We awoke, although I can't remember when. The first day is quite blurry for me. My right eye was bloodshot to the point where it looked like it could start crying blood at any moment. We quickly realize that in all our planning, all we did was just kind of pick places we want to see... we never actually sat down and tried to piece together how we should go about seeing them. We had a few hours in the first morning just kind of scratching our heads going, "So, what should we do first?". We decided, probably shopping.
I remembered wanting to go to Connaught place to go shopping, so we decided that would be a great place to start. Our hotel offers free breakfast, but we decided to eat out instead. So we drag ourselves up and out of bed, into some clothes, and then head out into the city for the first time.
Wow, our back street does not look the same during the day as it did at night. There is construction everywhere on the tight little road. Its basically dirt, with maybe rock ground in... I'm not sure. A huge incense smell smacks me in the face when we start walking... it was delicious. There are some shanty/shacks next to our building with about 4 kids in them who always smile and wave at us. Quite a few dogs call our back alley home as well. By the time we get to a connecting street, we are already being hassled. This it to be indicitive of a much larger pattern.
A rather insistent Indian man tries to coax us into his tuk-tuk. No matter where we are going, he will take us there, and for cheap. We insist we are walking up to the metro (around 4 blocks) and we are fine. He continues to follow us, "Metro, no problem, 10 rupees." (around 4 cents) we insist "No we are walking" and so it goes for an entire block. At the end of the block, another guy comes up and starts on us again. And so the pattern is born, and from hence forth, it shall be expected.
Everyday this walk consists of telling 10 or so people, "No we are walking". They plead with us, they quote us outlandish prices that they won't keep, and they just generally follow and pester us. I've gotten to the point now where we either just keep walking and pretend we don't hear them (which takes at least a block for them to give up) or grabbing them by the shoulders, looking them firmly in the eyes and telling them, "We will not be traveling with you today, maybe another time. Thank you." We try our best to be polite, but it is very irritating.
So, we walk to the metro, and we have no clue what we are doing. It seems they use these plastic blue coins, kind of like the pieces to connect 4, and they have an rfid chip in them. They program in the money on them, you go through the turn style, and then when you reach your destination, you put them in a slot, and they let you out. Never seen anything like that before.
We go to the counter to get our chips, and we ask the woman how to get to connaught place. She tells us, and we are off. The metro is nice. Its clean, its air conditioned, and its busy. Busy to the point where we have been in a crowd pushing and forcing our way on, just shoving everyone in whether they fit or not.
India, not surprisingly, is full of Indians. We aren't in tourist season, so, we have seen maybe 9-10 other white people while we have been here. On the metro, we are a spectacle. People stare, people talk about us, and people take our pictures. Well, mostly Mandy. They talk about us, and then they point to their chins, obviously talking about Mandy's piercing. Its all pretty funny, and neither of us are used to the attention. People don't do double takes, as much as they will unabashedly stare at us for an entire 20-30 minute commute. At times it feels like we are the very first white people they have seen. Which, who knows...maybe we are.
The station for Connaught place is where two lines of the metro meet, so it is a very busy station. We have no idea which way to exit, and there are 2 to choose from. We choose one at random and end up popping out right in the center circle. If you looked at the wiki link to connaught place, you will see pictures that look absolutely NOTHING like what it looks like. This is where we started to get a feel for what Delhi is like. The entire city is under construction. It is the messiest, grittiest, grimiest city I have ever been to. It makes Detroit look like Epcot center.
As of now we have no pictures of connaught place because we were scared we would get our camera stolen. We thought we were in a bad area. We didn't realize at the time, that is just what this city looks like. We wander around, as beggars beg, and hawkers hawk. No, I don't want aviator sunglasses, and thank you, I'm already wearing a leather belt. No we don't need a map of India, and GOD NO you cannot clean my ears "for free".
After wandering around for a while some young Indian offered us some hash. We said no, then he decided to follow us. At this point, he started telling us where to go. This was fun (for me) as we really had no direction anyways. I figured his directions were as good as our wanderings. We were looking for food, and I figured eventually we would see something and stop following this guys directions. Mandy didn't enjoy this game as much as I did. She was like, "Why are we listening to him?" and I was like, "Lets just see what he is up to." Well of course it was a con. One I had read about, so we were quite prepared. We pop out on the outside of the circle and he tries to direct us to a "Government Tourist" center. They are not sponsored by the government, they don't offer any real deals, they hassle the shit out of you...and the best part is, this guy gets paid if he gets us just to walk in the door.
Once we figure out the game, we stop and look at our map. He continues talking to us as we discuss where would be the best place to find food. He says he knows where all the food is, etc. etc. We make up our mind and start walking. He follows us a bit more, then we turn a corner and there are some cops. We look back, and he is gone. LOL. I believe the correct term here is "Zoinks".
We settle on a coffee shop. Had some strange moments with a deaf Indian, who was all smiles. He was very happy we were American. Everyone is actually. Once we say America, everyone is like, "Thats GREAT!" Its weird.
After we eat, we wander around some more until we happen upon the palika bazaar, which is an underground bazaar. The lights are dim/off. Its hot as can be. People are harassing you from all sides. People come out and grab you to try to get you to come to their shop. We are especially targeted as we are the only white people in the place. My feeling about the ambiance of this place is that it would be the perfect spot for a good old time raping. Its dark, gritty, hot, and labyrinthine. This is also where we were introduced to the idea of security everywhere. Security on the metro seems like a no-brainer, so we didn't think twice about going through a metal detector and being frisked with a wand and patted down (every time btw). We were surprised to have the same inspection to get into palika bazaar. However, we have grown used to it. To go just about anywhere, even parks, you have to go through a security check.
Palika bazaar made us both a bit uncomfortable, so after one full loop we decided to go back out to the street. The only thing notable in there (in my mind) was an mp5 player that I almost bought on principle. I think an mp5 player would make a great gift. I may go back, so someone may get a mp5 player when I get back. LOL.
At this point, I'm done with connaught place, so we decide to go somewhere else. However, we have no idea where to go next. We go back to the metro, and we see a station on our line is called "Botanical Garden" so we figure, "That seems like a good idea." We hop on and off we go.
Well the botanical garden is far out of Delhi. Really far. But it gets better. We get off the metro to a sea of tuk-tuk drivers, all set to rip us off, and there are no signs for the botanical garden. We have no clue where we are. So we ask some of the drivers which way it is. "20 rupees, I'll show you." they reply, "No we are walking, which way?" it takes a while until someone finally points us in the direction. We walk down to it, and it is basically a field. We go into the field and see some people living in tents, and go past them until the gate which says "India botanical garden". There were two police there, and they told us it was closed.
We kind of laughed and then headed back to the metro, but then the police stopped us. They motioned for us to shoo away, and so we said, "Ok." because we were already leaving. Then they called out to us again and motioned for us to shoo away. Thats when I remembered that the shoo away motion means "Come here" in India. So, we go over to them, and then one of them motions to follow him. I guess he felt sorry for us, so he gave us a tour of the "botanical garden" which was basically a crappy green house and some herbs. He walked with us the whole way, and would point at a flower or something and be like, "Ah." He spoke no english. It was really funny.
So, we left there, rode the metro back to the hotel, and then came back to try to get more sleep than the night before. I figure I'm gonna crash hard. So my second night in India? 5 hours sleep.
That brings us up to day 2, which will have to be updated later, because someone is here to use the computer now. Man, this has a simple solution, a 30 dollar wireless router. Hell, I'd buy it for them.
Thats all for the time being. I have pictures and stuff to update, but clearly won't get a chance too.
Sorry so wordy.
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