Sights and Sounds of Delhi

This is the view from our hotel balcony, with bands gathering across the street and a truckload of young men in party mode heading the other way.

On Monday morning we set off on a long walk which our guide seems to favour. Our target was the Metro station and we were given instructions on using tokens to get on, separating into ladies and gents as there are separate carriages. Not everyone seemed to stick to that rule. The Metro was quite modern, very security conscious and extremely crowded. Despite their best efforts the men didn't lose the ladies and we set off again to the Red Fort, just to look at the outside. This was followed by time inside the Jama Masjid Mosque. While our guide Dushyant looked after the shoes and belongings the ladies were issued with large garments a bit like painting smocks for grown-ups - a perfect photo opportunity. After watching Earthflight in India, we were very conscious of the birds flying around and sure enough there were pigeons galore with kites ready to pick them off. No one seems to mind us taking pictures and there were plenty of pictures taken.

We set off down some more back streets where the locals and Bollywood stars shop for decorative ribbons and accessories to enhance their costumes. For those who like bling it would be paradise. Our final stop for the morning was the Sikh Temple where we were given a un ique (for us) opportunity to take part in the daily rituals of preparing food and feeding the thousands of people who come to the temple for food. After covering our heads and leaving our shoes and socks behind we had to wash our hands and feet before entering the temple, where we observed the ritual of sitting quietly for a couple of minutes during the service, before going through to the kitchens.

All the food is donated and all the workers who prepare and serve it are volunteers. It's doubtful if our amateurish contributions were much help, but we certainly provided the more experienced helpers with some amusement and entertainment. Mostly we rolled out chapattis and flipped them on the enormous griddle, stirred gigantic cooking pots full of vegetables and generally got in the way. Finally we joined hundreds of other people sitting on long mats in a large hall to be served dal, vegetables and chappattis.

After lunch we set off in auto rickshaws to visit a project which G Adventures supports. The traffic is mad, noisier and more impatient than Vietnam with a mixture of auto and cycle rickshaws, bullock carts, buses, taxis, cars both ancient and modern and even carts pulled by hand. The loads are huge in some cases with cycles pulling up to ten or a dozen gas canisters.

The project was set up in 1988 to help street children and has been supported further by funding from Slumdog Millionaire. We met up with a group of boys as they were receiving clothes distributed by a volunteer. We were encouraged to engage with them and although their English was limited it was easy to have a game of pat-a-cake. We were told success stories of children who had gone on to succeed as photographers and dancers, take university degrees or become entrepreneurs.

Arrival in Delhi

Less than 36 hours since we landed in Delhi and what tales we have to tell already! Our flight was fairly uneventful, though it felt long as we left Glasgow at 1.p.m. on Saturday (having been in the airport since 9 a.m.) and landed in Dubai just after midnight local time, though just after 8 p.m. UK time. We then had to wait over four hours for our connection to Delhi, and were served breakfast as the sun rose over the sub-continent. Our watches moved on another hour and a half and we landed in Delhi a little after 9 a.m. on Sunday. Immigration, customs, changing money, and negotiating a taxi to our hotel took us to early afternoon, so we thought we'd catch up on a little lost sleep, but the street noise was such that we were only able to doze. Being next to the street wasn't the best for sleeping but our room had a balcony so we were able to enjoy the sight and sound of bands gathering and young men dancing in preparation for Beating the Retreat which was due to happen later that evening.

At 6 p.m. we met with our group leader and the rest of our G Adventures tour group, and set off to a restaurant for our first meal. There are two Canadian couples of roughly similar age to us, plus another Canadian travelling alone, a young English couple, a Scots girl and another six young females of various nationalities, mainly Swedish or French. We spent much of the evening talking to one of the Canadian couples, from Vancouver, who have travelled widely, mostly with G Adventures, and are experienced sea kayakers. We should explain that G Adventures, which used to be called Gap Adventures, is a Canadian company.

On the way to the restaurant we were taken down a lane which we can safely say we would never have ventured into by ourselves. We certainly got a flavour, and a few aromas, of Delhi. The food was excellent and cheap, the beer was Kingfisher, and the wine was much too expensive for us, even the local variety which we were told is not that good anyway. Maybe we'll just become beer drinkers for a while.

2012 Trip to India

Yes we are off again, to India this time. We are not very fond of February in UK although January hasn't been too bad so far. Anyway we were inspired by Alison Robertson's trip to India and during a particularly wet spell in November we went into Trailfinders to make enquiries. We came out with a plan of what to see on a four week stay. Don't go into a travel agents on a wet day---it's like going into a supermarket when you're hungry.

Tom has had a long term wish to take me there and share some of what he saw on his travels in 1969. I agreed to go as long as it was with some degree of comfort. The trip starts in Delhi with a tour to Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi. It's then back to Delhi and we are on our own to Shimla by the toy train. It could be cold in Shimla as there is usually snow on the ground in February so the thermals are packed but it will be a chance to chill out (probably literally) after a busy tour. This is followed by a plane south to Cochin in Kerala and a private tour round spice plantations, wildlife reserve, backwater tour on a houseboat and a couple of nights on the beach.

It all sounds good, travel advice has been sought and we are packed ready to go from Glasgow on Saturday 28th January.The kindle has cut down on books and we really have cut luggage to a minimum.