1 week in India

Although our time in India only lasted 1 week, it has been an amazing, eye opening, and most humbling experience. Most of our time was spent in Delhi with only a couple hours in Jaipur. Regardless, the intensity of 1 week in India was so much greater than our 1 month in Thailand, and even parts of our trip in China.

While we were travelling in China, we met many travellers who had been to India who had commented on how different India and China were. They said China was so much more developed than India. I realize parts of China are quite modern but I never ever expected that the difference in development between India and China were this big.

Up to this point in our travels, everything had been fairly accessible. There were always supermarkets or convenience stores, quite easy to get goods. We went into India stocked with most things but were still expecting to be able to easily purchase many items in the big cities. We thought landing in Delhi would ease our transition into India as it was the capital and one of the largest cities there, hence most developed. Perhaps it was (given that we never saw many other cities) but it definitely wasn't quite as developed as I had imagined. Again, it could also be because of the areas we tended to be at. In the Main Bazaar (where we stayed) and in Old Delhi, we definitely couldn't find convenience stores or a supermarket. They had general stores I suppose, but they were very very small with limited selection. Here is a photo of the Main Bazaar.

Here is a photo from a roof top cafe above our hotel.

Even when we visited Connaught place which is a touristy area of New Delhi, we were suprised to find the lack of a convenience store. I admit it was a little more developed there as they did have quite a few western shops (nike, adidas, pizza hut, etc.) but it's just not the same.

On our last day in Delhi, we decided to venture down the alleys off the Main Bazaar and were amazed to find so much crammed into such a tiny area. There were so many families living in so little space, it was crazy and quite eye opening.

On our train ride out of Delhi to Jaipur, we saw the poorest people we have ever seen. We really didn't know what poor was until we saw this. They were everywhere, sleeping anywhere they could, washing up where they could. It made me speechless.

Given our short stay in India, I'm sure we've only just seen the tip of the iceberg of what India really has to offer. Regardless, just one week has managed to open my eyes so much more and humble my spirit. India is an amazing country I think all should see. Just go prepared with a lot of patience and a very open mind.

posted by Jenni @ 7:33 AM