Lajpat Nagar | 220911

Photos at the bottom 😊

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Note: I do apologise for any poor spelling & grammar, this is more of a travelog than a public blog - for friends and family. It’s more free flow and I don’t plan on spending time re-reading and editing. Lazy? Maybe. I’m just trying to minimise my screen time xxx

8th September 22

18:07 We just finished doing some Yoga, the essential movement after being in transit for what felt like 24 hours although it really didn’t feel that long. Our first direct flight to India, which made it feel a little less challenging and a little more “why didn’t we do this sooner”, then there are those memories that quickly rise up reminding me how much time and effort we’ve put into being here, right now - chats, jabs, flights and visas which is in itself a massive undertaking. We aren’t just on holiday, we’ve sold stuff, packed stuff, recycled stuff, disposed of stuff, given stuff, moved stuff out, moved stuff in, moved stuff in multiple car journeys across hundreds of miles, sorted stuff, cleaned stuff, said goodbyes, handed back keys, caught trains, said more goodbyes and now, we’re here. In India, again. And I’m asking myself, how did this happen, why are we here, what are we doing…?

Sweet sister Sophie took us to the airport and we were so grateful, it’s a lovey experience having someone accompany us to the airport. There had been a few suggestions about getting the tube across London but the idea of sitting in the filth and grime that TFL offers up hardly felt like the best starter for what both Heathrow and Virgin were also serving up. The airport was a breeze and showed me immediately that I need to be a little more mindful as I’d both left my hat in Sophie’s car and found myself unpacking my main luggage at the foot of the check-in counter while we were being quizzed about our Visas and our onward plans. One of the many challenging things about this country is that you need a return flight or in our case an onward flight before you can enter the country. Given that we are planning on not making any plans I spent the previous night looking for airlines that would offer free 24 hour refunds. The process is quite simple, book a flight just before we set off to the airport, print that out because we always need multiple copies of everything ‘just-in-case’ and when we get to the other side, cancel the flight and get a refund. About 10 minutes ago I realised that in the thick of my jet lag that I have forgotten to cancel that flight. Looks like we are heading to Bangkok on the 2nd of Dec.

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9th September 22

21:00 The sweet passage of time. I managed to cancel the flights! Albeit a £28 cancellation fee. Win. 

Last night, for dinner, we ventured to a place we’d discovered a few years ago, local to the bnb that we’re staying in. I think the last time we visited, it was closed but to our delight it’s now open again. I LOVE walking into local restaurants here and seeing the simple menu, often just posted on the wall.

A whooping 260INR £2.77 for both of us! It was the kind of deliciousness where there is an audible wow. And one of the many things I love about travel is hearing myself give an audible wow. 

Today, a lazy start. Amy really needs to get into the habit of not yelling ‘hey Siri’ when the alarm goes off in the morning. I think we snoozed the alarm for a good hour and a half before I eventually got up and used a cold shower to wash away the sleep which was trying to drag me back into bed.

Breakfast was oily but really yummy, puri. I think each meal we’ve had here I’ve over eaten. I had 5 rotis at dinner last night and maybe 6 puris at breakfast. 

We’re taking the arrival in India really chill. There’s no point acting on our FOMO when we’ve A. Been here plenty of times before and B. Have all the time in the world (well, a one year visa). 

I typically love hailing a rickshaw in this city but we were both intrigued and compelled to experience the metro here. Turns out its much cleaner and waaaay cheaper then in the uk. 3 stops was 20INR each, about 21p. They even have power plugs for phones and laptops oh and AC. 

Our intention was to head to Khan Market to get a coffee and to trundle about and then make our way to Lodhi Gardens. Khan Market was a sweet little place, crammed full of shops housing everything you could ever want and need and surprisingly good coffee which I don’t think I’ve ever had in India before, though my love of coffee only really began when we stayed in Norway for a month a few years ago and our host, Signe served up a fresh pot every morning. 

Mask wearing in Delhi is apparently mandatory but being surrounded by both workers and everyday folk without masks we were feeling quite relaxed about masking. Anyway, we were caught off guard while walking down one of the inner streets of the market and an ‘official’ said they were handing out fines but because we were guests (foreigners) it was ok…this time. I had to show ID and Amy who didn’t have ID simply said she was my wife and we moved on.

After several attempts to conjure up the will to embark on the 15 minute walk in the 37 degrees and 98% humidity we headed for a Jasmine tea instead. We found a cute little coffee shop and started the books we’d purchased earlier on. For me it’s always both awesome and overwhelming to discover a book shop. This one was particularly captivating and it’s great to see the spiritual section as well stocked as this one. Puts the self-help (English version of spirituality) to shame really. 

