Touchdown -India 2024

The flights were surprisingly quick. There was the usual beige girl security shakedown in Ottawa but we managed to grab seats on an earlier flight to Toronto and landed in Delhi half an hour early. 

In Toronto the gate for the Delhi flight was right beside the gate for Santiago de Chile, which looked like a competition for the airport’s most unruly customers. India can usually compete for chaotic rushing of the zone gates but Chile really held its own. One woman tried to crawl under the section rope and brought a metal sign down on her head. Once on the plane, it was pretty smooth aside from the small boy who approached me and honked my boob twice. One fella enthralled a crowd by fainting and cracking his noggin outside the bathroom near my seat. People gathered round him to offer useful advice and opinions on his situation.

This was my first trip to India without Mama G along for at least some of it. K & I were adventuring on our own and ready to go!

I had read before leaving that Delhi was having high pollution this winter but I didn’t expect the air to be so visibly brown. Still, it was nice to be back. We met up with A and took the metro into town. Delhi’s metro is so clean and functional compared to Ottawa’s. 

Paharganj is still loud, but less crowded overall. More foreigners than last year but way fewer than pre-COVID. The begging ladies with children swarm the few foreigners like mosquitos and one lady who was a particular pest last year remembered me and stuck like glue. With so few targets, they will follow you to a shop or restaurant and wait until you leave to continue the begging. 

Many of the favourite backpacker haunts are closed, including the infamous Sam’s rooftop bar. Most of the restaurants that served tourists 10 years ago when I first arrived are gone. I’ve had to find new sources for a good cappuccino, masala chai and my beloved thukpa soup with momos. I’m a sucker for any restaurant with Everest in the name, which invariably involves 12 flights of stairs. Jyoti Mahal still has their breakfast special on their charming rooftop garden that allows you to forget it sits in a fetid back alley full of turds and construction. The little horse that I first saw living inside a doorway off that alley 10 years ago still resides in the same doorway and he sometimes has a friend.

Once we got settled with SIM cards, rupees, domestic flights and basic toiletries, we headed off to an all India handicrafts festival at India Gate with my friend’s wife. There was an amazing array of local handicrafts and I impressed myself with my restraint. All I bought was some cow dung incense and a rose kulfi. What more could one need from life? K & I did see some black rock based cooking pots that convinced us we need a trip to Manipur one of these years. Return to India for another trip? Twist my rubber arm!

Today we are off to a new to us region - Gujarat!