Annabelle was visiting from the Boston office and one of my favorite things to do is to play tour guide and take everyone into what I consider the heart of the city...Old Delhi...with the winding narrow pathways, goats, markets, spices and people everywhere.
I have been seriously missing my bike and I came across this company called DelhiBycycle where they lead bike tours through the city. Annabelle being a great sport said that she would come along. We were weaving in and out of traffic, there were people and cows and rickshaws all around. We went through the flower market and down the streets, but unfortunately because of the Holiday most of the shops were closed.
Even though I have been in Delhi now for 6 months and things on the new side of the city have stopped seeming strange, Old Delhi can still throw out surprises every now and then. At one point Jack our guide turned to me and said, "now we head into the meat bazaar." Okay I thought, brace yourself for a reinforcement of why you only eat Veg. in India. Being on the road you become super aware of all that is around you. To protect yourself from vehicles that may be trying to pass or cut you off your peripheral becomes heightened. I was going straight thinking that I haven't seen anything bad yet and that the streets were strangely uncrowded when I see something red and bopping coming up behind me. It was a man...running with the biggest, bloodiest hunk of flesh completely covering his upper body and resting on his head. His navy blue jacket was drenched and stained and I watched as he sprinted the carcass up the road and chuck it onto a completely unprotected van seat. I started looking in the windows of the vehicles that we were passing only to see repeats of these disgustingly fresh cavities. Running man after running man I tried to avoid them from brushing by me. I looked down to see that the puddles were actually pools of blood. We continued to ride only to see giant carts of goat heads, and next to it another one for the hooves. After this long in India few things bother me anymore. But with this I was officially grossed out enough so that I won't be eating meant anytime soon.
The ride was great. We had a chai break and saw parts of the city that you can only see when with a local. After 6 years, Jack was pretty comfortable with the route. I asked how long that they have been running the tours and I may have asked one too many questions because by the end I had been offered a job as an Old Delhi Bike Guide. Very tempting, and still not 100% decided no, but it would be a lot of early mornings and annoying people who don't know how to ride in traffic. I think that the 80 million heart attacks that I would receive from trying to maneuver unskilled riders through some of the worst traffic in Delhi might be more detrimental to my health than the benefits from all of the cycling.
