Delhi Bloody Delhi & The Golden Temple

Day 1 – I’m not going to like this!

Leaving Kathmandu we headed for the airport, which I must say was the most stringent yet, firstly bags are scanned at the entrance to the airport.  After collecting boarding card and going through passport control I then joined a very long queue for the next baggage/body scan, this was a wait of around one hour (Shelley’s was shorter as there was a woman’s queue – I must grow my hair longer and learn too mince better!).  Once through there was nowhere to change up Nepalese Rupees so has to stock up on cigarettes, chocolate and sweets to get rid of it.   Once again we were frisked and bags searched going through the boarding lounge and then finally at the steps of the plane there was another area for frisking and bag checking before finally getting on the plane (It’s a good job we got there with 3 hours to spare!).

After a pretty short flight we arrived in Delhi and for the price of 50p each we got the Delhi Metro to the central station, the Metro was clean and very modern – the last time I will say this in this section about Delhi!!

We then went to get a Tuk-Tuk to take us to our hotel which was supposed to be 400 Metres away, once we agree a price a person came along and said it was not possible to get into our hotels area as it was a security risk there being a Muslim festival there, Paris bombings and the like (we felt a scam coming!) we were then told we could get a permit from the government office which was on the way.  Eventually we agreed, then 3 miles through the city and getting a bit worried I started puffing myself up like a peacock trying to make myself look imposing (Which is quite hard to do in a Tuk-Tuk) then we were deposited in a ‘Government’ tourism office.  I started to go a bit Basil Faulty explaining that we were in no way going to be buying anything from them and funny enough we then had no need to get a permit – quell surprise!  Shelley did her best to calm me down and we were soon back in the Tuk-Tuk and on our way back to the hotel – 400 Metres from the station!

After checking in we headed out to find a bar and eventually found one with traditional live music.  We then got chatting to our neighbour, who at 30 was apparently a Neurosurgeon who had saved the lives of 3 girls from Leicester, he only did his work for the poor and not for very much money!  It was only his first day off in 2 months.  After a while we quizzed him on where we should be looking to travel in NW India and he then set about giving us a plan on the back of a napkin, for this service he then eluded that he wanted a beer off us as he was a very honest man – funny the barman knew exactly what beer he wanted!

A couple of beers later and growing tired of ‘The Doctors’ company/bullshit we headed home for the night dropping into a street café for a vegetable Tali each (at the princely cost of 60p each).

Did I mention how polluted and dirty Delhi is!!

Day 2 – Delhi Helli

Today was the day we chose to try and get Shelley’s Iphone fixed and procure some train tickets for a trip to the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The day did not start well with a breakfast that consisted of a plain omelette laid on a couple of pieces of white bread (me) and a couple of hard boiled fried eggs (Shelley), accompanied by a pot off horrible coffee.

We then headed out by Tuk-Tuk to find what was the vague address of the Apple repair shop, after informing the driver at least 5 times we did not want to stop at the ‘Government tourist office’  we were deposited by a hotel which was ‘close’ to our destination.  After a further hour searching for it and then having to get another Tuk-Tuk we eventually found it and was told Shelley’s phone would be fixed in 30 minutes – it wasn’t and we were told we would have to give them a day to sort this out.

Next stop the train station, which we already knew was going to be difficult. 

After another Tuk_Tuk journey declining the offer of ‘Government Tourist Office’ we arrived at the station. We found out that first we had to go to a enquiries counter to get the train times and number to get to Amritsar, this did not look good, a very long queue that had a second queue fighting to get to the one person at the counter, I queued up (because it was a men only queue) thinking I stand no chance in this melee and that we would be there all day. Fortunately Shelley was noticed to be close to where I was and was told she could go down the side of this queue where the woman could queue, Shelley being more ‘assertive’ than me fought off a couple of the local women and was suddenly at the front of the Queue keeping everyone  at elbow’s reach (she has her uses!).  When she returned she had been given some very short information vaguely relating to possible train times.

