Delhi Sensory Overload

Ok, so Adrienne ( my awesome traveling companion who I met in Africa last year) and I decided to venture to Delhi for one night and see what the city has to offer and there are probably no words to describe it, the only way to understand it is to experience it and for those who've been there, I would love to hear your stories because it's like nothing I've ever seen. We decided to take a tuk tuk to the metro and venture in on the Delhi metro system- which was very impressive, clean, air conditioned and even has separate lines and sections for ladies. This is probably the only clean thing about Delhi. Easily finding our stop we get off jump in a taxi and head to our hotel in the area of Pahar Ganj- backpackers galore, a bit seedy and a bit overwhelming. Bumper to bumper traffic consisting of cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, taxis, motorcycles, trucks, you name it. They all line the streets honking and trying to move in the smallest and tightest spaces all to get ahead a few inches of each other.Our taxi mildly hits a scooter and the driver gets out and is about to get into a fist fight with the driver if the scooter in the middle of all the traffic congestion. Whoa....this is our welcome to Delhi-12.8 million people and counting. Our taxi driver decides he doesn't want to take us any further and we get transferred to a cycle rickshaw who drops us off at our hotel. The room is barebones basic, dirty and definitely a bit on the sketchy side. It's one night let's just deal with it. Well we dealt with it and that's all i'll write about it. Out to venture the streets again, I'm pretty sure we got into the typical Delhi tourist scam but the only positive thing was we didn't actually pay money for anything and after being shown to the " government tourist office", the lightbulb went on and we got out of there. Seriously, it seems like everyone is out to scam you and you lose faith very quickly in trusting anyone, it's a horrible feeling but the amount of scams are infinite. After getting lost for an hour in Connaught Place, the centre point of New Delhi which is a circular ring of roads that made absolutely no sense to me. We found a great south Indian restaurant called Saravana Bhavan and they have a franchaise in Vancouver! This made up for the BS we had to deal with earlier. It's amazing how a good meal can instantly change your mood! Back to the hotel to get to bed. We woke up early eager to get out of Hotel Sketch and walked down to a street called Main Bazaar- tons of guesthouses, chaos, and tiny shops selling everything and anything to make a buck. We spent the day in Old Delhi at Red Fort, being somewhat scammed again by a cycle rickshaw and  finally deciding time to get out of Delhi. One and half days is enough. Although Delhi is completely chaotic, dirty, crowded, hot and you feel like everyone is out to scam you, its a city to be experienced cause there is nothing like it. The tuk tuk rides weaving in and out of traffic are something you can't describe, it's like a bad car accident you don't want to see what's happening but you do all at the same time. I can never complain again about road rage, it's a science to drive the streets of Delhi. Crossing the street is like a crap shoot with everything coming at you from all directions. No one stops and it can feel like a game of life or death. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a understatement, but in doing so you can really find out how much you can handle and how strong you can be. I wouldn't have changed anything about my Delhi experience, it was a true test to finding out more about myself. Anything goes here. Complete sensory overload. Its Thanksgiving back home and being in India makes you really think how fortunate and lucky we are. Getting outside of the bubble we live in and being put into some of the most poverty stricken areas of the world makes you think what is real and what is important in this lifetime. What we often overlook and take for granted is what others pray for their entire life-food,water, shelter, family, friends, to be loved.........the list goes on. Today brought a new perspective on everyday life. A picture painted in my mind that will be difficult to ever be forgotten. Remember to be thankful everyday. Love everyday. Spread positive energy to those in need everyday. Be kind to one another everyday. Happy Thanksgiving from India. Love and light.