DELHI
There is a certain pleasure in arriving at an Indian train station and knowing the exact location of your hotel. There’s not a split second pause between steps - the tuk tuk drivers and hotel touts seem to notice and don’t make as much of an effort to get any business out of you. I arrived in Delhi midday and walked across the street from the train station to Paranganj - a budget hotel and backpacker area. I was hungry and flagged down a tuk tuk to take me to Karim’s. The Chandi Chowk restaurant felt ancient but it’s only been around since 1913, a relative new comer to the Delhi scene. The kitchen opens out to the waiting area and a small alley that’s only accessible to motorbikes. The chefs don’t have utensils and use their arms to stir the sauce for upcoming meals - they’ve been doing it this way for a hundred years, so it must be fine. I ordered a kebab and mughal chicken and it's good but relatively expensive compared to a similar meal.
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Some Old Delhi street scenes.
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After lunch I walked around Old Delhi, past Jama Massad and to the Red Fort. It’s definitely red but it’s not so much as fort as it is a walled palace complex. Parts of the complex could be mistaken for a college campus because of the common park like settings and academic looking buildings. At night I walked down to Connaught Place. I tried unsuccessfully to be served at a “secret” Indian Coffee house but after twenty minutes gave up and found a Chinese place for dinner…it’s not Chinese…it’s Indian Chinese. The Indians have an amazing ability to absorb other cultures food or customs then distinctly making the item their own.
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Paharganj
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My second day in Delhi I had lunch at a Kake Da Hotel - a tourist guide strong recommendation. I think most of India does not get bombarded by Westerners and when I arrived I was the only tourist at a table. I made the right decision by sitting next to two other Indians who were ordering at the time and quickly tacked on an order of butter chicken and naan bread. Within a few minutes I was eating the best butter chicken of the trip - the naan was pretty decent too.
After lunch I grabbed a cup of coffee and a super fancy Cafe Coffee Day. It was a swanky setup and only single origin coffee was available. It would have been a great spot and I could have spent the rest of the afternoon here but there was incredibly loud trance music playing which completely contradicted the cool decor. I collect coffee mugs and when I went to pick one out from Cafe Coffee Day’s selection I was reminded that even though this was a swanky, single original coffee shop this was still India. Apparently each of the coffee mugs had an elaborate back story - “This mug is Elepants. It’s an elephant wearing pants. It’s funny but why shouldn’t an elephant wear pants?” I went with the mug featuromg faces of different Indians…I don’t remember the back story but it the mug has lots of smiling faces.
I slept in the next day but had a critical decision to make - more historical sites or go to the opening, noon screening of Jai Ho starring India’s biggest star Salman Khan. It wasn’t much of a decision. How can I refuse Salman Khan? There’s a huge, single screen Regal Cinemas at Connaught Place - I was a bit worried I’d be too late for a ticket up inside saw it was about a 1,000 seat, super old-school theater, complete with a second level balcony. I was in the balcony which meant I could enjoy both the film and the crowd reactions. The movie was in Hindu but it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on. A member of Salman Khan’s family faces injustice from the corrupt local government and Khan, an ex-Army juggernaut, goes into revenge mode - pretty much the story line of every Indian movie. The crowd, which is 99% male, was hooting and hollering every time a female made an appearance on screen which was to be expected but I think the loudest cheers came when Khan ripped his shirt off in a fight sequence - hey, it’s not awkward, it’s brotherliness.
After lunch I grabbed a cup of coffee and a super fancy Cafe Coffee Day. It was a swanky setup and only single origin coffee was available. It would have been a great spot and I could have spent the rest of the afternoon here but there was incredibly loud trance music playing which completely contradicted the cool decor. I collect coffee mugs and when I went to pick one out from Cafe Coffee Day’s selection I was reminded that even though this was a swanky, single original coffee shop this was still India. Apparently each of the coffee mugs had an elaborate back story - “This mug is Elepants. It’s an elephant wearing pants. It’s funny but why shouldn’t an elephant wear pants?” I went with the mug featuromg faces of different Indians…I don’t remember the back story but it the mug has lots of smiling faces.
I slept in the next day but had a critical decision to make - more historical sites or go to the opening, noon screening of Jai Ho starring India’s biggest star Salman Khan. It wasn’t much of a decision. How can I refuse Salman Khan? There’s a huge, single screen Regal Cinemas at Connaught Place - I was a bit worried I’d be too late for a ticket up inside saw it was about a 1,000 seat, super old-school theater, complete with a second level balcony. I was in the balcony which meant I could enjoy both the film and the crowd reactions. The movie was in Hindu but it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on. A member of Salman Khan’s family faces injustice from the corrupt local government and Khan, an ex-Army juggernaut, goes into revenge mode - pretty much the story line of every Indian movie. The crowd, which is 99% male, was hooting and hollering every time a female made an appearance on screen which was to be expected but I think the loudest cheers came when Khan ripped his shirt off in a fight sequence - hey, it’s not awkward, it’s brotherliness.
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Kailash Colony
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Hauz Khas Village
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Rajpath and India Gate
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Khan Market
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Humayun's Tomb
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For additional Delhi photos see FLICKR ALBUM.