Day 3: Monday April 28, 4:00 am - Andy's Delhi hotel, the Tara House
Andy and I left the airport to go have dinner in the city with the documentary crew, and I had my first glimpse of Delhi. At this point, I was too stunned to take pictures (plus it was the middle of the night), but just go look at Andy's blog, and you'll see pretty much what I saw.
Everything on there is accurate - the cows, the crowds, the traffic, it was unbelieveable. I could not believe how many cows are just walking around the streets. It's as though a city just spring up in the middle of nowhere, with no rhyme or reason. Andy says it's like two time periods clashing - there is stuff that is very rural, very old-fashioned, and then right next to it is a brand new, modern building.
I saw people living with their animals in huts they built of garbage scraps and people sleeping in cots in the median. It seems they just find a spot and plant themselves, maybe building a little hut or just setting up a bed. The smell just got worse and worse, and at times I thought I might gag. I have to say, the stench was the worst part about Delhi - worse than the driving, the pollution, the heat - you name it. It was rank. Of course, I have been accused of being a super smeller, so maybe I'm just a little hyper-sensitive in the scent department.
I could not eat a thing at dinner. I had no appetite. Plus, I was just exhausted. At about 11:30 pm, we headed back to the Tara House hotel. Again, read Andy's blog for pictures of this place, because it is just unreal. We had to carry my luggage through this alley. Andy was right - the alley looks just like Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. His hotel is in the back of this garbage-filled, rickshaw-surrounded, dog-filled alley.
After we hiked through the alley, we made it to the hotel and hiked up the four flights of stairs. India is like England - I remember being so annoyed that a room on the third floor was actually the fourth floor, because the first floor is labeled "Ground Floor," the second floor is labeled "First Floor," and so on. It's the same thing here - Andy's room is 304, which means we dragged my luggage up four flights of stairs. Ugh. Again, no pictures, but go look at Andy's room on his blog, and you'll see exactly what it's like.
From what I've gathered, in India you can get a "single" room or a "double room." Single rooms either have one twin bed or two twin beds, on opposite sides of the room. Double rooms have two twin beds - pushed together.
No queen beds or king beds for us. At Tara House, Andy had a double room, with two twin beds on opposite sides of the room. He had already pushed them together, and it was almost like sleeping on our king bed at home. Except for the crevice between us, which sometimes got wider if I moved the wrong way. And also except for the rock hard mattress. I felt like I was sleeping on a wooden plank. Oh, and except for the scratchy sheets. Almost like our king bed at home. At this point, all that mattered to me was how great it felt sleeping next to my husband again.
I woke up around 2:30, unable to sleep, so I sat on closed toilet in the bathroom and read a book (no, I'm not doing that; the bathroom was the only room where I could close the door so I didn't wake up Andy, and I sat on the toilet because there were too many cockroaches and bugs to sit on the floor and read). I'm now at a total of 3.5 hours of sleep in about two days. It seems I can't sleep in India. This should make for an interesting trip.
Good things so far: My luggage arrived, and I'm with Andy.
Bad things so far: Cockroaches in the bathroom, and I only get two hours of sleep.
Andy and I left the airport to go have dinner in the city with the documentary crew, and I had my first glimpse of Delhi. At this point, I was too stunned to take pictures (plus it was the middle of the night), but just go look at Andy's blog, and you'll see pretty much what I saw.
Everything on there is accurate - the cows, the crowds, the traffic, it was unbelieveable. I could not believe how many cows are just walking around the streets. It's as though a city just spring up in the middle of nowhere, with no rhyme or reason. Andy says it's like two time periods clashing - there is stuff that is very rural, very old-fashioned, and then right next to it is a brand new, modern building.
I saw people living with their animals in huts they built of garbage scraps and people sleeping in cots in the median. It seems they just find a spot and plant themselves, maybe building a little hut or just setting up a bed. The smell just got worse and worse, and at times I thought I might gag. I have to say, the stench was the worst part about Delhi - worse than the driving, the pollution, the heat - you name it. It was rank. Of course, I have been accused of being a super smeller, so maybe I'm just a little hyper-sensitive in the scent department.
I could not eat a thing at dinner. I had no appetite. Plus, I was just exhausted. At about 11:30 pm, we headed back to the Tara House hotel. Again, read Andy's blog for pictures of this place, because it is just unreal. We had to carry my luggage through this alley. Andy was right - the alley looks just like Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. His hotel is in the back of this garbage-filled, rickshaw-surrounded, dog-filled alley.
After we hiked through the alley, we made it to the hotel and hiked up the four flights of stairs. India is like England - I remember being so annoyed that a room on the third floor was actually the fourth floor, because the first floor is labeled "Ground Floor," the second floor is labeled "First Floor," and so on. It's the same thing here - Andy's room is 304, which means we dragged my luggage up four flights of stairs. Ugh. Again, no pictures, but go look at Andy's room on his blog, and you'll see exactly what it's like.
From what I've gathered, in India you can get a "single" room or a "double room." Single rooms either have one twin bed or two twin beds, on opposite sides of the room. Double rooms have two twin beds - pushed together.
No queen beds or king beds for us. At Tara House, Andy had a double room, with two twin beds on opposite sides of the room. He had already pushed them together, and it was almost like sleeping on our king bed at home. Except for the crevice between us, which sometimes got wider if I moved the wrong way. And also except for the rock hard mattress. I felt like I was sleeping on a wooden plank. Oh, and except for the scratchy sheets. Almost like our king bed at home. At this point, all that mattered to me was how great it felt sleeping next to my husband again.I woke up around 2:30, unable to sleep, so I sat on closed toilet in the bathroom and read a book (no, I'm not doing that; the bathroom was the only room where I could close the door so I didn't wake up Andy, and I sat on the toilet because there were too many cockroaches and bugs to sit on the floor and read). I'm now at a total of 3.5 hours of sleep in about two days. It seems I can't sleep in India. This should make for an interesting trip.
Good things so far: My luggage arrived, and I'm with Andy.
Bad things so far: Cockroaches in the bathroom, and I only get two hours of sleep.
2 comments:
I can't wait for more!
Ewwwww, gross! Lish, I would just die. With the smells and the cockroaches... I, too, have the nose of a bloodhound. So I would have been a little uncomfortable, as well. It's a good thing you brought lots to read!! Jetlag sucks. Or is it two words: jet lag? Hmmm.
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