So, we’re in India. We flew from Rome to Delhi thinking that we could take a few days to relax and catch up the blog, on which we’re very behind (though it is our first time so maybe we can be forgiven). It turns out that choosing Delhi as a place of rest and rejuvenation, and the Paharganj neighborhood in particular, was not the best idea. If you look up ‘things to do in Delhi’ on the internet, you tend to find answers like ‘leave immediately’, while Paharganj is known as the ‘backpackers’ ghetto’. We thought it couldn’t be that bad. We’ve been to India before and figured it couldn’t really suck as much as people said it does.

Well, we were wrong. At least, we were wrong this time around. Delhi is not the best place to re-introduce yourself to India, and Paharganj is a terrible place to try and relax. We saw a lot of other Westerners who seemed to be getting something spiritual and soothing out of the dust-choked, tout-filled madhouse that is the Main Bazar (directly off of which we were staying). Maybe it was because we weren’t wearing t-shirts with the Om symbol on it, or the flowing cottony outfits that nobody but tourists seem to wear. I don’t really know how they were managing to seem so serene, but it was just straight-up unpleasant for us. If you weren’t ignoring touts trying to direct you to one of what seemed to be several dozen fake tourist agencies, you were busy ignoring the rickshaw drivers trying to give you a ride. Or, you were busy not stepping in dog poop while simultaneously dodging the taxis, pedicabs, and motorcycles that raced through the market in a constant chaos of motion and noise. It became a huge nuisance for us to leave the hotel to go anywhere. We ventured out a few times to feed ourselves and were rewarded with some of the best Indian food that we’ve ever had. That part wasn’t so bad. In fact it was wonderful. Also, we weren’t really harassed once we got away from the neighborhood we were staying in. However, we were too tired to deal with the touts so we didn’t see any sights while we were there. We barely got any sleep due to being both jet lagged and kept up by either howling dogs, chanting processions, or people just being loud and rowdy all night.

So. Long story short, we spent our entire time in Delhi being extremely tired, hungry, stressed out, uncomfortable, and questioning our capabilities as world travelers. We’re now in the city of Varanasi, which is also full of touts and tourists, but we’re optimistic that it will be more relaxing than Delhi. We are here, in the most holy and ancient of Hindu cities, to see a beautiful festival that culminates in hundreds of small lights sent floating down the Ganges. Hopefully we get a chance to relax and sit down to document the rest of our time in Europe in a coherent and entertaining way. Until then!

Brian and Marisa