Have been here almost a week, so perhaps enough time to draw some initial conclusions and gain some opinion on this Country. I won't pull any punches, but will try to be as objective as I can.
India is without doubt the dirtiest filthiest Country I have ever visited. Rubbish piles pervade on just about every street, though obviously not the leafy areas of the Embassies. Pretty much everywhere in towns and villages, it is a common site to see cows, pigs and dogs scavenging for something to eat on these rubbish piles; yes even the cows have taken to chewing cardboard boxes. The place smells like a urinal, hardly surprising when walking along Chelmsford Road, which links New Delhi Station with Connaught Place, it is a common site to see the local fellers splashing their boots and other business along the wall and pavement even though a free convenience is located within a few yards. Connaught Place (Delhi) is a circular central feature with colonnades; in its day very imposing, and while there are many international brands are located within these walls, they are intersperced with local shops which are invariably run down and unattractive. In fairness, it doesn't help that many of the streets are in various states of repair largely due to work on the metro. In the station and along many streets it is commonplace to see men and women crashed out on the pavement or set back on a softer dust pile. This unfortunately reflects the real India. India is considered as an emerging economy which I am sure is the case, but it concerns me that with a population of 1.2 billion and growing that the relatively small percentage of 'earners' can continue to earn at a pace where the fortunes of the burgeoning poor can be improved. This to my mind is the huge challenge India faces at the outset. Where I am staying and the way I am travelling means that I think I get to see the real India, not the Bollywood that is sometimes portrayed. India remains a poor country with a huge gulf between the few rich and the many poor.
Wandering around Delhi, you are immediately targetted as a tourist and therefore every tout makes a B line for you. I have no problem with the cycle rickshaw drivers or the tuk tuk drivers, who pull up and invite you on board. Most are fine with a polite no and a smile; those that become more persistant, just firmer in response, but thats ok. No the worst as I say are the touts who sidle up alongside and start what they think is a polite conversation but you know its the onset of a grilling:
Where are you from?
Where are you going?
What do you want to buy?
Invariably working in pairs or as a team, they will pull every stunt to persuade you to follow them to a shop or tourist office where of course they get a commission. With these guys I give them very short change, very direct in my response once they wont accept my privacy or desire not to follow them. For those who plan on visiting dont go to any other tourist bureau other than 88 Jaynath (off Connaught Place) once there ask for a reputable place to book a tour. I booked the Agra tour through a Govt agency in Coffee Home two streets to the left of Jaynath on their recommendation. For fun, I also tried one of the touts recommendations, and for comparison purposes, they wanted to charge me 8500 rupees whereas the official operator charged 1134 rupees including guide, although entrance fees were on top, but then so would the other have been. The problem is that you become wary that everyone is a tout, and the genuine people of which there are many become tarred with the same brush. There are signs everywhere, not to deal with touts, and it doesnt exactly endear one to remain long in the place.
I have taken two tours, one to Jaipur and the other to Agra. I visited Jaipur by train, takes about 4 hours and is cheap. The railway is the preferred local carrier, they reckon that some 500,000 people a day pass through Delhi station. The place is heaving, and the 17 or so platforms all have trains with about the same number of carriages. It is necessary to book days in advance as every train is always full. A pub question could be, who is the worlds largest employer? The answer is Indian Railways with 1.4million employees!!!! Jaipur itself is located some 250kms to the west of Delhi in Rajastan. Having grabbed a taxi I did the sights including the Pink City so called because of the paintwork, the Amber Fort and the Floating Palace, the latter two being some 16 kms from the city. Very impressive although I think you have to go a long way to beat the coastal castles in Northumberland. I caught the sleeper train back to Delhi arriving at 5am. This was an experience, clearly well overbooked, my bunk was taken. This caused a point of discussion with other passengers, one of whom proceeded to unceremoniously poke the bag of rags on my bunk, and drag it off. This bag of rags turned out to be an old Indian lady, and I immediately told this bloke to stop, and that she was welcome to have the bunk. 'No, she sleep on floor' he replied to general consensus. 'No, end of' I replied and that was that. I got chatting to two more Indian ladies and shared their bunk until the conductor came along and asked me to regain my bunk or sit in its proximity. He then announced that the bunk was his, and proceeded to invite the ladies to sleep on the carriage floor which they did. And who said the age of chivalry was dead!!!!! One feller I subsequently met on the Agra tour mentioned that woman bashing was quite the thing in many households. This is perhaps another facet of Indian life that needs attention. The train stank of urine, essentially, the outside doors were open and you just peed into the wind, or spat which is also a firm local favourite activity.