The way of things is funny here. We just got back from another 260INR dinner and were nearly mowed down several times. I was saying to Amy that if any of those near misses happened in the UK there would have been an either some kind of altercation, blasphemy slurred or at least a tut. Here, it’s all flow. My expectations of what’s going to happen next are so absent that I’m just taking everything as it comes. 

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10th September 22

21:50 It’s blisteringly hot here, if it weren’t for the smog I think we’d be crispy in seconds. 

Another day in delightful Delhi and right now we just arranged to spend a further 3/4/5 nights here. Our original plan of heading straight to the mountains of Uttarakhand after dealing with the jet lag have been foiled. An orange weather warning has been issued in the area and the current news is that a village on the indo-nepal border has been washed away because of a cloud burst. It’s heartbreaking in many ways. The impression I’ve been given so far is that India had a really, truly, difficult and tough time during covid - we didn’t really here about it in the UK. To think that now villages and people are caught in the obvious effects of climate change is dreadful. It’s also disturbing to think that this is my first experience of being directly effected by climate change. The UK is in such a bubble. I think even the energy price news which has actually reached headlines here is a story in itself and not publicised along the lines of climate… hmmmm.

Anyway, today was a good day. We did have plans to go to some of the touristy sights but after connecting with my teacher, Suruchi here in Delhi we made a b-line for a coffee shop to see her in all dimensions. I’ve been having Skype lessons with Suruchi for the last couple of years, so to sit around a table with her and to share time in all its frequencies and clarity was just a real treat.

Having kicked off the day later than we were expecting we headed to the nearest place google spat at us that was serving some 5 star vegan options and it just so happened to be in an air conditioned mall… 

We played the auto-rickshaw card today instead of using the metro and it put both of us into a trance, to get that fly through and fly by of life happening on the streets.

After discovering the news about Uttarakhand this evening we updated our airbnb booking, did some yoga, ate some fruit for dinner and had a lovely chat around the kitchen table with one of the guests who is staying here. 

I LOVE the conversations that happen here - and meeting people like {insert name when I remember it} - so nice to learn from other people, to hear their perspectives and experiences and to also clarify my thoughts through the journey of words. Yummm 

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11th September 22

Woke up, back to sleep, woke up, back to sleep… Amy went down for our hot water lemon. Shower. Down for breakfast. Aloo paratha, my absolute FAVOURITE (x4 + half of Amy’s). Not the healthiest way to start the day but I could have eaten another 20.

Back up stairs and fell asleep for 3 hours… whoops.

Rickshaw across town to GK1 to a place called GreenR, delicious food and really good coffee so I had 2. 

Spotted a Lamborghini on the way here, wasn’t expecting to see one of those and no bumps, wow!

Very cute and trendy dog in the cafe - I think the multiple wee’s on the floor was an attempt to tell the owner they didn’t want to be there. 

We thought we’d take the metro back to Lajpat Nagar, we really should have just jumped into a rickshaw. I was feeling very British while I queued up for a ticket as multiple people pushed in front of me ‘but I’m queueing…’ - which doesn’t mean a thing here.

Back to the homestay after collecting some cashews and almonds from the market. We were in the room for 5 minutes when a plug sparked and smoke billowed out of my usb multi plug - lights out, AC off… uh ooo. Unbelievably (or believably depending on expectations) an electrician was here within 3 minutes (no exaggeration) and managed to resolve the electricity nightmare just before I reached for my phone to google somewhere else to stay for the night as sleeping without AC would have been impossible. 

Looks like we’re here for another few days as the weather warning are still headline news. No point heading into the storm. I think if we were already there it would be fine but the main concern is being on the roads in the face of potential land slides. 

It’s so fine being here. It’s a little tricky finding things ‘to do’ because it’s so damn hot and the difference between here and living in a town like Brighton where sitting on the beach is ‘doing something’ is worlds apart. Our room is super comfy but there’s no real space to hang out and the window has a mesh on it to keep out the mosquitoes, so new view. Most of the parks and landmarks that would be nice to lounge about around are just going to be both out in poor air quality and under a burning sun so we’ll play out the cafes for a few more days. 

One of the challenges that has come up in the last few days is how we deal with the begging we’ve encountered. Guidance from friends have said to carry food and drink to offer which is something to consider and Hollywood has shown us that the money just goes to someone in the shadows. Hmmmm…