Phew! Where to start???

Well, we arrived in Delhi about 5.30am on Tuesday and got through immigration ok although the place smelled of burning tyres and looked as though it had been on fire at some point. The pollution is terrible and the air smells like that anyway but the heat was stifling, especially as we arrived dressed for late October in England.
After changing some money into Rupees with a rather surly looking character on the bank desk, we were relieved to see the driver from our hotel holding a card with my name on and he marched us through the taxi ranks where the touts were waiting to pounce and through an underpass full of beggars to the car park full of enthusiastic young men who grabbed our bags and then asked for payment. Not sure what the Indian for "no chance mate" is but they got my drift!

There was a rather worrying incident on exiting the car park when the traffic came to a stop and two drivers starting having a row with each other. Initially we weren't concerned as it looked like a minor road rage incident but suddenly one of them reappeared with a rock roughly the size of a football in his hand and tried to hit the other man over the head. Several people including our drivers managed to get him to drop it but then the man he was attacking hit him until he fell to the ground and then kicked him unconscious. After standing around and staring for a bit, everyone decided the show was over, got back into their cars and drove off.
As we passed the man on the ground, he was on my side of the car and I honestly couldn't say if he was unconscious or dead as he was lying with his eyes open and blood trickling from his mouth. I asked the driver if it was ok but he shrugged and didn't answer.

The drive through Delhi to the hotel was hair raising if you are of a nervous constitution but I worked on the assumption that as the driver had survived so far there was a good chance he knew how to cope with it so sat back and enjoyed the ride. The roads were lined with tin shacks, beggars, small children sleeping under blankets, the occasional decomposing dog carcass and cows, cows, cows. It is a huge culture shock and can only be properly described by being there but when I get home I will add some photos to give you an idea at least. India’s rubbish and especially waste plastic problem is no more apparent than when driving through Delhi and believe me it is huge, despite signs saying "Say no to plastic" and a recycling project.
 Out hotel was in a very "auspicious" area the spelling of which escapes me for the moment but is something like Pahra Gangh! It is a backpackers Mecca as it is cheap, reasonably clean but basic. Everyone says you have to lower your standards of cleanliness and they are right. You can't be a prude or too picky about like how well the basin is cleaned...or not. The hotel was at the end of a tiny narrow alley and there was what the French would call a pissoir at the bottom. The smell was rank and by the time I had been past it a few times I was able to hold my breath for a good 30 seconds each side of it which isn't' bad for me. The place is heaving with people and as it is the most cow friendly part of Delhi, there's cow muck all over the place which made me feel really at home!

 

Mary in Pahra Gangh

[IMG] http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f108/Pauhla/DSC00311.jpg [/IMG]

 

After a couple of hours kip, we ventured out and got lost looking for somewhere to eat. Delhi is vast and you take your life in your hands just crossing the road but true to expectation, as if from nowhere, up popped a nice young man who offered to show us around. When he left us, another one appeared (he owns a mobile phone repair shop an is studying for an arts degree) and this one took us to the Government run tourist office that recommended somewhere to eat. After we had eaten he appeared again and took us to a road junction, hailed us an auto rickshaw, (a sort of cross between a moped and a lawnmower with a covered wheelbarrow attached) and asked him to take us back to our hotel. The driver dropped us at the end of the road; we promptly got lost again and asked a very helpful policeman who was happy to direct us back to the hotel. After a quick email home, we crashed for the night ready for the 8-hour car drive to Pushkar in the morning.

 

The next morning we were sitting on the roof top cafe having toast, mango juice and bananas when   the driver arrived an hour early but it was actually good to be on the road earlier as it meant we didn't arrive so late. The drive was manic leaving Delhi. At one point, a 6-lane highway with no white lines between lanes merged into 2 lanes and then suddenly back to 6 again. Somehow, everyone sorts themselves out and manages not to crash and the only way it works is with liberal use of the horn. In England it would be rude or aggressive but in India you use your horn to say, I'm here, I’m coming through or just, get out of the way please. No one looks behind so if you don't beep they don't move. It's the expected thing to do and to be "terribly British" about it and not use your horn would be to court disaster and risk a spectacular crash and burn!

Our driver was totally silent for the first 4 hours, other than to talk to the toll booth operators who are at every state line, but after taking us for lunch he suddenly asked us where we came from, where we were going and how long we were staying and then never said a word for another 2 hours until we stopped for "tea". We stopped on the outskirts of Pushkar and phoned Deepak, one of the trustees of TOLFA for directions and by the time we had driven into Pushkar, paid the 15 Rupees toll (which is an interesting thing as there is a barrier across the road and about 6 young blokes who operate a sort of cartel that collects the road tax) Rachel had arrived at the hotel to welcome us and take us to diner at a wonderful Havelli, a high multi-floored building built round an open courtyard.

We are staying at the Raj Palace, run by an English woman called Nadia and her Indian partner Sam and it is a fantastic place with a rooftop terrace shaded by reams of bright Indian cloth and my room has an amazing view across to the old temple the other side of the road and the hill top temple beyond the town on top of a high mountain. It is a magical sight in the dark when the path to the top is lit by a stepping stone trail of light and I am hoping to climb up there early one morning in the cool and look back at the view of Pushkar.

More tomorrow.

 

The view from my room

[IMG] http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f108/Pauhla/DSC00332.jpg [/IMG]

 

OMG Pauhla....eventful beginnings....Keep safe, do the good work those animals will be grateful..... You do make a difference.... will keep checking your progress.

Love... T J and T

Good on ya! Pauhla. We're all rooting for you back here. Take care. The Claptons