Delhi in the rain, with the flu
Did I mention that we checked into the Imperial Hotel? It has long been my dream to stay here. It’s on a par with Raffles etc., a colonial edifice (in fact it was part of Lutyens original plan for New Delhi, the only hotel that was), and it’s usually uber expensive. I think we got it cheap (and I don’t mean really cheap, more like vaguely affordable) because we a: booked the cheapest possible room, and b: they are doing renovations so the gorgeous pool is shut. It’s way too cold to swim anyway and there is noise from the pool renos which we can hear, but the noise stops at about 6:00 and I reckon we got a good deal, or at least I am just pathetically grateful to actually be here. Tick: another one off the bucket list. Nevertheless if I ever have cause to stop in Delhi again I will stay here in high summer because the pool looks astoundingly decadent. Speaking of decadence, this hotel is beyond luxurious and makes Raffles look like a backpacker dive. Only photos can do justice, and I’ll post some soonish. 
Our first day in Delhi and I awoke after twelve hours sleep feeling lousy, way too lousy for breakfast so I sent Jon off to bring me back some bananas from the breakfast buffet that is included in our price. The breakfast room, the 1911 room, is gorgeous and the guests make it look messy. Many are foreigners like us and are, like us, dressed in a strange mixture of very insalubrious Western clothing with Indian accoutrements, in fact they mostly look like they had no idea India could be so cold and that they have put on everything they have with them and then bought a shawl, just like us. The first day I was here was about 19 degrees but there is a misty rain falling which continues to do so all day and makes it feel a lot colder. Jon and I walked up to Connaught Place. I probably shouldn’t have walked anywhere but wanted to get out and about. One thing I noticed was that the stray dogs of Delhi have each appropriated one of the indentations at the bottom of the columns of Connaught place. There they sleep, under the betel spit, each in his own territory. The shops of Connaught place were probably the most boring I have ever encountered, and also repetitive, so you get a ‘Reebok’ shop in each block, a ‘Woodlands’ in each block, etc.. Perhaps it was that I was feeling lousy but I didn’t buy anything at all nor did I find anything that I would have been even vaguely interested in buying (see next day’s blog for complete reversal of this situation however). Much more interesting were the itinerant food sellers, but I was feeling so ill I forgot to even take my camera so I must go back and get a snap of the guys selling roast sweet potatoes with lemons on skewers holding them in place over the hot coals. Everyone is rugged up and I forgot, I told a lie before, I did buy a very ugly faux leopard skin hat for Rp 150, it does the job though keeping my head very warm and it’s so bad looking it’s almost good.
Did I mention that we checked into the Imperial Hotel? It has long been my dream to stay here. It’s on a par with Raffles etc., a colonial edifice (in fact it was part of Lutyens original plan for New Delhi, the only hotel that was), and it’s usually uber expensive. I think we got it cheap (and I don’t mean really cheap, more like vaguely affordable) because we a: booked the cheapest possible room, and b: they are doing renovations so the gorgeous pool is shut. It’s way too cold to swim anyway and there is noise from the pool renos which we can hear, but the noise stops at about 6:00 and I reckon we got a good deal, or at least I am just pathetically grateful to actually be here. Tick: another one off the bucket list. Nevertheless if I ever have cause to stop in Delhi again I will stay here in high summer because the pool looks astoundingly decadent. Speaking of decadence, this hotel is beyond luxurious and makes Raffles look like a backpacker dive. Only photos can do justice, and I’ll post some soonish. 
Our first day in Delhi and I awoke after twelve hours sleep feeling lousy, way too lousy for breakfast so I sent Jon off to bring me back some bananas from the breakfast buffet that is included in our price. The breakfast room, the 1911 room, is gorgeous and the guests make it look messy. Many are foreigners like us and are, like us, dressed in a strange mixture of very insalubrious Western clothing with Indian accoutrements, in fact they mostly look like they had no idea India could be so cold and that they have put on everything they have with them and then bought a shawl, just like us. The first day I was here was about 19 degrees but there is a misty rain falling which continues to do so all day and makes it feel a lot colder. Jon and I walked up to Connaught Place. I probably shouldn’t have walked anywhere but wanted to get out and about. One thing I noticed was that the stray dogs of Delhi have each appropriated one of the indentations at the bottom of the columns of Connaught place. There they sleep, under the betel spit, each in his own territory. The shops of Connaught place were probably the most boring I have ever encountered, and also repetitive, so you get a ‘Reebok’ shop in each block, a ‘Woodlands’ in each block, etc.. Perhaps it was that I was feeling lousy but I didn’t buy anything at all nor did I find anything that I would have been even vaguely interested in buying (see next day’s blog for complete reversal of this situation however). Much more interesting were the itinerant food sellers, but I was feeling so ill I forgot to even take my camera so I must go back and get a snap of the guys selling roast sweet potatoes with lemons on skewers holding them in place over the hot coals. Everyone is rugged up and I forgot, I told a lie before, I did buy a very ugly faux leopard skin hat for Rp 150, it does the job though keeping my head very warm and it’s so bad looking it’s almost good. 
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