Delhi
Here's what you need to know about Delhi: skip it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's true for most major cities in India. After spending 3 days there, I can't see any reason to visit unless you're there on business (like I was) or you're a diplomat (which I guess means you'd be there on business anyway).
Delhi is bigger and "nicer" than Bangalore. By that I mean less trash in the streets, fewer stray dogs and cows, better roads, a metro/subway system, a spectacular airport. These things are all nice, but they don't make for anything particularly impressive in the sight-seeing department. I was able to go see "India Gate" which is apparently a major tourist attraction. It celebrates India's independence. It looks like the Arc du Triomphe in Paris, but it's smaller, less ornate, and surrounded by beggars and a SWAT team who expects a terrorist attack at any moment. They spend so much time posing for photos with tourists, they'd probably miss one if it did happen anyway. India Gate seems to largely be of relevance to Indian citizens, as most of the tourist buses there were full of people from other parts of India.
As a city for business, it's very nice. Many office parks, great hotels, relatively easy to get around town and all that. I met with 5 customers here and participated in a CIO panel discussion one morning for breakfast. All were very interesting, if you're a cloud computing strategist. Rush hour is still terrible, it's still got the extreme contrasts between rich and poor, and I got to watch a guy take a dump in the middle of the street, which was a neat first. Once the initial excitement and curiosity associated with the sensory overload subsides, you're left with just plain sensory overload. I'm referring to the city, not the turd of course.
Delhi is bigger and "nicer" than Bangalore. By that I mean less trash in the streets, fewer stray dogs and cows, better roads, a metro/subway system, a spectacular airport. These things are all nice, but they don't make for anything particularly impressive in the sight-seeing department. I was able to go see "India Gate" which is apparently a major tourist attraction. It celebrates India's independence. It looks like the Arc du Triomphe in Paris, but it's smaller, less ornate, and surrounded by beggars and a SWAT team who expects a terrorist attack at any moment. They spend so much time posing for photos with tourists, they'd probably miss one if it did happen anyway. India Gate seems to largely be of relevance to Indian citizens, as most of the tourist buses there were full of people from other parts of India.
As a city for business, it's very nice. Many office parks, great hotels, relatively easy to get around town and all that. I met with 5 customers here and participated in a CIO panel discussion one morning for breakfast. All were very interesting, if you're a cloud computing strategist. Rush hour is still terrible, it's still got the extreme contrasts between rich and poor, and I got to watch a guy take a dump in the middle of the street, which was a neat first. Once the initial excitement and curiosity associated with the sensory overload subsides, you're left with just plain sensory overload. I'm referring to the city, not the turd of course.
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