So that was Turkey. Before I left on the 22.05 Turkish Airlines flight to Delhi I sold my Lonely Planet book. I wish I hadn't done that. I did it because I think I had read somewhere that rather than carry a redundant guidebook or even pay to post it home it would be a better idea to turn it into cash for the next leg of the journey. Selling meant I couldn't refer to it when I was writing up the earlier posts. The LP guide also suggested that it would be a good idea to buy Scotch and 555 State Express cigarettes to trade for cash. I used the proceeds of the sale of my Turkey guide book to buy the duty free.
Don't get me wrong, Turkish Airlines were OK and I can't remember any particular reason for not recommending them. their planes were quite comfortable enough and all that but just like when I set off from Heathrow the pilot had to have two goes at setting off. The first take-off was aborted after tearing off down the runway without actually leaving the ground. The thrill of the acceleration was replaced for a short time by the fear that the plane would run out of runway. The plane returned to the start position and we set off late but successfully after a second run up.
Nothing can prepare a person for the experience of India. I had conned myself into believing that a month and a half in Turkey would harden me up. I don't mind saying that arriving in Delhi I was a little bit frightened. I had read my Lonely Planet guide book quite thoroughly in the months leading up to departure but although it was some kind of preparation it wasn't nearly enough.
The Airport in Delhi was like most others, I suppose. The procedures are all the same in terms of passport control, baggage reclaim and customs. Once I was through customs the familiarity evaporated. Nothing was as I had expected. I don't know what I had expected but the impression I got was that things weren't organised. All I can remember now is that it was very difficult to understand what was going on. I exchanged some money for Rupees in the airport and set off to the City.
The LP guide had recommended getting an ex servicemen's bus service to Paharganj which was where the budget places to stay were and I somehow located a bus which seemed to be going in the right direction. No-one asked me for a ticket and my trip to India started with a free ride downtown. That was probably the only thing I had for free in India.
The LP Guide recommended the Metropolis Tourist Home as a good budget end place to stay and I somehow found it. I think I got off the bus at some stage and was pointed down a narrow street which led straight to the place. It is at the other end of the Main Bazaar which leads to new Delhi Railway Station and that was why I had chosen to base myself there.
I don't seem to have taken a picture of my own of the Metropolis Tourist Home which is a shame but I did find one while trawling Google images. The picture above was taken by Godoirum Bassanensis and he has a lot of other good pictures on his Flikr site. His picture was taken 17 years after my visit and the Metropolis is on the left in the foreground. Judging from the photo the Metropolis has been spivved up quite a lot and the whole of Paharganj seems a good deal more orderly these days than it was (except for the overhead electricity cabling). There seem to be more cars. I don't think I saw any to speak of when I was there save for the occasional Premier or tiny Isuzu.
I didn't want to stay in a room by myself. The whole experience was already freaking me out so I booked into a dormitory room which had about 4 beds in it each with a locker at the head of the bed. The rate was 50rs per night (about £1) and there was a bathroom with the crappiest hot water supply I had ever seen. It had been a long flight and I decided to have a sleep before venturing out.
I seem to recall tentatively stepping out and turning left and walking. The whole place is an assault on the senses. I think I had been asleep for a couple of hours and had been downstairs to the restaurant area and had peeked out into the street a couple of times before I dared go out. The noises, the colours, the smells, the shouting, the music, the bicycles, the rickshaws, the auto-rickshaws, the cows and above all the sheer numbers of people were overwhelming. I remember I walked up the Main Bazaar Road perhaps as far as New Delhi Railway Station at which point the sun had gone down and I decided I couldn't take much more. It was too intense. A shifty character sidled up to me and offered me Hashish, I swear he showed me a lump of something. I politely declined whereupon, undaunted, he ventured "Brown sugar?". I think this was the thing that decided me that I had been out too long I said "no thank you" and I headed straight back. I think I had been out there in the thick of it for about 30 minutes. It was enough for my first day.
I hung out in the restaurant area downstairs in the Metropolis and ate something that my notes says was stuffed tomatoes with curry sauce and buttered fried rice. I went to bed early.
