Namashkar India (Part 10: Delhi, You Crazy!)

So now, we have come to the end of our journey in India.

It's Delhi time!

It took almost 13 hours to travel from Jodhpur to Delhi. And we arrived in Delhi around 11 am that day.

Delhi Train Station in the Old Delhi

Once we reached the train station, the first thing to do is to find place/locker to keep our bags. Unfortunately, we can't keep our bags in the locker at the train station like we usually do because we don't have any upcoming tickets anymore.

So, we have to find locker service in Delhi for that purpose. Then we both started searching for the locker in the internet and thank God we found a place near the city to keep our bags.

And luckily we found out that there is luggage room run by Ajay's Place in Paharganj so from the train station, we took auto and headed there to keep our bags there while we explore Delhi that day.

FYI, we have flight on that day at 12 am so we really don't have much time left in Delhi.

Along the way from the train station to the luggage room, we observed there were so many stalls opening by the side of the roads and there were so many people cooking like they were preparing for some festivities. We would like to ask the auto drivers but then we just keep the questions to ourselves.

I thought it was normal in Delhi at first.

So when we arrived in the luggage room, we placed our bags there and pay for the fees. If I'm not mistaken, the fees are Rs 20 per bag per day. So for us, it's only Rs 40 since we only have 2 bags with us and you have to pay a deposit of Rs 20 or so...I can't remember.

After making sure that our bags are safely kept in the room, we then headed for our next adventure. Actually, prior to our journey to Delhi, Farah has contacted Kak Siti, who is a Malaysian traveler that has spend most of her time in India and Pakistan. And if I'm not mistaken, during our trip to India, she has been in Delhi for almost a month, or more! She has agreed to meet us in Delhi for lunch so from Paharganj, we then headed to Connaught Place to meet her.

Since the traffic was quite heavy, and we don't have much time to get ourselves stuck in a traffic jam, we then decided that it's better for us to just take the metro anyways. From Paharganj, the nearest metro station was 10 minutes away by walking and with the guidance from the from Ajay's Place, we walked to the metro station.

Oh, fun fact! You know, after finishing this trip, I have fallen madly in love with India that I started reading books about the country and I found this one book in BBW describing the red light district in Delhi and you know where it's located? Exactly the other side of the Paharganj area! I know I shouldn't be excited but I am! It was the oldest red light district area in Delhi and it was dying anyways. However, I didn't caught any side of the women who worked there, or maybe if I did, I wouldn't know anyways. Maybe if you ever come to visit Delhi, you may take a walk there.

Okay, back to our journey. So after some time, we arrived in Connaught Place. If I'm not mistaken, we only need to stop two stations away from Paharganj metro station, then change line to another station before arriving in Connaught Place.

In Connaught Place, we met Kak Siti at a coffee shop as promised. Yey! (Sorry, I couldn't find any pictures of Kak Siti)

So for you who didn't know (I don't!), this Kak Siti is so soft spoken and very demure. Guess looks can be really deceiving! Who would have thought such a demure lady like her have been going around the globe travelling by herself!

At first, we decided to eat at Nando's since it's near and we were starving anyways. But then, Kak Siti suggested we tried this new restaurant in Delhi that is famous for its delicious dishes as it was told that the recipes were all originally coming from the head chef who has served Shah Jahan during his era.

We're thrilled! The name of the restaurant is Karim's. You may found the restaurant near Jama Masjid area.

I think this is the Jama Masjid...or not?

So, we then decided to take a rickshaw to the Jama Masjid area for the food hunt.

The traffic here in Delhi was crazy during this time especially with all those stalls (as mentioned earlier) was starting to operate.

We have to walk for about 10 minutes or so before reaching the restaurant. And there were hundreds of people there since we have to go across bazaar selling preloved items and clothes. I was afraid that I would lost track of Kak Siti and Farah since I was at the back but thank God, we managed.

Haha drama kan.

By the way, the food in Karim's still can't beat Sha Chicken Hut of Varanasi. Best food ever! But you may want to try eating here cause, why not?

So, after eating, we went for saree hunting! Yasss, people say sarees in Delhi is prettier and of different style from Varanasi. So we ride on another rickshaw and went to the famous Chandni Chowk to buy some more sarees.

Bhai sab tempting us with beautiful sarees

Okay, the price here is definitely a lot more expensive compared to Varanasi, but they have more designs and patterns. In Varanasi, the sarees are not as shiny but more subtle and the designs were of floral and not accessorized as much as the ones in Delhi.

But, expensive or not, we did swiped our cards here! Haha

It was almost 6 pm after we finished buying sarees and all, and we decided to go hunting for souvenirs to give to people back home but unfortunately, most shops that we went to are closed or too expensive for us.

Then we decided that we should just go back to Paharganj since Kak Siti said that there were a lot of souvenirs shops in Paharganj too.

And tell you what, when asked around for autos to take us to Paharganj, most of them refused to take us there. Masalahnya, bukan satu dua je tau yang taknak bawak kitorang, ada lah dalam 3-4 auto drivers yang geleng kepala when we said "Paharganj?"

After some time, baru kitorang jumpa yang sudi bawak. Itu pun dia bawak half way. We have to walk about 10 minutes to go to Paharganj.

