Back to the big smoke...in Delhi

Well...our return to the big smoke wasn't as bad as it could have been considering the heat!!  The bus down from Rishikesh (250rs each for deluxe bus - for deluxe read: shitty) wasn't the most interesting journey courtesy o' the plains and lack of luscious mountain scenery, but we saw lots of neatly stacked cow poop and lots o' Indian folk going about their business.  The bus dropped us off up the road from the metro station where we metro-d back to New Delhi with a timid Austrian girl who seemed fairly terrified of the full-on auto drivers...made sure she got safely into a pre-paid auto and then we made our way to Arakashan Road where we were followed by the worst touts we've come across...eventually found a cheap hotel (Rama Dx) where they tried to chuck us out the next day at 7 am pretending they'd booked the room out to someone else.  Luckily we'd come across this phenomenon before (the phenomenon being they let us book our room for a few days then pretend there's something wrong with the room so they can rent it out at a higher price to someone else), so we told them what they could do with their maintenance and we continued to enjoy a day of souvenir buying around Connaught Place.  In 45 degree C heat.  Not actually much enjoyment when you're sweating and shopping hahaha!

The following day we did a bit of final sightseeing...fit in India Gate and Purana Qila fort which were both loveeeeeely, but the heat did get a bit much in the end so we scrapped our plans of heading to the Lotus Temple and went back for a shower and din dins.

Just keep your wits about you, equip yourself with your best sense of humour and dive in!

Final day in India...the hotel tried to screw us over by inflating the room rate, adding on the tax that they swore we wouldn't be charged and charging us for a breakfast we didn't have.  :o)  You have GOT to have a sense of humour when you're in India or you WILL KILL PEOPLE!  Sorted the hotel bill out and we were then accosted by a beggar avec bambino, much to the delight of the hotel staff (all 8 of the staff who apparently congregate to be entertained by our antics whenever we went past reception).  Unfortunately we didn't have any roti or candy to give the woman, so we jumped in our taxi and arrived at the airport one hour later.  In I.G.I they have army men inspecting passports and tickets...possibly not the best equipped for deciphering foreign RTW tickets as they refused to let us in the building due to our tickets being internet tickets.  FANNIES!  At this point I was DEFINITELY looking forward to getting the frig' out of Delhi, truth be told.  So I went to the Virgin Atlantic office which was luckily open while Jo kept an eye on our luggage.  Returned and gave the army man our confirmation slip which was apparently too vague...I almost had burst a blood vessel in my brain at this point, but I kept my cool, insisted VA had issued the info and complimented the man on his uniform, after which he acted like we were old friends and allowed us to enter the airport.  So terrorists, if you need to know how to enter Indira Ghandi International without a ticket, just compliment the army guards on their fine attire.

For those not in the know, once you go through customs and enter the departure lounge it's tough to get rid of your excess rupees...most of the shops will only allow Indian Nationals to spend using rupees; we foreigners are relegated to US $ unless you want to buy several Subway or Cafe Coffee Day meals!  So change your rupees prior to entering the lounge as you can't change them outside o' India.

So a wee summary of India...Jodie would say India is a land of contradictions, and I would say India is a crazy bitch.  It's a serious roller coaster of a country; just when you think you're getting used to it, something happens which completely bewilders you!  We've met people desperate to exploit us as foreign tourists, and we've met local people so friendly they would have given us the shirts off their backs if we'd needed them.  We've seen the most stunning scenery, and the most disgusting, rubbish-strewn landscapes.  We've inhaled the seductive aroma of spices, and we've inhaled the eye-watering stench of makeshift urinals!  Highlights for us would be...

Hampi and it's surreal boulder-strewn landscapes dotted with banana plantations and crystal clear rivers (mucho surprising considering rivers are usually dumping grounds here)

McLeod Ganj up in the Himalayas...witnessing the sun rising and setting over mountain tops while enjoying tea, cake, cheap cheap Japanese food and conversing with Tibetan ex-political-prisoners of China.  We would've spent 6 months up there easily!

Mumbai...spent a short time here but we found Mumbai to be quite differnt from the other major cities of India.  Cosmopolitan, great architecture and more of a laid back pace than Delhi or Chennai.

Staying at the Golden Temple in Amritsar...a true example of how compassionate and welcoming Indian people can be.  The temple itself is a sight rivalled only by the Taj Mahal.

The hostpitality of Indian people...in particular Pankaj and Sapna (our music teacher and his wife in Rishikesh).  We'll never forget Pankaj's phenomenal playing and Sapna's phenomenal pumpkin curry.

Maharishi Mahesh Ashram - Rishikesh...amazing place to wile away the hours taking photos and avoiding the corrupt wee man trying to extort more money out of us (can't remember if we mentioned this before, but we got away with paying 10rs each entry...he told us we could stay for half an hour - obviously we didn't listen!)

Kolkata...our first experience of India and we were in at the deep end here, but it was great fun.  The hazy atmosphere from the dust in the air; our first taste of Chai in clay cups at 1 am courtesy of the lovely Sunil; the chaotic mazes of streets teeming with Indian people doing their Indian thing.  I loved Kolkata :o)  Not as touristified/westernised as the other cities.

Autos and crazy bus drivers...it's like being at the shows (fairground) every day in India!

So India...it's something you need to experience for yourself; no matter what you read or see on TV, you can only really comprehend it when you go there.  Which you should...everyone should!  Just keep your wits about you, equip yourself with your best sense of humour and dive in!

Next stop...home!