A consultant in India – The End

10/06/2009

I mainly dedicated my last 2 days in India to the activity that really defines a tourist: shopping!

We (Johnny and I) went to to Connaught Place, a huge area in new Delhi filled with bazaars, stores and restaurants.  Unlike many tourist spots, C.P. is a shopping place frequented also by indians and this is reassuring about the quality of the stuff you find.

We started by going into State Emporium shops; these are government run stores which have good quality goods but have also high prices. It’s useful a visit here before diving into the bazaars so you can have benchmarks of the goods’ prices you intend to buy.

I’ll include a bargaining scene which happened to me at Palika Bazaar (Connaught Place):

Me: (walking)

Vendor:  “Please sir, come here!”

M: (approaching the shop and looking around for few seconds) “Do you have pashmina shawls?”

V: “Yes sir, many textures, many colors!” (showing several shawls)

V: “There are shawls 100% pashmina, 50% pashmina and 50% silk and 100% silk!”

V: “Feel this fabric, you like it?” (giving me a 10o% silk shawl)

M: “Yeah, it’s really soft. But I prefer the 50% pashmina/50% silk. How much for that?”

V: “How many of them do you want?”

M: “Just one”

V: “1000 rupees, sir. High quality, sir!”

M: “Ah… ok. I’ll think about that…” (while leaving)

V: “Wait sir! Say a price!”

M: “I don’t know… I just have 200 rupees left for shopping…”

V: “No 200 rupees, this is high quality, see? 800 rupees, sir. Take it.”

M: “I’m sorry, I can’t afford that”

V: “Wait sir! You’re the first customer, 600 rupees.”

M: “Still too much for me”

V: “500 rupees!”

M: “No, thank you.”

V: “Morning time discount! 400 rupees”

M: “I can’t really spend more than 200 rupees, thank you for the discount anyway!” (while leaving)

V: “200 rupees! Take it!”

One thing you’ll notice while going around for Delhi is that shops, bazaars and public places in general have metal detectors and customers and their bags are searched by policemen stationing at the entrance. India has enforced security measures in all the crowded areas, a measure I think enacted after the recurrent terrorist attacks which have hit this country.

After the morning shopping we went to Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque of all India. This is a impressive and at the same time beatiful building, capable of containing 25′000 thousands people!

Jama Masjid mosque – Delhi

Jama Masjid is just one of the great structures built during Mughal Empire (muslim domination in India) that also built Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutb Minar, …

11/06/2009

My last day in India, I spent the day mostly wandering around  Pharganj Area; looking for t-shirts and fining my bargaining skills.

Main Bazaar, Pharganj – Delhi

Many thoughts came into my mind while walking around the stalls:

People: it’s for sure the most amazing aspect of this country. Every square, street, bus or restaurant is packed of noisy people and, unlike in many western countries, there’s an high sense of community here. As a foreigner I receive a lot of attention by locals, often they ask about me or my country and offer me chai; however this is also true for Indians. They don’t really consider other people “strangers” and are available to talk or help each other.

Poverty: I have never experienced that before. You may find half-naked children begging also in the most fancy streets of Delhi; it’s simply part of India (still). While I’ve found poorness more bearable in rural areas, where people tend to positive behaviours (e.g. farming) to improve their situation, in cities this translates into slums, beggars, thieves…

Taxi/Rickshaw meter: my biggest failure in India; they simply refuse to use it with tourists. I tried very hard but drivers prefer losing the ride that giving you the fair price!

Hand in hand: at the beginning I mistook this a sign of homosexuality (which is illegal in India, btw) but then I was explained that it’s just a custom; Indians (male) usually walk hand in hand with their friends (still male). I can’t help it, seeing a man spitting and/or burping (and they do!) while walking hand in hand with one friend will always look odd to me!

Limca: a real discovery! This is a great lemon drink, bottled by Coca Cola, which I’ve never seen before; why it’s not available also in Italy?

To sum up I have to say that I couldn’t anticipate a bit of how India it’s like: crazy, assaulting and with its pace to which you have to adapt, not the opposite. All its aspects, those bad as much as those good, have been really instructive and I hope I’ll have the chance to travel thoroughly across this incredible country in the future.

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A consultant in India – Part 1

I start now, in this Pharganj area hotel of Delhi, to collect glimpses of my Indian adventure.

16/05/2009

Getting to Delhi has been great, I had a Qatar air flight connecting through Doha (Qatar) which surpassed all my expectations.

