Delhi (9th - 11th March)
We
arrived into this vibrant city at 2.15am, so didn’t get much of a
view until the following morning. We definitely got a culture shock
after being in China for three weeks, so we started with a short walk
around the main bazar in the Pahar Ganj area where we were staying.
Main Bazar, Pahar Ganj
We
could hear beeping, shouting and sizzling. We could smell garlic,
exhaust, incense and urine. We could see beautifully painted trucks
and tuk tuks, rubbish lined streets, young cows roaming, wild dogs
and colourful street food.
Wow!
Streets of Delhi
We had our first
Indian meal in India at Vagabond Cafe (reccommended by our hotel and
by lonely planet and we wanted to stick to something safe, at least
on the first day!).
We tried one of our
favourites at home – 'Butter Chicken' and 'Chicken Handi Biriyani'.
The dishes were nice and reasonably priced however could have had
more flavour and spices.
Butter Chicken
Chicken Handi Biriyani
We had our first tuk
tuk ride in India and found this an exciting and great value way to
see the city – not having to worry about where you are stepping and
being able to take in the sights and smells was great! This tuk tuk ride was one of MANY in India. This was our main form of transport around Rajasthan.
Our Tuk Tuk driver
Inside the tuk tuk
We arranged a guided
tour for the three weeks we were visiting India, so we met with the
group and began our adventures on Tuesday the 11th March.
We started with a
walk through the exciting streets of Delhi, to Planeterra's New Delhi
Street kid's Project where we met many young boys who were staying at
this particular location – Salaam Balak Trust. We talked, played
games and enjoyed spending time with these lovely natured children.
Salaam Balak Trust
Salaam Balak Trust
We visited the Jama
Masjid (Great Mosque) which was a huge outdoor mosque with a
beautiful water feature in the middle and nice views from the
terraces. This Mosque is the largest mosque in India and its
courtyard can hold up to twenty-five thousand worshippers.
Jama Masjid (Great Mosque)
We walked through
Chandni Chowk and on the way, passed through a small alley which is interestingly (and cleverly!) lined with various tiles displaying various religions to stop people urinating on the wall!
Religious Alleyway
We reached the Gurduwara SisGanj Sikh place of
worship. We took off our shoes, put on our bandanna’s and walked
barefoot through some nice cooling water and through the beautiful
marbled temple and sat watching people for a while.
Gurduwara SisGanj Sikh place of worship
In the afternoon, it was lovely
visiting and sitting for a while in Delhi's Central park – lovely grassed areas
with many flowers and people talking together.
Central Park, Delhi
The India Gate is a
lovely relaxing area to walk around and a great attraction, with many nice gardens,
fountains and of course the India Gate.
India Gate
We left by an
overnight sleeper train with our next stop being Bikaner. These beds were comfortable and clean and the train was on time.
6 berth third class sleeper train
No comments:
Post a Comment