Agra was an excellent trip, 10 of us in two microbuses; the journey there took about 3 hours with a breakfast stop and a chance to stroke an Indian Cobra! We first touched onto the temple and Sandikara, before hitting the main event at the Taj Mahal. Agra itself is a very unattractive place, as everywhere the cacophany of noise from vehicle traffic and the traffic congestion itself was immense. The Taj seemed almost incongruous in its setting, although from the other side by the river its is superb. Millions of visitors of course, but it is spectacular and a definate must see. I love the Arabic/muslim architecture and the way they manage to use light. Its quite breathtaking and with the Taj well, spectacular. We were able to wander around and inside, worth the trip alone. The Red Fort was the final stop, well apart from the obligatory hustle into a marble shop. I met up with a young Chinese guy called Long Dong (would be a hard name to call in the UK dont you agree, imagine the stick he would get, but he was great company). He was doing well as he comes over to purchase silver and other products to ship back to Shanghai. He kindly gave me his card with an invitation to call when I pass through. The Red Fort is also very impressive. The journey back had its high spot to, since our vehicle was emitting blue smoke to the point where you couldn't see out the window, and by half time it was making inroads into the vehicle itself. So windows down so we didn't get CO poisoning, although the driver didn't seem to worry. WE also had a shunt, the driver got out, chatted to the bloke who ran into us and decided the dents hadn't got any bigger so they left it at that and drove off. Well this is India!
So what now, well for the moment the Inca Quickstep prevails so I'm not going anywhere for a day or so. But having sen what I have seen and the way I feel about things I have been playing for time. It had been my intention to set off yesterday, but I have dragged my heels. In short I am bottling out of India, I dont like it one bit, it does absolutely nothing for me,and I really don't fancy cycling across it. So I have booked a flight to Thailand for Wednesday and will head on from there. Yes, I do feel I am cheating, but I have had enough of this country and I see no incentive to stay. They say India is mystic and has an abundance of quality, well sorry I don't see it. Its just a dirty place that does nothing at all for me.
India is without doubt the dirtiest filthiest Country I have ever visited. Rubbish piles pervade on just about every street, though obviously not the leafy areas of the Embassies. Pretty much everywhere in towns and villages, it is a common site to see cows, pigs and dogs scavenging for something to eat on these rubbish piles; yes even the cows have taken to chewing cardboard boxes. The place smells like a urinal, hardly surprising when walking along Chelmsford Road, which links New Delhi Station with Connaught Place, it is a common site to see the local fellers splashing their boots and other business along the wall and pavement even though a free convenience is located within a few yards. Connaught Place (Delhi) is a circular central feature with colonnades; in its day very imposing, and while there are many international brands are located within these walls, they are intersperced with local shops which are invariably run down and unattractive. In fairness, it doesn't help that many of the streets are in various states of repair largely due to work on the metro. In the station and along many streets it is commonplace to see men and women crashed out on the pavement or set back on a softer dust pile. This unfortunately reflects the real India. India is considered as an emerging economy which I am sure is the case, but it concerns me that with a population of 1.2 billion and growing that the relatively small percentage of 'earners' can continue to earn at a pace where the fortunes of the burgeoning poor can be improved. This to my mind is the huge challenge India faces at the outset. Where I am staying and the way I am travelling means that I think I get to see the real India, not the Bollywood that is sometimes portrayed. India remains a poor country with a huge gulf between the few rich and the many poor.
Wandering around Delhi, you are immediately targetted as a tourist and therefore every tout makes a B line for you. I have no problem with the cycle rickshaw drivers or the tuk tuk drivers, who pull up and invite you on board. Most are fine with a polite no and a smile; those that become more persistant, just firmer in response, but thats ok. No the worst as I say are the touts who sidle up alongside and start what they think is a polite conversation but you know its the onset of a grilling:
Where are you from?
Where are you going?
What do you want to buy?
