Hello Asia! Hello India!
October 17 2018
18th January 2010; flight from London to Delhi. 8 hours.
After hearing the last minute “please be safe” words and saying the painful goodbyes to our families, Jon, Mat and I were soon on our way for what would turn out to be the biggest adventure of our lives to date.
We arrived at Delhi 11.05 am, stepping off that plane was bloody lovely as the legs needed a good stretch. After collecting our backpacks we were on our way out of the airport. WOO! Culture shock! People crowded the streets, constant harassment “Taxi Madam? Cheap Cheap for you!”
Deciding against catching a taxi due to advice from my mother, we caught the bus into the center of Delhi which was far from a pleasant experience, instantly regretting wearing a denim skirt as I felt hundreds of eyes peering on the unusually seen bare skin. Towards the end of the bus journey I felt more confident and decided to stare at them back. Jon and Mat had been pushed to the very front of the bus and I was at the back – how we all managed to get off at the same stop and in agreement was nothing short of a miracle.
Delhi is a city of dust, poverty and over population. A whopping 13 million people live here in this vibrant forever breathing city. Homeless people everywhere you look, with children walking shoeless – it was like nothing I have ever experience before. The streets weren’t paved with electricity cables hanging out within public reach. The mix of these sights combined with the smells and humidity was eye watering. Not helped by the fact we hadn’t booked our first nights stay and were walking around with roughly 17kg on our backs looking for somewhere to crash for the night. Looking back I cannot believe we didn’t even have the first nights accommodation booked… we were mad.
On being offered a lift in a tiny green and yellow tuktuk, our moods were lifted instantly and we were back to laughing, loving life taking in all the sights of this crazy, chaotic city. We finally checked into our hotel ‘Lee Grand’, more like ‘Lee Crap’ – we were crazily overcharged and the 3 of us spent the first night in a double bed… don’t ask. Travel bonding to a whole new level. However it provided the very much needed rest and shower and allowed us to crack on and get exploring Delhi, which we did.
Enter Krish.
A mid-20’s, cheeky, typical Indian bloke who was more than keen to show us his beautiful country and charge us an arm and a leg along the way. Here he is showing us how good he is at driving whilst drinking straight, yes straight whiskey. 10 points! We found Krish, or rather Krish found us strolling the streets of Delhi trying not to get lost and offered us his fine services. Before we knew it we’d accepted his taxi tour of India and had handed over £1200 and were on our way to Pushkar, a 6.5 hour trip from Delhi by car. A journey despite it’s length was pretty enjoyable, taking in the scenes of people walking their camels on motorways, whilst listening to Jon’s iPod shuffle. The mix of music, sun, speed and wind blowing through the open windows made me so happy, so happy to be out of the UK.
On arriving in Pushkar we were astounded by the stark contrast to Delhi. 6 hours ago where every time we crossed the roads risked our lives to now, in a peaceful serene holy place – where apparently even beer was forbidden. We arrived at our accommodation which was a beautiful white building with lights hanging tastefully from it, making us feel a little better about the cash we had parted with in Delhi.
Now Krish, in the taxi on the way to Pushkar was banging on about some Pushkar passport, he spoke so fast, and even as a motormouth myself I struggled to understand 50% of what he was saying. However within a day or 2 of arriving in Pushkar we were going to find out first hand what we was chatting about.
As we were walking down the street into the main village, we were flogged down by a well dressed, polite Indian man. He started talking about Pushkar being a holy place and how we needed to respect it. Jon and Mat were off, they had the ‘don’t get hassled’ attitude down to a tee… I however was a sucker for a chat and did not escape so easily. I needed to work on ignoring people, I wasn’t there yet by a long shot. Before I knew it, we were pushed along to a massive ‘holy’ lake where he said we had to get blessed. Jon, Mat and I were separated and I could imagine the “I told you so’s” would soon be coming my way. I found myself confronted by a frail Indian man in his 80’s with a long grey beard and wearing colourful body paint chanting at me, splashing my face with the dirty water that remained in the dried up lake, with the occasional petal making an appearance.
“Repeat after me, ooommmm” was what this priest was saying to me, but so some stupid reason I thought he was asking “home?” so after I stated South Wales, then the UK then England to try and get it through to him where I was from, I clicked that he just wanted to me chant “ommmmmmmmmmm”. I got there in the end, but had to fight the laughter off. I tried my best to glance over at the boys, I could only imagine Mat’s face. This madness went on for about 10 minutes ending in a pink and white thread being tied around my wrist and a forced donation of 500 rupiahs. A hundred for family member apparently!! Knew I should have said I was an only child, we’d been had good!!
Turns out it was a tidy little earner for the India Mafia, bloody love a good tourist trap – and we thanks to me were fully trapped. Live and learn though ey. Despite the scam we had an incredible time here, going on a camel safari and watching the sun set. The dessert was breathtakingly beautiful, however this was disturbed by the fact I had Krish on the back of my camel who had put him into 5th gear… we were racing. I was terrified, haha. Before I know it, Jon, Mat and I had been separated again and Krish and I had joined a new group of tourists. I was a bit worried at first but then once I got to know the new people we had found I was a lot more relaxed. We drank some forbidden beers and watched the sun set from the top of the sand dunes. It was perfect.
India is not for the faint hearted, but if you do visit, it’s a place that will remain in your heart forever.
Places to visit would include:
Jaipur, a place for shopping, visiting the Pink Palace whilst riding an elephant, getting headbutted by a cow in the street (no joke)
Ranthambhore Fort, great for taking photo’s with Monkey’s (just keep some distance) and the Fort was pretty impressive. Also you can go on a tiger safari here, although out group wasn’t lucky enough to see one, one of the groups were! Plenty of wildlife to appreciate still.
Agra, of course – the Taj Mahal. I lost my camera whilst drinking on a rooftop bar here but still have amazing memories from the radiance of the Taj Mahal.
Rishikesh, I LOVED Rishikesh, had the best Greek salad here (don’t shoot me). There’s a really cool place called Lakshman Jhula, it’s pretty touristy but I enjoyed it, great place to buy your travel necklaces/sunglasses/anklets. You get there by walking across a pretty cool suspension bridge which goes over the Ganges.
I’d like to go back to India, to explore the South next time. However, I am glad I went as an 18 year old, accompanied with my naivety, to overcome what pre-conceptions most people have about, what is such a wonderful country.