robert j. mang cycling/travel

I spent my last full day wandering around some of the Delhi sights.  Delhi isn’t really as intimidating as it’s made out to be. Basically, it’s not terribly different than the other places I’ve been, only there is more of it.  Plus of course, you have a range at the high-end that you don’t get in other places, and you have a larger bottom end; though, I’m not sure it’s necessarily any lower, just wider.

It’s rained a bit over the last few days, so that appears to have cleansed the air somewhat.  When I first came through here almost 6 weeks ago my throat was burning within 30 minutes.  Either the rain has helped, or I’ve developed a protective coating on my throat (now there’s a thought!).

I couldn’t tell if it was a bicycle rickshaw graveyard or parking lot.

I continue to get people telling me to “be careful”, but I’ve yet to fully undertand what I’m supposed to be carful of.  So far, even today, even is some of the tightest, most crowed, zero-touristy, local markets and streets, I’ve yet to feel at any risk.  Either I’m ignored, smiled at, viewed as a curiosity, a sales target, or I’m occasionally warned to be “careful”.    In either case, I feel very safe here.

The largest Mosque in India

And outside the Mosque on all the streets radiating from it was the largest flea-market selling the most cheap trinkets I’ve ever seen in one place. This is just one of at least a half-dozen streets that looked all the same.

Then I visited the nut and spice market.  Shop after shop selling a wonderful array of goods.  I bought some spices, which I’m assuming I won’t have problems bringing back into the US.

The spice market road was jammed packed with people hauling goods.  These guys look like they are working really hard pulling all this stuff.

Now check this crew out.  As I was standing in the street taking photos of the people hauling goods, theses guys were yelling at me to “take our photo”, so I obliged.  They decided to show how macho they are.     Definitely the “tough” crowd.

This poor guy was cycling along and his turban or head scarf or what ever it was came undone and the wind wrapped it around his head so he couldn’t see a thing.  That didn’t stop him however.

Interestingly though, there was not one woman working in this entire district.

~ by Robert on June 18, 2011.

Posted in India, Tibet, Nepal & India, Travels