Pictures and a Quick Update

I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Delhi and annoyingly can't upload any text documents that I've written so will have to wait until I get back to school for that. But here are some pictures from the trip that i haven't uploaded yet to keep Mummy and Daddy happy.

Here is my '400 rupee a night shoe box' from my second

night in Mumbai.

This boy in Dharavi, the Mumbai slum, clearly thought that

his goat was getting a little porky and is giving it some exercise.

Victoria Terminus, the central train station in Mumbai.

Possibly a very heavy night, but as this was taken in the

Muslim quarter I doubt it. And I did check that he was

breathing, don't worry.

Here's what 40 rupees gets you.

That bag weighs 30kgs so he will have a 

slight headache and possibly a cricked neck 

for the rest of the day while I got my 5 minutes 

of feeling like an Imperial Victorian explorer.

I'm off to Varanasi now for Deepak's brother's wedding so will let you know how it all goes as well as posting stuff about the school and various other things. The trip so far has been interesting, I drove down to Delhi with the headmaster's son so got an alternative perspective on driving in India, basically there are no rules and its every man or woman for himself. 

I then spent 2 hours in a queue for a train ticket and missed the last train to Varanasi but managed to get one for this morning. Then I had to consider options for the night. Louis and Frederique were out of town so I rang up a few hotels but they were all either full or unreachable. At this point the platform was looking fairly appealing so interested to see what sleeping on a platform is like I pulled up some concrete and lay down against a pillar. This is clearly not common practice for foreigners in India as the looks I got from passers-by were hilarious. I was soon joined on my pillar by a exceptionally drunk Punjabi called Jaspeer. He refused to accept that I was from Zimbabwe or England and kept insisting that I was from America, Canada or Saudi Arabia. I started playing the same game and insisted that he was from Mumbai or Simla. He got very confused, burst into tears and then fell asleep next to me. I read for a bit more then spotted a free bench so kipped there for the night. Sleeping at a railway isn't as fun as it sounds and it doesn't even sound very fun to be honest. The trains are very, very noisy and the loudspeaker doesn't stop, even so I managed to get a good few hours and don't feel too ropey this morning.

Cheers

Delhi

After Mumbai even the capital of the world's biggest democracy seems chilled. It was also helped by having an amazing place to stay, somewhere I could relax completely for the first time since leaving Harare four days before. So big thanks to Louis and Frederique Leimgruber who put up with me for a few days.

The train pulled into New Delhi Central 26 and half hours after pulling out of CST, amazingly I hadn't got too bored, amusing myself by trying to talk to the Indian family who'd replaced the two bearded men and then reading every time we ran out of a common language. Then I had a manic 15 minutes trying to get a lift to Louis and Frederique's house, then a no less manic 15 minutes in the back of the tuk-tuk as it swerved in and out of traffic, (the driver drove it as though it was still a motorbike) before finally arriving.

My travelling companions and I after a lengthy journey!

Over the next couple of days I chilled at the house and went on a couple of excursions out into the city. The first was to the Mughal gardens surrounding Humayun's tomb, they are a lovely place to find some peace and quiet in the bustle of Delhi and I spent a while wandering around before heading over to the Muslim quarter.

 I joined in a casual game of cricket on the way and pasted their bowlers around the ground, to be fair most of them were only 9 or 10 and were bowling under arm but I left with shouts of 'Andy Flower!' following me and was very chuffed.

I then carried on and found scenes resembling Dharavi but on a smaller scale, the Muslims in Delhi clearly get a raw deal. It appears that all their money goes into their shop or stall and there house is barely considered as it had a colourful and bustling front but again a bit of digging revealed some very shabby accommodation.

That night I went to a talk on rural development with Frederique which was very interesting considering the variety of urban development I'd seen. The main problem seems to be the lack of ability of communities to govern themselves in the traditional sense as opposed to a more centralised system set up by the British. However the highlight had to be the elderly Indian chap who sat down in the corner and fell asleep after ten minutes, snoring throughout the hour long talk. We then went to a concert of Indian and Bangladeshi performers, although the music was very good there was hardly any response from the crowd with even an over-eager clap being frowned upon by the people around us. I found this surprising considering everything I'd heard of Indian's love for music.

I will leave this one here as I need a shower, cold mountain river water from a bucket of course and then hopefully off to my first Hindi lesson but will carry on asap.

Cheers

Max