In regard to Neeraj's post I have uploaded this picture which I took a few days ago. It has been taken at the railway track were the three children died under a running train like this on 15th of August what I didn't know when I went there two days ago. Now knowing what happened here just a few days earlier it is even more dramatic as it seems that nothing has been changed. Children are again playing on the railway tracks with their whole families living very close by. How many more have to die before something changes? I seriously doubt anything will change.

Taken at a railway station in Old Delhi this picture stands for itself. Just have a look how people there are living near the railway track... comment most welcome!

Getting to the Delhi City Centre was almost like a torture. It took me 3 horrible hours for just
16 kilometers (air-line distance). Reason was a Hindu festival, so everyone used to be on the road. For a while I started to regret that I have accepted the invitation of my friend Umesh to come to his place today. But nevertheless it turned into a great and interesting afternoon and evening.
First I was with my friends family to celebrate the Hindu festival - although he has actually become a Buddhist now - and then we went to celebrate the birthday of one of his wife's friend. It was a very exciting experience to chat with all those young people there. I was involved into discussions about religion and other stuff... and made a lot of new friends there (real friends, not like those guys from the streets)^^

Today I have reached the city centre of Delhi in a new record time of just 1 1/2 hours - because it was Sunday and the roads were empty compared to normal days. Again my trip brought me to Old Delhi first were I visited Jama Masjid the big Mosque in Delhi and one of the biggest of it's kinds throughout India.
After spending a bit more time in Old Delhi and having some Chai's, Shakes and other drinks I stopped my journey at a railway line. So here I could get to even more new "best friends" who used to live there near the railway line in their tents. Although they have almost nothing, they seemed to be happy persons laughing into my camera. But actually they're working hard to earn their little living at one of the most dangerous places, the railway tracks...

Best Friends

During the first 20 days here in India I got an uncountable number of new best friends. Normaly they are in the age between 7 and 17, some are older also. They live either in Slums or relatively bad conditions and you meet them everywhere but especially in places like Old Delhi. Making friendship with them is basically quite easy as you just pass by and from every corner voices are saying:

"hey you're my best friend"

What follows then is that they either want you to take a picture of them or they just wanna have one Dollar or Euro... or probably both. Sometimes it is pretty hard to shake these guys off but meanwhile I have learnt how to ignore everything that happens around you. I try to be as arrogant and ignorant as I can, after some while the guys normally leave and look for other victims... But sometimes you also need to be quite rude and tell them to go or piss off.
Certainly this is not a very friendly way of behavior, especially as a guest in this country but unfortunately it is the only way to get rid of these people and carry on your program.

Anyway I have to admit and I appreciate that many of the people here are actually very friendly, cooperative and lot's of them have a very big heart. Walking through Old Delhi today I have been invited for a Chai by one Chai producer on the street who owns actually almost nothing. However he was so kind and told me "no money, you're guest in India" and gave me the Indian tea for free. Ofcourse I wanted to pay him but he declined to accept the payment of 3 Rupies (6 Cents) for the Chai which is actually like nothing for me...

Nothing new about me. Meanwhile I have returned from Kathmandu to Delhi where I stay with some friends. I was flying on Indian Airlines flight IC814 which was hijacked a few years ago therefore the security checks were indescribably tight. They have checked my handbaggage four times and took out everything. At least I felt 200% safe on the flight and enjoyed a couple of Kingfisher beers together with some funny Indian guys during the 1:15 hours flight...
Back to Delhi I have experienced the modern parts now also. Yesterday we met up another friend in Gurgaon which is Delhi's Cyber City. Modern Delhi is also drawn by new highways, flyovers and the metro that running on four different levels sometimes... But also on modern highways you will sometimes find nice scenes like these two kids having bath under a a fire engine...

Destination Mountain

Well, I have not touched it but at least I have felt the Mount Everest by heart when I went on a mountain flight this morning. It was an amazing trip and finally I was lucky to see the very high mountains of the Himalaya.


