Discovering the marvellous India

New Delhi

27th December, 2016.

We arrived at Delhi airport at 6 in the morning after more than 12 hours travelling from Barcelona airport and a 3 hour stopover in Istanbul. Once we arrived, a very friendly Indian man welcomed us. He presented himself as our guide for our trip. He put us on a bus with a driver and his companion, a man who dedicated himself to selling us water whenever we needed it, and helped us get in and out of the vehicle.

And then we started our adventure down the roads of Delhi. I looked out of the window and all I could see were pigs, monkeys, goats, rats, squirrels, slums, rubbish, so much rubbish, motorbikes, bikes and people. All of this in the middle of the road. And people, of course. Suddenly, the driver hit the brakes hard. A white car had stopped just in front of us. We overtook it. I looked out of the window and I saw the driver, as calm as anything, and he had stopped in the middle of the road just to receive a phone call. He would rather concentrate on his phone.

We continued on our journey. The people outside the bus smiled and waved at us. Stares and more stairs. Finally, we arrived at the hotel. The room was on the nineteenth floor. We gained some strength after having breakfast and all together, we threw ourselves into the jam-packed streets of the city.

Once we were submerged, I wondered whether this was the biggest city that I had ever been in, or whether it's the people that increase its size. It is incredible. I had never before seen so many people together in the same place. It's impossible to feel alone.

We visited Jama Masjid, which is one of the biggest mosques in this immense country. An incredible work of art. There are millions of details on every inch of this huge mosque. Later, we did a small bike tour. A skinny man who looked worn out pedalled us. My aunt and I sat behind him. Honestly, I felt pretty bad. The man took us to the huge Fuerte Rojo so we could see it from the outside. Here, I felt even smaller than I actually am. All of it is almost too majestic. There aren't sufficient words to describe everything I saw. I would have liked to have gone inside. However, we must continue on our trip.

We went back by bus. Then, we went to a different part of New Delhi to visit the Raj Ghat, which is a memorial monument to Mahatma Gandhi, the father of India. It's a very pleasant place, full of emotions. Next, we directed ourselves to Humayun's Tomb, which is considered to be a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. I truly don't know what I expected. We got off the bus and carried on walking around the gardens and different buildings, all belonging to Mongolian architecture.

Once again, Delhi left me open-mouthed and speechless. And so, that was our first day in India. I saw so many things that I didn't expect to see. It gave me goose bumps so many times. The people stare, and keep staring but then gift us with smiles. Many people gathered around and asked for photos with us. Some even grabbed our hand and kissed it as a sign of gratitude. Whilst you're taking a photo, others try and get their smaller children to get into the photo so they can later ask for money. Obviously we attracted attention. But what they don't know is the amount of attention I'm paying them too. So surprising, so contrasting. A lot of wealth and too much poverty. However, they keep on smiling. And that, is something that surprised me and at the time, it soothed me in some way. Tomorrow, we're going on a 7 hour bus trip to a small town called Mandawa. Let's see what it has in store...

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