Delhi

What can I say about Delhi? I spent just two days wondering a little around the city, but I feel like I couldn't relax enough to truly get to know it. So, what can I say? Basically, that every photo you've seen of it and every word you have heard about it; the beauty, the chaos, the poverty, the pollution and trash etc etc. is true. Words can not describe it, so I will try with just a few photos.

A welcome into India from Delhi's international Airport

New Delhi Train Station

A tapestry made from remnant fabric for my house: 700 rupees ($11 USD).  

Size is approx. the dimensions of a twin bed.

My clothing purchases: two shirts and pair of pants (total $600 rupees/ $10 USD) 

and thick wool scarf ($310 rupees/ $5 USD)

The Red Fort (closed on Monday)

A view of Jama Masjid (India's largest Mosque) from the bazaar

View of a busy bazaar from the steps of Jama Masjid

Typical street in Old Delhi

Around Chawri Bazaar

Hindu temple, not sure, but they may have been doing funeral pyres here... many people were standing around and someone was building a fire, outside there was a sign for 'mortuary'... 

Door to another Hindu temple

Same temple from above

 Typical road near Nehru Place

 Indian fast food take away

 Simple but nice palak paneer

In the metro

Young trees

 신라면  in an upscale local food mart

 In a local Hindu temple in Greater Kailash

 Monkey god

Playful kitten outside the Hindu temple

Everyone kept asking me how I was handling Delhi, and I kept telling people that it was "fine, no problem". I think it hit me much later that it was not "fine, no problem". Generally, when traveling, I have no problem walking around cities for hours on end, but here in Delhi, after just one or two hours I found myself longing to be back in my hostel. I realized later that the reason for that is that if you choose to walk around Delhi, especially downtown, but really anywhere, you are constantly on guard. Pickpockets, tourist touts, scam artists, beggars, insane traffic, and the necessity to bargain hard for nearly any service you need creates a certain amount of stress that builds and builds. 

Once on the train to my next destination I got quite sick and wound up vomiting in the train. Some may blame the food, and no doubt, it is quite possible, however, I tend to think it may have been my body's way of dealing with the intense amount of stress and lack of sleep it had been experiencing the previous few days. More than likley it was some combination of the two. 

After a long journey that took an extra day longer than expected I am finally in my home for the next five weeks, a Tibetan monastery in Himachal Pradesh, India. More on that in the coming days.