Around the world in 15 mails - No.1 (Delhi)

Kites, Buzzards, Ospreys

Delhi, February 6 2005

Hi Gang!

Two pieces of housekeeping first - the title will be relatively meaningless to all but three of you. I wont go into details but keep a look out for similar titles in future mails!

Secondly, please excuse typing/grammar errors, I'm being charged a lot for using the internet so don't want to waste time!

Okay. Well here I am in Delhi. I've been here four whole days now and the best way to describe it is that it's a curates egg. The sites (Humayan tomb, Qutab Minar Tower, The Red Fort, Jamma Mijid Mosque, India Gate, the Secretariat etc) are amazing - ranging from ancient Muslim architecture to Lutchyns early 20th century precision. Sadly, the city is let down by its people! You cannot walk 5 yards without being hassled, you spend your whole time with your hand grasping your wallet and are forever having to come up with ellaborate stories about how "this is not my first time in India" (an acceptable and recommended lie).

The title of this mail, whilst obscure to many of you, is apt. If you travel to the Black Mountains in Wales, or perhaps the Highlands of Scotland, you might, if lucky, catch a glimpse of an ellusive red kite or a honey buzzard. In Delhi, you are bombarded by them constantly. They seem to be more prevalent than pidgeons (I guess because they eat them!) and are a spectacular site swooping from on high to your balcony, show boating a bit and then buggering off! At Humayans tomb they wander around the battlements much like the ravens do at the Tower of London - I'm afraid the Delhi kites sneak it on the style front.

I've met my first Aussie travellers - two girls, Alex and Annii. We drank coffee together and they gave me lots of advice. They started in the south and are working their way north. We're going to meet up in Varanasi (Benares for you old school Raj types) in few days and do the usual boat trip on the Ganges and wallow in others misery as we watch open air cremations on the ghats and see the bodies float down the rovers. To be honest the smell of a cremation is preferable to the smell of Delhi, which is the stale stench of you know what with a good measure of diesiel thrown in - yum!

Tomorrow I leave Delhi on the Taj Express train, bound for Agra and the Taj Mahal. Delhi is a place people should see if they're lucky enough to get the chance but not somewhere to settle down and bring up a family!

Oh, I nearly forgot. Having having spent the first 2 nights in an ok 4 star hotel, I moved to a very basic 1 star job. I went out for a bite to eat in the evening and the restaurant next door was GREEK! Can you believe it. It opened last week and is owned a lady from Saloniki! I ate souvlaki and feta cheese, drank quite good greek coffee and nattered away in broken Greek for half the night. I think we (the owner and I) were equally shocked - she hasn't uttered a word of Greek for two years, which was just as well given my skills in that department! Very strange indeed.

That about wraps it up for now (talking of wraps - it's bloody cold by the way - today is grey and rainy, I've been cold for 3 days and regret not having packed that jumper Mum!). I'll send my next update from Agra, or more probably, Varanassi.

Lots of love to you all.

Johnny.