How many official government tourist
offices are there in Delhi? We now know
there are about 15 fake official government tourist offices, at least that is
how many we saw, and one real one. Often
they are tucked beside shops with signs proclaiming "Money changers - Full
fledged!" and offering alternatives to the tours we request. Sometimes you have to step over piles of
scaffold pipe and street dogs to enter them.
How do we know this? On Saturday night, after two 8-hour
flights, the IHI team of 2013 landed in Delhi!
We immediately embarked on what was the
most alarming car ride of my life.
Courtney, Sonika, and Jenn, having travelled through big,
developing-world cities, were less phased by the honking deluge of vehicles cramming
into some of the world's most competitive streets, careening through markets within
inches of pedestrians, sometimes cows, and motorcyclists carrying entire
families complete with sari'd women and newborn babies. The quirks of driving in Delhi could easily
fill an entire blog post, but that wouldn't leave room for 36-degree night-time
temperatures, ancient temples, or market haggling.
Nor would it leave room for scam
artists. On Sunday morning, there were
very few tourists in Connaught Place, the commercial heart of Delhi. That made us conspicuous targets of
smooth-talking scammers who attempted to appear helpful as they tried to direct
us to various tourist scams that they were connected to. Eventually, we got our bearings (after our
first Indian pit-stop….Starbucks) and found the Hop On Hop Off tour bus, which
took us to some of Delhi's historic forts and temples. Having survived the 40 degree heat, adjusted
to the hyper-pace of India, and even practiced a little bit of market haggling
for jewelry and souvenirs, we boarded a plane for the cooler, breezier airs of
Tamil Nadu…
