After our flight was delayed a day we finally completed the long journey to India from Amman, Jordan. Total flight time was only 6.5 hours across two flights but our layover was over 5 hours. We arrived late in the evening to New Delhi and took an uber straight to our hotel, ready to check in and get some rest. This was the first and only major negative experience of our time in New Delhi. Overall New Delhi was way better than we imagined and we had many positive experiences. The first hotel check in was not one of those.

When we arrived the hotel looked nothing like the photos, they had used another hotels photos and name that has a better reputation. The manager also told us, “We are full. I am the manager and I decide who stays here and I say no foreigners allowed.” He looked very proud and smug after that. They had moved our booking to a hotel next door. They didn’t want to accept us at first because, “Our prices are higher than the hotel you booked.” After handing over some cash to be able to sleep somewhere after our travel day that started at 2:00am we entered the room. It was the dirtiest hotel we had ever stayed at. The room did not lock, mosquitos bit us all night, pigeons flew into the balcony door constantly, the toilet looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months, and the bed looked like it had been used for making some adult movies. I was keeping my good friend from India updated throughout and he told us that hotel chain is not safe or hygienic so he sent us some better options. The next day we spent nearly the full day finding an alternative hotel, getting there, and cleaning up after the one night at the sketchy place. The new hotel was perfect: in a quiet area, clean, spacious and with kind staff. We were so happy.

We spent over a week in New Delhi, dividing our time between planning and logistics, sight seeing, and trying food in our area. The metro in New Delhi was incredibly easy to use, clean, on time, and affordable. It was a stark contrast to the New York City metro which is dirty, loud, has rats and cockroaches, people peeing and pooping on the platform, train delays, etc. There were many contrasts in Delhi itself as well (both old and new). Some areas were constantly being swept and were fairly clean, others had trash everywhere. There were some people trying to sell us things but for the most part everyone we interacted with was excited to meet us, helpful, and genuine.

We made our way to the metro and got our metro cards from the customer help desk; it was easy and cheap. First stop of the day was the Tomb of Safdarjung. Once we walked through the entrance archway the beautiful tomb was directly in front of us. The walkway to the front of the building was lined with tall palm trees, and an empty water feature. Inside were tall arched ceilings with engraved details.

After the tomb we made our way over to the Lodhi Gardens. Every day we went on an excursion we ended up walking through some sort of garden to get to where we were going, so it became a regular occurrence. It was such a pleasant surprise that New Delhi was so green with tree lined streets, parks, flowers, and other green spaces scattered throughout the city. Lodhi Gardens were full of ruins, flowers, and picnic areas.

Next up was Khan Market. This was a luxury market with a variety of shops and food options. It was a little out of our price range, but was a fun and short walk. We ate lunch here at Khan ChaCha, and tried curry rolls for the first time. Like everything we have eaten in India so far they were spicy but delicious.

Our last stop that day was the India Gate. It is also situated in a large green space with the gate itself and a statue. There were a few domestic tourists who wanted to take some photos with us. As it turned out this would become a somewhat regular occurrence at tourist spots, but they were nice so we didn’t mind. There was a park with a walkway going straight from the India Gate to some of the parliament buildings. It was a beautiful walk under the shade of the trees and by a large water feature. The park had some monkeys who were checking out peoples backpacks.

After the two temples we went to Hauz Khas Complex and the waterfront park below it. To get there we somehow ended up walking through Deer Park and saw three huge deer. It was not an animal we expected to see in the city, that’s for sure. The Hauz Khas complex has several buildings intact and even had great descriptions for what each one was and how it was used throughout different eras. Many young local couples were there on dates, likely to get some more privacy than they would at home.

We arrived the day before Holi to Disha’s family’s house in a nice neighborhood in New Delhi. They had planned an entire 24 hours for our visit to capture everything they were excited for us to experience. We thought we were just going over for dinner and the Holi bonfire but actually they wanted us to spend the night as traveling the night before Holi can be dangerous due to drinking and driving. Thankfully we brought some small gifts (pastries and some chocolate) for the hosts, they were so gracious that we would’ve felt horrible if we came empty handed. On arrival we were greeted with a mark being placed on our foreheads and some rice, a flower lei, and a fat, happy beagle.

Shortly after arriving to their wonderful home we got an apartment tour. They had the penthouse apartment with a full rooftop terrace. The terrace had a guest room, too, which is where we ended up spending the night. The whole apartment was nice and welcoming. For dinner the women of the family cooked dal makhani, shahi paneer, raita, and roti. Everything was delicious, and they even specifically choose dishes that they hoped wouldn’t be too spicy for us which was both thoughtful and hilarious. We definitely appreciated and needed the consideration.

