In between the major stops of our India trip—McLeod Ganj and Leh—we ventured back to Delhi for about 36 hours to meet up with my friend Zoe and do some sightseeing. Since we had an interesting adventure getting to Delhi and some unique sightseeing experiences, I thought I’d summarize our time there in a short post before discussing our next major destination.

If you’re interested in reading about our previous stop on this adventure, you can find the post outlining McLeod Ganj here.

Day 27: McLeod Ganj to Delhi

As mentioned in previous posts, McLeod Ganj was probably the most logistically challenging region to get to and from during our travels in India. While we opted to fly into McLeod Ganj from Delhi (via the nearest airport in Dharamshala, about a two-hour drive away), George managed to get us train tickets for our journey back to Delhi.

We had tickets for one of the new express train lines established in 2019, called the Vande Bharat Express. These trains are unique in that they are built like commuter trains with no sleeper cars and only stop every hour or so, making the journey far more efficient than other train options to and from high-traffic areas. We were excited to take the fast train, though it meant we had to catch it in Pathankot, a city on the Punjab border.

We booked a private taxi from McLeod Ganj to Pathankot, scheduled to take about three hours. We made sure to leave much earlier than necessary, worried that any unknown delays might cause us to miss the train. The drive itself was uneventful (as uneventful as a drive can be in India), though the roads were rough at times with varying quality of infrastructure along the way.

Once the taxi dropped us off at Pathankot train station, we walked about 10 minutes to find a newly opened, trendy café called Brewbakes. It seemed like one of those places built for Instagram-worthy food and drinks, but we were mainly concerned with finding air conditioning, which it thankfully had!

We had a lot of fun at Brewbakes, with a highlight being the extensive non-alcoholic drink selection (something we noticed at many restaurants across India). I ordered a mojito-style drink served in a giant test tube. It was delicious and a great way to help pass the time.

After a couple of hours at the café, we headed back to the train station to catch our train. The train experience was delightful—brand-new with upright seats. It felt almost like being in Europe, though the noise level was much higher; everyone seemed to be playing music or watching videos on their phones at full volume, which took some time to adjust to. We figured that with all the noise going on all the time in India, people must just have a very different noise tolerance threshold than we have in Canada.

We arrived in Delhi late that night and had a seamless transition from the train station to our accommodation. One benefit of arriving later in the evening was that the train station was slightly less busy, making it easier to find our way out and get to the street where our hotel was located. This was much less stressful than the last time we passed through the Delhi train station on our way to McLeod Ganj.

Day 28: Exploring the Real Delhi

The next morning, we were excited to see my friend Zoe, one of my close friends whom I travelled with in Colombia two years ago. We hadn’t seen each other in over a year and were thrilled to meet up and travel together again. Zoe reminded George and me that we had briefly discussed an India trip before leaving for Australia, so it was wonderful to realize we had made that wishful conversation a reality. Zoe met up with us for our portion of the trip up in Leh, and then had some more travelling planned with her mom after we parted ways with her.

The main agenda for the day was a walking tour through an organization called Street Connections, which provides education, training, and eventual employment for children and youth living on the streets of Delhi. The program works in conjunction with the Salaam Baalak Trust. While it was a bit more expensive than typical activities in India (about $25 CAD per person for a three-hour tour), it was definitely worth it.

The walking tour was one of the best I’ve done in all my travels. Our guide, Sanju, was incredibly kind and had such an inspiring story. It was so powerful to hear about his life growing up on the streets, then eventually moving to a boys’ home where he received education and training. We really enjoyed getting to know him as he led us through different streets of, as he said, “The Real Old Delhi”.

During the tour, we made various stops at food stalls, temples, and the Spice Market. We also took a rickshaw ride through Old Delhi and visited old havelis and businesses, including an embroidery establishment and a printmaker. It was a special way to see and experience the city while hearing Sanju’s story and his experiences growing up in the area. The most moving part of the tour was visiting the boys’ home supported by the tour and seeing how our contribution made an impact. A personal highlight for me in the school area of the boys’ home was seeing a Hindi alphabet chart and trying to decipher it using the skills I had been learning on Duolingo.

Our tour ended up going longer than expected, so after a quick Tuk Tuk ride back to our hostel, we didn’t have time for much besides packing up for our flight to Leh the next morning. For dinner, we walked down the street near our hostel and enjoyed a delicious thali, which was both fun (with its variety, of course) and tasty.

Though we didn’t spend much time in Delhi, it was definitely worth visiting to experience India’s capital. The city was far busier and bigger than I expected! The street tour was definitely one of the best travel experiences I’ve ever had, and I can’t recommend it enough.

For those regularly following my blog, you may have noticed a brief pause in my posts. My summer vacation is officially over, and I’m back to teaching full time in Canada. The busy-ness of September left me with little energy for much else, but I’m finally starting to feel more like myself, so I’m hoping to catch up on the rest of my travel posts soon.

Next up, I’ll be sharing our adventures in the northern Indian territory of Ladakh. I can’t wait to share that part of the trip with you.

As always, thanks for reading!