Patrick and I have traveled from Mumbai to Delhi yesterday and got a few hours in Delhi to get driven to India Gate, the Presidential house, Parliament house and past some embassies. Also, we stopped by the travel agent who helped us book everything here in the Delhi, Jaipur, Agra area and she took me to her henna guy down the street:
We’re supposed to start getting ready soon for today’s leg from Delhi to Jaipur, so I don’t have a lot of time to think about what I want to say. I’m actually awake at 5 am just thought I’d get some time in to jot some stuff dwn before I have too much to write! Here are some observations I have made in the past few days in short Tweet-like thoughts:
In Mumbai we did some shopping at a mall, not to different from one back home. They even had a McDonalds with a Filet-O-Fish, and some McChicken burgers (instead of beef, obviously)
However, we did find some other places that seemed to sell beef burgers (we didn’t eat them)
Despite staying at hotels that are all LEED certified and seeing a lot of public service posters about reducing pollution and “going green” it seems that there are a lot of people here who teach their young to litter at an early age. It was quite irksome.
The air quality in Mumbai leaves something to be desired.
However, the air quality when we arrived in Delhi was much worse. It smelled like the city had been burning and it looked like it too. The afternoon sky was red through the dust and smoke.
Cows here are sacred, of course, so they get to do whatever they want, but I’ve also noticed some cows tied to things, I wonder what that is about. Are people keeping them as pets?
Speaking of pets, there are a lot of feral dogs and cats. They are all skinny. The dogs are usually a mid-sized to large breed, something like a lab or retriever, mostly short-haired. I did see one that was much fluffier the other day but that seems rare.
The birds seem to be the healthiest wild animals in the city. There are more crows or ravens than pigeons. The pigeons here have much shinier, iridescent neck feathers, not sure if that’s due to the humidity, their diet or the general health of the birds.
This is probably true in other countries as well but, as a tourist, you’re going to have to hone your haggling skills and be constantly ready to decline the offers for unrequested goods and services, as well as general begging.
If you’re in Delhi, stop by Kahn’s Market. In the alleyway there is a restaurant called The Kitchen. Get the Khao Suey or Hawker Noodles.
Also, caught this tear-jerking story on BBC world news this AM http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20202406