Delhi

Delhi

For the second part of our time in India, we decided to explore the cow, scooter, tuk-tuk, and car filled streets of Delhi and Agra. The city life was a lot more crowded and dirty, but it was nice to see a different side of their culture.

To start our time in the cities, we flew from Bagdogra to Delhi, where a nice Indian man picked us up. We used Airbnb to rent out his extra apartment, and to eliminate us hassling with a cab driver, the man was kind enough to pick us up. After 40 minutes of him driving, and us fearing for our life because the driving was insane, we arrived at his home. We found that he lives with his wife and two sons in the apartment on the first floor, and then his family also owns the two apartments above them. We were in the one on the third floor.

The apartment was decorated beautifully, in a traditional Indian style. We were pretty tired from our time in the Himalayas, so it was nice to have this apartment to relax in during our time in Delhi.

The only thing we didn’t love about the apartment was that it was in such a residential neighborhood, that there were no restaurants anywhere around. We ended up getting groceries and cooking for some of the meals, but on the first night when we finally arrived, it was close to 9:30 pm and nothing appeared open. We decided to wander around in hopes that we were wrong and something would be open. Then, after a little bit of walking, we stumbled upon a market.

Through all of the chaos of people selling food, clothing, shoes, and other knick-knacks, we finally found a stand that had something we recognized (fried chicken). We ordered 2 pieces, and while we were standing there waiting for the chicken, it was time for the Muslim call to prayer. Now I thought most people in India were Hindu, but in this part there are many Muslims. The apartment we’re staying at is actually right next to a Mosque, and hearing the loud speaker go off, calling them to prayer, became part of the daily sounds we heard.

Now as everyone was filing in to the mosque that was right across from the fried chicken stand, there were many other sights and sounds going on. Here's a video, so you can see for yourself.

Because we were the only foreigners, we stuck out like a sore thumb. This made all of the homeless people come flocking. There were old ladies crawling on the ground and children holding their hands out. There were also families, where the mom would see us and then send her kids over to try to get money from us. It was such a crazy, culturally different experience, and we didn’t know how to help them all, so we quickly got our fried chicken and went back to the apartment. We decided we would help the next homeless person, but in that situation there were too many and since they were all watching we knew that they would all just follow us begging if we gave to one of them and not all of them.

We got back and enjoyed the fried chicken, which was some of the best fried chicken I've ever had! Sometimes we get nervous about ordering street food because you never know how long it has been sitting there, but we didn’t get sick and it was delicious, so that's a win-win! We then headed to bed to get some rest before we try to cram in as much as possible in our two days in Delhi.

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On our second day in Delhi, we got up and took a tuk-tuk in to the plaza (where all the shopping malls are at). Now the tuk-tuk driver was asking for 700 INR, which is about $10 for our ride. I knew that amount was incredibly too much because when we got in, we were stopped in traffic and I looked over and saw a taxi with a meter running. That taxi was next to us the whole time, and when the person in that taxi got out at the plaza, their ride was only 200 INR. So since we were being ripped off, I decided to rip him off and only handed him a 500 INR bill and Brad and I took off walking. Now thinking back to that, it may not have been smart because he could have chased us, but thankfully he didn’t.

When we finally reached the mall, we were looking for a traditional Indian outfit for me. I think they look so cool, and I wanted to get one. Then after finding a very pretty red and gold outfit, I looked at the price tag and converted the number in to dollars. In the end I couldn’t justify spending over $100 on an outfit I would never wear, so we decided to just go get some food instead.

We ate some Indian pasta, and then after an unsuccessful shopping day, we found a cab for our ride back. This guy charged 600 INR, and I just sucked it up and paid the ridiculous price.

When we got back we walked to the small shack/grocery store place, and got some ramen noodles, cereal, and milk to eat for a few of the meals. Now in India since the cow is holy, they not only don’t eat beef, but also they don’t drink cow milk. So we had to put soymilk on our cereal. Soy milk in my opinion is not awful, but not the best.

Finally, to end our evening, we climbed up to the roof and looked out across the city as we enjoyed the sunset. Not the prettiest sunset because the air is so smoggy, but still an enjoyable way to relax.

Here's a picture of our view from the rooftop.

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For our final day in Delhi, we spent time checking out Humayan’s Tomb. While we were exploring the tomb and reading all of the signs that were around, we learned that the tomb is of the Mughal Emperor Humayan. It was the first garden tomb in India and was created by a Persian architect in 1569. In 1993 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has been restored to what it is today. Here’s some pictures we took while we were there.

Then after checking out the tomb, we walked back to the apartment and took a nap until dinner. We’re still kind of tired from all of the walking in the Himalayas, so we squeeze in taking a nap whenever we can.

For dinner we decided to venture back to the market and we ended up getting the chicken again. This time we got four pieces for the price of what we got the two for the other night. Really, there is no consistency to anything and it all depends on who you talk to as to how much you are charged. Oh well, we were happy about getting more chicken for less money!

When we got back to the apartment, we ate the chicken and then packed up our things. We headed to bed early, since we have an early morning train to Agra.