We then headed for the even longer queues for the ticket counter, only to be accosted by a ‘helpful’ man who said we could not get tourist tickets here and we had to go to the government office to get them – which funnily enough involved a Tuk-Tuk ride about 2 miles away from the station.  At this point after being ground down over a day and a half we finally gave in.

Arriving at ‘The Government Tourist Office’ to say I wasn’t in the best of moods would be a bit of a understatement – I was raging!!  The agent we saw was a smarmy bastard who I made sure he knew that we knew we were being ripped off (those of you who have worked with me know how obnoxious and sarcastic I can be if I put my mind to it!).  Eventually we showed him the travel plan the kind ‘Doctor’ had given us the night before and he drew up a plan for us including a couple of places we hadn’t had on it but Shelley was keen to go to, Pushkar & Varinasi.  It was here that he then did his calculations whilst we were shown to a nice bar (it was a nice rooftop bar overlooking a part of Delhi – I could really appreciate the pollution from up there!!).

After a couple of beers and counselling from Shelley to calm me down we decided that in the long run this may be the easier option than braving the train station again we returned to the office.  The initial price was far too high, but apparently ‘very hard to get trains at the moment as people are travelling for Christmas’ (You are not fecking christian’s!! – Bulshit!), me querying every price he had – him laughing at me trying to save money – I felt like knocking his block off.  ‘It was easier to travel round Nepal and they don’t have any fuel because of you!’ was one of the phrases I remember spitting out! Then it was a case of me and Shelley playing good cop, bad cop to get the price down – practically arguing with each other  over the price we can afford ‘Shelley you cannot have any beers, food or buy anything if we agree to this’ and ‘Shelley!  if you want to go home early – this is what is going to happen if we spend our money on this’ , eventually we got the initial price down by around a hundred quid or so and shook hands on it, I think although he did not like me he was more than happy with the deal he struck (Rip Off No. 2).

We now have trains, a driver and hotels sorted for the rest of our time in India (a cop out I know), but we figured this would make our time more enjoyable, so we headed off to calm down and have a beer and some food – the food being really good a mushroom dish for Shelley and a Paneer dish for myself (I’m really starting to like Paneer since I turned vegetarian for the duration of India!).  We then returned to our hotel tired and exacerbated!

Did I mention how much I hate Delhi – Dirty, Polluted and everyone working an angle!

Day 3 – Getting the Helli out of Delhi! – The Golden Temple

Leaving very early in the morning for the train station, we were immediately faced with another ‘helpful man’ who informed us that our train was delayed by 12 hours and another who informed us our train was cancelled.  Fortunately Smarmy Bastard had told us of this scam and we checked the board ourselves and found our train to be leaving on time from platform 14.  After eventually finding our carriage (trains are very long in India) we found our seats and settled down for the 7 hour journey.  We thought it would be nice to sit and watch the sights and countryside flow by, however the window was so dirty we virtually had no view, so we preceded to read for the journey, which with delays turned out to be 10 hours – Oh Joy!  The only highlight to be had was a large Shiek raising himself off his seat to loudly break wind!

Once we arrived in Amritsar and  being quite tetchy we fought off a few Tuk-Tuk drivers before walking to our hotel,  I must say the hotel was very nice and an improvement on where we had been staying in Delhi.

When we had settled in we then took a Tuk-Tuk to the golden temple, which was very impressive (although I’m not sure it warranted a 12 hour train journey!) and walked round it for about an hour.  For once it was nice people not trying to rip us off, we didntt even get charged for our shoe storage whilst we were in there.  The only downside of this visit was as it was a Shiek temple we had to cover our hair with a bandana which made me look like a bad hulk Hogan for a period of time!

I forgot to mention in the Tuk-Tuk journey down some narrow shop filled alleyways, Shelley’s buttocks were accosted by a man shoving a small birdcage into them through the back of the Tuk_tuk, I’m not sure whether this was for personal gratification or whether he was trying to cage one of Shelley’s fart’s!  Needless to say Shelley turned round and gave him a bit of a mouthful and he shyly sculled away.

