Are You Bored Yet?

I know I'm blogging a lot these days - I'm sure it makes for less than exciting reading. The truth is that I don't get hassled in the internet cafes and I also really need the connection to home. So here we go with more Delhi stories....

Yesterday afternoon I went to visit the red fort, which is the number one tourist attraction in Delhi. It was really quite underwhelming after the size and beauty of the Agra fort and I didn't stay there for long. Afterwards I wandered along the main street near the fort which is called Chandni Chowk. This is home to Delhi's main shopping area for the locals. There are all these little mazes of alleyways with market stalls in behind this street which itself is packed with shops and stalls. Each section is dedicated to a different type of product: electronics, household items, textiles, silver, stationary etc. It is a real hotbed of activity and after a while I was worn out from being on my feet and battling the hordes in the heat for so long. I hopped in a rickshaw after the usual haggling over the price to get me back to the neighbourhood where I'm staying. It was a long journey down all kinds of tiny alleys and streets, all of which were lined with stalls selling everything you could imagine. It was an interesting journey that provided extensive stimulation to all my senses. I was quite concerned that I had really bartered too hard, given the length of the journey and the difficult maneuvering required by the driver, and resolved to give him some additional rupees for all his efforts. After more than half an hour we arrived at his chosen destination - about 50 feet down Chandni Chowk from where he picked me up! He had essentially just driven me in a big circle through the market and brought me back to where we started. Needless to say, he didn't get a tip or in fact any payment at all. He was surprisingly compliant with that. I immediately got into another rickshaw who took me directly home.

I met up with Shabby (the travel agent from Agra) for dinner and drinks last evening. We met in the hotel lobby and he was all dressed up for the evening. In India it appears that style and fashion are synonymous with glitter and sparkle. This is especially true for the women who adorn their saris with sequins and beads in every colour of the rainbow. The western clothes for sale here are similarly decorated and there's no such thing as a plain t-shirt around here. Everything has writing or designs on it, usually in metallic ink. In short, the tackier it is by our standards, the more beautiful it is by theirs. Shabby was dressed in a nice red button-down shirt with grey pinstripes, a pair of brand-new jeans that were so tight I'm not sure how he was able to sit down, and black dress shoes with narrow square toes that ended a good 4 inches past the end of his feet.

We got into the car (he had a car and driver with him for his business trip) and he presented me with a cheap bottle of perfume, a fake silver anklet, a fake silver necklace, a lovely pink pillar candle and a bright orange wallet to replace the one he assumed I had stolen when I was robbed. Clearly he had a different agenda for the evening than I did. Incidentally, the anklet didn't fit (I think it was probably a bracelet) but he insisted on forcing it onto my ankle so I was walking around with the blood flow to my left foot cut off. Most of these things will make nice gifts for the maids at my hotel in Kathmandu.

There's not really much to report from the rest of the evening. We went out for dinner at a place which I'm sure is considered very cool, but the food was mediocre and they didn't have my first three choices. We then went out for a couple of drinks and didn't get back until quite late. I think he was quite disappointed when the evening ended on a chaste note.

I felt somewhat unwell this morning and stayed in bed for most of the morning. I was wakened up by street noise at about 6:10 and couldn't get back to sleep. Just as I was drifting off at about 8:00, my doorbell rang and woke me up. It was a rickshaw driver from the street who was presumably walking through the hotel ringing every room looking for business. I almost clocked him. I can't believe that the hotel lets guys like this in...he must have slipped past reception or else they're getting baksheesh from him. Anyway, I was unable to get back to sleep so I just watched some TV.

I did some sight-seeing this afternoon but nothing was all that special. I walked through the "Rockliffe" of Delhi, which was nice. It's very pretty, there's lots of shade from the trees and nobody bugs you there.

That brings me up to date. Only one full day of this place left. 43 hours and counting.....