Trying to leave Delhi... and failing!
Once again, didnt hear the alarm because of the ear plugs....
When the door of our room wouldnt open and we had to call reception to let us out we should have read this as a sign that we wouldnt be leaving this city today.
We checked out, said our goodbyes to the nice staff and headed off to the railway station to buy some tickets... or so we had hoped. Walking down the main bazaar, remenicent of a farmyard and recycling plant, we arrived at the chaotic New Delhi train station. We thought we had made it, but now, we were wrong, according to a man at the station entrance we could enter the station. No ticket , no entry. Another young man verified this, stating that the international tourism ticket office was under renovation and that we had to go to the new ticket office by rickshaw over 1km away! we once again tried to get in, but were stopped again. Stupidly - but with 20 kilos on your back and sweating like pigs (Patricia is no pig of course, but me, well, maybe) you look for the easy way out, and yes we fell for another scam. Two in two days... not bad going.
We went to another supposedly official Tourism bureau asking for tickets, only to be told by a man (who claimed he has studied in Harvard and was a personal friend of the English reporter John Simpson) that there were no trains to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) today and that we could book a trip through him to the Himalayas instead!! When Giles questioned the fact that there were no trains, he accused him of calling him a liar and told us to leave.
If only the nightmare had ended here! Back out on the street, another man approached us and told us that this was not a safe area for foreigners and that we should go with him to another official Tourism State office and get a train ticket from there. When he started to write down the number of the richshaw license on his mobile and tell the driver not to overcharge us, we knew something was up. But off we went to this new ticket office and on arrival went in. Seeing dozens of backpacks in the entrance made us feel slightly more comfortable, but once inside and sitting down we realised that this place was just as bad as the previous one.
After the usual "where are you from", "i have many friends in Spain and England", "my brother was studying in Bristol", and of course "there are no more trains to Agra today, Sir" (despite only being 1pm), we were asked if instead we would like to go to Rajastan!! And then that the only way to Agra was by car, at a cost of 108$ for the two. The man told Giles that he looked stressed and that he should relax... "India is not an easy country to travel in". How can we relax if after three hours we still havent got anywhere!!!
On leaving the travel agency, we saw Houdini (the man who wanted to help us an hour before) just standing there waiting there for his commission, of course there was none. So off we went back to the station, managing to enter through a side door, slip through the taxi ranks and finally got to find the official travel office for foreigners. At last, we were there, we had the sensation of having completed the army assult course, which we are sure was easier than what we just had to battle with.
But of course, after another two hour queue we couldnt get on the train we wanted and couldnt leave today. After all that we had got absolutely nowhere!! Of well, another day in Delhi, and so we went back to the hotel we left five hours earlier only to be told there was no room available! But you have to look on the bright side (there always is one) and we found a better hotel in the area and we highly recommend it: The 'Yes Please Cottage', and we spent the afternoon at the National railway Museum (Giles' favourite), which was great until we were attacked by mosquitos.
So this is the end of day two, lets see if we can actually leave Delhi tomorrow and head for Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal. We have train tickets, so hopefully, all being well, tomorrow well take the two hour train journey at 6am, so its no ear plus tonight as we HAVE to hear the alarm clock.
Sorry, no photos at present as we cant upload them from here, but we will put them up at a later date.
When the door of our room wouldnt open and we had to call reception to let us out we should have read this as a sign that we wouldnt be leaving this city today.
We checked out, said our goodbyes to the nice staff and headed off to the railway station to buy some tickets... or so we had hoped. Walking down the main bazaar, remenicent of a farmyard and recycling plant, we arrived at the chaotic New Delhi train station. We thought we had made it, but now, we were wrong, according to a man at the station entrance we could enter the station. No ticket , no entry. Another young man verified this, stating that the international tourism ticket office was under renovation and that we had to go to the new ticket office by rickshaw over 1km away! we once again tried to get in, but were stopped again. Stupidly - but with 20 kilos on your back and sweating like pigs (Patricia is no pig of course, but me, well, maybe) you look for the easy way out, and yes we fell for another scam. Two in two days... not bad going.
We went to another supposedly official Tourism bureau asking for tickets, only to be told by a man (who claimed he has studied in Harvard and was a personal friend of the English reporter John Simpson) that there were no trains to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) today and that we could book a trip through him to the Himalayas instead!! When Giles questioned the fact that there were no trains, he accused him of calling him a liar and told us to leave.
If only the nightmare had ended here! Back out on the street, another man approached us and told us that this was not a safe area for foreigners and that we should go with him to another official Tourism State office and get a train ticket from there. When he started to write down the number of the richshaw license on his mobile and tell the driver not to overcharge us, we knew something was up. But off we went to this new ticket office and on arrival went in. Seeing dozens of backpacks in the entrance made us feel slightly more comfortable, but once inside and sitting down we realised that this place was just as bad as the previous one.
After the usual "where are you from", "i have many friends in Spain and England", "my brother was studying in Bristol", and of course "there are no more trains to Agra today, Sir" (despite only being 1pm), we were asked if instead we would like to go to Rajastan!! And then that the only way to Agra was by car, at a cost of 108$ for the two. The man told Giles that he looked stressed and that he should relax... "India is not an easy country to travel in". How can we relax if after three hours we still havent got anywhere!!!
On leaving the travel agency, we saw Houdini (the man who wanted to help us an hour before) just standing there waiting there for his commission, of course there was none. So off we went back to the station, managing to enter through a side door, slip through the taxi ranks and finally got to find the official travel office for foreigners. At last, we were there, we had the sensation of having completed the army assult course, which we are sure was easier than what we just had to battle with.
But of course, after another two hour queue we couldnt get on the train we wanted and couldnt leave today. After all that we had got absolutely nowhere!! Of well, another day in Delhi, and so we went back to the hotel we left five hours earlier only to be told there was no room available! But you have to look on the bright side (there always is one) and we found a better hotel in the area and we highly recommend it: The 'Yes Please Cottage', and we spent the afternoon at the National railway Museum (Giles' favourite), which was great until we were attacked by mosquitos.
So this is the end of day two, lets see if we can actually leave Delhi tomorrow and head for Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal. We have train tickets, so hopefully, all being well, tomorrow well take the two hour train journey at 6am, so its no ear plus tonight as we HAVE to hear the alarm clock.
Sorry, no photos at present as we cant upload them from here, but we will put them up at a later date.
posted by GilesPatricia | 9:49 AM
1 Comments:
It´s amazing the way you both are describing every moment... there´s no need of pics to illustrate the anxiety, sweating, surprise, anger... I think that instead of India, yours is being a journey through all the human emotions...
I hope you are enjoying "Taj Majal" right now...
Yours sincerely,
Antonio
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