Delhi

The capital of India, and where Harry spent Holi. He splits his day between the two halves of the city: the older, denser streets of Old Delhi, where the festival plays out as an unstructured public paint fight, and New Delhi, where he goes to a ticketed party at a hotel. He describes Delhi as one of the best places in the country to be for Holi.

What Harry did

Walked Old Delhi as the colour fights broke out, and was pulled into an impromptu street party with drumming and dancing before deciding the roaming crowds had become uncomfortable — people asking for money, and two men following the group for at least ten minutes. He moved on to the organised party in New Delhi, spent the afternoon on a packed dance floor, and ate his first food of the day at 2pm: a moong dal cheela from a street stall, cooked in front of him on an oiled pan with vegetables, egg and onion, and served with a sweet sauce he compared to hoisin.

Practical facts

• Holi in the streets is a genuine free-for-all — Harry was told in advance that tourists get specifically targeted, and he was.
• Entry to the organised party was around 3,000 (from video – unverified).
• The moong dal cheela from the street stall was 500 rupees (from video – unverified).
• It gets very hot, and paint in the eyes is a real hazard.
• Expect requests for money after strangers pull you into street celebrations.
• The atmosphere at the organised event spanned all ages with, in Harry’s words, no bad vibes.

Harry’s tips

• Do both if you can: the streets for the raw version, an organised event for the main celebration.
• If a group starts following you, move on — that’s what prompted Harry to leave the streets.
• Eat before 2pm. Harry didn’t, and regretted it.

On a budget

Harry spent a separate full day here on a $10 budget and could not exhaust it until late afternoon, calling Delhi one of the most inexpensive cities he has ever visited. That day covered roadside chai and a papadum for 25 rupees, a street head massage at 150, a haggled tuk-tuk at 130, cheese paratha with chutneys at 120, a plate of sweets at 100, and a shirt at 250 that took him about 50 cents over budget. The old quarter, Old Delhi, has its own page.

The Tibetan colony

In the north of the city, and Harry says walking into it feels like being transported to another country — he compares the street to Kathmandu. The land was granted by the Indian government; the community has been there more than 25 years, displaced by the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and holds Tibetan registration rather than Indian passports.

The shops carry imported Southeast Asian goods. Bubble tea runs 140 rupees, a bottle of Prime 800, and the stalls sell laphing — the cold “laughing noodles” Harry first ate in Boudha in Nepal — at 50, made Indian-style with far more chilli.

Air quality

Delhi’s smog is not fog, and Harry is direct about it: an air quality index above 500, primary schools closed for children’s safety, and specialists putting a day in the city at the equivalent of smoking 25 to 30 cigarettes.

The landfill

On the edge of the city, a mountain of garbage tall enough that Harry calls it a skyscraper, which the city’s trucks drive to the top of to tip. Thousands of crows. The smell, he says, is far less than expected.

It is worked. Pickers collect plastic bottles and sell them on to larger recyclers, earning 300–500 rupees a day, and children go in to find metal. Access is controlled by armed guards, and Harry was told plainly that going past a certain point would get him shot. Getting as far as he did took negotiation, and he was stopped and told to delete footage at the neighbouring chicken market before that.

Beside it is a residential area, with houses looking directly onto the tip, children playing in the waste and a dying cow in the street. His phrase for it is hell on earth.

His guide’s explanation for the scale of the problem: recycling systems are still developing, and there are 1.43 billion people. Harry’s own framing is that everyone watching is part of it, himself included.

What things cost

• A pavement shave 30 rupees, with a head massage on top. The barber works 5am to 7pm.
• Chicken chow mein 10 rupees, cooked from fresh.
• Shoe cleaning 40 rupees. A cleaner earns around 800 a day, roughly $10.
• Bananas to feed the monkeys 40 — the one price Harry judged dishonest.

Harry’s tips

• Cross the whole city rather than picking a half. He deliberately walks Old Delhi and the modern south in the same day so as not to show one side only.
• Get the shave. Thirty rupees, a fresh blade, and better than he expected — see try the street version of everyday services.
• If someone refuses your money, offer it for their family — see insist on paying.
• Go to the Tibetan colony. It is the least Delhi-like part of Delhi and has the best noodles in it.

Source

• Celebrating Holi in India with Locals — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L55nlpLbYg
• Crazy $10 Challenge in Delhi, India 🇮🇳 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abnAQ26UKlY
• Avoid Delhi! Come here instead 🇮🇳 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iQOE10EnHU
• $1000 USD Street Food in Delhi, India 🇮🇳 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTuWzwwsTks