Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire

Well, we've been able to leave Nepal and are now in India, New Delhi to be exact. We took a flight to Varanasi, the most holy Hindu city in India, and briefly saw the Ganges river (well beyond gross), then flew to Delhi. For the past couple days we've been bumming around Delhi, seeing the sites, avoiding the touts and figuring out ways to make our money last.

At first glance, from where we're staying up in the Karol Bagh district, Delhi looks like any other 3rd world city - trash in the streets, open air markets, tons of car horns, three wheeled auto rickshaws, and tons of people going about daily life. However, on our adventures today, we found another side to Delhi, a much prettier side.

For starters, Delhi has just installed a mass transit system. This half above ground, half subway system is fast, efficient, affordable, and CLEAN. There are tons of people riding it at all hours of the day and night and it's not even completed yet. There's 4 more stages of installation to go before it's scheduled to be completed.

There's a road that goes between the Parliament House and the India Gate (see photo album for exact pictures) that's got grassy areas on each side of it. This makes for great picnicking areas for locals and also a great place to play a pick up game of Cricket.

They've really done a nice job of preserving the forests and gardens of Delhi. You'll be walking around and come upon a very green piece of land, right in the middle of the city.

There's a ton of old building and monuments scattered around. One of the coolest ones, we can't figure out what it was. Walking around it, there were no signs, it was fenced off and looked like the crumbling remains of a old British Fort. It's not labeled on our map either. Anyone know what the ruins are right next to the Delhi High Court?

This city really comes alive when the sun goes down. There's lights and music playing in the streets, people are out eating, shopping or socializing. I felt completely safe walking around at night.

There's such diversity in Delhi, 5 Star hotels right next to the poorest slums. I guess when you cram 13 million of all different income levels into one geographical areas, it's bound to happen. It's got kind of a neat vibe to it.

~S