Reading time 11 minutes.
We flew to Delhi from Tashkent on the 11th of November with IndiGo.
IndiGo Flight
It took me a while to realize the name IndiGo referred to India, which is appropriate since it is an Indian low-cost airline, actually the largest (by fleet size and passengers carried) airline in India. I was very surprised to read on its Wikipedia page that it is one of the most punctual airline because my experience led me to think differently.
Initially, our flight was at 1:05 am. It is late but it is just the beginning .It was delayed before the day of departure to 2:25 am. Online check-in did not really work. We started to get in line for the check-in around 00:30 am. We waited for more than 2 hours without anyone going through. Later, we learned that they had an issue with their check-in system.There was no annoucement, how long it will take or anything. They tried to fix without communicating about it (the situation was really awkward) until they processed the passengers manually. We were all there mostly standing. I guess that since they are not used to do that anymore, it took an awful lot of time. Tired people got angry at each other and at the staff. Some cut the line, then others were pissed and call them out. A girl sat on her travel pillow. Many people squatted, I am glad we had a trolley to sit on. We met our neighbor in the queue who actually turned out to be a motivational speaker. At first after one hour of waiting he was pretty relaxed and chilled. Talking sense to the other to be relaxed and that you cannot argue with the other cutting the lines. They are who they are. However after 3 hours standing even him was not relaxed anymore. He wisely asked for some bottles of water to the staff and the other managed to talk about the other issues rather than the water. He was pissed about it saying that he was trying to help and the other only complained. He also started to shout at the other people cutting the line. I guess the situation got on everyone’s nerves.
IndiGo is supposed to refund your ticket if the flight is more than 2 hours late. They closed the gates of the plane around 4:40 am, and we took off before 5 am, but we saw no refund.
It is pretty tiring to wait in line for more than 3 hours, especially in the middle of the night.
Survival Tips
In most of India, and especially in Delhi and in the North of the country, the air pollution is terrible and the honking almost never stops. These pieces of advice are for pedestrians. If you always move in a car you should be less exposed.
Wearing some face masks against fine particules (FPP, KN95, N95, etc.) could prevent or mitigate breathing issues. We started to notice some breathing issues after one or two weeks in the North of India during the stubble burning/Diwali season. Please check the air pollution in Delhi, it is one of the worst in the world since China has made some progress lately. Wearing some reusable ear plugs could protect you against headaches and temporary (or permanent?) hearing loss. Reusable because I needed them all the time when walking on the streets or taking tuktuks.
Delhi or New Delhi
Sometimes, I am confused, I don’t know which one I should use, and I use Delhi and New Delhi interchangeably.
New Delhi is the capital of India. Delhi, officially National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a union of territory containing New Delhi.
Actually, we stayed in Paharganj, a neighborhood of Central Delhi which is part of Delhi. I am not sure why I don’t find addresses mentioning Central Delhi, New Delhi is used instead…
Y saw a bengal fox when we drove from the airport to Paharganj.
Paharganj
We decided to stay in Paharganj for its central location and reputation as a good place for backpackers. This place is essentially a big bazaar (market). Our hotel was surprisingly good: nice and helpful staff who speaks good English, very clean for Paharganj/India’s standards. However, the room was very small, and to access the main street, we had to pass in front of urinals directly on the street without current water. It’s not very different from peeing on the street corner with a roof above your head.
If I come back to Delhi, I think I would rather stay in New Delhi or South Delhi.
Connaught Place
The first place we decided to visit was Connaught Place, also known as Rajiv Chowk, which is the name of the metro station in the middle of the place. We walked there in order to buy a travel guide about India or North India. When we left Paharganj, a guy complimented my hair and it was pretty well received as we were just out of Uzbekistan where people found my hairstyle peculiar. He then told us also to keep the backpack in front of us for security reasons. Said “I know my country well as you know your country well”. We walked and talked with him until we reached Connaught Place. He asked us if we needed a map or any tourist information he can drop us in front of an “official governmental tourist information center”. Inside, Y herself received a compliment on her hair. We discussed our itinerary with a knowledgeable employee. The moment we entered, we suspected we were in a travel agency. We stayed to gather information until they tried to sell us some expensive train passes. Beware on compliments and advice on security from strangers.
