The flight from Bangkok to Delhi
went very smoothly but our arrival at the Delhi Airport wasn’t what I expected. I found myself mildly disappointed.
In my head there were masses of people milling around haphazardly, cows
wandering outside, and elements of danger lurking everywhere to take advantage
of the naïve traveler. Instead the
Delhi Airport is very modern, attractive, spacious, and efficient. Although it neared midday, it was relatively empty, with no
long lines, and no scammers present.
We cleared immigration in record time and were greeted warmly by
everyone we met. Our prearranged driver
was there patiently waiting for us at the exit and off we went to the city.
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These Little Guys are Everywhere.
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A few short kilometers away from
the airport the image started to change.
I am not going to go on and on about Delhi traffic but it is something
to behold. Italian drivers have
nothing on their Indian brethren. Our
first “ah ha” moment occurred at the first pedestrian light. We were on a two-lane divided highway and I could see a red
light ahead with folks crossing the road.
Our driver blew through the red light at high speed, narrowly missing
the folks crossing. I must have
let out an audible sigh because our driver turned to me and quietly said,
“there are no rules in India, sir.”
Some of the roads have painted
lanes but I never saw them used to guide traffic. If there were two painted lanes, there were four lanes of
traffic, three lanes, six lanes of traffic, etc. The best way I can describe the driving is to compare it to
a NASCAR race, without the order.
Everyone is constantly looking for gaps to exploit. Horn honking is constant but usually
not negative. It is a warning that
I am coming through, so watch out.
The bedlam occurs on the inner city streets. It is not uncommon to see vehicles headed in the opposite
direction to what you thought was the flow of traffic.
Motorcycles and scooters are
everywhere and none move in a straight line. Deborah described it as a moving symphony of constant
weaving bugs. It is completely
normal for cars to turn right, from the extreme left, across six lanes of
traffic to exit the road or to simply exploit a gap. Bigger is better but rickshaws, tuk tuks, and pedestrians do
not seem to fear buses and trucks, despite the visible dings in all vehicles,
large or small.
Delhi is India’s capital and as
such, is filled with grand parks, monuments, palatial residences, flowering
public gardens, resplendent deciduous tree, and seats of political power. Indians are justifiably proud of the
“New” Delhi. Most signage is in
both Hindi and English. Modern
improvements to infrastructure are ongoing. The city’s is developing a new underground metro started as
a legacy of the 2010 Commonwealth games.
New construction is prevalent but like Bangkok, contrasts are also everywhere. There are 1.2 billion people in India
and nearly 500 million live in poverty.
Outside of “New” Delhi lies “old” Delhi and the surrounding suburbs that
are not as well developed.
On the drive from the airport I
spotted a mother bathing her child in a mud puddle on the side of the
road. Less than a block from our
hotel are alleys where one can see evidence supporting every poverty cliché you
have ever imagined. A drive
through “old Delhi” revealed an underside with people living lives with the
barest of necessities. Tin roofed structures fill every
available nook and cranny as folks create homes wherever then can.
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Old Delhi
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Old & New Everywhere.
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I have been told that the “upside”
of India is that in the last decade, the number of people in poverty has decreased
dramatically by as much as 200 hundred million. That still leaves millions without but the middle class is
growing in leaps and bounds as the poor make the transition to better lives.
We enjoyed an afternoon
sightseeing in the Red Fort located in Old Delhi. It is a massive red stone fortification that once housed the
royal residence and ruled all India from within its walls. The ornate gold leaf overlays have long
ago been stripped but it does little to diminish the architecture of the
structures.
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Foreigner's Pay Much More.
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The Red Fort
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The Princesses Felt Much at Home in the Castle.
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Our driver also described many
interesting sites as he toured us around the city. The reverence for Gandhi is evident in many parks and statutes. The India Gate is a famous landmark
surrounded by green spaces filled with citizens and tourists alike. We enjoyed an authentic Indian lunch in
a small neighborhood restaurant. As
we left we saw a man sitting on the ground with playing a flute. As you probably guessed, as he started
to play, the top of the basket started to rise and the head of a snake appeared. An Indian cliché, but it happened. The man stopped playing and asked for
money to restart. None of us like
snakes all that much so we left.
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Just Missed the Cobra's Head for Photo.
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Our hotel is very high end but due
to the political climate all vehicles, luggage and patrons must go through
security checks much like an airport when entering the hotel. Inside we could not have been treated
better.
We ended the day with a return
downtown to wander and enjoy a few drinks on a roof top terrace in Connaught
Place. We were even brave enough
to cross four lanes of traffic on our own. Connaught Place is the left over from the British
administration that decamped India in 1947. It was cool to sit and enjoy a few cold Kingfishers and
imagine what life was like back in the day.
No Internet so I don’t know when
this will get posted.
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