On my last night in Delhi, coming off a wonderful visit in the foothills of the Himalayas, I was excited to stay in a hostel that had had rave reviews from friends I'd met along my travels. They said it was clean, laid back, it had a garden, free breakfast, free wifi. It sounded like paradise.
I got off of the metro, with my hiking pack (while lighter than many, it's still a pack), and proceeded to wander the streets of Delhi, unable to find this hostel to save myself.
I asked person after person, and was sent down one street after another (walking several kilometers), until a little girl pointed me towards a gate, topped with these beautiful spikes that Vlad the Impaler would have been proud of. She gestured, telling me to go through. I turned, tentatively, and she giggled still more.
Walking through this gate I passed a goat, and a scrap yard. I turned back, the girl was still giggling.
I passed a building that didn't seem to be operational, and another that was under construction. A man beckoned me into the building that had workers on scaffolding on one side, and all about people were dragging things in and out of the building (I took the picture afterwards, when much of the mayhem had been temporarily concluded).
Turns out my wonderful hostel had been too popular, so they'd decided to move to a bigger building, and were constructing it while I was staying there. They'd connected the power that day! Despite all this, it worked out fine. But it underscores for me the feeling of Delhi: under construction, things changing daily, and no matter what you're told, you never know what you're going to get.
I got off of the metro, with my hiking pack (while lighter than many, it's still a pack), and proceeded to wander the streets of Delhi, unable to find this hostel to save myself.
I asked person after person, and was sent down one street after another (walking several kilometers), until a little girl pointed me towards a gate, topped with these beautiful spikes that Vlad the Impaler would have been proud of. She gestured, telling me to go through. I turned, tentatively, and she giggled still more.
Walking through this gate I passed a goat, and a scrap yard. I turned back, the girl was still giggling.
I passed a building that didn't seem to be operational, and another that was under construction. A man beckoned me into the building that had workers on scaffolding on one side, and all about people were dragging things in and out of the building (I took the picture afterwards, when much of the mayhem had been temporarily concluded).
Turns out my wonderful hostel had been too popular, so they'd decided to move to a bigger building, and were constructing it while I was staying there. They'd connected the power that day! Despite all this, it worked out fine. But it underscores for me the feeling of Delhi: under construction, things changing daily, and no matter what you're told, you never know what you're going to get.
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