There are many touts (pedestrians or tuk-tuks) around Connaught Place. Many of them try to bring you to official information centers in order to sell you railway passes. According to the lonely planet we bought: “touts are rampant in Connaught Place”.
We bougth the Lonely Planet India at Jain Book Agency in Connaught Place. An old fashioned library with very friendly staff. We shared snacks with them since it was Diwali time. We had a selection of nuts from Uzbekistan. Books are very affordable, even in Connaught Place, one of the most expensive shopping area. We paid 2099 rupees (25.16 USD) for the Lonely Planet with a suggested retail price of 34.99 dollars. We also bought a collection of short stories, Malgudi Days written by R.K. Narayan, covering some aspect of life in India. This book was 275 rupees (3.06 euros). No wonder some people bring back suitcases of books from India.
I bought some sun glasses (Maui Jim) in CP after I lost my glasses during the tuk-tuk tour. The optician realized the price was not correct when we showed him the price in France because he new prices were lower in India. A mistake of 10,000 rupees (111.5 euros). After the mistake was corrected, we negociated the glasses for approximately 120 euros.
Backpacker mindset
If I reflect on the backpacker mindset a few things come to mind:
- Spending money wisely to travel longer.
- Ready to sacrifice some comfort to save money.
- Usually choose one of the cheapest options.
- Try to live like the locals to experience the culture, and to save money. For instance, taking public transportation, avoiding restaurants for tourists.
- Value experiences the most.
Even though Pahraganj is supposed to be a backpackers spot, we had most of our meals in Connaught Place and did not really took advantage of staying in Paharganj. Do I have the backpacker mindset in India? Probably not. We do not need to try to save money aggressively to meet our spending target. The low quality of the infrastructures, the wide inequalities, the heat, the air pollution mean choosing the cheapest accomodations and transportation is not for us on the long run. As for the food, eating in cheap places is not necessarily harmful, but by spending more, chances are, the food is tastier and healthier.
Old Delhi
We were about to enter our first restaurant in India (food was great at Dasaprakash the best Indian food we ever had until then), when a short Sikh guy talked to us about his tuk-tuk guided tour. He presented himself as a tour guide with 15 years of experience and a tuk-tuk driver. Since he seemed nice, had a good selling pitch, showed some recommendation on WhatsApp, and had a clear English accent, we decided to book his tuk-tuk tour on freetour.com for the next day. Except for the first stop, a Sikh temple (Gurudwara Sri Bangla Sahib), he always stayed in his vehicle, so it was as if we simply booked a tuk-tuk driver for the day. Worse, he tried on multiple occasions to sell us the railway passes (probably a scam where he gets a commission). For lunch, he encouraged us to order more, and he ate our food without asking if we could share. And of course, we paid the full bill (I think I lost my sun glasses in this restaurant). Although we did not want to go to Old Delhi because we were planning to go there the next day, he convinced us to go. It was Diwali day, the traffic was the worst I’ve seen to date. Y got a headache from it. In retrospect, I think we went there because he just wanted to buy some crackers or some gifts for the celebrations. Even if he had no reviews on freetour.com and was not recommended by anybody (like a hotel), we wanted to give it a try. I clearly regret it.
The tuk-tuk also brought us to the Gate of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan (home of the president), the parliament, Ugrasen Ki Baoli (a step well), Raj Ghat memorial (literally Royal Steps, it is Mahatma Gandhi memorial and place of cremation), etc.
Walking Tour
We booked a walking tour on freetour.com again, but this time with a lot of good reviews. It was almost 4 hours long. Since I had food poisoning from a non-veg Mc Donalds burger, it was painful to walk for that long in packed and hot Old Delhi. Ironically, we ate at Mc Donalds to be safe, and I had the most debilitating food there…
The tour started at a Jain temple (Shri Digambar Jain Atishay Kshetra Lal Mandir) in front of the Red Fort. A couple, who arrived before the tour, went inside the temple a and saw a naked monk. He was the highest ranked monk, and as such do not wear clothes. His face was on a large billboard in front of the temple. We were told that when top Jain monks walk from a temple to another, they walk naked with a kind of broom to remove insects from their paths. We visited the bird hospital inside the Jain temple. It was touching to see these numerous wounded birds taken care of. You would think that animals have a good life in India because half of the population is vegetarian. But many of them are wounded and live off trash.
