Cycling India... Delhi to Agra
After spending far too long in Delhi Mark, my new cycling companion, and I were eager to get on the road. First leg was down to Delhi on National Highway 2. National Highway 2. Hmm. Could prove to be interesting but I couldn't see any other way of doing it. We'd planned on an early, 6AM start in order to try and beat the traffic but in the end we didn't hit the road until around 9:30. Ah well, can't say I'm surprised. The navigation went OK, after a quick stop at India Gate we were soon on NH2 and heading south! Woo-hoo! The traffic getting out of Delhi was challenging but not actually hellish, although the city and suburbs we went through extended some 40km. Eventually we got to the country and off we went!
Spent the first night on the road in a dhaba (roadside cafe type place). Now that was a mistake... they didn't have menus so we just ordered some food. Got the bill the next morning. Aside from 150 rupees per person to sleep there (which was outrageous to start with but beat the 1200 rupees for a twin room at the hotel we'd just passed) they'd charged silly prices for food. 275 rupees for a paneer dish. To put it in perspective, that's going on for 4 pounds. In a good roof top restaurant in Delhi you'd pay maybe 80 rupees for the same dish. The total came to 1410 rupees (around 18 quid) including 250 "service charge". We were not best pleased and left after calling them "Ali Babas". Needless to say we did not pay the service charge. So, the moral here is always ask the price first if there's no menu.
Another days cycling with a wonderful headwind soon took us to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately during the course of the day my stomach, which has been a bit dicey for days, took a turn for the worse. Oh, made it to Agra easily enough but I couldn't eat solid food so I was powered on cola (mmm, sugar!). The Taj Mahal really is wonderful (although bloody crowded and expensive for non-Indians).
We were going to be setting off on the road again today but that was a non-starter. My stomach has spent the past 48 hours getting worse and I'm currently self medicating on antibiotics in the hope of clearing it, and my head which feels totally fogged up. Even the smell of food is making me feel sick! See how it goes tomorrow anyway.
Spent the first night on the road in a dhaba (roadside cafe type place). Now that was a mistake... they didn't have menus so we just ordered some food. Got the bill the next morning. Aside from 150 rupees per person to sleep there (which was outrageous to start with but beat the 1200 rupees for a twin room at the hotel we'd just passed) they'd charged silly prices for food. 275 rupees for a paneer dish. To put it in perspective, that's going on for 4 pounds. In a good roof top restaurant in Delhi you'd pay maybe 80 rupees for the same dish. The total came to 1410 rupees (around 18 quid) including 250 "service charge". We were not best pleased and left after calling them "Ali Babas". Needless to say we did not pay the service charge. So, the moral here is always ask the price first if there's no menu.
Another days cycling with a wonderful headwind soon took us to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Unfortunately during the course of the day my stomach, which has been a bit dicey for days, took a turn for the worse. Oh, made it to Agra easily enough but I couldn't eat solid food so I was powered on cola (mmm, sugar!). The Taj Mahal really is wonderful (although bloody crowded and expensive for non-Indians).
We were going to be setting off on the road again today but that was a non-starter. My stomach has spent the past 48 hours getting worse and I'm currently self medicating on antibiotics in the hope of clearing it, and my head which feels totally fogged up. Even the smell of food is making me feel sick! See how it goes tomorrow anyway.
posted by Bill at 1:14 pm
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