Delhi – Orientation

Delhi is a very vast city, but it's rather hard to get lost in it. The historic part of the city lies on the west bank of the Yamuna River and is essentially divided into two parts – Old Dehli i New Delhi. Two streets, Desh Bandhu Gupta Rd and Asaf Ali Rd constitute the border between the dense buildings of the old city and the spacious and modernly designed part of the capital.

Do Old Delhi, The 17th-century walled Shahjahanabad is led by city gates. There is a huge Red Fort here (Lal Kila; Red Fort) and Dzami Masdzid (The great mosque). The city has narrow streets, lots of temples, mosques and bazaars. The main street is Chandni Chauk (Chandni Chowk; "Silver street"). There is a train station in Old Delhi and a little further north, near Kashmir Gate (Gates of Kashmir), main interstate bus station. And at the train station in New Delhi, Paharganj begins (Paharganj). It is a kind of buffer zone between the old and the new part of the city. Paharganj is also a favorite destination for tourists who don't complain about too much money. There is a lot of cheap here, popular hotels and restaurants.

New Delhi, as intended by the designers, is a city with parks and fountains, about wide, tree-lined streets. There are commercial and residential districts around Connaught Place, in Rajpath (Rajpath) – south of Connaught Place – there is a government district. India Gate monument (India Gate) stands at the eastern end of Rajpath Street, and on the west rises Rashtrapati Bhawan (Rashtrapati Bhavan; the presidential palace).

The huge roundabout of Connaught Place and its radiating streets are the center of New Delhi. Most of the airline's representative offices are located there, banks, state travel agencies; and the headquarters of the state tourism bureau. There are also cheap accommodation and large hotels. Important landmarks are Regal Cine-ma on the south side of Connaught Place and Cinema Beach on the north side. These names can be very useful in showing a taxi driver or an auto-rickshaw driver, in which we are going.

Janpath (Dźanpath), departing from Connaught Place towards the south, is one of the most important streets. The Government of India is there (Governmental Tourism Bureau of India), Student Travel Information Centre (Student Tourist Information Center), located in the Imperial Hotel building, and many other important points.

To the south of the government district of New Delhi lie more affluent residential districts: Defence Colony, South Extention, Lodi Colony, Greater Kailashand Vasant- Vihar. International airport. Indiry Gandhi is located southwest of the city. Halfway between the airport and Connaught Place is Chana-kyapuri (Canakjapuri), enclave of diplomats. This modern district is home to most of the embassies, as well as several elegant hotels.

In almost all major bookstores and the Delhi Tourism Development Corporation (Delhi Tourism Development Board) a 200-page A to Z Road Guide for Delhi is available. Contains 60 detailed maps, very useful for someone, who wants to venture into the recesses of Delhi.

Tourist offices

W Delhi, at Janpath 88, India's government travel agency operates (India Tourism Development Corporation, ITDC) (3320005). It has a large number of information guides and brochures about various towns and more interesting facilities throughout the country. However, you should know, what to ask for, because no informant is lying on top. The office offers a good free plan for all of Delhi, also helps in finding accommodation. Open: pn.-pt., 9.00-18.00; sb., 9.00-14.00; nd. close.

There is an arrivals hall at an international airport, open 24/7, tourist information point, also offering assistance in booking accommodation (329117). Unfortunately, you can encounter a similar situation here, which is common in many Indian tourist offices. Tourists are assured, that the hotel they have chosen has no vacancies, then you give your own accommodation suggestions.

Delhi Tourism Cotporation (Delhi Tourism Authority) has an office at Connaught Place in section N (-0-3313637). The management has offices in New Delhi (350574), Old Delhi (2511083), Nizamuddin Railway Station (611712), and also at the Kashmir Gate inter-bus station (2512181).

Warning Coming from New Delhi Railway Station, the "tourist information centers" across the street should be avoided (there are about twelve of them). None of them, despite warm assurances, is not a tourist office. These are travel agencies, many of which hunt for money unsuspecting travelers are both foreigners, as well as the Indians themselves.

Lots of touts from nearby shops trying to direct tourists there, to take your commission. Going to the station to make a reservation, information about a closed ticket office for foreigners should not be believed. Let's not be tempted by the offers of cheap bus journeys and hotels.

Money

The main Indian offices and foreign banks operating in India are based in Delhi. As usual, not all branches exchange traveller's checks. If there is a need to exchange money outside of the bank's regular opening hours, it will be best to use the services of Central Bank, who has a 24-hour branch at the Ashok Hotel in Chanakyapuri. However, not every currency is listed there.

Bank American Express (3324119; fax 3321706), section A Connaught Place, is open daily from 9.00 do 19.00. Usually it gets crowded, but the service here is very fast. Not only American Express checks are accepted when exchanging money. When you need to report the theft or loss of an American Express Traveler's Check, you should have a copy of the police report with you, one photo, and proof of purchase of checks. If someone does not have a proof of purchase, usually has to do telex confirmation before re-receiving the checks. The procedure is the same for theft of all checks; American Express is then authorized to issue limited funds. If your checks are stolen or lost, you should contact your bank by phone as soon as possible (6875050, 24-hour number).

Other banks:
ANZ Grindlays
Connaught Place, section E (3319643)
Bank of America
Barakhamba Rd 15 (3722332)
National Bank of Paris
Barakhamba Rd 15 (3313883)
Citibank
Jeevan Bharti Building, Connaught Place (3712484)
Hong Kong Bank
Kasturba Gandhi Marg 28 (3314355)
Standard Chartered Bank
Sansad Marg 17 (310195)
Thomas Cook
Imperial Hotel, Janpath (3327135; fax 3715685)

Post and Telecommunications

There is a small post office on Connaught Place in Section A, and the Main Post Office is situated at the roundabout at Baba Kharak Singh Marg (Artery 2), 500 m to the southwest of Connaught Place.

Poste restante correspondence is available nearby, at the post office for foreigners (Foreign Post Office) at Market Rd (officially renamed Bhai Vir Singh Marg). The poste restante office is more or less to the rear of the building, at the top. Open daily, 9.00-17.00. Letters sent to poste restante should be addressed to "New Delhi". Addressed only to "Delhi" they go to Old Delhi for the post office, access to which is quite burdensome.

Correspondence can also be sent to the address of the tourist office at Janpath or to the Student Travel Information Center # (Student Tourist Information Center). American Express customers can use the bank's services in this regard.

STD / ISD international and local telephone points, usually private, are scattered all over the city. There is also the governmental telecommunications agency VSN Ltd (Videsh Sachar Nigam) and Bangla Sahib Rd. Here you can use a credit card, order a call at the subscriber's expense thanks to the connection to the appropriate telecommunications unit of the selected country (Home Country Direct service) or simply use a telephone that has international calls.

Polish Embassy of Delhi – address
Shantipath 5/50, Chanakyapuri (tel.608762, 608321)