10 do's for Delhi
Blog: 99 + 1 countries - 11 September 2009
By: merja
1. Find out if the half naked man lying in a featal position on Chandni Chowk is really dead or does he need help. Do it the Indian way: stare! Then get embarrassed by realizing that the other onlookers aren't laughing at the man's bare ass but at you, seemingly interested in it.
2. Persist and witness the man move. Then wonder what could you possibly have done, had the man been dead?
3. Let a Pahar Ganj bus operator try to lure you into buying an all inclusive five day trip to Srinagar for 125 euros - accommodation included in his family's house boat. Then find this scam in the Lonely Planet, which states that people, who go on these pre-organised Srinagar trips have been taken hostage on these "my family house boats"! Decide that you absolutely want to go Srinagar, but not with this guy who simply lied to you about the road to Leh being already closed.
4. Spend a jolly morning with Guddu from Swing India Travels and teach him how he could get a blog. After wasting the man's time for two hours by not being able to decide finally book a ticket to Amritsar.
5. Escape the raging monsoon to the next dirtyish hole in the wall restaurant to feast on a huge, 25 rs masala dosa. Cheaper than buying an umbrella the price of which eventually went down from 150 rs to 100 rs.
6. Visiting the Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque in India, decide that it makes a nice stop mainly for the reason that it was built Shah Jahan and it's nice to compare it to Taj Mahal. Otherwise it's pretty bland - but it's free, so who's complaining. Beware of the con-artists who try to sell you 20 rs tickets.
7. Learn to use the Delhi metro. It's so clean and cool! And why on earth are all the people on the streets and not in this urban rail heaven? Do they like being pushed?
8. Get lost in the side streets of Chandni Chowk. Next time you are in Delhi you'll know where to buy stationaries and copper wire.
9. Let the Red Fort exceed your expectations. Not only is it not as boring as people say it is, it also makes a lovely getaway from the havoc on the streets.
10. Let a man in the ear cleaning business tell you, what an interesting job it is. You get to know, if people's ears are clean or really dirty.
Next stop: Amritsar! Then hopefully Srinagar, Leh and Manali.
Read where to eat in Delhi here.
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