The road to Delhi Delhi 13-19.03.2009
Delhi. Every big city at the beginning of the crushing swa nieogarnietoscia and tumult.
Escape from riksiarzami, taxi drivers and the rest of the phonies, at least a few problems wypytania a way and finally we enter the narrow neighborhood streets, a thousand stalls, small shops and hotels and guesthouses. This place looks like it has been built right after regaining independence and since then left to run itself. From time to time, I fail to see from the mud and garbage piece of asphalt - the memory of its former glory.
Pahar Ganj
Here - glowny bazaar town.
room costs an average of 200-250 rupees, so we aspire to find this for the 150th We eventually succeed. Hotelik has a staircase in the shape of a spiral - so narrow, with barely squeeze our backpacks (tent scrubs at the same time the left and right wall).
We do not know that we'll spend the whole week there. We still have a naive hope that will be folded all the documents needed for visas within two days and escape from ochydnego, the great city;)
* When we descend to the formalities settle down (after two long forms, plus a photo, if you want to rent a room. ..), we Jure - a Russian from Moscow. As with in our room are three beds, so as to offer us moved. And so the next three days we spend together.
George is just a coincidence ... :) Is a special kind Wypasanca. There is no practice of meditation, but drug use in August. And indeed - hashish to LSD extend his perceptions of the hey. Some findings, such as this, you can peel the bananas in two different ways, forever changing my life ...;) But he must admit that is a very careful observer and nice figured Hindu. Thanks to him, unless you are better understood. Betrayed us too many different ways, their approaches to the haggling, with Zuza misses;)
Jura is a cheerful boy, frequently repeated that he is happy. But from the snippets of his story can also build a little different picture ... Daughter, who saw only once in my life, completely severed ties with her parents, strange relationships with women, daily toiled in a law firm and seeking respite in chemistry ...
* Most of the time we spend in embassies (more on this in a separate entry) or here where we live - in the bazaar. Here you can probably spend a long week and every day something new and interesting meeting.
most Pahar Ganj characteristic of a piston (sometimes they do not fit pedestrians, and pedestrians need to add more rickshaws, tuk-tuk, cars and cows), and endless numbers of people who get stuck you on the road. These are mostly sellers. "Toilet paper?". "No, thanks." "Well?" Why ?????" - and wonders full of indignation, as if to buy the paper was the duty of every tourist. Sometimes it is already a really desperate: (tearfully) "Sir, what can I sell you ???", or (authoritatively) "Sir, I am here! Listen to me! "Sometimes I also get crafty ... "Where are you from? Long in India? Do you like mountains? I am from Kashmir, there are beautiful mountains ... Want to see the pictures? "No, sir, I know the pictures are in your shop where you will want me to sell one hundred things you do not need:)
Sometimes you just want to talk and practice his English. We find this one. Interrogates a different matter, a smile on his lips, in the eyes of undying friendship. But suddenly his face seriously and without a word from us is running ... Stopped near the three blond American woman - surely will be more interesting conversation:)
hook, of course, beggars. But about anything interesting to say I do not think I can ... Maybe so, the first time in my life I see people with trad ...
*
not fail to mention also of shops. In India is reportedly very low unemployment. How was it possible in such an overcrowded and underdeveloped country? Now, just work that may be carried by one person, carries a few people. And it is not artificially imposed solution, as in communism. They are of themselves organize their lives in this way. So for example, are people whose only duty is to open / close doors. In the smallest shops work on several people. Most I can see it in stores with carpets. On the floor sits zaturbaniony Sikh or "white" Hindu, around the 3-4 "dark" Hindu lower castes of i. .. sit. Drink tea, smoke cigarettes, they talk - the carpets rarely someone comes. But the work is 5 people.
But if you go to a more upscale neighborhood, in stores of goods is more and less maintenance. I can see now only people with fair skin ... I feel perfume everywhere - every moment of the flask of someone years and jealously shop and sprayed the streets outside the shop.
And here, at Pahar Ganj, vendor fly with the broom - still need to sweep the goods from the ubiquitous dust ...
*
In this place was supposed to be several stories illustrating the "souls" Hindu, but the supple this passage in the future. Otherwise I do not know how long I would have to wait to publish this alert;)
In return - most revealing photo:
*
Hindu Besides the streets of the bazaar you can meet of course, also white. Meet m.in Ark (of whom later), though jurnego old Greek, who always has some sort of a cool story, "which is not on" and ... Celine and Mathias! Swiss, whom we met in the Pakistani-Indian border. For them, nothing new - still stationed on the border, and from 48 days pending a heroic fight for permission to enter India for their donkeys (for a change after a heroic struggle for permission to go to Pakistan.) In the meantime, arriving in Delhi interviews (here, too slowly become famous;) and strike to ever higher officials. May Meet Soon spokesperson for Prime Minister. But without a bribe, and so probably do not give advice. Because the law is right - someone will zagapil and animals is only mentioned in the rules regarding movement of sea and air. So they can bring these donkeys only by boat or plane. That is, even now that they can not, because they already are not allowed back into Pakistan. Paragraph 22 is Pikus.
