Day 132 - Delhi - Frustration, frustration
If you would call Agra and the Taj Mahal the front of India, Delhi is definitely the backside.
We had heard a lot of people's opinions about Delhi before getting there and most of them were mainly negative. India's capital is supposed to be dirty, the people are supposed to be rude and selfish, and it is just not a good place to be. It all sounded almost too bad to be true, but sadly most of it turned out to be.
The short train ride (4 hours) from Agra went relatively smoothly (as smoothly as traveling can get in India), and we arrived with a positive attitude and lots of energy. We checked into a hotel in the main budget area around the New Delhi Train station. Immediately we discovered that the whole area is being torn up from the ground (literally) and rebuilt for the Commonwealth Games that are being held in Delhi in October. When we arrived, they had only made it to the tearing up part. The street looked like a earthquake or a few bombs just hit the area. There were bricks all over the road and you could not see far because of the thick layer of dust. We had to walk down small side streets, so we would not get hit in the head with rubble and bricks that were raining down from the buildings that were being torn to pieces. We then walked down to the city center that basically looked the same, and we cannot understand how everything is going to be ready for October.
The reason why we came to Delhi so early on the trip was to meet up with our friend Phoenix. We know Phoenix from our time in Seoul, and he is originally from Nagaland, India. He spent the last days of his holiday in the nations capital, so we let him show us some of the more positive sides of Delhi. He came with is cousin Aning, and the four of us spent the evening together. We had dinner and then went to the India Gate, India's Arc du Triomphe. The gate is a memorial for all of the Indian soldiers who died in the Afghan War and the two world wars. Later in the evening we hunted down a place that served beer (not the easiest thing to do in India) and had a few bottles of the local beer Kingfisher.
The next day we just rested up and decided to go shopping. This was when the frustration started. Taunts and rickshaw drivers just would not leave us alone. Every minute someone pulled my arm and tried to get us to go to their shop or jump into their rickshaw. When we would finally cave they'd try to rip us off. When we did not agree with their prices the people would swear at us and treat Emily and I horribly. Our patience and good spirits only lasted for a little while until we retreated to our hotel room.
In the evening we went to Phoenix's going away party as he was going back to Korea the next day. The party was in the northern outskirts of town in a big student area. It was a fun night where we hung out with people from Phoenix's home province of Nagaland. It was good to see how they lived with basically no furniture and a mattress on the floor, but with blasting sound systems and expensive computers.
The evening was spent talking about arranged marriages, drinking Kingfisher and whiskey mixed out with water, and Emily and I politely declining as we where asked to dance to R&B music from the U.S. As we went home around 2:30 at night we took an auto rickshaw through the city. The things we saw are some of the stronger memories from our trip. During the 45 minute long drive back to the center of town we saw people sleeping on the streets almost the whole way. The "lucky ones" slept in their rickshaws, but most of them just slept on the pavement. Seeing this we felt like we understood their frustration and anger more and it was with an uneasy feeling that we went to bed that night.
The next day was spent waiting for the train that was taking us out of Delhi. We had planned on going sightseeing, but after having been hassled and sworn at by a few more taunts and rickshaw drivers we gave up on Delhi and went to an air conditioned café for some refreshing drinks. They were out of ice tea, so we ordered something that sounded good, "Tangy Masala Lemonade". What was served to us was not lemonade. It was something that smelled, looked and tasted like sewage water.
I know that all of this sounds like I am complaining a lot over small things that I should easily be able to brush aside, but when there are hundreds of them, in the end you feel like you can't escape the small things. At least in the end, we managed to leave Delhi after a lot more frustration. We left from Old Delhi train station which is the most unorganized train station, and we found that the people were not very helpful either. We will soon be back to Delhi though, and hopefully we will have more energy and patience for the complicated capital during our next short visit.
We had heard a lot of people's opinions about Delhi before getting there and most of them were mainly negative. India's capital is supposed to be dirty, the people are supposed to be rude and selfish, and it is just not a good place to be. It all sounded almost too bad to be true, but sadly most of it turned out to be.
