Delhi

This blog post is an add-on to the previous four articles dealing with my trip to Bhutan. To get home to Switzerland, I traveled via Delhi, India, and I had an entire day to explore the city. I figured it would make most sense to write about that day in a separate post, because Delhi is quite different than Bhutan. If you’re wondering, Delhi and New Delhi can be used interchangeably. New Delhi is a district within Delhi itself. To read the last blog post from Bhutan, which precedes this article, click here.

SUNDAY, September 30th

My day started in Paro, Bhutan, where I checked out of my hotel and drove to the city’s airport with my guide and our driver, who had been with me for the previous two weeks. We said our goodbyes, and then I checked-in for my flight and passed through the quick emigration check at Paro International Airport. Before the flight I had breakfast at a café inside the airport.

Our flight departed 15 minutes early from Paro. This time I was flying with private-owned Bhutan Airlines to Delhi. It was a beautiful flight along the Himalayas. Unfortunately, I was on the left side of the aircraft, which meant no good opportunities for photos. But I did get a video of our flight climbing through the mountain valleys on its way out of Bhutanese airspace.

We landed very far ahead of schedule, around 30 minutes early! That’s truly a first for me. I can only assume that the schedule has a large time buffer included for any delays regularly caused by traffic congestion, particularly in the busy airspace around Delhi.

After I cleared immigration, I left Delhi Airport and walked over to its metro station, where the left luggage area was. I had a large suitcase and a smaller cabin-size suitcase with me that I needed to leave behind for the day.

Having taken care of those, I took the metro to downtown Delhi. Then I walked to my first sight of the day, passing some busy streets.

My initial target was the Red Fort, but it was getting close to lunch time. I decided instead to do the Jama Masjid and then have lunch. Exploring the Red Fort complex would have taken much longer. That being said, the Jama Masjid wasn’t a brief visit either. The Friday Mosque, as the name translates to, is in the heart of Old Delhi, located in the centre of the city.

The surrounding neighborhoods have a significant Muslim population. The mosque is designed to hold up to 25,000 people, which is including the vast courtyard inside the mosque’s walls.

The mosque was built by the Mughal Empire between 1644 and 1658, after they had made Delhi their capital. At that time, the Mughal Empire was about to reach its greatest extent.

It’s possible to climb up one of the mosque’s tall minaret towers for great views over the surrounding neighborhoods, as well as the Red Fort.

After I had visited the Jama Masjid, it was time for lunch. There was another reason why I picked the Jama Masjid first for my sightseeing. My Lonely Planet guide recommended an Indian restaurant, called Karim’s, serving meat-heavy Mughlai dishes a stone’s throw away from the mosque.

Finding the restaurant proved surprisingly difficult, as it was hidden away in an alleyway off a busy, crowded side street. I walked around in circles essentially for 15 minutes, before seeing a tiny sign in between a crowd of billboards placed in front of all the buildings on the main lane. For lunch, I ordered a mutton dish with some naan bread on the side.

Karim’s is a critically acclaimed restaurant, despite honestly being little more than a hole-in-the-wall. As I left, a local TV crew even entered the restaurant to film and interview the patrons.

After lunch, I navigated an adjacent, packed bazaar to walk towards the Red Fort.

Just before arriving at the fort itself, I had to cross a busy road. There were actually traffic lights at a point where the cars could U-turn and where there were pedestrian crossings. It wasn’t a true intersection though. I initially waited to see if the traffic lights would stop the traffic so I could cross. It quickly dawned on me that the vehicles just kept driving regardless of whether the lights were red or green. All the pedestrians just found random pockets of space in between the vehicles to get across. Such chaotic street scenes are surprisingly common in Asia. Delhi was far from the first Asian metropolis which I visited, so I knew how the system, or lack thereof, worked.

Essentially you have to try to cross each lane of the road one-by-one, and be more than prepared to stop several times in the middle of the road to wait for individual vehicles to pass. If you’re new to crossing streets in Asia or let’s say, the Middle East, this can be a daunting task. It would probably trigger anxiety for most, as cars just zip by right in front of your feet. If all else fails, a good rule of thumb is always to follow the locals, literally! When doing so, it’s always a good idea to keep the local person between you and the direction from which the cars are coming, otherwise you’re the one getting run over if something goes wrong!

I stopped for a moment at a traffic island in the middle of the road to film it, because it was just too good to pass up. There’s so much going on, it’s hard to believe that there wasn’t an accident.

Finally across the street and at the Red Fort, it turned out that the line, a part of which is visible in the background above, was massive. I gave up on getting in.

I opted instead to take the metro down south and walk to Humayun’s Tomb, putting the Red Fort off until later. Humayun’s Tomb was considerably less crowded, but still had a line to get in. I didn’t wait for more than a minute, until a local tour guide tapped me on the shoulder and told me there’s a separate counter for foreigners. So instead of having to wait behind 150+ people, I just had to wait behind two. I had no idea this existed. This was apparently the case at most major sights, including at the Red Fort. I was going to take advantage of that later.

