2010-11-17 28 77

The Place

In south-eastern New Delhi, India, near the NOIDA city centre.

Who Went

Felix Dance - by Delhi Metro.

Expedition

Felix Dance

When I checked the coordinates for today I couldn't believe my luck: a fourth accessible geohash this month, and right next to a metro station - those Geohashing Gods must be busy!

Getting up in the morning from my New Delhi hotel room near Connaught Circus I donned a metro train from my usual station of Ramakrishna Ashram Marg and hurtled, without changing trains at the central Rajiv Chowk for once, towards the hash location at the end of the NOIDA line.

Alighting from the train under the sonorous instruction of Philip Adams from Late Night Live I headed north along a main road 1.4kms towards the hash. One of Delhi's omnipresent helpful denizens saw me checking out my GPS and asked where I wanted to go. All I could say was that I needed to get to this random coordinate, and couldn't tell him what lay at that location, causing him to waggle his head in confusion - but what could I say!?

I still didn't really know what I'd find at the hash location as I approached it - implanted as it was within a city block suspiciously shaded in on Google Maps - but when I got there I was delighted to find the block was completely deserted, inhabited only by a few dogs, cows, stands of grass and slum dwellers (was that poorly worded?). Finding entrance into the barbed-wired-off block by following a ducking cyclist (one day he'll lose his head for sure) I entered the geohashing fray (if only I found companions on these expeditions!) and quickly walked across mud flats and squashed grass to the exact location. Too easy.

Taking some photos while avoiding the bull ants I made a hasty retreat under the gaze of a cricket game and those destitute slum dwellers (as pictured, sorry for the voyeurism guys), and headed back to the metro station with a brief stop off at a Tibetan refugee settlement market (also pictured).

On my way home I was intrigued by the New Delhi Botanical Gardens and got off for a squiz. Unfortunately, I was asked for ID upon entry and when presenting said ID was then told the place was closed and to come back tomorrow (in India you always have to go through the gamut of easily satisfied pathetic excuses for not allowing you to do something before you get to the real reason). They wouldn't even let me take a photo to prove I'd tried, saying photos were only allowed when the gardens (a truly pathetic patch of grass as they were) were actually open.

But this proved fortuitous when it immediately began to rain fairly heavily, from which I was comfrotably inured due to my metrical transportation (if that makes sense). It had eased off by the time I got to my own station and I ambled off to an internet cafe to type up the very report I am writing now.

Time of hash: 1:05pm
Total time for geohash: 3 hours.