India I: Delhi

As I previously mentioned, the destination of our India trip was the region of Kerala, but on our way there we had a full day to spend in Delhi.

I was expecting Delhi to be messy, dirty and chaotic, and Delhi certainly lived up to my expectations. Way more than I was able to imagine before going there. Never before have I traveled to a place that made me feel so uneasy and made me wish to get out of there as soon as possible.

Delhi was filthy. There was garbage covering every street, stray dogs everywhere and hectic, crazy traffic that made you fear for your life.
However, these things were not what made us so uncomfortable. After a while we didn't notice the dirt, we realized that we weren't getting ourselves killed in traffic, and we started relaxing a bit and even enjoying the busy feeling of life in India's capital city.
The thing that really bothered us though, was the air. The thick blanket of smog that shrouded the whole city, and the sickly sweet and dirty smell of diesel from millions of cars, and of the fires people would light along the streets, burning paper, plastic or whatever they could find to keep themselves warm.
Although we were glad we got to see Delhi, it was heartbreaking to see people living in such poverty and pollution, and we were happy when it was time to leave.