A Whole New World

After finally settling into my originally planned hotel, I took a walk about in this neighborhood. The poverty was appalling. I've traveled a fair amount and I've never seen anything like it. It's overwhelming and chilling.

Crossing a street here is quite a bit like being the frog in frogger with a blind fold on. The space you consume is open space, as far as drivers are concerned. I am getting a slight thrill in frogging across these huge highways, but only when I'm in the mood. There were a couple times where I wished there was a traffic obeyed crosswalk. It takes a lot of energy to cross these major streets.

I just got back from Connaught Place. It's the center of New Delhi and also the main shopping area. It's a big circle with radial streets, quite a bit like Burning Man's street layout. Under part of the center park is the Palika Bazaar. I had thought the vendors were aggressive on the street (they were, the worst I've ever experienced), but the vendors in the Bazaar were 10 fold more aggressive. I only lasted about 20 minutes down there.

I'm glad I'm back at the hotel. I have this awful headache right now. I think between the pollution, the noise, and the amount of energy it takes to politely handle the obscenely aggressive vendors and everybody else who apparently wants to be my friend desperately, my head is unhappy. You wouldn't believe how loud it is everywhere. Everybody has gone out and purchased a custom loud horn for their rickshaw, car, or bike, and they are not hesitant to use it. It's so loud as a pedestrian, especially when you're trying to cross the street.

On a plus note I ate lunch at the shopping area and had saag paneer, and it was freakin amazing. Yum! I'd say currently my favorite part of India is the food and architecture. It's amazing so far.