Day 141: Delhi Baby

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At last we are in the heart and capital of India proper!!

Alas our Delhi experience got off to a bad start when it took us four hours to find a place to stay – most hotels that were nice and clean didn’t have facilities to store our bikes safely! We were hassled thoroughly by all the hotel touts trying to lead us into their recommended ‘deluxe hotels’ (= cockroach ridden dirt holes), which tried our patience severely!! So much so that we lost our usual cool with several and Nic was beginning to think that we were in the gay district where everyone was into European boys as he had a retinue following him as he was walking around all the hotels checking them out!!! Sedef in the meantime was trying to ward off the attentions of a small crowd who were gathered around the bikes – each of them trying to touch the bikes!!! When Nic finally came back having found a nice hotel he found her screaming at a big crowd to disperse, which actually probably was attracting more attention and adding to the spectacle for the onlookers!

The next day we set out to explore this fascinating city, starting in the old quarter.

Old Delhi

The old city cannot be more different than the colonial thoroughfares and government buildings of New Delhi, established in early 1900s when it became the new capital under British rule. Old Delhi is probably today very much as it was 100 years ago – streets jampacked with rickshaws, street peddlars and shoppers, bullock carts, hand pulled trolleys piled high with boxes and bundles, mopeds, the odd car and even the odd cow making its way through the crowds. All manner of goods and services are on offer on the streets – stalls selling clothes, shoes, pots and pans, barbers providing shaves and haircuts on a chair by the road, men plucking and gutting chickens on the street, and even ear cleaners with their grubby metal spikes! A bit like Karachi and the older quarter of Lahore in Pakistan in fact!

Here we saw the famous Lal Quila (Red Fort), which was the seat of the Moghul government in late 1600s. It houses a number of palaces for the king and his harem, as well as the usual government and religious buildings. Not too dissimilar to the Lahore fort in fact!!

We also visited the biggest mosque in India, the Jami Masjid – alas could not take any photographs since we declined to pay the exorbitant charge for cameras!!

Humayun’s Tomb

Delhi’s first Moghul mausoleum was constructed in 1564 and clearly shows the Persian arts of its day. It is a truly impressive building in its sheer scale – and is considered to be the second finest mausoleum of its kind after the Taj Mahal. Also in the grounds were several other tombs and mosques, including (surprisingly for us!) the tomb of Humayun’s barber – a man considered important because he was trusted with holding a razor to the emperor’s throat!!!

Lakshmi Narayan Mandir

As an introduction to the Hindu religion we visited this large modern temple, looking like a red and yellow Lego building!!

India Gate

Designed in 1921 by the British Architect Lutyens, this grand arch commemorates 90,000 Indian soldiers killed fighting for the British in World War I.

Birthday Celebration!

On 19 Dec we celebrated Nic’s birthday during the day by an enormous cup of Costa caramel latte (no need to say how much he enjoyed it – the picture speaks for itself!!), and in the evening we had a lovely joint b-day celebration at an expensive revolving restaurant with views over Delhi (as we were on the road on Sedef’s b-day). It was really nice to dress up for a change from the usual grubby travelling outfits we normally wear – Sedef’s new Indian shalwar kameez was a present from Nic. Also Nic has stopped wearing his own traditional dress after being asked several times by the local men (who are all in western gear) why he was dressed as a Pakistani!! :p