Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Arrival in Delhi

Teri - On Friday, October 23, we took the overnight train from Bhopal to Delhi. We travelled in 3rd class AC with three rows of berths. We weren't sure about security on the train, so we slept with our backpacks and were a little squished, but the ride went smoothly and I slept almost the whole way.
In Delhi train station we were mobbed by taxi and auto-rickshaw 'touts' who wanted to take us to our hotel. They even lied to Chris, saying there was no pre-paid stand, etc. etc. We had been well-coached on how to handle them (ignore them) and eventually made our way to the pre-paid stand, got our ticket, and eventually to an auto-rickshaw that took us 13 km to our hotel. The ride was great! The nice old driver stopped at a chai vendor and gave us each a cup of tea. He stopped by a couple shops, too, where his friends tried to convince us to come inside, but we declined.
Our first impression of Delhi was the streets were wider than in Bhopal, and there were many historic sites, government buildings, and beautifully groomed lawns along the way to the hotel.
Our hotel however, seemed to be in a back alley. I have since learned that what I consider to be back alleys back home are regular streets in Delhi!

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