A bit of administration stuff first. For those of you who are interested, I’ve posted a 10 minute walk about of the village on Youtube. Not the most informative documentary you will ever see but it give you a flavour for village life.
http://www.youtube.com/user/MSheffer1962#p/a/u/0/MTsDQRw8FrQ
Now back to the adventure.
We had a Hotel Car arranged at 5:45 a.m. to take us to the Mumbai domestic airport where our plane to Delhi awaited.
The ride was…interesting to say the least. I’m convinced that the driver was on speed as we dashed through the virtually empty streets. Bouncing over potholes taking sharp turns and making the occasional sudden veer tossed us a little bit and my diet Pepsi didn’t fare too well. (an excellent substitute for coffee by the way).
Our destination was Delhi where we are to spend a few days with Nicole’s Cousins Nigel and Clare and the British Embassy Compound in New Delhi.
We were greeted by Duchand, the house driver and I knew, just by his warm smile, that this was going to be a very different experience than Mumbai.
My first impression of Delhi was that it was that it seemed more spacious and cleaner; perhaps a little more cosmopolitan. Hell, even the construction workers that we passed on the highway were wearing Hard Helmets and Safety boots.
To be fair the first impressions of Delhi could have been skewed by the fact that this city had just been host to the Commonwealth games and things may be a bit tidier than usual.
There was poverty no doubt and when you stop your car beggars will come up to your window and tap the glass for offerings. It’s sounds awful but I have already be conditioned to look straight ahead and ignore the little palms against the glass. I feel like a Bastard but rolling down the window to give a few rupees would be problematic at best.
We are staying in the area of the Diplomatic Enclave. We pass embassy after embassy with high walls and well manicured lawns. Once at the gate of the British Compound we passed through a large gate: where we were greeted by retired British soldiers. The driver stops and unlatches the hood of the car and the bottom of the vehicle is expected. Once completed, the barrier is lifted and we pass to Clare and Nigel’s home.
I’m going to start to gush, so if you would like to pass the next few paragraphs I totally understand.
Despite the beautiful home, the house staff and the gated community; Nigel and Clare lack all pretention that you might expect when being hosted by professional Diplomats (as seen on Television).
Clare greeted us with a warm smile and you felt that at the time you were the most interesting person in the room. She politely informed us that she had to leave us for a while as she had a scheduled Serbian lesson.
Nigel, Nicole’s Cousin, will be posted in Bosnia, leaving his post in India during the month of June and Diplomats are expected to be able to converse in the native language.
We were served lemon fizz drinks as we sat in the back yard. The loud sounds of drivers fighting with rickshaws who were fighting with motorcyclists who were dodging pedestrians; was replaced by the tranquil sounds of nature.
We watched as chipmunks dodged about the yard neighbouring with various and abundant birds while parakeets skirted from tree to tree.
We were half expecting Snow White to pop out from behind one of the Palms and start singing. She must have been in the Pub.
With her lesson over Clare gave us a quick tour of the compound with abundant energy all the while entertaining us with her ability to mimic other foreigners – her Canadian is quite good.
Next were introductions to Nigel; a career diplomat with a great sense of humour and a quirky little grin not too dissimilar to Nicole’s – it must be genetic.
I am amazed that despite his busy schedule he still has time to host.
We meet the children, Connor and Katya, smart and whimsical with their Mother’s ability to mimic. It’s hard not to laugh when a 7 and 5 year old count with Hindi accents: “Forrrrteee Wonn, Forrrteee Toooo, Forrrrrteee Treeeee”
Nigel goes back to work while Clare and the Kids take us to the Red Fort and a Rickshaw ride through the streets of Old Delhi.
The Fort was vast and rich in history to vast for me to describe in words but the way the light bounced through the architecture lead to some amazing photo opportunities that can’t be beat. Well, not exactly true because the journey we took next through the thin and packed streets of Old Delhi topped the day.
Imagine driving through streets no wider than 8 feet. Driven by a pedal powered rickshaw. Packed with Merchants moving their wares.
The Wedding Market, the Electronic Market, the Silk Market and finally the Spice Market was an assault on every sense and worth every rupee we paid (approximately $20 Canadian Dollars).
Once the ride was finished I was light headed from all the exhaust fumes, from the heavy traffic, not our rickshaw driver.
I wanted to do it again!
There is nothing so exotic as driving down a busy Old Delhi street , the smell of fresh spices permeating your nostrils while monkey play on the swaying power lines above.
More sights tomorrow, can’t wait. This leg of the trip is a perfect mix of luxury and deep culture; thanks to Clare and Nigel.
