DAY 1 - "Something is not going," we said looking suspiciously ... "there are no people, no noise, everything is clean." Of course this on the subway line that connects the airport with the station. The real show begins once you go out. And we saw it. Go if we saw it. Of course it was the India we expected: thousands of people moving in all directions, cars over there, taxi over there, rickshaw above and below, “where do you go sir?”, “Tuk tuk 'mam?” "No thank you", speakers and more speakers are mixed with Indian Indian Indian mobile music that speak Hindu, people pushing, "Where you come from?" “Spain” “Ah soccer!”, Watch out for the water pools (or whatever), watch out for the bike, watch out for the bike, watch out for the backpack, watch out for the boyfriend who throws himself in the traffic, watch out for the girlfriend who is confused in each position. And there we were, a Spanish and an Italian hallucinating and super excited because when things start this way ... he promises!
With a little luck we arrive at our hotel avoiding socks vendors, street food stalls, hunters, stalls where they sell coats (which apparently winter has arrived here, who would say it ...) homeless dogs, motorcycles, cars (or are they who dodge us?) We lay in bed a few minutes and have dinner! Nan, the delicious Indian bread, potatoes with cumin seeds, chicken ticca masala chicken and rice, was our first menu. Mmm! Delicious Indian food, spicy, yes. Pretty spicy Yes now. Let's sleep that tomorrow begins the real adventure!
Tip: nothing better to get to know New Delhi than to take a local hand tour 🙂 This one is free (although it is always good to leave a tip).
DAY 2 - First things first: to eat! At the moment there is no sign of the Delhi-belly, the annoying eschatological disease that hits almost every man who arrives in India, also known with the much less exotic name of traveler's diarrhea. Happy with our healthy stomachs we went out to explore this city that scares more than one visitor. We walk to Connaught place, the nerve center of the city, where we were waiting for a relaxing square with vendors of chai (the typical milk tea here) and travelers like us. Instead, we found many porticos full of shops, a park full of Indian couples and squirrels, and many ... many hustlers, who made us lose almost one morning taking us from one place to another. If they saw us pint of pringaos! And we pretend the truth ...
"Let's go from here!" But what a feat to find a tuktuk with "normal" prices. Luckily, a guardian angel under Nirvana and helped us, literally forcing the tuktuk-ero to take us somewhere for a fair price (a few meters later the tuktukero would stop the tuktuk and try to negotiate the price again, but no way !) We arrived at the tomb of Safdarjang, a beautiful example of Mughal funeral art where for the first time we had contact with this architecture that we like so much.
Then we went for a walk in what they say is the most beautiful park in Delhi: Lodi Garden. Here, apart from walking among flowers, trees and couples (they go to the park to intimidate the fucking!), You can run into a few graves and mosques already in disuse. The truth is that it is a pleasant walk, and also free! Of course, if an old man to speak to you in Castilian, escape because he is going to hit you with a historical charlón!
The last stop of the day was Humayun's Tomb, the most visited monument in Delhi. In fact all the tourists we saw (and were few) saw them here. It is impressive, gigantic and majestic. To put it in some way is the grandfather of Taj Mahal!
In the same enclosure there are several very beautiful buildings and gardens. With the gut that screamed "Hungry!" we went for some momos (Nepalese dumplings) and a chicken with nan and to sleep. How long is the backpacker's life!
DAY 3 - Last day in Delhi ... the first stop is the famous Red Fort, which we do not know if it is very strong, but very big for sure! We only saw it from the outside as they had advised us that it was not worth paying the entrance fee. From here we move by trickshaw to Jamad Masjid, the largest mosque in India, and we were not the only ones: since it was Friday and it was time for prayer we stumbled upon thousands of faithful and waited delighting in the songs of the Koran and smiling at each person who watched us freaking out: we were the only tourists.