Part of the evening plan was showing us the Holi shopping experience. They insisted we change into some of their clothing, just incase anyone threw colors early.

We followed Disha and her brother around the neighborhood. We saw the pile of materials that would later be the bonfire, bought bags of colors, picked out ice creams, and visited their family’s shop that had been in the area for over 20 years. The shop is Bhawani 2.0 in east uttam nagar. Not sponsored, but they’re a kind family and proud of their shop so check it out if you’re ever in the area!

Later in the evening we got to watch the bonfire be lit. There was a large gathering of people who lit their own grass and walked around the fire, music blasting from speakers, elderly people sharing homemade snacks with the crowd from a giant bucket, and kids playing.

The bonfire was something we assumed we wouldn’t get to experience as foreigners because they only take place in local neighborhoods, so we were grateful we got to experience that part of Holi as well.

Since we didn’t realize we would be spending the night they drove us back to the hotel so we could grab some things we needed. They insisted we come back, though, so that we wouldn’t miss any part of the Holi fun.

Since we were out in the car anyways they asked if we would be interested in going to the Sikh Temple they go to to pray. Gurudwara Bangla Sahib was gorgeous, with a large pool, and clean exterior and interior. Here we learned that they feed many people in need everyday. We ended up going to bed at almost 3:00am.

In the next morning we got to try aalu poori and aam ka achar for breakfast. The neighbours in the building were excited to have us there participating in Holi and we got colors on us from each of them, and put colors on them too. There were family photos and setting up the terrace. On the terrace we filled a pool with water, had water squirters, and bags of color ready for the mayhem. Disha’s brothers’ friends arrived and soon there was music, snacks, and fun. There was dancing, games with a dare if you lost, full on water wars, and colors everywhere. It was better than any event we could’ve found. After the chaos lunch was butter chicken and dahi bhalla. Exhausted and sad to say goodbye, we left their home with gifts from them, and a family we would never forget.

Humayun’s Tomb was the final stop of the day which felt like a giant park, similar to Lodhi Gardens with buildings inside. There were arches, a mosque, tombs, and other structures throughout. Trees lined certain walkways and there were several water features. There were also many small stands selling trinkets inside the entryway which we had not seen alot of on our other activity days. While there we also walked through Sunder Nursery and the museum.

On our last activity day we checked out the Red Fort first. It was a large area with several things to see, but many of the buildings were no entrance to the public. My favorite was the outside wall and moat which we could see before getting an entrance ticket. This one was my least favorite stop but Nick enjoyed it. It was the busiest place we had been in New Delhi, but the buildings inside the fort walls were gorgeous.

A short walk away from the Red Fort is the Jama Masjid Mosque. To get there we walked through the Meena Bazaar. We have been to many bazaars, including ones in Turkey, Morocco, and Egypt. We felt like the bazaar here in India was surprisingly the most calm. There were a lot of people, but there were two directions of traffic, people kept moving or got out of the way, no one yelled at you to buy their merchandise, and it was shaded.

The Mosque was nice on the outside, with a large water feature.

We tried many different foods throughout our time in the city. One of my old co-workers from India recommended we try food from Haldirams, which serves street food in a hygienic way. Our favorite foods from there were the South Indian tray, Rajkachori, and Bhalla Papadi. A restaurant near our hotel was Patliputra Restaurant, where we tried biryani, salt and pepper chicken, and butter chicken. Another food that was everywhere were momos, which were delicious. A drink we tried was the lime juice, both the salt version and the sugar version. We would not recommend trying the salt version, we did not enjoy that. One day when in a pinch for time we even tried McDonalds, which was so fun. They have so many vegetarian burger options and mango ice cream.

One of our favorite activities is getting Nick’s haircut in different countries. India did not disappoint for uniqueness and amusement. We walked into a barber shop that slowly went from 1 other customer to a room of about 5 men all watching Nick get his haircut. The haircut itself was standard, but the best part was after. The barber suggested Nick get cleaned up on his face to perfect the look. Nick unknowingly agreed to a hilarious series of facial treatments. The man put white stuff all over Nicks face, neck, and ears. We were so worried it might be bleaching but luckily it wasn’t. This was followed with an aggressive face rub, spraying with water, and a sander with a different head used to vibrate Nick’s face. After rinsing Nick’s face with a sponge and towel he forced open Nick’s eyelids to spray his eyeballs with water too. The original price was 200 rupees for the haircut and somehow ended up at 950 rupees with the facial. Nick is horrible at negotiating even when he knows he’s being scammed so he paid and tipped the barber. And Americans wonder why people try to scam them so much, they make it too easy!