewhat nervous about whether our luggage would have made it given we’d checked it in almost 30 hours before in Christchurch.
The queues for foreign nationals weren’t very long compared to those for the locals returning home. Our queue would have moved a little faster if one of the guys wasn’t on his break – which in this case means sleeping in his chair at his desk. He woke up after about 15 minutes and powered through the passports – his nap must have done the trick.
I had no need to worry about the luggage and we were soon standing outside the terminal waiting for our driver.
The vehicle fitted 6 plus the driver … just. Three of our bags had to be tied to the roof rack. I’m not sure the driver was particularly impressed having a woman make sure he’d passed the rope through the handles of the bags but I’d rather that than to have had a bag fly off the roof of the car.
Check in wasn’t until mid-day so they wouldn’t give us access to our rooms without paying for another part day. We decided to take just one of the rooms early and a few of us filed through the shower to freshen up before heading out.
We thought we’d walk. Partly because we’d been sitting on planes for so long and partly because that’s how we’d explored cities in the past. We quickly realised that walking in Delhi came with a few challenges. Firstly the condition of the footpaths and roads, secondly the amount of rubbish and dog poo that needed to be dodged and thirdly the number of people who wanted to ‘help’ us by offering advice, rides in their tuk tuk, or wanted to sell us something. It was a slow walk. We met one tuk tuk driver who had just got his work visa to NZ and was heading to work on a dairy farm just out of Christchurch next month – such a small world. And an older tuk tuk driver who just wouldn’t leave us along. We’d cross the road and turn a corner but the next minute he’d appear again, out of his tuk tuk to try to convince us that walking wasn’t the best option.
We walked for a while with a guy who was on his way to his office (or so he said) and directed us toward the market we were looking for. In the end I’m not convinced he was taking us in the right direction and eventually we gave in to the old guy and took 3 tuk tuks. They were supposed to take us to a particular spice market but instead they took us to a shop which had everything from saris to silver but no sign of spices. We didn’t stay long and when we walked out, their were our tuk tuk drivers waiting to take us somewhere else we didn’t want to go.
Eventually they got us to Connaught Place, a somewhat upmarket but rundown retail area where every second person wanted to sell us something. We eventually took refuge in Starbucks for a coffee and some time to gather our thoughts. We were all so tired it was difficult to make decisions and definitely difficult to deal with the constant people.
It’s amazing how a coffee and a clean toilet can make the world seem ok and we headed back out, this time with a more realistic plan for what can be achieved in a sleep deprived state.
- Check out the park (in walking distance) we’d seen with a huge Indian flag
- Find a 7/11 and pick up some bottled water and snacks
- Have a beer at a craft brewery (also in walking distance) that BJ had found, MOB, Ministry of Beer
- Get a taxi back to the hotel
Back at the hotel, we all had a couple of hours sleep or in the case of the boys – slept through the night. Bryce, Toni, BJ and I headed for dinner at a restaurant close by. Amazing food and cheap as chips. Aloo Shimla Mirch – potato & capcicum in mild spice gravy – NZD4.50, Channa Masala – chickpea lentils in Indian gravy – NZD4.50, Steamed rice NZD2.00.
We’d finished the day well.
A few photos from the day ….
Sleeping in Singapore airport
Smog in Delhi
