I awake in the double bed with Dave next to me (Meg has a single) without any recollection of having gone to bed and more seriously hungover than I had been the previous morning. We decide that a good hangover cure would be a trip to McDonalds, where they only have various forms of Indian spiced chicken or vegetarian burgers. These are not particularly pleasant and I end up leaving a bag of leftovers on the street for someone more desperately hungry to pick up.
I am normally a fan of Indian food and did have a good vegetarian Thali in one of the more plush looking restaurants yesterday, but so far I prefer the Anglicised version of Indian food more than what I have had here. This is a surprise, because my favourite experience of Indian food before coming here was a dinner I had with an Indian family when I was at university. It’s partially the quality of the ingredients I suppose, with most meat dishes containing stringy or fatty chicken. There’s obviously no beef here, but lamb doesn’t seem common either and fish would probably be an unwise choice even if it were available.
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| a fellow hotel guest |
In the evening, various members of our party go to the Champions League 20/20 cricket featuring two Australian sides, one featuring Brett Lee, the ‘Delhi Daredevils’ and Sussex. Getting the tickets is a challenge as there is a throng of people surrounding the only ticket office. However, when we finally get in, there is a surprisingly sparse crowd, perhaps because the tickets are surprisingly expensive. The only densely populated parts of the stadium are the seats near the cheerleading teams (I don’t remember seeing any Indian women in the stadium). It’s quite showbizzy, as there is a stage with a DJ and some more dancers in one corner, and the TV cameras are there including an overhead camera ball which zips across the ground. I guess this is where 20/20 makes money.
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| the main attraction |
Our seats are up on the third or fourth tier of a section with only a handful of fans and I sit a row or two back from the front seats due to my disliking of heights. Despite the presence of several international cricketers, I prefer test matches and I have to admit that I spent more time looking at the cheerleaders than the cricket, which was all a bit hit and miss, but cricket newbies like Meg and Dave seemed to enjoy it.
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| post game fireworks |
My general verdict on Delhi: it’s all a bit too much for me.
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