DIRTY DIRTYY DELHI

So it is spring break 08…woot woot… haha.. Sara and I left Israel on April 11th. We met the travel agent at the central train station in Tel Aviv at around 6:45am, we then boarded a bus where we made a three hour drive to the Israeli/Jordanian border, once we crossed the border it was another two hours to Amman (the capital). Once in Amman we bordered a flight to Bahrain where we had a 6 hour layover, we then got a plane to New Delhi. In all it was 24 full hours of traveling.
At the baggage claim in New Delhi we met another traveler, a guy traveling throughout India for the next three months. His name is Jeff summers, he’s 26, and from Detroit. A very cool guy all in all. He’s a massage therapist and all into people’s personal energy and what not. We also met up with a guy who took the journey with us from Tel Aviv, a laughter yoga instructor, yes that’s right I said laughter yoga!!! Seriously freaks come to India! FREAKS! Haha.
When you first get off the plane you are taken aback by the orders, a mixture of spices, poo, and poverty. The streets are filthy they are absolutely foul! Garbage everywhere, poor people everywhere, hungry children flock the streets, garbage aligns the sidewalks, human and animal waste embed the floor, it is truly shit hole. Men go to the bathroom in on the side of buildings. The whole city is one big garbage can. Everywhere you go herds of people come up to you (esp. children) begging for money, pressuring you into buying a rickshaw ride, a pair of earrings, a peacock feathered fan…anything!!!!! They come up to your car windows, harass you on the streets, and follow you down the alley way. There are hundreds of street venders on every street selling some kind of crap or another. Cows roam freely as if they own the place.
Our first day I hated it so much I actually loved it! Sara, laughing yoga Alex, and I all checked into Major’s Den. A rundown hotel in Pharganj (a seedy neighborhood in Delhi where all the backpackers stay). The hotel is run by an ex-military major. He was the sweetest man he took a liking to Sara and me instantly and helped us set up the rest of our 16 days here in India. Through him we hired a car to drive us throughout Rajasthan, and we hired a car for the next day to take us to all the sites in Delhi. He lives on the bottom floor of the hotel with his wife and daughter. The rooms were not as rundown as the façade of the edifice would have made them seem.
Following check in we went to explore Old Delhi. We started off by getting a bite to eat. I am very weary of eating meat here so I am sticking to a veggie diet. Regardless, the food is delicious. We ate at a real hole in the wall place, the bill was $5 US for 4 people, and yes India is super cheap! After we headed to the Chandi Chowk (the outdoor market). It is in old Delhi and is a very Muslim area (although most of India is Hindi). The streets were so crowded and narrow. We had a maimed/crippled boy following us most of the day asking for money we could not get him to go away. The number of diseases he had was probably innumerable. He looked deathly. After Chandi Chowk, we continued our walk throughout Old Delhi, after 24 hrs straight of travel we were truly exhausted, on our way back to the hotel, we came across an image that truly haunts me, a baby, no more than 2 years old, sitting in a dirt pile composed of ash, feces, and old cigarette butts, playing with the butts, with the ash, with the feces, putting it on her body, while her mother sat not even a foot away and watched.
We made it back to Majors Den by 3:30. I passed out at 4 pm and didn’t wake up until the next day.
My first day was definitely full of culture shock. The level of poverty was unfathomable. The amount of pollution and littering that took place was uncanny. But worst of all was the fact that no one knew better it was a lifestyle.
Regardless, never for one second have a regretted my decision to come here. This is a journey, and adventure, a once in a lifetime experience. The good, the bad, the ugly, I will cherish it all, every last drop.