Invariably working in pairs or as a team, they will pull every stunt to persuade you to follow them to a shop or tourist office where of course they get a commission. With these guys I give them very short change, very direct in my response once they wont accept my privacy or desire not to follow them. For those who plan on visiting dont go to any other tourist bureau other than 88 Jaynath (off Connaught Place) once there ask for a reputable place to book a tour. I booked the Agra tour through a Govt agency in Coffee Home two streets to the left of Jaynath on their recommendation. For fun, I also tried one of the touts recommendations, and for comparison purposes, they wanted to charge me 8500 rupees whereas the official operator charged 1134 rupees including guide, although entrance fees were on top, but then so would the other have been. The problem is that you become wary that everyone is a tout, and the genuine people of which there are many become tarred with the same brush. There are signs everywhere, not to deal with touts, and it doesnt exactly endear one to remain long in the place.
I have taken two tours, one to Jaipur and the other to Agra. I visited Jaipur by train, takes about 4 hours and is cheap. The railway is the preferred local carrier, they reckon that some 500,000 people a day pass through Delhi station. The place is heaving, and the 17 or so platforms all have trains with about the same number of carriages. It is necessary to book days in advance as every train is always full. A pub question could be, who is the worlds largest employer? The answer is Indian Railways with 1.4million employees!!!! Jaipur itself is located some 250kms to the west of Delhi in Rajastan. Having grabbed a taxi I did the sights including the Pink City so called because of the paintwork, the Amber Fort and the Floating Palace, the latter two being some 16 kms from the city. Very impressive although I think you have to go a long way to beat the coastal castles in Northumberland. I caught the sleeper train back to Delhi arriving at 5am. This was an experience, clearly well overbooked, my bunk was taken. This caused a point of discussion with other passengers, one of whom proceeded to unceremoniously poke the bag of rags on my bunk, and drag it off. This bag of rags turned out to be an old Indian lady, and I immediately told this bloke to stop, and that she was welcome to have the bunk. 'No, she sleep on floor' he replied to general consensus. 'No, end of' I replied and that was that. I got chatting to two more Indian ladies and shared their bunk until the conductor came along and asked me to regain my bunk or sit in its proximity. He then announced that the bunk was his, and proceeded to invite the ladies to sleep on the carriage floor which they did. And who said the age of chivalry was dead!!!!! One feller I subsequently met on the Agra tour mentioned that woman bashing was quite the thing in many households. This is perhaps another facet of Indian life that needs attention. The train stank of urine, essentially, the outside doors were open and you just peed into the wind, or spat which is also a firm local favourite activity.
Agra was an excellent trip, 10 of us in two microbuses; the journey there took about 3 hours with a breakfast stop and a chance to stroke an Indian Cobra! We first touched onto the temple and Sandikara, before hitting the main event at the Taj Mahal. Agra itself is a very unattractive place, as everywhere the cacophany of noise from vehicle traffic and the traffic congestion itself was immense. The Taj seemed almost incongruous in its setting, although from the other side by the river its is superb. Millions of visitors of course, but it is spectacular and a definate must see. I love the Arabic/muslim architecture and the way they manage to use light. Its quite breathtaking and with the Taj well, spectacular. We were able to wander around and inside, worth the trip alone. The Red Fort was the final stop, well apart from the obligatory hustle into a marble shop. I met up with a young Chinese guy called Long Dong (would be a hard name to call in the UK dont you agree, imagine the stick he would get, but he was great company). He was doing well as he comes over to purchase silver and other products to ship back to Shanghai. He kindly gave me his card with an invitation to call when I pass through. The Red Fort is also very impressive. The journey back had its high spot to, since our vehicle was emitting blue smoke to the point where you couldn't see out the window, and by half time it was making inroads into the vehicle itself. So windows down so we didn't get CO poisoning, although the driver didn't seem to worry. WE also had a shunt, the driver got out, chatted to the bloke who ran into us and decided the dents hadn't got any bigger so they left it at that and drove off. Well this is India!
So what now, well for the moment the Inca Quickstep prevails so I'm not going anywhere for a day or so. But having sen what I have seen and the way I feel about things I have been playing for time. It had been my intention to set off yesterday, but I have dragged my heels. In short I am bottling out of India, I dont like it one bit, it does absolutely nothing for me,and I really don't fancy cycling across it. So I have booked a flight to Thailand for Wednesday and will head on from there. Yes, I do feel I am cheating, but I have had enough of this country and I see no incentive to stay. They say India is mystic and has an abundance of quality, well sorry I don't see it. Its just a dirty place that does nothing at all for me.
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