First week in India

Sept 6th 2010
The adventure begins with a BA flight to New Delhi air port arriving at 6.20am. I was met with a modern well maintained building and tight security. Paperwork was dispatched with after a short wait and visa was checked, stamped and cleared - then i was handed a piece of paper to keep until my departure in two months time. The air port is a place of tranqility at 6.30am - the shops are closed and the luggage belts gently hum as they disgorge the contents of the planes holds to patiantly waiting clients. This was the perfect moment to get some of the local currency as it is not available outside of India... The rate at the airport was a little steep at £1=66r but it meant having enough money to pay for transport and food for the following week.

Leaving the airport in a prepaid taxi quickly nrings the reality of Delhi to the for, as you travel away from an airport undergoing continous construction along a 4 lane highway you start to notice the age of the trucks around you and the lack of any sort of road system. Traffic passes on all sides and the horn appears to be used as indicators. Drivers are brave to travel the roads of Delhi but the scooters and rick shaw peddlers are without fear placing themselves in front of traffic which they hope has seen them and will slow down - the inevitable blaring of horns follows every move of any vehicle close to another, a kind of "Hi, hey i'm here, do not run into me". Pedestrians are also taking a risk to walk to the shops as in many areas pavements are not used or are being re-laid while the lack of traffic signals means that if you want to cross a road you need to show an air of determindation and i have found that looking drivers in the eye shows that you have seen them and they have seen you, it is a kind of game to get across 4 lane roads by placing yourself between rows of moving vehicles! Just need to watch out for scooters which also use these same gaps.

Delhi is a thriving city with a juxtaposed nature, as on the one hand it has great luxury hotels and shops nestled around Connough Place but it also has great visible poverty with beggers in the streets along with the ubiquitous tout.

Day 1 in Delhi
Arrived at my hotel at 7.30am after the taxi driver stopped several times to ask for directions only to find the door locked and the owners just waking up. To be fair it was hard to find as it was in Karol barg in a maze of streets off from the centre. Staff were very welcoming and offered coffee, breakfast and sorted out a room within minutes even though my check in time was not for another 5 hours!
The hotel was clean, well looked after and the room had AC, hot water, shower and ceiling fan. All in all a good hotel in a poor area.
I wanted to waste no time on day one so i immediatly unpacked and headed for the city centre, but decided to walk rather than take a taxi (See photo for street).
Walking out from the hotel was an adventure because i had not walked more than 20m before an autorickshaw had pulled up along side me and asked me where i was from and offered me a ride for 10r (20p), i declined his offer politely but then he followed and asked a series of questions about where i was staying, what i was doing today and where i was from, these were opportunities to get into conversations but it is best to ignore and continue with a polite "no thank you". Persistance is one of there strong traits and i was approached every day by the same rickshaw owner and another colleague who seem to work as a team. (Both sit in the rickshaw and one is dropped off and speaks to you and if you want a ride he can arrange a trip - to avoid any possible scam always pay for a pre-pay rickshaw).
The Metro system is excellent and trains run every 3 mins in all directions from most stations and the nearest stop to my hotel was Karol Bargh (5 mins walk), it is like clockwork and is better than the London Underground system for cleanliness and timetabling. However it can become very busy at rush hour and you are squeezed into the mass of humanity trying to either get to or from work on a metro system which is controlled by the military. Security is reasuringly tight and your person is checked every stop and bags are checked through a scanner. On major intersections the army has a presense including implaced bunkers (sandbags) with automatic weapons. Although crowded people on the metro are generally polite and helpful but it can be a struggle to reach the exit door at your stop unless you stay positioned near to it.
The metro was so good that i used it every day that i was in Delhi instead of the madness of the road traffic and at 10r a trip it was cheap to.
My first day was all about orientation in a city of 13 million people. ~Walking around the centre and using the Metro for more outlying areas was the order of the day. First stop was the New Delhi train station, a heaving throng of bodies all jostling to get to their destinations around people sleeping on the platforms or queing for tickets. (I fell for a scam here and was re-directed away from the station to Connough place a central shopping area of the city) this was due in effect to a poorly signed ticket office for tourists at the station leaving waifs like me prone to touts sending you to travel agents selling house boat tours in Kashmir.
Anyway. After some time extricating myself from the hard sell of travel agent tours costing over £2000 i walked around Connough place, which is the centre of the shopping district and houses some of the newest buildings in Delhi. The shops are very secure and many have security to make sure that undesirable types are not allowed in. However, shopping here is not like in the UK, there is a limited choice of options and only a few isolated cafes.
Day one saw me find the post office where a man provided stamps for the postcards home while lunch was taken at the "United coffee House", and no i did not choose it for the name! It was recommended in the Lonely Planet and i would also add to this by saying that the service was exemplary, food mouthwatering and ambyonce enchanting as the rooms had large chandaliers and dark moody lighting, very colonial. I surprised the waiter by ordering two main courses, polishing both of them off and then eating a desert with darjeeling tea. Could not move for a little while but sated a hunger built over the day.
Eventually it was time to head back to the hotel so back onto the Metro and an evening stroll in the dark streets which are lit only by the lights of passing traffic. Quite an introduction to Delhi :)