Delhi - a quick stop on our way north
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2008
1
8
10
Trip End
Jan 16, 2009
Delhi,
India
Sunday, December 14, 2008
We had some reservations about Delhi. The sheer numbers we'd anticipated were certainly there, clogging up the streets and sights. But what did we expect, coming for 2 days of Delhi on a weekend...?? Astonishingly we had practically no hassle and our stay was actually very enjoyable. It's fairly easy to get around in the centre making use of the speedy yet crammed blossoming Metro system. Building on Delhi's ambitious metro system was only begun quite recently and is expanding in all direction like a spider web woven from the centre outward. We stayed in a very good and quiet budget hotel (Rak International) in Paraganj, the Indian version of Bangkok's Kao San Road or Kathmandu's Thamel, i.e. a backpacker heaven full of budget hotels, restaurants and shops selling practically everything.
The main reasons to visit Delhi is probably to sample the mix of cultures and the contrasts between old and new India. We didn't stay long enough to really dive in and sample Delhi at its most intimate. So we stuck to the archeological/architectural highlights.
We started off by visiting the government buildings, still remnants form the days of the so-called "British Raj" when the viceroy lived in the building now housing the Indian president. It's a quiet, hassle-free area. We were lucky to be there at the time of the changing of the guards, a colourful display of marching and yelling that only happens once a week on a Saturday morning.
Afterwards we visited the superb national museum with some great exhibits on past Indian cultures and their artistic legacy. We were lucky again here to catch a special exhibition on jewelery from the house of Faberge, jewellers to the Russian czars and creators of the magnificent Faberge eggs (famous through one of the James Bond movies). I'd always wanted to see some of these eggs up close and it was an unbelievable experience.
We then wandered on to India gate, a large arc de triumphe-style war memorial to then visit Humayun's Tomb. Humayun was one of the first Mughal rulers of India and his tomb predates the Taj Mahal architecturally. It's not a must-see, but made for a nice sunset visit.
The second day we payed homage to India's largest mosque, the Jama Masjid with a capacity of 25.000 worshippers. It offers nice views from one of it's minarets and is built in the usual mix of red sandstone and marble that make up Mughal era monuments.
Afterwards we strolled across to Delhi's expansive Red Fort, site of the Mughal court since Shah Jahan's son Aurangzheb overthrew his father and moved the capital from Agra to Delhi in the mid 17th century. It's the only fort we've seen so far that was built on the flat rather than majestically glaring down from some high plateau. The building material is the same mix of marble and red sandstone, but it sure has some of the most striking marble inlay work and pietra dura cuttings we'd seen so far and for this alone is certainly worth a visit. It was also interesting to study the engineering of the water distribution through channels, artificial waterfalls, tanks and fountains. Now all the caretakers need to do is actually fill water into the system so it can reenact the splendor of the Mughal court.
Afterwards we strolled through Paraganj's main market only to burden ourselves with some more souvenirs before we boarded a night train to Amritsar in the northwest.
