Old Delhi and Gurgoan High Tea

Red Fort and Chadni Chowk

What a treat (and a change) it was to have muesli, yoghurt and honey for breakfast at Everest Café, in addition to an omelette.

We decided to revisit one of Delhi’s sights, the Red Fort.  The entrance seemed very different and park-like whereas 12 years ago it was very clamorous.  The image of a boy with elephantiasis back then must have scarred Kim a little as he brought that up as we walked past.

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We then crossed the street to the Chandni Chowk market area.  A one-legged man with a crutch helped us crossed the road.  Fearing that he would continue to follow us, we paid him INR2 for his assistance.  But that didn’t work and he followed us all around offering his assistance which we didn’t particularly need.  Because he had a great big smile, nice nature, was absolutely non-pushy and spoke good English, we actually enjoyed his company!

Kim had a fake Breitling watch which had been slowing down a little.  That was successfully repaired in the market.  Apparently, the button had been pulled out a little.  We also bought a few things at the market.

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High Tea in Gurgoan

In the evening we took an auto-rickshaw to the YMCA to join Kim’s family.  The driver Mushtaq drove us to Gurgaon which was technically in Haryana state where we had high tea with Joyce (Pat’s new-found half-sister) and her husband Vicki.

It was big spread of sandwiches, samosas, chips and Indian sweets.  I particularly liked one made from a special flour and sugar and had a similar texture to Chinese Kong Tng.

We said goodbye to Jo as she flew out tonight to Kuala Lumpur.  Her half-cousin Shaun took her to the airport.  We returned to our hotel and had supper at the Everest Café.

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Reminiscing

Today is Kim’s last day in India.  We looked back at our first visit 12 years ago and reminisced at how hard it was.  We arrived late at night and had a travel agent book us a hotel.  They found one within our budget called The President Hotel.  We clambered over people sleeping on the traffic islands to get to our hotel.

Once inside, it was so dim we could hardly see.  We dared not walk barefooted on the floor as it didn’t look clean.  At that time, India was a very different place and with no sizeable middle class, a moderate 3-star hotel was ridiculously expensive compared to western countries.

We moved to a different hotel that was brighter but it had green streaks down the wall from water leaks.  It was called Ashok Yatri Niwas and next to it was the Kanishka.  Both high-rises looked similar but ours was like an unfinished shell of a what was meant to be a posh hotel but used as a cheap hotel.  But the Kanishka was properly finished.

We found out that both had now been completed/refurbished and are operating as the Ramada and Shangri La respectively.  [Edit: In 2020 they now operate as the Hotel The Royal Plaza and Shangri La’s Eros Hotel.]