We the picked up a few snacks from a street vendor for our train journey the next day and got another Tuk-Tuk back in the direction of our hotel (this time birdcage free!).  Finding one of the only restaurants that had beer, we spent the evening there.  Although the food was quite bland we did enjoy ourselves eves dropping on the next table.  A Chinese business man trying to conduct business with an Indian business man.  The former wanting to set up operations in India for his firm, the Indian determined that he wanted to be a business partner and having a large piece of the action.  By the end of it the Chinese man seemed very tired and frustrated (I empathised with him greatly),  we left agreeing that the venture was going to be very fraught and stressful and we didn’t think the Chinese man was going to win!

Day 4 – Return to Helli

Another early start to catch the train back to Delhi, this time the train station isnt very difficult and we board quite easily.  We were quite pleased to see that we had been booked in the sleeping compartment on the way back. 

Sitting for the first hour or two a couple of nice Indian men chatted to us and then bought us a cup of Chai when one of the tea-wallers came around, also sharing some biscuits with us (That his wife had made) which was nice.  They also allayed my fears that a nearby bag that had been stowed and left underneath a nearby seat was not going to blow up, which made my reading quite difficult! (Apparently this is quite normal and after about ½ hour the owner returned).

Shelley then headed for the top bunk and after a while (I thought it was a bit rude to take up both bunks) I was too tired to care and joined her in the bunks.

We dozed on and off for the rest of the journey, which this time was more punctual until a member of rail staff demanded our pillows back by banging the side of the bunks – how rude!!

Once back in Delhi station we were met outside the carriage by a guy from the ‘Government Tourism Agency’ as we were due to go back to pay the balance of our trip.  After a quick argument we ensured that he took us the 400 metres to our previous hotel to pick up our stored luggage. 

After which we went briefly to the agency but as they were busy Shelley stressed how important getting  her Iphone back was, so we were told that Babu (who we later found out would be our driver over the course of the next 10 days) would walk with us to the Apple repairers.  He eventually realised he did not know where he was going (bolds well for our trip!)  so ended up negotiating a Tuk-Tuk there .  Anyway we found to our amazement Shelley’s phone was fixed (Happy Shelley Again!), but were not so amazed to find out the repair cost had doubled!!  Never mind, £60 to put a smile back on Shelley’s face and save a £600 phone was a small price to pay.

We then returned to the ‘Government Tourism Office’ and finalised our trip before being taken back to the Hotel that was booked for us for the night, this was again very nice with a balcony and working TV!!!

We then found a couple of bars for drinks and food before returning for the night, Babu was going to pick us up at 9.00 the next morning for our journey to Pushkar – Hooray! No more Delhi!

P.S.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but I hate Delhi!!!  (Shelley is desperately hoping that I like the rest of North India!!)

Okay a few additions from me, Shelley:

Delhi was never on our plan but it was the cheapest way in from Nepal and had the best connections to where we did want to spend our time. I didn’t have fond memories from the previous time here and those that I did have are now erased:

·         BEFORE: , Elephants on the roundabout mingling with the traffic, mad colourful jaunty battered buses rocking along, direct but friendly people:

·         NOW:, even more polluted than before, the air is thick with it!, scamming horrible people that are out to get you when you are most vulnerable (just arrived) or failing that just wear you down until you give in!. Tarmac (the price of progression) and big roads out of the city means that all the lovely villages you travelled through have been eroded!. No Elephants, not colour, no nice people!

      After trying very hard to organise things ourselves, a failing internet, Glenn’s bad mood and being grabbed, pinched pushed and squeezed at train station queues (and that was just from the women!) we felt the extortionate rate we are being charged for this trip might just be worth it. I just hope it hast tainted Glenn’s view on the rest of the trip! Wish me luck!!!