Paraganj Delhi, an assault on the senses
Vikas headed up to Delhi with me on the same flight. He was heading off to Roorkee for school. He helped me get a prepaid taxi to Paravganj area and we said goodbyes. My taxi never made it to the hotel I had reserved. Instead, he dropped me off outside of Paraganj. If you can imagine the most incredible assault on the senses, that would be Paraganj. The smell of a thousand smells, the sound of rickshaws, people shouting, and the site of a riot moving throughout the small streets. I never found the hotel I reserved. Instead, my bicycle rickshaw driver dropped me outside of a random hotel because he could not go any farther due to a small crowd of onlookers. A cow was dieing in the road - blood, shit and vomit from the cow mixed with the overflowing dumpster. The smell was overwhelming in the hot sun.
I booked a room for a mere Rs. 200 (about $5USD) a night. The hotel was grade F - cockroaches, shady sheets on the bed and no hot water. I only had to put up with it for 5 nights and I barely minded. The cockroaches kept to themselves, it was too hot for sheets and the cold showers kept the Delhi heat at bay.
Most of the evenings in Delhi I spent with “Gigilo” and his friends which I met in Paraganj. They are travel agents and I met them while wandering around the streets. We’d start off at Metropolis Hotel then headd to the very posh Le Meridion Hotel’s club. Nice guys and it made clubbing in Delhi enjoyable. They also helped me book an AC car to see the Taj, Mathura and Brindavan.