Humayun’s Tomb is certainly one of the more picturesque sights in Delhi. It’s a really nice retreat from the busy streets of the city. The tomb is located within the New Delhi area.

It is believed to have been an inspiration for the Taj Mahal, because Humayun’s Tomb precedes it by 60 years. Humayun’s Tomb was finished in 1572. There’s no denying that it’s a beautiful building, and I happened to be visiting at the perfect time. The light of the sun made for some great photos.

Humayun’s Tomb was built for the Mughal Emperor Humayun by his Persian-born wife. There is a mix of Persian and Mughal elements in its design.

There are smaller tombs around the complex, with beautiful, green gardens in between them.

The other tombs are for different members of the Mughal royal family, such as Haji Begum, the wife of Humayun. The last Mughal Emperor took refuge inside the tombs before being captured by the British in 1857 and exiled.

After exploring Humayun’s Tomb, I wanted to go back to the Red Fort. I initially wanted to take the metro for a cost of roughly 60 Rupees. To save time, I asked a tuk-tuk driver for a ride from Humayun’s Tomb to the nearest subway stop. He insisted he would be faster than the metro (not unlikely). He bet that he would bring me to the Red Fort within 20 minutes for 300 Rupees. Riding a tuk-tuk is an essential part of visiting Delhi, so I was actually more than happy to accept his bet regardless. But zigzagging through busy streets inside of a tuk-tuk certainly isn’t for everyone.

He brought me to the Red Fort it in 19 minutes, so he certainly earned his money!

Once I arrived back at the Red Fort for the second time, I realized there was indeed a separate ticket window for foreigners. However, I still had to queue up behind locals for the security check at the entrance. At least I saved time by not having to stand in a massive line for the entrance tickets. By then, all of the Red Fort’s museums had closed. However, it was still a nice place to have a walk around. The buildings were impressive, even if I had to settle for just seeing them from the outside. The Red Fort took 10 years to construct between 1638 and 1648 by the Mughal Empire.

Its western gate, the Lahore Gate, has become a symbol for Indian independence after the Indian flag was raised above the gate in 1947. The Prime Minister of India makes a speech here every Independence Day.

The Red Fort was a key military stronghold as well as the residence of the Mughal Emperor throughout their time. The walls of the Red Fort had the decapitated bodies of enemy soldiers built into the walls for good luck!

Between these walls are numerous buildings, including former apartments of the Mughal Emperor and a couple of mosques.

Some of the original buildings were torn down by the British when they took control of India in 1857. They were replaced with barracks for their soldiers. All these barracks were built in a comparatively dull European design.

After seeing the Red Fort, I wanted to visit the Lodi Gardens before they closed, so I got back on the metro. The Lodi Gardens is a favorite park for many locals. It had gotten dark by the time I got there. Still, at that time there were several joggers.

There were even quite a few picnickers relaxing on the park’s green lawns beneath floodlights. The buildings located in the middle of the park are actually 15th century tombs from the Lodi Dynasty era, hence the name of the park.

The Lodi Dynasty was an Afghan dynasty that ruled what was then the Delhi Sultanate (most of present-day India), before it was attacked and taken over by the Mughal Empire.

After visiting the Lodi Gardens, I took a tuk-tuk to a nearby shrine that is very well-decorated in marble. It is named Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Dargah, and is a Sufi Muslim shrine. It is however not easy to find, with its entrance tucked away inside multiple lanes of the bazaar that surrounds it.

I walked down the wrong lane before turning back and eventually finding the right way. There was no signposting until you were at the very entrance itself.

The shrine was surprisingly busy so late at night, so I tried to limit my photos to not be in anyone’s way. Entering the shrine itself was reserved for Muslims only.

Seeing the shrine was just a brief visit for me though. I walked back out to the road, and asked for a tuk-tuk to a popular restaurant, not too far away. When I got to the restaurant, which was really little more than a crowded canteen, you had to order and pay for your food, before getting seated. The speciality was South Indian thalis, a round platter of different small dishes, so that’s what I ordered.

I could feel a slight sense of unease though once I sat down. My appetite was nowhere to be found once the food arrived. I was seated across from an Indian man about the same age as myself. He pointed out the spiciest things on the plate, what to avoid. That was a very kind gesture of him. I had a few bites of my food and left to go to the restroom, where I vomited. I believe this stomach infection was triggered by something I ate on the last day in Bhutan, rather than what I consumed in Delhi earlier that same day.

Fortunately it was late at night and time to go to the airport regardless. At this point, my illness meant I just wanted to go home. I figured I’d walk to the nearest metro station, which happened to be close to a point of transfer onto the airport line. Once I got outside, the air pollution had thickened quite a bit. Even just car headlights from 100m/300ft down the road were slightly blurred.

