It was 10th of November, 4
am local time when my plain from Istanbul hit the ground of Indira
Gandhi airport in New Delhi, India. Before that, I took a plane from
Rovaniemi to Helsinki, spent one night in our capital and the following
day: Helsinki-Istanbul-Delhi. I flied with Turkish Airlines like I did
last year and it didn't let me down this time either, except that the
flight from Helsinki arrived late to Istanbul and I had to run really
really fast to departure gate-it was last call already but I
made it in time. In plane I sat next to one very nice finnish lady,
she was heading to Nepal straight from Delhi to work as a trekking
guide. I didnt even catch her name but I wish her safe and happy
travels :)
On the airport it got me, the
overwhelming joy: I came back to mama India. Finally.
I got into my hostel early in the
morning and went straight to bed, I did not get hardly any sleep in
crowded plains. Room was good, big bed, free wifi and just a few
steps from restaurants and shops of Main Bazar. When I finally woke
up, it was almost +30 degrees and the heat hit me on the face hard but
damn did I liked it!
I stayed in Paharganj which is in north
Delhi and seemed to be quite popular among the packpackers. In this
area the traffic wasnt so crazy that I expected, actually quite easy
to copy after my Mumbai experience last year, but of course in these
huge Indian citys traffic can be a real killer and you have to pay
attention all the time. After all, I found it quite nice to walk
around Main Bazaar and smaller streets of Paharganj.
And I DID walk, mostly looking for next
place to eat :D I found plenty of them, area is full of restaurants,
cafes and street kitchens and everything so so cheap!! I ate mainly
veggie food-I'm not an vegetarian but this country really knows how
to make dishes so delicious out of vegetables that you wont even miss
meat or fish.
During my three days in Delhi I ate
thalis (traditional indian meal, selection of several dishes in one
plate) dosas (crepe with rice and lentils and vegs but you can get
them with chocolate too...) steamed nepalese momos (pastry with
fillings and delicious sauce) breathtaking good strawberry and mango
lassis (sweet yoghurt drinks) omelets with indian spices, some aloo
paratha for breakfast (thin whole wheat bread stuffed with potatoes
and spices) and loads of non-indian treats too; noodles, avokado
salad, soups, ratatouille, moussaka, fruit salad...and cinnamon
rolls, croissants and cheese cakes size of my head. From market I
bought some bananas and apples and cashew nuts... and little hot
stuffed pastries and yummy peanut cake from street kitchen-and yes,
you can eat from indian street kitchen without getting sick if you
choose wisely, avoid meat and make sure that your food really is
fully cooked. At least I can :)
During the day I drank many cups of
masala chai (spiced indian milk tea) and my favorite,
ginger-lemon-honey tea where the taste doesnt come from a tea bag but
from bites of fresh ginger and lemon in hot water. Mmmmmmm.
I did some calculating and I managed to
spent around 800 rupees to food during three days-and that's about 13
euros :D So, this country is not gonna bankrupt me but if I continue
like this, it's gonna make me fat...well, like I mentioned before, I
walked a lot and did some pushups and sit ups back in my hostel so
maybe I still have hope :DD
Of course I did more than just ate in
Delhi. I visited beautiful Bahai House of Worship, also known as
Lotus Temple beacause it's shape and Tibet House and it's museum (in
both places photography prohibited so I can't share them with
you). I made a lovely sightseeing with riksha (after bargaining about
price for quite some time) and I met lots of nice people, locals and
travelers and had some good tips for my future travels.
I'm not one of those travelers who
wants to visit all possible popular sights and make sure that they
have picture of each and every one of them.I enjoy more just hanging and walking
around, seeing everyday life with it's little details.
All and all, I liked Delhi and
Paharganj area. I could spend hours in one of the rooftop restaurants
just looking at the streetlife; riksha drivers, indian women wearing
their colourfull saris, busy business men talking in mobiles,
tourists carrying their Lonely Planet India guides and market sellers
constantly bothering them, dirty street kids, dogs, cows, beggers,
hippies with beautiful long rastas, holy men in their orange color
robes...bit chaotic but still somehow laid back atmosphere, sounds of
traffic and funny hindi pop and scent of incense sticks that to me
is, and always will be, The Scent of India.
I bought bus ticket to Dharamsala, up
to mountains, and I'm leaving there tomorrow afternoon. The ride
takes all evening and night in bumpy mountain roads but I'm sure it's
gonna be worth of all the trouble. Many thanks to Rohan from Pushkar
who helped me to get a bus ticket!!!
The finnish woman that I met in plane
on my way to Delhi said to me ”Think about it, how lucky we are. We
can just pack our things, get in the plane and see the world.”
Sitting in a roof top balcony, drinking my second cup of chai and
watching how sun slowly sets over Delhi I couldn´ t agree more.
