Overwhelmed in Delhi

hannahruss

Hi there,

I've just arrived to do some voluntary teaching work in Delhi, with a time commitment of 3 months. I'm staying with an Indian family in West Delhi who are nice enough but expect me to be out of the house for a considerable amount of the day and for the entire weekend. Normally this would suit me entirely but as a single female in this city I feel somewhat overwhelmed and vulnerable and wondered if anyone could recommend some backpacker hangouts or buzzy places to meet new people...

Thanks

Hannah

kidsan

wow, that can't be easy not having somewhere to hide away when you need to Hannah! I would certainly find it hard staying under such conditions. Anyway, if you wanna meet backpackers then paharganj is the place for you. Good luck!

steven_ber

Hello Hannah and welcome to indiamike.com

You can also plan trips to Agra & Fathepur Sikri, Mathura & Vrindavan, Jaipur, Amritsar, Varanasi, Rishikesh & Haridwar.....(insert another 100 places).....for your weekends.

All can be done easily and cheaply.

I think there's a book, 100 weekend trips from Delhi, it may be worth looking out for it.

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Tapestry

It sounds like a pretty awkward situation, do you have to stay with them? Are you a paying guest?

PRIYA

It certainly does sound like an awkward situation and most unlike the usual Indian hospitality

Do you have to stay in a place where you don't feel welcome?

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machadinha

Probably this one? Never used the series, but it looks promising. http://www.outlooktraveller.com/bookdetail.aspx?id=5

Agree on looking for another place to stay. And on Paharganj (around Main Bazaar, across from New Delhi Railway Station) for the backpacker "scene." Likewise, if less so or more upscale, around Connaught Place. The thing is most of these people are naturally in transit, it may be hard to relate to one another if you're staying there long-term. You may not want to set up base here, but an apartment for a while elsewhere shouldn't be all that hard to find I think. Maybe your volunteering organization can help you on this.

Maybe see also if you can buzz up some people on this thread, http://www.indiamike.com/india/delhi...-meetup-t7077/ .

Good luck with it.

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Prashant.M

Is this the book you were referring Steven? Outlook Traveller's Weekend Breaks from Delhi

Link: http://www.outlooktraveller.com/bookdetail.aspx?id=5

Oops, cross-posted with Mach, who indeed works at Mach speed .

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Aishah

There is also the Delhi Network which is for ex-pats in Delhi; they have coffee mornings for newcomers every Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency starting around 9.30 a.m. There you will meet people who are more permanently based in Delhi - the mornings tend to have more women because the men are at their jobs. Also check with your High Commission to see if there is some organisation like we have with Australian and NZ High Commissions where you have social get -togethers. If your Indian family is not working out there could be a chance you might find alternate accommodation through these venues.

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steven_ber

Thanks to both of you, yes, that's the book, outlook traveller reports are normally very well detailed with great travel info, so this book will be great far anyone staying in Delhi for a while.

Another must have.....the Eicher City map for Delhi, it's so much more than an excellent city map.

anandi

daily hangouts could definitely be in Paharganj... Hari Rama and Ajay Guest house have a nice restaurant you could spend some time in, as well as internet. The rooftop restaurants of Anoop and Vivek, plus others might also be nice. The rooms in the Paharganj hotels are also pretty cheap if you want to rent one for a day, or for the weekend... Plus, you might even make some friends with the shopkeepers there,and they wouldn't mind if you hung out the whole day with them. There is a nice Barista coffee shop in CP... airconditioned and great coffee... good luck.

brownboy66

we ended up hosting a volunteer for a month here in Delhi. She was a friend of a friend - and originally going to stay just for a couple of nights - but found the arranged accommodation that came with the volunteer job to be fairly expensive - and definitely not friendly. Eventually she found other accommodation with a group of backpackers - and at that point found some people she could hang out with, travel with, etc.

Sounds as if you've already been given a few places to mix with other travellers. If you don't have to stay there it probably is better to move. You'll enjoy the experience here far more if you with a like minded group.

Good luck

hannahruss

Thank you all so much for your help, my agency has, apparently, recieved complaints about this place in the past and so I am trasnferring through to a project in Jaipur where there are many other volunteers. I'm sure that this will make all the difference!

Thanks again