India gate, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Bahai Lotus
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2007
1
2
15
Trip End
Mar 18, 2007
Delhi,
India
Sunday, February 18, 2007
That afternoon Irina, Wendy and myself hired a cab to take us out for the afternoon - this was definitely a bit different to the travel I did last time I was here when traveling in a cycle rickshaw would be a luxury! There is definitely a lack of respect for any road rules in India, you're lucky if you or the car you're approaching is on the right side of the road as for horn usage, people are definitely not shy with them - if you can't hear at least one in the background somewhere you know there must be something seriously wrong. Who is honking at who though must be a skill the locals learn to recognize through many years of experience! Our first day is a Sunday, the quietest day on the roads apparently, so I shouldn't complain too much.
I got the front seat in our little Ford and it felt like my nose was pressed up against the windscreen for most of our trip into Delhi. Our driver was determined to straddle 2 lanes most of the way to make sure any of the other macho India driver would at least find it difficult to under/overtake. For about $70 we had a driver, a car and 50 mile travel limit - it seemed cheap, but I'm guessing if we'd have booked it from a local guy on the streets outside the hotel we'd have got if for half that price!
India Gate
Indian Soldier at India Gate
A street vendor outside India Gate
The India Gate war memorial was our first stop. It's very grand, Arch De Triumph shaped and is 42M tall with the names of 90,000 war dead on it. There were plenty of street peddlers there, hot ticket items seem to be the henna ladies willing to fill your bare skin with any pattern you wanted and the elastic powered helicopters that you could fire into the air and watch them come slowly down to earth - very good exercise for you or your family one of the salesmen informed me. There was also a snake charmer who approached us with his cobra rearing his head from a basket! Luckily we were safely back in the car by the time the cobra reared his head from his basket!
Delhi has 13M people and after India Gate driving through New Delhi and into Old Delhi it seemed like most of them were on the streets either walking, cycle rickshawing, in tuk tuk, cars or weaving in and out of the traffic on their motorbikes. At one point I saw what was a fairly common sight in India - a man stood in the central reservation of a 4 lane road packed with cars quite happy urinating against the wall while people just walked by him going about their business as if there couldn't be anything more normal.
Colourful Lady at Red Fort
REd Fort Walls
Our next stop was the Red Fort - what a fantastic structure especially considering it was finished back in 1648. Out taxi driver dropped us off and we headed down to the Lahore Gate where we had to get our tickets before getting in line to go through the metal detectors. One lady managed to plan and India flag on me with a pin and told me she was raising money for a local school, I gave here a few dollars before she removed the pin and the flag, apparently now she though the pin was dangerous and may stick into me and injure me!
The walls on the Red Fort were as tall as 33M and the Lahore Gate towered above us as we walked inside. We first had to walk though a bazaar that used to cater to the royals in the fort. I found it very important through here to avert your gaze from anything in the shops - any signs of interest on your part would be met with a barrage 'how can I help you sir' questions.
The inside of the fort was pleasant, there were lot of old marble buildings that used to be residential, religious and places where the rulers would have audiences with various people. There were also a few museums displaying art work, palace items of the day and an assortment of guns, pistols and sharp pointy devices good for gouging someone body parts out of their body if they did something you didn't agree with!
I liked the nice relaxing lawns that were everywhere though, a bit of a change from the hustle and bustle of Old Delhi outside. There were lots of House Crows, Rose Ringed Parakeets, Pigeons, Black Kites and Common Myna birds flying around. The gardens were full of these chipmunk type animal that looked like large mice with tails.
Irina and Wendy with their blond hair were an instant hit with the locals and got lots of stares - we caught a few people taking photos of them as they walked passed and got close enough so they could be put in the frame with their buddies. All quite funny really - maybe I was just jealous as nobody wanted their photo taking with me!
The other thing that I remembered from my last trip to India was seeing the guys walk passed holding hands - I saw some of this in Delhi - In the west 2 guys holding hands would be the sign of one thing, here in India it's just something you'd do with your mates. Don't think I'll be trying it too quickly with my friends when I return home though!
After the fort we watch a big crowd gather to watch a group of what were probably Bollywood dancers performing in front of the Lahore Gate - it looked wise not to get too close to the action though as while waiting for out taxi I watched a cop wrapping peoples fingers with a big stick who were lined up on a fence watching the action.
We had to fight off all the rickshaw drivers asking us if we wanted to use them while we waited the 10 minutes for our taxi driver to return to pick us up. We told him we wanted to go to Jama Masjad, the biggest mosque in India. He seemed surprised we would want to stop here but I think he was more concerned because there was no decent parking spots close to the mosque itself. He was also surprised or maybe concerned for our safety when we said we would walk the last 500yards and not jump in a cycle rickshaw!
We headed up through the cotton bazaar and up the steep steps to the gateway to the mosque, unfortunately the mosque was close for prayer at the time so we headed back to the taxi. The steps up to the mosque were filled with beggars and people with missing limbs, I guess this is as good a place to be as any as the third of the Five Pillars of Islam refers to spending a fixed portion of one's wealth for the poor or needy.
Humayuns Tomb from entrance
Humayuns Tomb up close
Inside Humayuns Tomb
Back to the car and after some more scarey driving we arrived at Humayun's Tomb, it seems this tomb was one of the prototypes to the Taj Mahal, build in the 16th C the Mughal architecture looks very similar.
The mausoleum sure is fantastic though and there are some great ground to explore or just hang out in.
Bahai Lotus Temple
Back in the car once again, this time rushing off to the Bahai Lotus temple - it was closed, but nighttime is a great time to go as the whole place is floodlight and it looks fantastic. Once out of the car we were accosted by beggars again, its heartbreaking as you watch them pointing at their mouths to indicate hunger. I have to say I love India, it must be one of my favourite countries. It's colourful and wakens all the senses with its sights smells, noises and constant happenings. It's always tough to see the street kids and mothers who literally have no hope of improving their lot. Seeing the people who have lost limbs or who have disabilites, have no insurance or medical care and are just left out to waste away and die! Note to self - make sure you give some money to an Indian charity organization when you get home.
