is pahar ganj just bogus and dodgy?

safari vala

Should I avoid pahar ganj?. I try to keep to a modest budget but avoid tourist traps where newbies are touted to death.
I can pay RS1500 per night if need be.
This will be my 4th visit to India and my ??th trip to Delhi.

anubisgrau

paharganj was my first encounter with india and saying that i hate is pretty much an understatement. surely the worst of india i've seen (haven't been in agra & varanasi yet though).

avoid it by any means. you should be able to work something out your budget in other areas of the city. try the hostels, they should be OK.

shashank.aggarwal

Stay away from Pahar ganj..I have mentioned it somewhere that even local Delhiites do not like to venture there unless it is absolutely essential...

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kmalik

Safari vala - For Rs. 1500 per night, you'll be lucky to find a place in Paharganj I guess more correct way to stating that'd be that the hotel prices in Delhi have gone up considerably in recent years, and Paharganj / Karol Bagh might well be the most likely spot for the price range you are looking at.

All the best.

freenote

There aint nothing wrong with Pahar ganj .Stayed there on numerous occasions and have never been touted to death . some of the shops will try it on but that's just business and being aproached on the street ,it has hardly happened .On my next trip will probably land in Delhi and where will i stay , Pahar ganj . Hustle ,bustle , lights , people ,stalls ,shops ,cows ,life!!!!!!! it will jolly well do

PS Have just chatted to my partner about the area ,and we cannot recall a single occasion when we have been approached on the street .The main problem with it's reputation is that to Indians /Delhiites it is not considered a good representation of India /Delhi .No gleaming chrome ,no wifi hotspots ,no posh coffee houses ,no laptops to be seen . It's dirty busy and with cow shit on the road .It's also cheap ,central and for a forigner very interesting .Enjoy!!

kidsan

i too feel i must come out in defence of paharganj...

it is one of the most intensely awful-brilliant places on earth and as such i love it. I've stayed there probably around 10 times for a few days at a time and have got to know it fairly well.
I have never been hastled or agressed and find the locals to be surprisingly friendly and easy to do business with. There's some great deals for last minute presents, good food, reasonable guest houses and fantastic travel connections.

Ok, so there's a few too many tourists around but it's no worse than most of the other places that you'll probably visit.

Go to the Malhotra for dinner and you wont be disappointed

bijapuri

for your budget, a good alternative to Pahar Ganj is Karol Bagh. zillions of hotels, plus good eats, shopping, and a Metro station.

I stayed in Pahar Ganj once, on recommendation of an IM member. Feh . . . went back to K B and have stayed there when in Delhi ever since. If my work ever starts to pick up the tab, I'll stay in South Delhi in a homestay, but that's another story
My knock on PG is two things:
1. the hotels, while cheap, are uncomfortable for the most part- either tiny rooms, broken fixtures, or smelly-dirty. Of course I didn't check them all out, but the few I did were that way. I'd rather pay 25-50% more and have a nice place to stay that gives me a good might of sleep and an effecient system.

2. there are just a ton of western travelers, and many of them are of the cheap, complaining, stick to themselves, youngish-newish types. I don't come to India to see Goras- I'd rather chat with Indians. I'm sure that these travelers will mature into wise old India hands. but they're not quite ready for prime time.

If you need a name of a hotel, you can try Dream Inn. They are good, and a dozen hotels are within walking of them if they rub ya the wrong way. Ask for a discount- but do that everywhere you stay, na?

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karuna

You've just reminded me I have a photo of a Dream Inn room. It was the first hotel we stayed in in India, 2006. Hotel Good Palace is a couple of doors down and a smidge more salubrious. Across the way is the Panicker's Guesthouse, which (thankfully?!) we never had cause to visit!
Never stayed in Paharganj so I don't know how this room compares to the stuff on offer there? It was about Rs1200 I think but they have a website for current rates.

ETA: The next photo (of the ensuite bathroom) seems to be encroaching on the right hand side there, giving away the fact that I still use a trad film camera.

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anubisgrau

karuna, how did you like dream inn? it seems to be the cheapest option i could find online in karol bagh, around 1700rp for a double. may i can knock it down.

BabeInTheWoods

I feel I must speak in defense of Pahar Ganj also. I love it there. It's fascinating, dirty, interesting, smelly, reasonably priced, crowded, etc. Alternatively wonderful and awful. And there's nothing like almost being run over by cows, rickshaws and hand-pulled carts to add a little edge to life. If you use a little humour with the locals, they quickly get to know you by sight and tend to wave or Namaste rather than hassle you. We always stay at the Hare Krishna guesthouse, which is basic but fine and the staff at the rooftop restaurant are great people who always make our stay a pleasure.

When we went to Karol Bagh one time, we found the touts there a lot more aggressive and unfriendly and I found myself wanting to clip a few people around the ears. We couldn't wait to get back to our own neighbourhood of Pahar Ganj and relax around the easy-going locals!

I guess it's up to you what you want out of a place. We enjoy the messy hum of life there, and we have no great expectations of grandeur in our lodgings - just a bed, a bathroom, a fan and a door that locks is fine for us. My only complaint really is the lack of interesting bugs to photograph. Everyone has their own needs and preferences. It's good to ask advice, as you have, but you're the only one who can really judge for yourself. Maybe spend a night or two there and decide for yourself. It would be sad to miss out on interesting or fun experiences because of what other people have said.

That's my two cents worth, anyway.

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PeakXV

Spent a week there one afternoon ..... or so it seemed.

The perception of good, bad and downright ugly might well lie in your previous travel habits/accommodations and/or your original initiation into India.

For some, it also may lie with the amount of trust they place in their guidebooks for that supposed 'real India' guidance & direction and a case in point of this phenomenon is quickly found thumbing through a copy of India - The Rough Guide as Pahar Ganj is described as "a lively scene of typical Indian life".

No - Pahar Ganj reminds me of my own hometown where there is a street adjacent to where the cruise ships dock - there you will find many foreigners/tourists & with it shops that cater specifically to these foreigners - definitely a place to avoid for an authentic rural Canadian experience.


To each his/her own though and one must choose an accommodation where their comfort, budget & entertaiment quotas are all satisfied!

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SitaParityaga

Agree with Bijapuri: now that I've discovered Karol Bagh, no need to return to Pahar Ganj, except for one very important thing: good cheap shopping and quick access to the trains.

Mind you, you've got to know your basic rules of bartering. I have brought back little metal pill boxes with hoo haa glitter et al pasted on the outside, for, tops, 50 cents apiece, for all the coworkers. Imagine my glee when I saw the exact same item on sale at a local grocery store for $5.00!

steven_ber

If this was a world travel forum, could the words Pahar Ganj be replaced with India?

I guess I must sort of like Pahar Ganj, I had a choice of where to stay on my last visit and chose Pahar Ganj again.

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jyotirmoy

Feeling for Pahargunge is digital... either 0 or 1, nothing in between.

PeakXV

So True!


.... but within the diehard international community that chooses to hang out there - I've definitely noticed a flip-flop or three.