I spent my cumulative 9 hours of flight by browsing around the (on demand!) multimedia content and I ended up watching Gran Torino, The Simpsons and reading my travel guide while listening to some great classical albums (by Led Zeppelin, Clash, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, …).

I was also surprised by being presented a menu for choosing what to have for dinner. With its unsurpassed service Qatar Airways just surpassed my previously favourite British!

I love Qatar Airways!

17/05/2009

3 AM India time (GMT+4.5) Indian burocracy regarding visa passed smoothly (I’m already worrying for the US…) and I am finally on Indian ground.

The operator from the International Turist Office makes a gesture towards me to have me approach by the counter. He spotted my potential “chicken” profile and warned my against all possible scams, touts, … (BTW, the Lonely guide already included all these warnings).

I then go to a prepaid taxi booth and get a receipt for my hotel. The driver, after going the wrong way in the highway to do gas, tries to redirect me to another (better, in his opinion) hotel. I resisted and, after several stops by driver’s friends with travel agencies (4 am in the morning!!!), which tried to sell me trip packages, I get to the hotel.

The area was not really shiny at 4am (not even at 4pm, I have to say), I enter in the hotel while a chewing cow stares at me. The hotel is a positive surprise. Very simple, clean and with a rooftop restaurant where you have breakfast. The roof hosts also a pool with foggy water which didn’t permit guesses about its depth (I checked then this afternoon and it’s 1mt).

Pharganj area (Delhi)

At 9am after a shower, a quick nap and a (good) breakfast I’m on the street trying to purchase train tickets for Agra (Taj Mahal) and Amritsar (Golden Temple) for the next 2 days before starting sightseeing around Delhi. I invariably end with a travel package which bonds me to a barely english-speaking driver which will take me around in Delhi and Agra.

So I spent my first day getting around Delhi’s main attractions as: Qutb Minar, Humayun’s tomb, and Red Fort.

Qutb Minar (Delhi)

Humayun's Tomb (Delhi)

Red Fort (Delhi)

These are really beautiful places but I was too busy dodging people offering help (never free) to plenty appreciate them. The traffic is also something I wasn’t prepared to: I heard more car horns today than in the rest of my life!

Jama Masjid mosque and bazaar (Delhi)

I ended my day at Main Bazaar street. I had a simple dinner at a bar (“Thali” I believe it’s the name of this rice based dish) and then I wondered a bit around shops. This time the walk was decisevely more relaxing, I’m not sure if I’m building a Bazaar oriented attitude or people were just tired by the long day!

P.S. A french couple at the hotel just told me there is an Indian train ticket reservation website which allows me to bypass agencies… damn…

18/05/2009
7 AM: After a quick (always good) indian breakfast on hotel rooftop i get in the driver’s car and we head to Agra (Taj Mahal’s city). I try to sleep a little but I cannot avoid to focus on driver’s zig zag style, always accelerating and decelerating. I noticed, however, that he drove as all the other drivers we encountered today.
I was just wondering how could they keep this style without having accidents and then I spotted the first one: nothing serious, a truck just lost his watermelon’s load on the street but the cows standing there were more than happy to help cleaning.

During the trip I noticed how many ads signs were dedicated to education; primary schools, english/computer courses or even MBAs. My takeaway of this is that indians value education as a precious good, still unaccessible to many, which could ensure them a better lifestyle. I don’t know what’s the India’s policy about education but I hope they’s doing their best to help its spreading as fast as possible.

At around 11 Am we get to Agra.

Agra

The city is about a tenth of Delhi but its vendors do all the possible to not let you feel alone. Taj Mahal, THE attraction of Agra, makes obviously no exception. Useless to say that Taj is beautiful and it really deserves a visit.

Taj Mahal (Agra)

Taj Mahal (Agra)

While leaving Agra, I went to Mehtab Bagh, a park on the Yamuni’s riverside. Besides this park you can access (freely) to the riverside across Taj Mahal. From here you get splendid view of the palace in a completely quiet environment. Hassling vendors and guides are replace by peaceful cows and few children, that you can make easily happy with few rupees or a pen.

Children on the riverbank (Agra)

Taj Mahal from across the river

I got back to the car and travel to Delhi. After four hours and a fine to the driver (he he eh!) I’m at the hotel. I check on the just discovered indian railway website my reservation and I go to bed. Tomorrow I have an early departure for Amritsar (hosting the Golden Temple).

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