You know why? Remember the stalls and everything? Rupanya memang ada festivals! It was some kind of Sikhs festival celebrating their gurus so most of the roads were closed no wonder lah those drivers refused to take us there.

Tapi I don't know lah kan, from my observation, these Indians kan they were so cool when they got stuck in the traffic jams. Probably because they have already anticipated that they were going to be stuck in jam (sebab tak keluar earlier) but they just tutup engine and keluar kereta bersembang dengan orang sebelah, some just tidur dalam kereta.

Crazy traffics!

So along the way, we got to see perarakan with decorated cars, ada pertunjukan lawan pedang, and they gave us free food too!

Decorated car with Sikhs gurus inside (I think)

Pertunjukan main pedang

Perarakan naik kuda pun ada!

But, despite all these people flooding the road in Paharganj, we still managed to do our mission to shop for souvenirs!

Okay, I don't have pictures for this, but you know what, we went to this one shop selling jewelries macam Lovisa tu but it was so freaking big! Faham tak every level is for different accessories? They have this one whole level selling only earrings and the next level for bangles, the next are for necklaces. It was crazy and I really couldn't help myself but to shop for a lot of things there! Dah lah murah!

Lepas tu kalau you guys nak cari capal kulit ke, kasut ke, boleh lah beli kat area sini. Banyak kedai jual. Also kat sini jugak we bought keychains murah like 10 pieces for Rs 100 (RM7) so apa lagi kan, borong lah! Hahaha.

Stall giving out foods (manisan) and drinks to visitors

Paharganj at night

So around 9 plus, we went to pick up our bags and then head to the airport and we did say thank you and big goodbye to Kak Siti sebab sudi luangkan masa siap ikut kitorang shopping sarees and souvenirs padahal original plan is for her to have lunch with us je! So baik.

Waktu nak pergi airport ni, we decided to take metro je sebab kalau naik uber or taxi confirm tak sampai sebab jam gilo lepas tu time beli token for metro tu, I yang kena pergi beli tau. Okay, I ni manusia paling lembab bab setelkan hal train, LRT, MRT, Metro and all so I tersalah beli token tau. Sepatutnya boleh je beli token straight ke airport tapi sebab I stupid kan, I beli untuk pergi satu station je.

LOL.

So, kat station baru tu, kena lah beli baru and kena keluar masuk balik dah lah lupa which token is for which. Sabor je lah Farah dengan I time tu. Hahaha.

Lepas tu, from the metro station tu, we have to go to Terminal 3 if I'm not mistaken and bila sampai sana, we were greeted by some kind of valet yang akan uruskan our bags meaning we don't have to usung beg berat all the way from the metro sampai lah depat departure hall untuk check in tu. And the service is cheap kalau tak silap I only Rs 400 kot so apa lagi kan badan dah sakit, orang offer nak bawakkan barang kitorang pun ambik je lah service ni. Seriously very convenient so if korang gi sana and jumpa service ni, ambik je okay. Senang.

Also, worth to note that dekat Delhi airport ni, hanya orang with tickets je boleh masuk dalam Departure area as in kat tempat you guys nak check in tu. Bukan masuk dalam hall tu. So kalau you takde boarding pass, you duduk lah kat luar tu nanti guard tak bagi masuk dalam so awas ye sila make sure you have boarding pass or tickets siap siap.

And since we were super hungry and kat dalam airport tu takde makanan halal, so kitorang pun pergi lah makan McD since McD kat sana ada untuk vegetarian kan. Farah went for fish fillet while I makan Spicy McDeluxe versi cheese. Hahaha sedap lah jugak even rasa aneh sikit sebab dah biasa makan ayam kan.

So, after settle everything, kitorang pun berangkat dengan hati yang berat dan kembali ke Kuala Lumpur.

Overall, India trip ni memang best gila. I did not regret a single thing pun going to this trip. Faham tak tempat ni best yang teramat? It was like a soul searching experience for me. Also, sebab I dapat partner travel yang best and cool so that's why lah kot trip ni jadi makin best. So, nasihat I, kalau you nak pergi India ni, make sure you mentally prepared and make sure your travel partner pun jenis yang sekepala jugak. Kalau tak, nasib lah nak.

So, I guess, this is goodbye. Lama I contemplate to finish writing about my India experience sebab I taknak say goodbye but I guess this is a closure. I still go through the pictures and keep posting it in my Instagram sebab memang banyak gila gambar cantik. India is really a very beautiful country. Kalau ada rezeki, pergi lah. Serius tak menyesal.

Okay, till next time. Have fun in whatever you do peeps!

And byeeeeee INDIA! YOU'VE BEEN SUPER GREAT TO ME!

Namashkar India (Part 1: Preparation)
Namashkar India (Part 2: Kolkata Here We Come!)
Namashkar India (Part 3: Mystical Varanasi)
Namashkar India (Part 4: Magical Varanasi)
Namashkar India (Part 5: Agra, The City of Love)
Namashkar India (Part 6: A Night Under The Sky, Jaisalmer)
Namashkar India (Part 7: A Night Under The Stars, Jaisalmer)
Namashkar India (Part 8: Starry Starry Night)
Namashkar India (Part 9: Majestic Fort)
Namashkar India (Part 10: Delhi, You Crazy!)