My flight from Heathrow was about 50 minutes late taking off. The plane wasn't very full so I had plenty of space at my seat. I didn't feel tired and found that I could watch the film 'The Boat that Rocked' which was very good but too long for that time as I wanted it to finish so I could try to sleep! This was about 1.30am and the plane was due to land at 5 (UK time). I still wasn't tired after the film and I got almost no sleep – just a few minutes as I listened to some music.
When we landed (50 minutes late), I got through immigration fine and collected my rucksack. I went out to find the person who was supposed to meet me. I looked on all the cards three times and didn't see my name. I didn't know what I was going to do as I had no contact number or the address of the hostel I'd had booked for me. I only knew the name and went out to see if I could find a taxi driver who knew it. Then I saw more people with name cards and there was mine. That was a relief and the man took me to his car and we drove through the city.
So I was thrown straight into, not the deep end as such, more like into the Niagara Falls of Indian driving. It was pretty scary... Cars going into any space they could, horns going like mad and driving 20kph over the speed limit – this was everyone, including the army trucks! I tried to stay calm and I smiled whenever we avoided what looked to be a narrow escape. It's not aggressive driving but people sound their horns to warn others that they are too close. The driver knew what he was doing but I couldn't stop my instinctual urge to press my foot on the brake pedal. I don't even drive but still found myself doing it regularly! It cost me 800 Rupees (just over £10).
It took a long time to get to the hostel which was outside the main part of the city, in fact in a little Tibetan/ Buddhist zone. However, I was so tired that when I finally got into the room at 1.20pm Indian time, I needed to sleep before seeing the city. I didn't get up till 4.30 and didn't really feel like going out. The toliet here was my first experience of a squat toilet. I had some lovely pink sandals to wear in the bathroom, with bows on them, so that was what I'd hoped for...
I was a bit apprehensive about going into a chaotic capital city of nearly 13 million but plucked up the courage and went out.
I originally thought of walking in but the road was very long so I flagged down an auto-rickshaw, which is the motorised version of the traditional one. It was quite amusing this time to go through the traffic and I asked him to take me to Connaught Place in New Delhi as it was a big central area. However, it was nothing more than a commercial zone with lots of people and cars but just shops – mostly western ones. I looked for somewhere to eat but there weren't many restaurants in the big ring road. I found a kebab shop just off it and got a spicy cheese roll which was just about enough. I walked back through the area which was boring but felt that I'd prefer to be out of Delhi than worry about seeing it. It's too big and chaotic for me and I don't have much time to travel before reaching Dharamsala on Saturday. I managed to get money out of a cash machine and my phone surprisingly works here. I will still use my Portuguese number as I bought credit for that originally to use in Ecuador.
On my map, the part where I was staying wasn't on it and I made the mistake of not noting it down so I had to ask some more rickshaw drivers. Some locals helped me out and we managed to work it out. The price on the way in was only 100 Rupees but this time they were asking for 300. I didn't like the idea of that so tried to get them down and one said he'd take me for 200. We went back through masses of traffic again but I now felt quite used to it and happily, he found the area. I had a walk through it and it felt nice. There were mostly Tibetans there, some monks in their robes and the small, narrow streets with the market stalls gave it a pleasant feel. I took some photos then went up to my room.
As I hadn't slept last night, I hoped this would mean I could change time zones quickly as I was tired by 9pm.
As I hadn't slept last night, I hoped this would mean I could change time zones quickly as I was tired by 9pm.
It was an interesting and eye-opening first day here but I will be happy to move on in the morning to try to find a little more peace!
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