Together with them, and the Embassy of Pakistan spotkanymi Bernard and Andrew, stick together until the end of your stay in Delhi.
Bernard is German. One day we buy something, and if you want to pay him the money, August twists, twists, until finally I said, "It's still not my money, only the German government." Because Bernard is on unemployment and Every month gets this allowance, the head small. It's nothing that a few months is outside the country, and neither thinks to look for work. It's fun to be a German:)
Andrew is a correspondent Tygodnik (and every other newspaper and television, if you want something from him;). He was on the war in Sri Lanka, and now goes to Pakistan and Afghanistan to write about the Taliban. In Delhi, kept creating
this column. If you seem to think you can write better, take into consideration that, whenever I take Andrew wanted to be writing some sort of invisible strength wsadzala him to hand a bottle of whiskey and bring peace to rozowosciennego countrymen;)
*
those compatriots is a special Pahar Ganj in the case;)
Most
girl can meet when making use of his salesmanship. Absolutely haggle. Vendor had errors in its view, the sciatic hair of powerlessness, go out to the back brac sedatives - the Susan are not able to earn ... Zuza for this pales at the sight of Indian jewelry and low prices. Who knows me, knows that her love of the crap. And this is not surprising that up to his no small 30kg baggage did not hesitate to throw 2.5 kg beads:)
Somewhere niepodal Zuza can usually Spot A bearded boyfriend, singing out loud Polish religious songs I remembered from primary school. But do not ask why it is doing:) One can only guess that she has fun with this that it can do anything here, and yet no one will seem strange. You can look and dress like it is wanted. You can throw garbage everywhere, where it is wanted. You can pee almost everywhere, where it is wanted. The trains have introduced non-smoking and what? Someone tells us how people have beaten the conductor, someone who wanted a ticket for burning palm. It does not matter if they were non-smokers - count the freedom!
*
Once we went to watch the sights ... Illustrations, the only interesting things below:
some famous mosque there. And the old man from the mosque. Takes care lest we all took off their shoes. Against white understanding, but to "their" time he used the stick:) 
The famous Red Fort. Fort boring tripe like oil, but a walk along the walls of a sudden we realized that the few minutes we were completely alone - no Hindu everywhere. Luckily, our faces are not fake;) 
Street concert 
to bring together you can see how music arouses extreme emotions ... *
She was one more thing to write - feels compelled to warn everyone before taking off house to India, traveler's checks:) First
need to find a bank, which, although theoretically implement such checks. I know that does Bank of India. Unfortunately, finding anything in kilkunastomilionowym city where houses have no numbers, it is really difficult. Googlemaps tells me the approximate location. But in hind site the locals have no idea what we speak. Also we spend a lot of time in extremely wymeczajacej "financial district" and nothing comes out ...
way back, we find the case of Bank of India branch in a completely different place. Already closed. So I go the next day. Lady sent back to the basement. In the basement kilkanasie, perhaps dozens of desks. The Lord of the mustache, and clerk almighty mine says that such things are not doing here. "But I know I do." Mr. August winces and says that on Monday does not support transactions in foreign currencies. "But I desperately need the money today." "Go on the floor so the company X, they'll handle you." On the floor, it turns out that company X deals with transport and travelers checks and never had never seen ...
next day, returning from the Iranian embassy, \u200b\u200bwe come to the main branch of the bank. It turns out that the first day we were just a few yards from him (well, even people who are working on in the day just past, they had no idea that this bank is there:).
'm trying so lucky. "I'm sorry, do not support travelers checks." "I know that you support - you can call the American Express, that you explain that you support. " "Well, please sit down." After half an hour to himself asks me another man. Of course, the mustache. Observe these checks, watches ... "I have to have a passport Photocopying, but there's no copy machine, please come back later with kserowkami." "But I do not know the city, I do not know where I can do it, you'll get lost. In this big, rich bank will certainly find some kind of copier ...". The Lord sighed, and will young boyfriend. The boy takes a passport, and after 5 minutes of returning from kserowkami. I have to pay for. But this is not the end. The Lord says that I do now with these kserowkami went to a nearby exchange office and mentioned there, because it is cooperating with the bank office. "But I do not know where it is. And there probably sent me back here. Please arrange it on hand. " Answer is a shooting head and looking at the ceiling of the mine, "I can not help" ... So I repeat the same thing again. Then repeat the same thing again ... Patiently and quietly ... And again ...
Bank employees begin to be vigilant as my head. Yes my friends, is a halo ...
In the end you sigh, and colleagues will actually come to work. I do not know how many forms you fill out and stamp, but it takes three people about 20 minutes. In the end, gets a thick wad of money. Not dollars. Rupees ... But I'm already so tired that I wave a hand in - the land that I have money.
*
As I write at the end? Delhi turned out jednk not so bad. Here also liked to be:)