We walked in Chandni Chowk the market area in Old Delhi. While in Delhi, I watched Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (La famille Indienne). In this classic Bollywood movie, the family of the leading female character Anjali and her sister Pooja come from Chandni Chowk.
When the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (the guy who built the Taj Mahal in Agra) moved his capital from Agra to Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk and the Red Fort were built.
Red Fort
The Red Fort served as a residence for the Mughal emperors. As many Mughal buildings, it is mostly built with red sandstone and white marble. The protecting walls are impressive and well-preserved. There are a few nice buildings inside. However, buildings are sparse, empty and damage . What is inside the walls does not represents well the power and glory the Mughal empire once had. The Red Fort has been plundered and damaged by Iranian ruler Nader Shah in 1739, and then by the British following the Indian rebellion in 1857.
Getting inside the Red Fort was actually challenging. The traffic is crazy in front of it. We took the South entry and had to walk quite a lot. There were so many people that day possibly because some Indians have days off for Diwali.
Akshardham
Tuk-Tuk trick: they pretend not to have the change. If there are not shops around you better have close to the exact amount. They keep a few small bills in a separated pocket and pretend to have only those.
Akshardham is Hindu temple and religious complex. It belongs to the Swaminarayan movement. Dropping our belongings in the cloakroom and passing the body security checks took from 30 to 40 minutes. You need to drop almost everything in the cloakroom. All electronics except watches need to be placed there. You can bring your precious belongings: money, credit cards, passeport. They refused my ear plugs at the security check. I was not prepared to queue for another 30 minutes, so I insisted. They told me I could skip the lines, which I did. I was back at the security checks a few minutes later.
The complex is very beautiful. The main attraction is Akshardham Mandir (the temple). Although the building materials do not seem to be as high-quality as those used in Mughal monuments, the stone-carving work is a marvel. Every part of the temple is finely sculpted. It is by far the most beautiful Indian temple I’ve seen. Unfortunately, I could not take any picture inside since my phone was in the cloakroom.
Diwali
We planned our trip to India to arrive for Diwali, officially on the 12 of November 2023.
Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, one of the two most important celebrations with Holi. On the day of Diwali, we had dinner at a restaurant with a rooftop in Paharganj. We could see the first fireworks. Then, we bought half a kilo of sweets we shared with the hotel staff and some guests. We met Ivan, a Russian lawyer who have been living in India for a year. We had a drink with two Korean travelers. And we watched the illegal fireworks for hours. At some point the manager of the hotel came back with some fireworks. He offered some sweets. Given the restrictions on fireworks, the amount of fireworks fired that night is unbelievable. Apparently, it is a fraction of what it was the year before. Fireworks were fired the residential areas. I was surprised to see so many big fireworks; it must be very dangerous to fire them from a rooftop, especially in these dense urban areas.
Between 9 and 10, I went out to buy some drinks. It was a strange experience. The streets were even louder than usual with fire crackers everywhere, some very powerful. The smoke formed a thick veil. A few stores were still open but the metallic curtains were half closed, for protection I assume. The hotel staff scared me by telling me sometimes they through firecrackers at you.
Lodhi Garden
The Lodhi Garden is a beautiful city park and an oasis of calm in Delhi. There are many tombs of rulers of the Lodhi dynastie, the last dynastie of the Sultanate of Delhi before the Mughal Empire took over. We met two groups of students who tried to sell us chocolate as part of a school project. We took the bus from Paharganj, it was perfectly on time, free for women, and the staff and passengers were incredibly nice. For instance , squeezing themselves to create a extra seat for us.
- OpenStreetMap contributors, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons ↩︎
- Daniel Echeverri from Medellin, Colombia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons ↩︎
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