Delhi Joyrides!

I've been in Delhi for six days now which I think is approximately four more than the majority of people end up staying. I can understand why, it is pretty crazy out here. A few days ago I had dinner with a German family who spent the entire dinner talking about how much they hated India and especially Delhi which was a pleasure... following that I had dinner with a cool Dutch girl who made it clear to me that she wasn't coming back anytime soon. Cheerful chat guys... thanks!

I on the other hand am really enjoying Delhi, I think this is largely down to the fact that I have a few people to meet out here but also simply down to the fact that Delhi is fascinating. I can't overstate how much of a head-fuck this place is, my vocabulary doesn't get close to doing it justice. I went to visit Humayun's Tomb the other day, I wasn't expecting much, standard tourist fare... I couldn't have been more surprised. A truly amazing monument, quite epic in proportions and, as I found out last night, considered by some Delhi locals more beautiful than the Taj Mahal... quite something. (I uploaded some photos to Flickr, link in previous post)

These are also the same Delhi locals who helped me get to my present state of hungover sweatyness. I met them through a friend of a friend who lives out here and joined them at a party around a bonfire on the roof of a building deep in the suburbs of south Delhi. They were wicked, fucking hilarious. I couldn't have hoped to spend an evening with a sounder group. The evening was followed up by a (please look away now mother!)... ... ... phenomenally fast dawn drive through the deserted Delhi streets.... quite an impressive way to see it though perhaps something I shouldn't be making a habit of! And then today... dead to the world me and my new buddy watched a crap American comedy and ordered a Dominos Pizza... yeah!!

Tomorrow I am going to visit the Indian office of my former employees which I'm really looking forward too, hopefully they will be able to help me find some voluntary work further down the line. I've got a couple lined up already, you'll have the joy of reading about that soon. Of course there will be obligatory photos of poor Indians, I'm hoping for a smiling toothless slum kid... maybe with a colourful sweet or perhaps a red ball, that'll work.

Hanging by a thread...

Jesus, this place is nuts! Officially I think I've just had the most bonkers two days of my entire life. The plane journey went without a hitch, got drunk enough to forget exactly where I was going, ate well, passport control was painless, my bag was one of the first off the trolleys and my driver was there to pick me up... he even spelt my name right!

Then it hit me.... Delhi....

It's covered in a thick blanket of fog at the moment... I thinks its more likely the pollution, the traffic here is immense! The driving (and I've been doing some research here) is almost 56 times worse in Delhi than in Italy... its amazing... lanes mean nothing, sides of the road mean nothing, they even drive at right angles across it.... yet it all seems to work, no one seems to crash.

The rest... having reached my hotel I managed to pluck up the courage top go out... and trust me it took courage. I went for a walk... haha... hopping out of the way of cyclist, rickshaws, cars, cows, cat and dogs.... to Connaught Place... an utter mess of shops and stalls and peddlars and con-artists... got myself a mobile phone (just) without getting too ripped off! That was all for yesterday... today I made it to the Red Fort, the Jami Masjid Mosque (the first mosque I've ever set foot in... quite beautiful) and Chandi Chowk Bazzaar... utterly-fucking-crazy... hectic, noisy... all the cliches you hear about India rolled up in this maze. I tried my first street food (the place looked properly ghetto but damn was it tasty!)... almost got pickpocketed by a group of 4 kids... and took my first cycle rickshaw whick are now offically my favourite form of transport, Chris Hoy ain't got shit on these guys... Chris Who more like! Love them!

Anyhows, written enough methinks. Going up to the roof to watch the sunset... and prepare myself for day three... which, if anything like days one and two... will be incredible.

Ok... so I left it a little late. thirteen days left, that is less than two weeks!

Not entirely sure how that happened, I'm sure I had a couple of months last time I checked... and a job. Now I don't have a job since I left my loverly work colleagues last night and I don't have any time. Sheeet. Getting a bit real. I'm actually going to be in Delhi in two weeks... very odd.

Now am spending one of my last productive days? in bed writing this and trying to understand why I decided have a nap on my way home and wake up in West Byfleet at 12.30am (see the link)...

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Claremont+Ave,+New+Malden,+Greater+London+KT3,+UK&daddr=west+byfleet&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=51.479145,-0.091623&sspn=0.096005,0.308647&ie=UTF8&z=12

....and wondering whether it had anything to do with that shot of Sambuca and Jack Daniels (in the same glass)... any idea James? Pete? I worry that I may not fare so well if I do something similar in India... or perhaps it'll be more fun?

This blog post is dedicated to the saintly man who woke me up...