Delhi Day 2

As we woke, we felt slightly better about where we were and what we were doing. We again headed upstairs to Sam's Cafe for some grub, and realised once there that the street below us was yet again bustling with people and shops. It seems that when we arrived the previous day, it was too early for anything to be open. This had given the street a wrong-side-of-town vibe, and scared the living daylights out of both of us! Once the shops were open and people moved along the tracks below, the place seemed friendly, almost humane. We ate, felt braver yet again, and decided to head towards the metro station we had found the previous day, with the intention of visiting India Gate from there. Almost as soon as we left the hotel, a young Indian man started to yell towards us, commenting on my "lovely beard"! As we had established, ignoring these hustlers would usually stop them annoying you, but this one was persistant, and thankfully so! We stopped to talk for a second as he was not standing near a stall or carrying trinkets for sale, and seemed harmless. He asked us where we were from, how long we'd been here, what our travel plans were etc. and proceeded to tell us of Irish people he had met here. We didn't really believe most of it at first, but as soon as he started saying some Irish words to us we relaxed a little. He said we should come into his office and meet his brother.

Feeling very vulnerable and wary, we were guided into a small office sporting the name Invicta Tour and Travels, just a few yards from our hotel. It was here that we met Shafi, or Adam Sandler as he is known, who proceeded to regail us with tales of visitors from all over the world and what he has done for them. His family business is tourism, shoe-string and backpackers and the like, and he arranges tours around Rajasthan and various other parts of India. His father, Sean Connery, owns a house boat in Kashmir where Michael Palin once stayed during the filming of his Sahara documentary (apparently the house boat featured in an episode, but it was one I missed). As Shafi talked and showed us book after book of handwritten testimonial to him and his crew of merry bandits, we were more and more convinced that this was legit. The books of testimonials were dated, handwritten, with names and contact details of each visitor, detailing experiences well beyond our original hopes. Some of them were even written in the visitors native tongue, including French and Irish, which Tara read. These books, coupled with the hand signed certificate of affiliation with the Government of India, helped us decide. We were going to hand over our Indian adventure to the pro's!

The deal was this: we would pay a sizable amount of money (not outside of our budget mind you) for a car and driver, who would bring us around the Indian countryside and into and out of cities and towns to see the sights and experience the Incredible Inida! that the government ad campaign boasts of. There was talk of camel and elephant rides, of luxurious hotels with swimming pools (just for one night mind you) and boat cruises in the various towns and cities around Rajasthan. We were also promised a car and driver to bring us around Delhi for the 2 days that we had the hotel booked for, and the entire deal was predicated with the fact that we would be in control. Flexibility was a major selling point, and this was driven home to us as our conversation was interrupted by "Hazel Australia" who phoned Shafi to redirect her pre-arranged journey. Given that our plan was the spend some time in Delhi, then move on to Agra and then some small towns towards Nepal, the plan laid out in front of us seemed irresistable. Our new itinerary would be:

2 days in Delhi
Mandawa
Bikaner
Jaisalmer
Jodhpur
Udaipur
Pushkar
Jaipur
Agra
Varanasi
Pokhara (Nepal)

This meant that not only would we see a huge chunk of India, but that we would also be guided all the way to Pokrah in Nepal, which led perfectly into our plans of seeing Nepal and moving on to Kathmandu for our onward flight. After our original experience of the Main Bazaar and India in general, this seemed too good to be true. So we signed up, were brought to a secure ATM by Neeraj (soon to be our new best friend) to withdraw the money we needed, and paid the asking price. After some messing around with my credit card, my fault for forgetting my credit limit I admit, we were paid up, and soon were brought off by our original hustler and Shafi's brother, Dustin Hoffman, to purchase an Indian sim card. This was so that we would be able to contact Shafi from anywhere in India, but also gave us the opportunity to contact the folks at home. Satisfied with our new purchase, we were brought back to the office to meet Neeraj properly, this time as our driver who had come to bring us around the sights of Delhi.

First on the agenda was a Hindu temple, the Lakshmi Narayan Temple or Burla Temple. This was an amazing peaceful place set amongst the chaos and noise of Delhi, along with being Ghandi's favourite place to worship. Given that this is a holy place, we were asked to remove our shoes before entering. Our feet were exposed to beautiful marble floors which had warmed in the sun. As we walked around the temple, admiring the design, architecture and various representatives of the Hindu Gods, I started to realise that this religion was unlike those I had been previously exposed to. There is no Jesus or Holy Ghost in Hinduism, and although there is a 'God' figure, it is not the main focus of the religion itself. Hinduism is based on the human thought process, and has ebbed and flowed with the main thinkers and philosphers of different times. Throughout all of this, there are Deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesh and many many others (over 400 I am told!). These Deities are the elephant headed (Ganesh) and blue skinned and four armed (Shiva) statues and paintings that Hinduism is best known for. Elaborate stories preceed each one, stories which I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing although I am unsure whether or not to believe them!

Next on our list of sights to see, was the magnificent and dwarfing structure that is India Gate. This massive stone archway is similar in shape to the Arc de Triomphe and both look alike from a distance, but once you get up close and personal with this gargantuan stone beast you realise that this structure is positively unique. Not only is the structure higher, wider, and grander in every way to France's famous Arc, but it is among the most beautiful places in India at sunset. We were lucky enough to be glancing through arch as the sun began to dip behind it. Some small distance away is another giant stone structure, this one similar in shape to a bandstand. The 2 fit perfectly together, and when viewed from the front, the bandstand shaped structure fits perfectly within the gates archway. Together they form a memorial to all of India's soldiers and servicemen who have fallen in battle throughout the years. Thousands of names are inscribed on the gates walls, coupled with an inscription along the top of the gate which is almost unreadable to those with imperfect eyesight (or decent glasses!).

After viewing these 2 magnificent structures, we returned to the Vivek Hotel in the centre of the Main Bazaar. After witnessing such beauty and tranquility at the Burla Temple, and the astonishing sunset at India Gate, the Main Bazaar was a bit jarring. We ate again at Sam's Cafe, and went to bed a little more relaxed than previous nights. Although our India voyage was just beginning, we were starting to feel like we could actually survive this journey, and come out the other side enlightened and world travelled.