New Delhi
Planning your trip to India? Most probably that you will be flying to New Delhi. Huge and chaotic capital of India, that might confuse even travelers who have seen a lot! Steeped in history yet full of modern life Delhi pulsates with the relentless rhythms of humanity.
So, prepare to be shocked! As it is one of the most populated cities in India you will find many different kinds of people from all over India in this city. This makes the city mix of various cultures and could be good summary for whole country. Some aspects like people throwing trash everywhere, poverty and beggars will shock you! Love it, hate it, but it is impossible to ignore it.
Delhi is one of the longest-serving capitals in the world that has seen rise and fall of great empires. It was destroyed and rebuilt many times, so there is no wonder why it is “eight cities in one”. Eight historical Delhi’s and each of them was constructed on, or near, the ruins of previous one. Dive through the eras while visiting past monuments like ruined forts, magnificent tombs, temples, mosques and shrines.
Get lost Old Delhi’s frenetic street bazaar, that contains a mind-boggling variety of clothes, slippers, spices, food, electronics and more. Once you will enter to this part of old town, you will forget time in this chaotic and photogenic part of the city. Streets filled with beeping scooters and rickshaws, cows, shoppers and beggars and everything enveloped with various smell street-food.
This city will definitely leave you an indelible impression, will it be good or bad - depends on you. No matter what you will read on internet, be ready for the real face of Delhi and don’t let bad things to ruin your travel experience!
Helpful tips
Restaurants. After traveling through India, we gathered experience and tips from locals which we want to share with everyone who will be reading this. If you come to India for a short period of time it is good to know that here certain bacteria are in almost every food, water and even air which can put you to bed for couple days if you have too much of it. To adapt to it, your body needs time and small amounts of the bacteria.
First, it is better to avoid eating too much of street food as it contains quite a lot of bacteria even though it is so cheap. We do not say that you should not eat street food at all, just keep it small quantities at a time. If you cannot wait to try and eat all sorts of street food just try it little by little and not everything on one go.
Second, when choosing a place where to eat, pay attention to other travelers’ reviews of the place. It is very important how the people from abroad felt about the food rather than locals.
Third, if there are any doubts regarding the hygiene of the place, we encourage to eat vegetables and avoid meat dishes.
We are well aware that everyone is different, and you feel your body the best. So, do what you want to do and keep in mind that these recommendations worked for us, we did not get sick while in India even for a day.
Markets. Prices in grocery shops are the same as through whole India, prices are printed on the packages, thus, you never need to wonder whether someone is taking advantage of you.
We would advise against drinking tap water in whole India, especially if you come just for a short time (couple weeks) as your body needs time to adjust to certain bacteria which is everywhere and taking too much of it at the same time can put you bed for couple days. Even though in some sources you could find that water is safe to drink, or that filtered water is alright we suggest to double check with your host or locals before you do that. We did not risk it too much, especially in the beginning of the trip, however, we did drink quite a lot of filtered water which was kind of alright just had a bad taste in most places.
Transportation. To get to New Delhi you can use plane, train, bus, bike or car. As it is a really large city and it has great accessibility, on top of that you can use any other transport you feel like using.
In the city it is common to use public transportation such as buses, taxies, Tuk Tuk’s or metro which is the fastest way to get around the city. Tuk Tuk’s are a quick and cheap option where you must bargain though or use Ola which is amazing by the way and almost twice cheaper than Uber. Most of the time we used metro as in New Delhi it is developed through whole city and you can reach all major points through the metro. On top of that we lived near one of the stations. We also walked quite a bit as it helped to get to know the city and see not only the touristic places and we recommend you do the same if you have a chance.
Best of luck planning your holidays in India!
Is there anything else you would like to visit while in India?
If you have anything in mind, please let us know and let’s discuss it.
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