I was picked up by Khem, who is a friend I got to know in Kathmandu, at 5.30 AM. He organized the trip for me and took me to the domestic airport. Expecting a scratched airplane I was surprised about the Jetstream 41 operated by Yeti Air, which seemed to be in a very good condition. On the plane I was told by a guy from Japan who lives in Hong Kong right now, that this flight has been cancelled the last couple of days due to bad weather conditions, so again one more reason to feel lucky after experiencing all that bad luck with the weather here. The flight itself took around one hour and took us alongside Mount Everest and others…

Today I took a 25 kilometer long guided trek through the mountains nearby. Well, weather was as bad as yesterday. The first three hours it was raining strongly and permanently until it stopped sometime in the early afternoon. Anyway, it was still not possible to see the Annapura mountain, the most famous one here in Pokhara. So let's see what tomorrow will bring. A taxi driver told me this would be the last rain here, nice for you guys, but tomorrow morning I am gonna leave...

what a shit is this... weather today was so changing and playing a bad game with me. Today I climbed up the Sarangkot mountain in Pokhara which is supposed to give you an amazing view about the city of Pokhara and the mountains as well. But unfortunately the top was suddenly covered by fog when I reached it, so I was not able to see anything. When I was on the way down it cleared up again... this was so bad...
For the way down to Pokhara I decided to do a small trek through the forrests, rice fields and countryside... I was already a bit scared when it became dark and there was still no street or any human in sight. Fortunately I reached a street with the very last light.

After a seven hours bustrip I have reached Pokhara this afternoon. Pokhara is actually just 200 kilometers away from Kathmandu but it took us 7 hours anyway. The weather here is even worth, every day I hope for good weather without any success... :(
What a wonderful trip to Nepal when you are not able to see the Peaks of Mount Everest, Annapura Mountain and others... Nepal is a beautiful country anyway and also the valleys I have seen from the bus were very amazing.
Unfortunately my eyes are somehow infected since two days. Due to locals it might be caused by air pollution that is very high, especially in Kathmandu. So my eyes are extremely red and suffer from pain...

landed in Kathmandu

Yesterday night Kathmandu appeared like a peaceful and more organized place to me. But today it turned into a dangerous places when there were strikes and riots with burning buses, etc.
Anyway I somehow like this place. It is not as big as Delhi and surrounded by high mountains which I could not see until now due to bad weather conditions.

In India Kathmandu is also known as Little Las Vegas. So I went to a Casino with an Indian friend I have come to know at the arrival as we are staying in the same hotel... We enjoyed a lot and today we were roaming Kathmandu Old Town to see all the beautiful temples here. So let`s see what Kathmandu nightlife is going to offer to us tonight.

I have recently found out that the busses with the number 221 and 333 are those that bring me to the nearest metro station. So actually I again asked different persons getting different answers until I met a guy who told me the numbers in relatively good English. Again it was a very long trip from my place to Delhi City Centre as I was facing a lot of traffic jams - it took me at least 2 1/2 hours to finally reach my destination.

it`s been exactly one week since I arrived to Delhi and it`s time for some reflection on the first seven days. India has a lot of different sides. There are so many beautiful temples and palaces and other famous sights like the Taj Mahal. Often we come to know about India as an boosting economy with all the IT experts, upcoming shopping malls, etc.
But during my first week of stay I have experienced Delhi from a different view, from the view of the poorest class of population that presents at least half of the countries population. I am facing the problem of electricity every day a major problem that has to be solved if India really want`s to compete with western economies.
On the other side I have come to know to many awesome people like when I have been invited into a very big tent where pilgrims walking towards Delhi are having their rest with entertaining music programs, etc. Thanks for the great hospitality with free food, mango juice and everything...

Today I was hanging around with three friends of mine, exploring three new places in Delhi. First place was a crematory site near Yamuna river. To show respect for the family members I took photography from some distance using maximum focal length. Nevertheless I was prompted by some officials to stop taking pictures. I tried to explain them that I would be doing a surgery on Hindu rituals - but without success...



Also interesting are the Interstate Bus Terminals. Long distance buses are leaving for different states in India so you meet a lot of different people here. So I think I can write a lot of stories about these bus services when I have used them myself traveling through other parts of India.



Finally we got to an other slum at the bank of Yamuna River. You actually find those quarters everywhere in Delhi. People living in those slums are holding down different jobs. You'll find slums where they are producing pockets, in other ones they live on handcrafts, etc...

