Indescribable

Today was an adventure!

We started off after breakfast to walk, using Google maps, to a hypermarket some 2kms away, to get some decaf coffee and long life milk.

While the store had everything, it had everything other than what we wanted so it was a walk back to our accommodation with an empty bag however on the way there were two interesting (or is that unusual) sights - the first being a barber who had set up his chair on the sidewalk. He hung his mirror from a fence and had placed his cutting implements on the concrete wall holding the fence. There was no signs of linking to power so one assumes he used old fashion clippers.

The second, though sadder sight, was a young boy approximately 10 yrs old who was squatted naked on the pavement washing himself using a bucket of water - he looked a wretched soul.

After lunch we were picked up by Ashok and we went to the India Gate, a memorial to the 74,187 soldiers from the Indian Army who died during WW1.

In the distance, along a wide avenue, but intersected by at least 3 roads sits the Presidential Palace so on this beautiful sunny day we set off to go see the Palace but unfortunately around 2/3rds of the way along the avenue had been closed, we assume because of the Delhi election results announced yesterday and which had bought some areas of the city to a standstill as the supporters of the winning party (BGP) euphorically celebrated the return to power of a party who had been in opposition for 27 years.

We returned to our starting point and contacted our driver Ashok who duly came and picked us up and took us to Connaught Place where this evening we were booked for a Street Food Tour of Old Delhi.

We met our guide (Mr T) and another young couple from America, she Indian, he Colombian, and set off.

We first took the metro from Rajiv Chowk to Chandni Chowk about 2 stops however on the Delhi Metro because of the crowding there is a carriage solely for ladies so the five of us got on that carriage and the 3 men then went into the adjacent carriage jam packed with men.

We arrived at Chandi Chowk and Mr T gave a warning - follow each other closely, you will be bumped, probably touched on the shoulder as someone tried to keep balance, if you drop a coin don’t stop to pick it up & and off we went to exit the station. It was literally like being in a washing machine as those exiting the station came in contact with those entering the station it seeming that everyone was trying to get through a gap no wider than a normal sized door - somehow we survived.

We were now in the famous Chandni Chowk, the original Old Delhi, narrow alleyways of merchants selling everything including it would seem your mother-in-law - a place where if the vendor said the item was 500 rupees you offered 100 rupees and walked away if an agreed price wasn’t something like 150 rupees.

On one corner were men sitting on the pavement each with a bag containing different tools e.g. a builder would have his bag of screwdrivers and hammers, a painter an array of paint brushes, the idea being that if you needed a home handyman with a specific skill you could come here and hire him.

The place was a heaving mass of humanity but according to brochures was the place to go to taste the street food of Delhi, so that was what we did. Mr T took us to 9 stalls where we tried all manner of Indian food - 6 vegetarian,  1 non-vegetarian & 2 desserts or sweets. In the main the food was very tasty but we can only hope that it was also uncontaminated by bacteria which given the surroundings would seem unlikely. The only positive is that other than 3 of the plates all dishes were cooked immediately prior to eating and presented hot & Mr T assured us that no one who had previously been on the tours had complained (perhaps because they were too sick to do so).

The environment was indescribable chaos! We even saw 2 cows waddling down the street - they were so far from anything green it made you wonder what they were doing there - and some monkeys on the roof.

We traversed the road from one end up to the Red Fort on a pedal rickshaw and at the end of the Tour got to the Metro by auto rickshaw both hair raising rides in the extreme

It is one of those places where you have to be there in person because someone else cannot describe it in sufficient detail to give the correct impression of it - it is indescribable!!!!

It is a place that if you asked me would I go there again I would give an emphatic NO but which in a weak moment would sneak off to experience it again!!

You can see a video here of the Chowk or here of the auto rickshaw ride https://youtu.be/-620OHzNaqg?si=bqG9eDm5VAcUQlIj