Mum and I left Byron at 8:30 am on Wednesday the 19th (yesterday) and after a sleepover in Bangkok - yep, we did eat Pad Thai for dinner - we have finally made it to Delhi. We got here this morning and were greeted by a guy with a sign; travelling with Mum means I get fancy little bonuses like personalised signs, tourist buses and no bed bugs.
We checked out our 'executive suite' at Hotel Aura in Paharganj, which seems satisfactory to me although I don't really know what executives look for in a room. It isn't difficult to impress me when it comes to accommodation.
We were itching to get out and partake of our first dhaba meal so after changing out of our plane clothes Mum and I walked over to Main Bazar. Mum knows Delhi and its quirks much more thoroughly than I, so she took me to this little dhaba she used to come to, popular with the locals and very pleasing to the taste buds. We shared chana masala, matar masala, palak paneer, chapati and rice. Delicious. The room was painted blue, about two metres wide and five metres back and the front of the shop was crowded with men waiting for their takeaway chapatis. There was an upstairs level and about every two minutes a woven basket would be lowered down on a string, laden with fresh tandoori chapatis. Next time we go out I will take my camera and show you some of these beautiful images.The guys would unload the chapati basket and it would shoot back up. I wonder how many kilos of chapati they go through in a day.
Out on the street I am like an enthusiastic kid learning to read. My Hindi reading and writing is a lot better than spoken, so it makes me feel good to walk around reading out every sign as though I know what it means. I do understand some of them (!) and I have listened in on a few conversations so far.
I feel as though I have been preparing to be in India since January and now that I am here I can finally relax. I am loving it so far: the hustle, the noise, the colour and the heat of Delhi is exciting and alive. I do have to keep reminding myself this isn't a stopover and when Mum and I get back from the north Delhi will be my official home until the end of the year. There is so much to explore; I am sure it will be over before I know it!
Next on my list of things to do is get a lassi at what Mum describes as the best buffalo-milk lassi place in Delhi. I am looking forward to this month of travels with meri mata (my mum); not only do we get valuable mother-daughter time but she has so much of India to show me. I plan on making the most of her thirty years' accumulated knowledge as an Indian traveller.
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