Busy day in Delhi
Trip Start
Nov 04, 2009
1
2
52
Trip End
Jan 28, 2010
New Delhi,
India
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The architecture was amazing and still looking good despite the fact it was built five hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the infamous Delhi Fog/Smog was in full smoke today as you can see from the picture - compare that to the one we took yesterday yuk
The Red Fort
. It made your eyes sting and was generally unpleasent but that wasn't going to stop us!! What you can almost see in the picture is the main entrance to the Red Fort the Lahore Gate. Once inside you think the gauntlet of hawkers is over but no - now you have to run the gauntlet of stall holders between you and the Fort - all good fun :) But the journey was worth it the photographs sadly do not do it justice. It was easy to imagine all this pristine with all the waterways full and the rooms painted and decorated with gold and silver.After lunch - we are still vegetarian - and for those who are interested there is no sign of the Delhi Belly as yet we went for a walk across Netaji Subhash Marg which is one of the main roads of old Delhi. There are no traffic lights - no traffic crossing areas and no traffic discipline but this road was between us and the Bazaars of Old Delhi and a mere 8 lanes of traffic wasn't going to stop us. So we waited for a tour group and crossed with them it took 10 minutes and we drifted about 100 metres and you really knew you were alive at the end - or at least glad to be alive. Then the Bazaars - wow - there was no escape as you were hemmed in by traffic behind you and hawkers in front and to the side - we weren't prepared for the onslaught - next time I go to a Bazaar it is elbows set at pointy and away to go. I think I will carry the bruises for a few days :)
One highlight was watching a beautifully painted elephant stroll down the middle of the road with a hundred hysterical horns beeping away
The Emporers Meeting Room
. Blissfully going it's own merry way there was total chaos - only in India :)After the madness it was definitely time for a change of pace so after a quick trip to the Hindi Temple Shri Lakshmi Narain for some serenity, it was off to the Lodi Gardens. A lush tropical paradise housing 3 great tombs. The tomb of Muhammed Shah who died 1444 the tomb of Sikander Lodi who died in 1517 and the other tomb no one knows who that was built for. Quiet and tranquil and totally beautiful.
A quick trip to India Gate which is the equivalent of our Cenotaph, honouring all Indians who have died in war, and then it was off to our last call of the day. The travel agents had our tickets for our voyage to Rajasthan. Our train departs at 6.30am for Agra - the Taj Mahal here we come.
Signing off for now .........
Comments
Hi Hazel and Martin glad to hear that your having a great time i must apologise first as my message wont be as proffesional as yours.no change here Donna is still single but god bless her she is trying(and i mean trying)we are hoping that you can send us some photos of yourself and Martin because some of them in the cashiers dept( but not me) are begining to think he is a figment of your imangination.It all sound and looks really exciting so keep up the good work keep us up to date.we are going to take it in turns to email you as we are very very busy (bs).take care both of you and have a great time ,its taken me about 15mins to write this so hopfully things can only get better (i sense a song in there) Be carefull and keep writting it is realy interesting.speak to you soon bye