Sights, Sounds, and Smells

Short Version:
Stuff we did/saw/heard/smelled in Delhi

Long Version:
Raju had a moustache, and pants that he kept pulled up high. He drove us around Delhi in his little silver hatchback, which backfired and stalled at irregular intervals, severally in the middle of major intersections*. The radio turned itself on and off at random intervals. When on, it played a fairly random assortment of more or less musical music. With and without him, we did/saw/heard/smelled some Delhi stuff, including...
...a motorbike v car crash. The car driver took the motorbike keys so the bloke couldn't disappear. The motorcyclist seemed unsurprised and remarkably relaxed about that.
...a snake charmer became less-than-charming when the fat middle-aged Australian woman refused to pay him for the photograph she'd just taken of him and his charming charmed snake. We were hoping he'd encourage the snake to attack her, but he didn't. Boo, hiss!
...many, many schoolchildren, many of whom wanted their photos taken with us. Nene was especially popular with teenage boys, possibly because the top button of her shirt kept falling open.
...kids weeing in gutters
...men weeing in gutters and against walls
...swastika symbols galore
...people throwing orange and yellow flowers at statues of gods and goddesses
...the Continental Surgical Emporium
...many monumental edifices, historical buildings and complexes, some of which were actually quite cool. Statesman House was rather excellent, as were India Gate, the sprawling Humayun's Tomb complex, the tranquil Lodi Gardens, the Qutab Minar complex,and the memorials to the variously assassinated Gandhi statesmen and women
...special queue systems for non-Indians. We joined the lengthy queue for the shoe storage counter at the Laxmi Narayan Temple, for example, but were spotted as the infiltrators we were and redirected to a separate Westerner-shoe-storage environment, with padded seats upon which to sit while removing one's Westerner shoes, lockable lockers for storing one's Westerner non-shoe valuables, and direct access to the gift shop, where one could spend ones Westerner moneys.
...many governmental buildings, all of which are huge (suspect grandiosity = prestige in some inter-departmental importance war). The Engineer Corps building was next door to the Tuberculosis Hospital
...our second huge, striking, beautiful, nonagonal Ba'ahai House of Worship in as many months, after the one in Samoa. The Delhi House looked like a symmetrically improved Sydney Opera House, and is beautiful
...statues of mutant animals
...special entry fees for non-Indians. Many places that were charging for entry did so on a multi-tier cost basis. Usually this meant 10 rupees for Indians, 250 rupees for others
...flower sellers thronging the streets early in the mornings
...the sun rose and set hugely and redly in a murky sky

Also in Delhi, we:
...took a free and exciting high-speed pillion ride on a scooter through the Main Bazaar at Pandar Garj (Lovely Wife didn't attend this event, despite the South Asian penchant for multiple passengers on mopeds)
...met some Canadians, an Australian, and a Persian. The Persian was one of the most unique-looking people either of us had seen for a long time
...had to get our shower drain unblocked by a minion on a daily basis.
...drank coffee that was "enriched by the goodness of mushroom extract"
...paid to wee in a nice, clean toilet with relaxing music
...took tuk-tuks, but not as often as we should. The walk from the Metro to Qutab Minar was shit, although the mad guy was entertaining. The tuk-tuk ride back was quick, fun, and cheap. And the driver had a good beard







* = NZ has no major intersections. Delhi has major intersections!