Exploring Old and New Delhi …

Today, after a lovely long awaited sleep in a horizontal position, we woke to a less polluted sky with the promise of blue skies peeking through. 

Breakfast was provided by our hotel so we headed down to check out what was available.  Indian fare greeted us, and whilst labelled with the names, we were unsure about what we were actually eating.  So it was trial and error to find the ones that were not too spicy and suited our needs. It was all very delicious and we look forward to another go at it again tomorrow. I forgot to take photos ... but I'll get some in the morning. We then went back to our room, got ourselves ready and headed down to meet Yash and Rajan for the day.

Today we were just being taken to some of the main sites in Old and New Delhi. We began by heading to the Red Fort in Old Delhi. This fort was amazing! Huge stone walls complete with a moat (now dry but once filled with water … and crocodiles) to protect the Fort from the outside world. Inside is a covered bazaar, a drum hall, the assembly hall and the reception room where you could meet the mughal if granted a private reception. A number of the original buildings were destroyed by the British (cue eye roll) and new buildings built in their place. The intricacies of some of the marble work, stone carving and lattice work was incredible. 

Leaving the Red Fort we headed to Jama Mashid, India's largest mosque. The mosque can hold 25,000 worshippers. It is a huge space built on a hill and towering over the surroundings. The domes are massive and the central space open and flat, surrounded by the soaring minarets.

Yash then took us to the base of the mosque stairs to organise a rickshaw ride through the Chandi Chowk, a busy, bustling market where they sell everything from dates to paper to car parts, saris, jewellery and anything else you can imagine.  Our 15-20 minute ride took a lot longer as we were stuck, along with several hundred of our friends, in traffic like you've never seen. A crazy huge sale at a wedding dress shop had queues snaking down the street. We didn't care though as it was a fabulous opportunity to see, hear, feel and smell real life India going about its business.

Finally making it back to Yash (he may have been a bit worried about us after 40 minutes) we rejoined Rajan who drove us to Raj Ghat which was the cremation site of Mahatma Gandhi.  This incredibly serene space was such a contrast to the hustle and bustle of Old Delhi. Having walked along a boulevard of eucalypts, beds of dahlias and golden marigolds edged wide expanses of lawn. The shrine for Gandhi is located on the centre of the raised gardens and has an eternal flame burning. We were able to walk quietly through the gardens, reading quotes from Gandhi. A beautiful moment of peace after the chaos.

On to Humanyun's Tomb, which was a slightly quicker drive given we were on wide 2-3 lane roads (which means 4-6 cars wide). The tomb was built by Humanyun's wife in honour of her husband. The tomb is stunning. It is reached by walking through a series of gates and when you reach the last one the entire Tomb appears to grow before your eyes. Again, intricate stone and marble work, blue tiled domes, lattice windows to allow the natural light in and the steepest stairs I think I've ever seen. There was even a separate tomb building off to the side in honour of Humanyun’s favourite barber. Remember, this man held a razor to the Emperor’s throat and never hurt him.

At this point, Yash asked us if we would like to have our welcome dinner as a late lunch instead.  It was about 3.15 and we had waved off lunch as we had eaten well at breakfast and had planned on just grabbing some snacks to hold us over until we got back to the hotel. We hadn't realised that the welcome dinner was a sit down affair  ... we had assumed it wouldn't happen as we were on a private tour.  However, we agreed and headed off to the swankiest restaurant and were fed an incredible spread of tomato soup, naan, tandoori chicken, butter chicken, spinach and mushroom paneer, black daal, spiced vegetable curry and yummy spiced potatoes.  We made pigs of ourselves  ... it was a glorious feed!

And then on to our final stop  ... Qutub Minar, the oldest structure in India, built in the 11th century.  The minar, or tower, rises dramatically from the ground in five tiers. Stone work in alternating curves and angles, with stones of differing colours and each tier banded by stone carved with words from the quran. Surrounding the minar is remnants of a mosque, the remains crumbling and disjointed. Dusk was descending as we arrived, and the buildings were bathed and illuminated with lights. Parts of the mosque reminded us of Egypt and other parts of Sri Lanka. It was magical to watch the sky change colour and the tower glow in the evening sky.

And so ended our day. We left Yash behind in New Delhi as he lives close to the minar. Rajan drove us back to our hotel, safely depositing us at the door before he headed off to end his day. Rajan told us to be a good driver in India you need three things ... a good horn, good brakes and good luck! I found this young family quite terrifying to watch!

Finally, I apologise for the long tall photos … I had accidentally changed a setting on my phone which has now been rectified 😂