Well, today I became a Muslim for an hour, when I have been taken to a Sufi Shrine in Old Delhi. Here I met a very kind priest who gave me permission to take photographs during the Friday praying at this place - thanks a lot. The Muslims there seemed to be a bit disturbed by my presence. Guys, I hope your petitions have reached god anyway.
There was also one funny man who was heading directly towards me with a strange glance making me feel a bit scared. When he reached me he just looked at me and said: "you're looking sweet" and went off.

Here at my home we have a power cut from 12 PM to 2 AM every night. Normally there are standby systems to bypass the cut but since two nights we had a total power cut. Therefore I could not upload the two following photographs. It is also hard to sleep because either it is unbearable hot or it is very noise due to fans and A/Cs.
Anyway I have taken these two pictures on a second tour yesterday afternoon. Actually I was trying to capture some shots of Rajasthani metal workers who have a camp nearby but I had to break up as they really disapproved my activities and quickly surrounded me.

I just returned from a small photo tour nearby. This time I was focusing one the very poor people living in tents right next to the street. These people are coming from outside Delhi actually and keep on moving. More than 40 percent of Delhi population lives like the ones who can be seen on the following shots. This is real Delhi.



I wonder what these people have been thinking of me and my big camera lens.

So in Delhi travelling by metro is easy and safe, travelling by bus is the opposite. These buses are also known as killer-buses here, as they kill around three people a day. In Delhi there are several bus companies competing with each other so they try to carry their customers as quick as possible. So buses often don’t stop and people have to jump on and off the buses, what causes lot’s of accidents. Many people also die when being hit by a bus when they are performing dangerous and illegal overtaking maneuvers to be first at the destination.

Unfortunately the metro does not reach all the places in Delhi. Right now they’ve finished just three lines. In case I wanna get back to my place which occurs at least once a day I need to change from metro to bus and from bus to rickshaw again which sounds easier than it is. First there are hardly any real signed bus stops. There are no route maps. And as a foreigner you’re not able to identify the destination the bus is going to. It is absolutely necessary to know the place where you want to go by name and ask, ask and ask… Once you have jumped on the driving bus you have to pay a little amount of 5 Rupies (10 Cents). Again I had to ask lot’s of people for the stop Anhand Bihar as there is no computer voice calling the next stop like in Europe. The buses themselves are really scratched and the ride is always a very shaking experience.

Getting around in Delhi has become much easier with the new Delhi metro. It is clean, safe, fast and comfortable. It is also a very good place to cool down as it is fully air conditioned. Anyway it is always funny when Indian are trying to embark and disembark the trains. Once the doors have opened all the people are running to the door the same time and colliding in door area, even when the train is almost empty. So guys, why you don't just wait until all people got off the train and board the train afterwards?

good morning,

right now nothing new about me. Weather is hot, sunny and very humid. Even inside the rooms we have more than 30 degrees, so fans are running all the day. Electricity here in Delhi is still very instable. Power comes and goes. There are at least 6 power cuts a day. Also right now we are running on emergency power.

arrived in Delhi

so just arrived in Delhi. Flight from Doha to Delhi was good as well and this time without such an uncomfortable, stinking neighbor? well, good question how to recognize sex tourists, it was not only that he was heading for bangkok. Besides the guy was in the age of 50, traveling alone and reading a book dealing with red light districts in Bangkok...
well, will get some breakfast now and hope to upload the first pics soon.

regards,
Marcus

just arrived in Doha (Qatar) and waiting for my connection flight to Delhi. Flight was okay but had to pay 140€ for extra luggage... anyway the flight was okay except of my neighbour who appeared to me like a sex tourist as he was travelling ahead to Bangkok...

hey guys,
now the time has come to say good bye to everyone - at least for six months. It's the time to launch this incredible blog about and incredible journey to the incredible country of India.
Unfortunately, I am not able to email all of you regularly, therefore I decided to keep you up to date with this blog. It is to share some of my impressions and experiences and pictures with all of you.
Ofcourse you're invited to email me or write comments, etc.

wishing you all the best,
Marcus