Four Days in Delhi

KT and I are in Delhi right now. The incredible heat (116F a few days ago) has limited our mobility as well as my thinking processes - hence the tardiness of update. Despite being the well-laid-out once center of the British empire in India and the modern home to over 15 million (officially); Delhi is not really a tourist destination or even much of a place to relax. A few high-scale foreigners come here as a stopover to Agra and the Taj Mahal while a handful of others come here on business; however, neither are likely to venture outside the southern suburbs. And, like anywhere in India, there's always a steady supply of the long-term dread-lock-clad hippies taking advantage of the cheap cost of living and accessible drugs.

More so than any of the other cities I've visited in India (Hyderabad, Calcutta, Mumbai) Delhi is enormously past it's carrying capacity. Millions of motorbikes swerve in and out of traffic, while rickshaw wallahs steer pedestrians into sidewalk puddles, and crippled, tunic-clad beggars shuffle on all fours through street garbage past cows, goats, and awe-struck tourists. In 2002, the newly inaugurated Delhi subway system had a maximum capacity of 200,000 riders; on its first day 1.2 million showed up they were forced had to shut down the emergency intercom system after riders kept using it to tell train drivers to speed up.

Delhi is modernizing at a breakneck pace; however, these improvements are struggling to keep up with an overflowing rural migrant population arriving at 500,000 each year. KT and I will be here another day before heading to Mumbai, a peaceful port city of only 12 million. Keep an eye on my flickr gallery for some photos of the Taj. Also, I have a Delhi SIM Card and phone number. If you call remember to add 11 1/2 hours to Central Time. The number including country code is 011-01-991-015-2835 (just punch in these numbers from anywhere outside of India).

UPDATE: a mouse just ran across the desk between me and the monitor, and the power in our hotel went out for the third time in an hour. I (heart) India!