Delhi as a first point of entry into India

My first day of the trip here in Delhi was... most uneventful. I arrived safe and sound, took a 50 rs bus to Connought Place and a ricksha to my prebooked guesthouse in Pahar Ganj.

I thought I had been tricked into paying too much for the first time on this trip before even stepping on Indian soil as I had agreed over e-mail to pay Ajay guesthouse 490 rs (8 euros) for a night even though the website said the price was 300. But I had a whopping room: A flat screen tv, air con, window with a view and hot water!

So really nothing to write home about. No bugs, no Delhi belly, no nothing. I guess the oddest thing that happened was a midget of a guy trying to sell me sex (1000 rs a night) but he was a far cry from the Jaisalmer geezer a few years back who tried to convince me what a good idea it would have been to fuck a horse.

I had plenty of chai, a Punjabi thali and said no to a zillion people trying to sell me the usual Indian stuff ranging from ear cleaning service to hashish.

Thankfully, I met Laura. It was her first day in India ever and she was petrified. The noise, the traffic, the "what is your name" guys, the repetition of the question, the dirt, the scammers, the windowless room for which she paid an exorbitant price, the hassle it is to buy train tickets, homeless people sleeping on side of a motorway, lack of hygiene, inadequate street signs, and the rest. All of which reminded me of my first day in Mumbai a few years back. Everyone who arrives in India for the first time and claims not to have a culture shock is phony.

Yet, we keep coming back.