After much anticipation, the day to fly to India had finally arrived. After spending the past few weeks ill I was looking forward to moving on, and India was exactly what I wanted. The 5 and a half hour flight between Kuala Lumpar and New Delhi was pretty empty, so it was nice and chilled. Matt and I spent four full days in New Delhi and Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. My opinion of New Delhi varied greatly throughout the trip, but , all in all, it is exactly how you would expect India to be!
The area we stayed in is called Paharganj, and it is the worst part of New Delhi. It is located close to the station (perhaps the only plus!) and is incredibly cheap, especially when compared to the far more up market Connaught Place. Fortunately, Matt and I only had to sleep there, and we spent our days as far away from the area as possible. Our hotel was located off the main strip of this area, and to get to Connaught Place you had to step over the cows, go past a giant room full of rubbish, ignore about 15 scammers trying to get you to go the wrong way (the way of more scammers), ignore all the tuk tuk drivers, cross a ridiculously insane road (apparently no one swerves out of your way in India) and ignore all the men going for a pee, sometimes up the wall of a toilet. Once you get passed all that though you reach Connaught Place, which is a lovely area of New Dehli.
The scammers, unfortunately, were a big part of our trip in Delhi. On our first day we mistakenly took the direction of one of them, where plenty of other scammers were waiting. Unfortunately for them, they are completely transparent so even without my research I would have spotted them a mile off. It mainly revolved around them trying to get you to go to a fake tourist information office, where you would pretty much forced to buy tours etc that you didn't want. Matt spoke to a few, but I soon grew tired and asked him to ignore them. Even if you ignore them some seriously persist though, to the point where you have to rather forcefully ask them to go away.
My two worst scammer experiences occurred trying to buy train tickets and at the Taj Mahal. When we went to the train station to buy ticket to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, we knew there was a tourist office on the second floor, but trying to get there was a mission. So many people tried to stop us from getting up there, and worst of all, some of the station staff were involved in the scam. We pushed through them all (about 30 of them from the entrance of the station to the stairs to the office), but it certainly wasn't easy. They want to send you to an unofficial and incredibly unreliable agent, who will overcharge you for the same thing you can get for free from the official office.
Perhaps more alarming were the scammers at the Taj Mahal. As I will explain later, Matt became ill during our trip to the Taj Mahal. Upon entry he had to go and be sick, so I sat down and watched the incredibly beautiful Taj from the entrance. Whilst there, five men came and sat around me and started asking me questions about where I was from. I ignored them from the off, I had a sick boyfriend (again) and I was incredibly tired from our 5am wake up. They told me I was being rude, so I stood up and moved closer to a group of Australian men. They followed me over, and so I decided to make a scene. Very loudly I said, “Look, you came over to me and I ignored you. I then moved away and you followed me. If you don't go away, I will scream and you will soon have hundreds of people staring at you”. This got the attention of the Australian men, who soon stood up in my defence. They quickly backed off, and I noticed the police escorting them out. I am sure they wanted me to be involved in some sort of gem scam, or perhaps they wanted to tell me about their English studies that they can't afford to keep up. However, I was pissed of that the second Matt left my side I had scammers all over me. Matt chose to be sick outside the toilets next time. Well, not many people can claim to have been sick whilst looking at the Taj Mahal.
However, even my shouting at the Taj Mahal doesn't beat how I reacted to the tuk tuk driver who drove us back after we returned to New Delhi. After being awake for 19 hours and spending the past 3 of those being stared at by an entire carriage of Indian people, I was feeling pretty fed up. After paying for a tuk tuk at the pre pay booth, I was quite alarmed when a group of the drivers claimed they had forgotten to add on the evening charge. Telling them I wasn't born yesterday (think it got lost in translation, as they told me that was obvious), I called at the top of my voice for a tuk tuk driver who wouldn't try to scam us. A lot of hands shot up, and I grabbed the nearest one. Upon arrival though, the driver asked for extra money for it being the evening. This was too much for me, fed up with every Tom, Dick and Harry trying to scam me, asking for more tip than I had given (the cheek, I always gave a bit more than suggested in Lonely Planet) or generally being rude to me (it is a very sexist country), I decided enough was enough. I told him that he had no right to try to extort money from us, and that at this rate no one would come and visit Delhi. Sure, I felt a bit horrible after that. But he quickly drove off, and I didn't calm down until I got on the plane to Goa.
Whilst on the subject of the Taj Mahal, I can confirm that it was worth getting up at 5am for. It was even worth the journey back in the non air conditioned second class carriage (horrific, perhaps worse that the sleeper bus). It truly is beautiful. It is far bigger than I ever imagined, and up close the semi precious gems embedded in the marble sparkle. It is incredible, and even though Matt was ill throughout, I could have sat for hours watching it. It is certainly not to be missed, and I loved having lunch with a view of the Taj.
The rest of our time in Delhi was spent sight seeing and eating. Delhi is certainly an acquired taste, and I am pretty sure if I came back it would only be for a couple of nights. However, there was something quite charming about the city. The food is certainly amazing. After being ill non stop in Vietnam, I decided to go veggie in India. This is particularly easy, as India has the largest population of vegetarians in the world, so most restaurants are vegetarian anyway. Matt agreed, but changed his mind one night over dinner, and decided to have mutton. Unfortunately, this is was a decision that he now regrets, as he got very ill. Even now, as I write this in Goa, he is curled up in a ball asleep. Fortunately, Heinz beans are easy to find so I am managing to get him to eat, but we have both become incredibly fussy. We both need to see the kitchen before we eat somewhere, and meat is off the table until Bali. Maybe even until we get home at this rate!
And now I feel quite bad, because I have complained non stop about New Delhi. It is a great place to go, but you do have to have a thick skin. I have never encountered levels of scamming like they have in Delhi, nor have I ever seen people ask for more tip than you have given. It is a good reason why people wouldn't go there for a holiday – if you work hard for 50 weeks of the year, why would you want your two weeks off to be full of people trying to extort money from you. I would only go again on a big budget, where I could hire a driver for the day and enjoy the city's charms for what they are. For now though I am glad to be heading to Goa, after being ill in Vietnam and spending the majority of my time in Delhi incredibly stressed out, I am looking forward to relaxing. I hear the Goans are famous for how laid back they are, here is hoping...
No comments:
Post a Comment