At 6am after another terrible night I stepped over the sleeping night guard and let myself out of the hotel and was swiftly ripped off by a greedy rickshaw driver, having no fight left and I was just glad I was getting closer to my destination of New Delhi and further from Taj Ganj.
I was surprised by how quiet the train was, in second class 12 people are supposed to sit where 8 are in sleeper, not bad I thought, but then again that doesn't include standing/free loading passengers. After the first two stops the train was now starting to resemble those of the typical stereotype, the roof providing more space and better air conditioning. I tried to take refuge by directing my head out the window, this was ok in unpopulated areas, of which there are very few, but once you hit a village or town you are met by flashes of white and brown, this being the local village men doing there buisness in the mostly secluded area that is the train tracks. I mean I suppose for 99% of the time this is fine but for that split second you are exposed for the whole commuting world to see, some even face the train, exposing a touch of the voyuer in the locals maybe.
We slowly made our way to Delhi with the train bursting at the seams with people, luggage, parcels and a few suspicious bags leaking a foul smelling liquid, and that was just in my limited eyeline, with visibility limited to about 6cm I'm sure there were many other wonderous things going on past the Indian womans arse directly in front of me. The train began to thin out as we made our slow approach to New Delhi station, the ever impatiant locals taking the oppertunity to hop off as we neared walking pace. I waited till we came to a full stop before hopping off, much to the disgust of the passengers behind me, and I was met by the hustle and bustle of the capitals main station.
On leaving the sanctity of the platform I was instantly bombarded by rickshaw drivers easy to make a quick buck. My hotel was a ten minute walk but despite this I was quoted upwards of 500 rupees for the two minute journey, although if I went to another, "better", hotel of their choosing they would gladly take me there for 10 rupees. I eventually decided to walk and after a short, sweaty trudge I arrived at the Amax Inn.
I had splurged and opted for A/C as the summer temperatures were hitting the mid 40's and with the night providing little relief it seemed worth it. The room was nice enough and despite the pigeons who had made a home on the A/C unit outside my window, relatively quiet.
I decided to head sraight to the heart of New Delhi, Connought Place, a series of circles in a typically British style with a huge roundabout in the centre, which at the time was host to a pack of bears, of the fibre glass painted variety, each country represented by a stereotypical incarnation of an 8ft grizzly. Well that is except Britain which opted for a middle eastern sheik type figure which was a little perplexing especially when plonked next to americas statue of libearty and round the corner Irelands Leprabear. Anyway, I srolled through the main circle and was confronted by shops that you would expect on any UK high street and the occasional old style stationers hanging on in a vert modern world sandwiched between a McDonalds and a Levi shop. I decided to check out the metro for my return journey and once through the metal detectors and baggage xrays I was greeted by something I had not yet expierenced in India, a clean, well organised, efficient, punctual, air conditioned method of travel.
I returned to the Hotel and crashed out with the A/C on full and only the faint scratching and shuffling of pigeons shagging to disturb me, utter bliss compared to Agra.
