I arrived in Delhi on Monday morning, on time and with no hiccups going through customs. Arun from Idex was there to pick me up and I got my first impression of the city immediately: crazy drivers. This was cemented on an afternoon trip on Tuesday into the city to see some pretty amazing sites.

Idex organized a sightseeing tour for my roomie Stanny (a fun Dutch woman!) and I which was both very nice but too quick. If anyone knows my travelling habits, I cringe ‘organized’ tours, but this one wasn’t too bad considering Delhi is gigantic and I would have no idea how to get around. There is a metro and local buses, and of course tuk tuks (the cool three wheelers!), but before leaving everyone (seriously everyone!) told me not to travel by myself. Before leaving also, Kate and some HT crew members and I went for Indian food in Little Italy and the owner of the restaurant told me not to go in a taxi because there is a high likelihood of being robbed by the driver and left in the middle of nowhere. I also didn’t really have a chance to organize my own private driver, so organized tour it is. In any case, CRAZY DRIVERS.

I can’t even describe the amount of traffic violations Indian drivers would encounter in Canada, and I seriously don’t know how they are able to navigate the streets with all the honks and crisscrossing pedestrians. (As an avid follower of traffic lights, this scared the crap out of me!!) The best description I can give is going down a two lane highway or street with four cars across and two motorcycles or tuk tuks trying to squeeze in. Add to that the pedestrians trying to cross, and people trying to change lanes all at the same time. I kept thinking to myself, “Why don’t people just stay in their lanes!! Things would go a lot more smoothly!” But, it in fact it was already going smoothly. Our driver would weave in and out of lanes and drive straddling the lane and zip in when he needed to. All normal and smooth. Until people try to cross the street and there’s a sudden stop when a 10 year old boy jumps in front of your vehicle. Yeah. Crazy. No one gets into accidents though, which boggles my mind. On top of this, there are hilarious signs saying “keep your distance” or “No parking” but there are two rows of cars parked and blocking each other in, or “No honking.” Oh my god, the honking. They say it’s to let other drivers know you’re there, but everyone honks. All the time. So what’s the point? And what’s the point of having marked lanes if no one uses them? There were several gasps coming from me and Stanny to which our rep kept laughing at. She found it funny that we were gasping because so many cars came about 10 centimetres from hitting our car while trying to squeeze ahead of us. I tried to capture it on video, but I’m not sure if I got a good representation. I don’t think I will ever get used to it, but Jaipur is a smaller city (only four million instead of 18!) so we’ll see what the driving is like there.

So, our first stop was a large Sikh Temple which was made of gold. It was an interesting experience in that I had never really participated in religious events other than a handful of times, and definitely not a Sikh one. We had to take off our shoes (thanks Bhav for giving me the tip of putting my shoes in my own bag rather than leaving them randomly at the door or ‘checking them.’ Our Idex rep Kirti told me it was a good idea as it was quick and easy) and wash our feet. I also had to cover my head and they had scarves and head coverings there which I used. We then went into the temple where there was worship going on—live singing and a ritual of blessing the holy book. It was a Tuesday afternoon and there were hundreds of people there, which I thought was interesting. Not all of them were tourists either. The inside of the building was beautiful and ornate with very nice carvings. We then went outside where more people were sitting around a large water area that is said to have healing powers. The water had fish in it, so I didn’t go in but I did step on the railing area and put my hand in. Who knows, maybe I’ll never get sick again. 🙂 On our way out, there was a man giving out a holy sweet. I’m not exactly sure what it is called, but it was oily and tasty. Our guide said if we don’t want to eat it, we shouldn’t take it because some tourists will take some and then throw it in the garbage. He said it was disrespectful and not allowed. I had some and it was yummy. It was given to every single person who left the temple.

Our next stops were India Gate, the Presidential Palace and the Parliament buildings. It was a drive by though, which I was disappointed with. Our guide gave us literally three minutes to get out and take photos (requisite “I was here” photo) and then on to the next site. We started at India Gate which is a monument in memory of soldiers who died in the First World War. It is at the end of a long road, which is very beautiful. We then headed in the opposite direction and got to the Presidential palace, which our guide told us is where the president lives and is 10 times bigger than the White House! We couldn’t get anywhere near it, and there were no tours, but it was kind of nice to see from afar. On both sides of it though were the departments of internal and external affairs which were pretty nice buildings. The Parliament building was very far off into the distance and I could just see the top of it. I think it’s round! LOL. I wanted to go in, but apparently they don’t give tours like on our Parliament Hill. Boo to that!

We then headed to the site where Ghandi was assassinated. I didn’t even know it was on the itinerary and was pleasantly surprised. It is an amazing place and one I wish we could’ve spent more time at. There was a time crunch, so we didn’t get to read any of the exhibit, but it was a beautiful setting made sad because of what happened there. The two-room house that he used had his original bed, walking stick, machine to handmake his own cloth, and the see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkey statues. In a glass case, there was also his eye glasses and basic utensils he used. He was a simple man who advocated for peace and non-violence. There were two statues of him on site, and some of his famous quotes printed in the garden/meditation area which were truly inspiring. If I do ever come back to Delhi, I will be sure to spend a lot more time here to be able to take it all in.

Our last stop on the tour was to the Bahai House of Worship. It is an amazing site… an all faiths temple shaped in the national flower—the lotus! My Lonely Planet guide tells me that it was designed by a Canadian architect in 1986! The grounds are seriously beautiful and a must-see. We went inside and there was a service going on, with people saying prayers from all faiths and in multiple languages. I am not one for religion, but it was really nice to see. The landscape at sunset was absolutely gorgeous.

On our way back to the volunteer house, we stopped off at a “market” but it seemed like a tourist trap. They had the typical scarves and carpets and paintings and elephant statues etc… but nothing amazing. I didn’t get anything, but I took a lot of photos. 🙂

And that was my introduction to (New) Delhi, which I found out is called “New” because it’s literally the ‘new’ part of the old city. Everything was built when India won independence and moved the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. Hopefully I’ll get to see “old” Delhi before I leave on Sunday!

–Bea