First of all, the haggling in the markets, and almost anything else, is exhausting. We started off strong. We walked away from several shop owners when we felt prices were too high. We attempted to visit Kahn Market after another short train ride, only to discover it was closed. At this point we needed a autorickshaw driver and quickly realized we were woefully unprepared.
The driver told us the location that we were trying to get to was closed (something the guidebooks warned us they would do), and unfortunately we fell for it. He tried to take us to some random restaurant claiming that the it was hipper and better than the area that we were asking to be taken too. At this point, we dug in and demanded to be taken to our destination. He relented and pretty soon we found ourselves in an area called Defense Colony. It' a small group of buildings surrounded by parks. Lots of small shops and very suburban. We ate an Italian place, because the place that we were looking for was closed, and consumed what I'm pretty sure was a frozen pizza, a few frozen meatballs and some beer. On the upside of things, we were able to sit on the roof terrace and very comfortable leather lounge sofas and relax with some quiet.
The bill came just as the restaurant was closing. It was 1 am, and it had been a long day. We were ready for bed. I looked in my pocket for the business card of the hotel we were staying at, but it was gone. Mike didn't have it either. There was no internet connection at the restaurant, and the waitstaff was only mildly helpful. We were able figure out the general neighborhood, but the street address, which didn't really matter since none of the cab drivers know any of the neighborhood street anyway. We went outside and found a car for hire. He asked 500 rupees. We balked and went to look for another driver. There were none.
We finally found an autorickshaw who agreed to take us for 120 rupees. We jumped in. It was freezing. The streets were deserted and we flew through the city at breakneck speed. We soon realized he was high. Since the streets were empty, we gritted our teeth and went with it. We finally arrived at our hotel at about 2. We went up stairs, jumped in bed and shut off the lights. I didn't realize how jetlagged I was, but let's just say, I didn't sleep at all that night.
The next day was a complete blur. We started off the day by getting swindled by another rickshaw driver. He took us to some shop that we didn't want to go to, where the high pressure sales people were relentless. One of them tried to flatter Mike by telling him he looked like a movie star. Unfortunately for Mike, that movie star was Robin Williams. We left the shop where the driver again tried to swindle us into another shop that we receives commission from. We went with it just to see what would happen. It was the same thing as the last place. We finally ended up darting down a street just to get away from the guy.
Throughout the rest of the day we hacked our way through Janpath Market, which was actually the only place we had any success shopping. We had lunch, and then another exhausting encounter with a tout at a travel agency. After a harrowing rush hour encounter on the train, we ended up back at Chandni Chowk to get the glasses we had ordered the day before, walked to Red Fort at the end of the street and sought refuge.
We were able to buy ourselves about a 30 minutes of peace before nearly being robbed by a group of boys and their leader. After our final harrowing walk down Chandni Chawk lane, we boarded the train and headed to a restaurant for dinner. Before out plates hit the table, Mike and I both realized that we were done. We needed sleep. And quiet.
We didn't leave the hotel room the next morning until the car came and took us to the airport.
For all the difficulty that Delhi presented, I'm glad that we did it. It was intense and relentless, but it also had some simple beauty. Here's an example.
Untitled from Ryan Schulz on Vimeo.
New Delhi is a place that feels like a dream, when it isn't busy being a nightmare.
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