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| Gandhi Leading his People |
The next day, I hired a driver from the hotel for four hours
for 650Rp. I asked for a map, and luckily, he took me to a place that became a
touchstone for me: India Travel
Organizers (ITO), also in the Channa Market area. Raja Burza, handsome devil,
spoke perfect British English, and lined me up with a map. ITO, with offices
around India, also organizes trips: Burza ji (that’s MR. Burza to the
uninitiated. “ji” also means “yes”, which can get a little confusing) did
mention that on ITO trips, you get what you pay for, unlike the 2-star hotels
(one of which was downright creepy) passed off as 3-star by Intrepid.
True? I don’t know--I have no comparison.
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| The Kahn Market |
After, my hotel-cabbie insisted on taking me to a shopping
place I didn’t want to go even though I told him no. He insisted the place I
wanted--the Kahn market--wasn’t open yet. Lesson two: arguing is the national
sport of India, and if I REALLY didn’t want to go, I would have adopted a harsh
and commanding voice, which was totally foreign to me and most Westerners.
After being rude to the woman owner of this other place who practically dragged
me from one building to another (“no, thank you.” “No, really”. “I really don’t
want anything, thank you.” “I have to go now.” “I’m going now”. “No, I’m REALLY
not interested.”)--I was learning--I finally got to the Kahn market. There, I
found a cool little shop (Vishnu) where I picked up some tops for 350Rp each
(about $7). Again, I got lucky—the omnipresent horde of street hucksters I
would come to know and dread were missing from the Kahn market, so I was
feeling pretty cool.
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| Lodhi Garden Restaurant |
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| Lodhi Gardens |
The cabbie took me to what was to become one of my
favorite places in Delhi for lunch: the Lodhi Garden restaurant, in front of
the actual Lodhi Garden with Its beautiful ancient buildings. Back to the hotel
for a nap, and it was time for dinner. It was then I discovered the most
difficult part of the trip: walking the blocks beyond the hotel to find a
restaurant, I was besieged by bicycle rickshaw drivers (“Madam, madam, I can
take you to the Metro”); little kids (“Lady, I show you around”), and salesmen
on the main shopping street (“Come in and look. No charge for looking. You
don’t have to buy anything, just look.”). If I hesitated for more than a few
seconds at any restaurant front, insistent people who wanted my business
surrounded me. Of note: the raging poverty, cardboard shack homes, physically
disabled and malformed beggars I was warned about were seldom visible anywhere I went here in Delhi and in India; something good has really happened
here. Raja Burza told me there were social programs for people in dire straits,
and school, including uniforms and books are free to all children. However,
some families prefer to (successfully) work the soft heart and inability to say
“no” of Westerners, and take the kids out of school to beg or sell
trinkets—“miserable for the future of India” he said. Overwhelmed, I hurried
back to the hotel and ate a wrap I bought at the airport.
To see specific reviews of guides/travel companies, places
to eat, stay and shop in India, see my
custom guide to the golden triangle on GoGoBot.
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