Golden Triangle: Delhi

We were so close. As a traveler in India, you have to do it, right? it can be considered a rite of passage anyway. i felt surprisingly fresh to meet and greet this wild city of delhi despite the 30+ train ride from the south in Chennai. or maybe my energy came from my excitement to meet up with 2 friends from seattle, Robb and Jay. i had been looking forward to their visit since they gave me the thumbs up. Robb and Jay, on the other hand, arrived the day before me without a guidebook or timely recommendations from me, and were immediately taken for a ride (literally, after jumping into a taxi from the airport and promptly getting into an accident followed by the road rage of their driver that led to his exchange of unfriendly words with the fellow accident driver). but we easily met up in the new delhi train station to experience the craziness that is delhi.

the plan was to leave the hustle and bustle of the city asap, but not before spending most of an entire day trying to complete the simple task of purchasing train tickets. after a couple of days in the smog of such a large, dense city, the three of us seemed to develop what we like to refer to as "Indian lung" - an abnormal amount of phlegm, encouraging daily hocking and spitting, especially in the wee morning hours, creating the effect of an alarm clock if it is your neighbor.

the following day with train tickets in hand, we left our modest hotel room in the main bazaar of new delhi and set out to the train station.