The short train ride (4 hours) from Agra went relatively smoothly (as smoothly as traveling can get in India), and we arrived with a positive attitude and lots of energy. We checked into a hotel in the main budget area around the New Delhi Train station. Immediately we discovered that the whole area is being torn up from the ground (literally) and rebuilt for the Commonwealth Games that are being held in Delhi in October. When we arrived, they had only made it to the tearing up part. The street looked like a earthquake or a few bombs just hit the area. There were bricks all over the road and you could not see far because of the thick layer of dust. We had to walk down small side streets, so we would not get hit in the head with rubble and bricks that were raining down from the buildings that were being torn to pieces. We then walked down to the city center that basically looked the same, and we cannot understand how everything is going to be ready for October.
The reason why we came to Delhi so early on the trip was to meet up with our friend Phoenix. We know Phoenix from our time in Seoul, and he is originally from Nagaland, India. He spent the last days of his holiday in the nations capital, so we let him show us some of the more positive sides of Delhi. He came with is cousin Aning, and the four of us spent the evening together. We had dinner and then went to the India Gate, India's Arc du Triomphe. The gate is a memorial for all of the Indian soldiers who died in the Afghan War and the two world wars. Later in the evening we hunted down a place that served beer (not the easiest thing to do in India) and had a few bottles of the local beer Kingfisher.
The next day we just rested up and decided to go shopping. This was when the frustration started. Taunts and rickshaw drivers just would not leave us alone. Every minute someone pulled my arm and tried to get us to go to their shop or jump into their rickshaw. When we would finally cave they'd try to rip us off. When we did not agree with their prices the people would swear at us and treat Emily and I horribly. Our patience and good spirits only lasted for a little while until we retreated to our hotel room.In the evening we went to Phoenix's going away party as he was going back to Korea the next day. The party was in the northern outskirts of town in a big student area. It was a fun night where we hung out with people from Phoenix's home province of Nagaland. It was good to see how they lived with basically no furniture and a mattress on the floor, but with blasting sound systems and expensive computers.
The evening was spent talking about arranged marriages, drinking Kingfisher and whiskey mixed out with water, and Emily and I politely declining as we where asked to dance to R&B music from the U.S. As we went home around 2:30 at night we took an auto rickshaw through the city. The things we saw are some of the stronger memories from our trip. During the 45 minute long drive back to the center of town we saw people sleeping on the streets almost the whole way. The "lucky ones" slept in their rickshaws, but most of them just slept on the pavement. Seeing this we felt like we understood their frustration and anger more and it was with an uneasy feeling that we went to bed that night.The next day was spent waiting for the train that was taking us out of Delhi. We had planned on going sightseeing, but after having been hassled and sworn at by a few more taunts and rickshaw drivers we gave up on Delhi and went to an air conditioned café for some refreshing drinks. They were out of ice tea, so we ordered something that sounded good, "Tangy Masala Lemonade". What was served to us was not lemonade. It was something that smelled, looked and tasted like sewage water.
I know that all of this sounds like I am complaining a lot over small things that I should easily be able to brush aside, but when there are hundreds of them, in the end you feel like you can't escape the small things. At least in the end, we managed to leave Delhi after a lot more frustration. We left from Old Delhi train station which is the most unorganized train station, and we found that the people were not very helpful either. We will soon be back to Delhi though, and hopefully we will have more energy and patience for the complicated capital during our next short visit.
I think of a favorite song by Nathan: "Everyone needs compassion, kindness etc." I also think of a favorite song of Grandma Agnes: "Count Your Many Blessings and Name Them One by One." I know that I have NO idea of what you went through but people are the way they are for a reason. Can't imagine the contrast of poverty against the beautiful towers etc. We all need to personally do what we can to help those in need. Enough of my speech.
I truly am glad that you are in a COOLER place now. Love the first photo of Tola on Day 132.