Delhi

Local children at ruins

Local man at ruins

Himanshu

Karen and I had lunch together before I took the bus to Delhi. Felt strange that I'd be no longer travelling with her and Ben. I have never gone on a trip and travelled like this on my own, but I knew I would be fine and it would be a good learning experience for me. Karen booked her ticket to meet me in Bangkok in 3 weeks so I had to plan how I wanted to spend that time alone until then. Since I have an american friend living in Singapore I decided to go there first and then do the islands in Thailand.

I left Jari town near Mateura on a local bus for 2 hours to Bhuntar. The bus was crowded and I had to stand with my heavy backpack without a single man offering to give up their seat. Eventually the bus conductor collecting the fares demanded that one man let me sit! I got off the bus at Bhuntar and looked for the overnig ht bus I booked to Delhi. After my last horrible experience with the local overnight bus, I wanted to treat myself to a nice volvo semi sleeper aircon bus so I could sleep. While waiting at the agency for my bus, I met a young man 20 years old who started chatting with me. Within half hour he had given me a beautiful mug made from pottery which I felt honoured to get. We had chai together and then he had to leave for his bus. I then met another nice fella who was on my bus to Delhi. Then when I went on the bus I began talking to the man sitting next to me. Immediately I was seeing the difference of travelling alone. I was approached by friendly strangers and meeting so many more people than travelling as a group. The bus ride was 13 hours and it was very comfortable as I was experiencing luxury for the first time in 6 weeks - air-con!! I managed to sleep a bit and when we got to Delhi, the guys helped me get a good deal on a tuk tuk to the hotel tourist area of Delhi called Gang.
I was recommended a hotel by Hannah but we couldnt find it so I ended up taking a hotel that a man was hassling me to come see. It costed ten times what I paid up north however it had air con which was a necessity in Delhi's 45 degree weather. Delhi was a bit of a shock for me - noisy, smelly, boiling hot and busy. Total opposite from the peace I just experienced up in the Himalayas. I missed it so much!

Burla Temple

Delhi Metro

I was only in Delhi for 2 days so I made plans to meet up with Himanshu who I met in Rishikesh a few weeks ago. He lives in Delhi and met me at the hotel. We ate and we went on the metro to a place called the "Hauz khas Village". The metro was really nice - new and had cold air-con which felt nice after walking in the sauna outdoors. This area he took me to is called Hauz Khas Village and is known for being a fashionable and wealthy part of Delhi. It didn't quite feel like Delhi at all because it was unexpectedly quiet and peaceful which I liked. There was a park that had lots of couples hugging which is never seen in India as public displays of affection is not accepted. The park had some old ruins and a big green lake. We walked around and heard the peacocks which is India's national bird. There wree which is India's national tree. We met up with Himanshu's friends at another park where they all met everyday after work to lime and play football. They were all much younger than me, 20 and 21 and all engineers. In India, the higher class people all become either engineers or doctors. It was nice to have some friendly nice locals to lime with.

Man who showed me around

Delhi

The next day I got up and browsed the area with all the shops in my hotel area. I was approached by a young man who tried to get me to go to this store which was 5 minute walk off the main road. I told him no but asked for directions to the Radha Chrishna temple. He jumped into a tuk tuk with me and took me to the temple, without me even asking. I didn't mind the company so I went with it. When we arrived I realised it was the Burla Temple but this temple still had a statue of Radha Krishna so I went with him. He showed me around the temple and all the different statues and gods, explaining to me the differences. When we got to the Radha Krishna statue I presented flowers and said a prayer for my friend Roshni in Trinidad who asked me to go and thank this God for her. She had prayed for success and received it so on her behalf I thanked the Radha Chrishna Gods. Being a catholic praying to a Hindu God didn't feel strange, to me it's all the same God, just different forms.

After, I went to the guy's store to repay him for taking me. I spent 2 hours here choosing out 2 canvas paintings and I tried on sari finally! He took me to a local place for an indian lunch, the food was amazing but I got many stares as if foreigners never go there. Later I met up with my friend Himanshu and we sat in a cafe to chat. We ended up talking for a long time with a Spanish man sitting next to us. He was very different looking - covered in tattoos, the longest dred locks I ever saw, big metal nose hook, those big round things in the ear lobes, and implants inside his skin throughout his body. Despite his scary look, he was really nice and chatted to us about travel. I said my goodbyes to Himanshu later and thanked him for showing me around and being good company during my stay in Delhi. I got an early night for my flight at 7am to Singapore the next day.

Eating at local restaurant

Looking back at my time in India, it was a priceless experience. It was a place that challenged all of my senses - sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. It was hot, smelly, dirty, dusty, frustrating, an invasion of privacy, poor and difficult many times if you backpack and take local travel like we did. Every single day of the 6 weeks in India, electricity went for hours. Everyday, people tried to take advantage of me. Everyday I faced something challenging. However, everyday felt like an eye opening experience. I witnessed culture at its best and beautiful scenery and people. I haven't seen the world, but I am almost sure no where can beat culture like India. I have gained such an appreciation for all the little things in life - running water, toliets, education, health, safety, food and electricity. I also gained an even deeper appreciation for family, religion, culture and values. I got a chance to witness and experience simple living, back to basics and remind myself that we don't need all the materialistic things we have in today's world. I got to be around people who have nothing but are happy because they have life and family. I have been reminded on how lucky and fortunate for everything I have in my life.


Unfortunately, I only got to do the north west part of India. There is still so much to see there and I hope to return one day to do the south, Varanasi and the north east. I loved everything about India - the good peaceful moments and the frustrating challenging moments because these were the testers in life. The highlights of my trip was my stay in Pushkar and playing with the children in Mateura. Special thanks to the good local people we met in India who opened up to us and showed us what India is about- Vnot, Lokesh, Raul, Himanshu and Abi. India thank you for opening my eyes and heart - I will never forget the lessons you taught me and I hope to return one day to re-live the eye opening experience.