Walking along the Rajpath, one of the main boulevards between the India Gate and government buildings in central New Delhi, I eventually got to the closest metro station. I went to the ticket machines to buy a ticket. A short few stops, then a transfer onto a different metro line towards the airport. This meant buying a new ticket, as you couldn’t transfer on the same ticket. At this metro station, named “New Delhi”, I went to the ticket machines once again. Here, an attendant insisted on buying the ticket for me.

This was obviously not my first trip on the Delhi metro that day, and the machine interface was pretty straightforward. I made it clear I didn’t need any help at all. He stubbornly insisted, and showed me his employee badge. He acted almost to the point of preventing me to access the ticket machine on my own, under some weird guise of trying to assist me. I got upset when he initially entered the wrong stop for the airport (two different stops for the domestic vs. international terminal).

Then, he insisted on showing me the flight info screens at the metro station. With 3 hours to go before the flight, I was more than fine. I once again made it clear to him that I had zero interest in any of this. I just wanted to go to the airport, so I could access some medicine that was in my bags, which I had left in the airport’s luggage depot.

Then, after having “helped” me to buy a 60 Rupees (0.80 USD) metro ticket to the airport, the guy started rambling about something that made little sense to me. He wouldn’t let me go. His accent was hard to understand. I think he wanted to sell me a ticket for his brother’s airport transfer service. That became clear when he said for “300 Rupees you get faster to the airport”. This, coming from the ticket seller employed at the metro station!!

I was literally sick, all out of patience, and I was tired of constantly being nagged by locals around Delhi, begging or trying to sell me worthless junk. He even tried to pad me on the shoulder and arm. I yelled a few expletives and just pushed his arm aside to get rid of him. I walked over to the turnstiles and went downstairs to the metro platform. At that point, I just wanted to get out of there. Delhi as a city is a very interesting place to visit thanks to its history and all its buildings, but there are some locals that have a negative effect on the experience. It’s something you have to put up with, which is difficult to do when you’re not feeling well.

Don’t get me wrong, not all of Delhi’s residents are like that. I met several helpful people throughout the day too. However, they were outweighed by the constant yelling and screaming throughout the city for me to buy a tuk-tuk ride, a souvenir photo, or something completely useless. I’m used to traveling in developing countries where people will approach you regularly on the street to provide a service, sell a product or ask for spare change. Usually I’ll just keep walking or respond with a firm no, and then they’ll stop. That’s fine, I can live with that. But that didn’t work in Delhi.

A repeated occurrence was simply walking along the street and being followed by an insisting tuk-tuk driver, a beggar, or a vendor of any kind for a full minute. If you told them “no”, then you recognized their presence and they somehow figured that you might still be interested. If you completely ignored them, they kept following you. I guess they figured you hadn’t yet turned them down! By the end of the day I had figured out the trick for finally getting rid of them. However, it was a method that I prefer not to use. I lost count of how many times I had to threaten random people on the street that I would contact the police. But every time I did, I was left alone.

When I finally made it to the airport’s metro station, I sought out the nearest restroom to vomit again. Once I had recovered my bags at the luggage depot, I took some antibiotics that I had with me in the suitcases. I continued to the airport terminal to check-in. I was going to fly back to Switzerland via Munich with Lufthansa. My plan was to change clothes at the restrooms inside the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge at the airport. I’m very glad I did this, as having an extra set of spare clothes in my carry-on became useful for later. By the time the flight took off, the antibiotics had made me incredibly sleepy.

I was seated in the Premium Economy section of this Airbus A350 to Munich, with an empty aisle seat next to my window seat, meaning I had a two-seat row to myself. Once the meal service began, I had very little appetite, and I felt sick and nauseous again. I didn’t reach for the sick bag in time, and well… I’ve never vomited on a flight before, but I guess there’s a first for everything. All the flight attendants doing the meal service everywhere around me obviously noticed. I took a bit of bread, and another crew member came back to help me clean up. The cabin crew were super nice and very helpful. I went to the restroom and changed my clothes thanks to the spare set I had in my carry-on. For the rest of the flight I was just drinking juices and water, in between falling asleep.

MONDAY, October 1st

After we arrived in Munich, I had a few hours before continuing to Switzerland. I felt somewhat better, and at least the nausea had gone away. For breakfast though, my hunger was limited. I wnet to the Lufthansa Business Lounge in Munich. Not only to relax and get something to eat, but also for a chance to shower. However, the wait-list for the showers was long and my time between flights too short for that.

For the onward flight to Zurich operated by Helvetic Airways for Lufthansa, I spent most of the flight asleep. The medicine, of which I took some more that morning, and the stomach troubles had really knocked me out. I was however in a decent enough shape to get on the bus and make it home to my apartment in Zurich. I spent essentially the rest of the day in bed. By the next day, I felt a lot better.