They look at you here. And a lot! They are very curious, the looks sometimes bother you, but it is only necessary to sketch a smile so that they return it to you three times as big. And maybe ... they ask you for a photo 🙂 Once the prayer is finished, we enter through the eastern door, which originally only opened for the emperor and now only opens on Fridays. We visited the mosque and climbed to the top of one of the two minarets of about 40 meters (121 stairs) from where there are very beautiful views of Delhi, the red fort and the mosque itself (that if you can get an eyelet between out between the amount of rock that accumulates up there).
After we took pictures with local people and being in the center of attention we walked towards Chandni Chowk: a fucking chaos! Uncontrolled, trafficked, bustling ... this street is home to street stalls, bazaars, the Digambara Jain temple at one end, a Sikh temple in the middle, and the Fatehpuri Masjid at the end. From here, a little overwhelmed, we went to the most relaxing place you can find in Delhi: the Gandi Smriti, the place where Gandhi spent his last 144 days of life, before being killed on January 30, 1948. In the garden You can follow the last steps he took, on his way to his place of prayer. The museum has an exhibition of photos and the objects of the Mahatma, and on the top floor it houses a very interesting and slightly freaky interactive museum. We loved it, definitely another one of the thingsWhat to see and do in Delhi.
This day we met Santhos, a very nice trickshaw driver who took us and guided us into the Gudwara Bangla Sahib temple, the largest Sikh temple in the city. It is really impressive with its golden domes, the sacred pond and all the devotees praying and making offerings. Here Santhos told us more about India, about him and his family. We realized that we must always see beyond things and that behind the wheel there is not only a driver, but a man with a life, in many cases, very sacrificed. If sometimes we do not realize the great luck we have! Hopefully we can meet him again, because it takes only a few hours in this country to understand that the most interesting thing about India is its people.
The day was ending and after touring the city in tuktuk we went to dinner with spinach with cheese (palak paneer) and chicken biryani and from there we went to bed with many thoughts and reflections ... The stay in Delhi was over, but at Next day another trip would begin. This time to the north, Amritsar awaits us ... and India promises a lot!
USEFUL INFO
exchange rate € 1 = 84inr
How to get from the airport to Main Bazaar? We chose to take the subway on T3 (it costs 150 inr per head) that leaves us at the “New Delhi Train Station” train station. From there you can walk to Main Bazaar by following these instructions: At the New Delhi subway station look for exit A1, go up the escalators and turn left. You will find 2 stairs: one that goes up and another that goes down. Take the one that goes up, keep walking and go down the stairs. Look for gate # 1 (gate 1) that will take you to the street. On your right you will see an overpass that you will have to take after crossing the street. Go up the overpass and continue to platform # 1. Here you will see the directions for the “Paharganj” exit, which will be the one you have to take. Once outside the station you will have to cross a super busy street and in front you will find Main Bazaar street.
How to move? We believe that the easiest way is with the tuk tuk. Here are some indicative prices of some races we have done: Main Bazaar-Red Fort: 80inr Main Bazaar-Old train station 130inr Connaught Place-Tomb of Safardanj 120inr Lodi Garden-Tomb of Humayun 50inr Chandi Chowk-Gandhi Smrit-Gudwara Bangla Sahib-Main Bazaar (about 2-3 hours) 350inr.
Where to sleep? There are many backpacker accommodation options in Main Bazaar. We stay at the Smyle Inn
Where to eat? There are several restaurants on the same street, we tried the cuisine of Diamonds, Kathmandu and Nirvana restaurant and without problems! There are also very interesting street stalls.
Tickets: These are the tickets that we have paid Safardjang Tomb: 100inr Humayun's Tomb: 250inr Jama Masjid: free (you have to pay 300inr per camera even mobile, although we pay 300 o'clock. They try to get you pasta so go to the parrot! minaret you have to pay 100 inr. Dress in long pants and t-shirt and you have to cover your head Gandi Smriti: free Gudwara temple: free Lodi gardens: free
Do you know more stuff what to see and do in Delhi ?
