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Published: June 26th 2009
Our flight aboard Kingfisher Airlines left Pune at 7pm and arrived in New Delhi 2 hours later. It was an absolutely massive airport and is still undergoing extensive renovation and runway extension. Once we actually landed it took over 20 minutes for the plane to go along the runway to the terminal! We had a hotel booked in the old part of New Delhi and the hotel had a free airport pickup. Thankfully our driver was still waiting patiently because by the time we found him it was 1 hour later than we had expected it to be. The traffic was crazy as we knew that it would be in Delhi, but at least we weren't in a tiny rickshaw. The hotel was in a really crowded narrow street which had aspirations of Las Vegas as all the hotels signs were lit up in gaudy neon lights. The lights seemed out of place with the general run down appearance of the whole area. The taxi was vying for road space with horses and carts, dozens of rickshaws, stalls selling food, people everywhere and total general chaos. I would hate to be a driver in any Indian city and there are no
cars on the roads which aren't covered in many scratches and dings. I still don't know how he managed to maneuver his way between all the hazards to get to the hotel.
Deciding to leave the streets until next morning we had a good nights sleep, aided with ear plugs which have become a necessity here due to constant loud noise, both from the streets outside and the other hotel guests. The Indian people are like the Chinese - very noisy all the time!
Next morning we booked a taxi for a day sight seeing the following day and then decided to explore. We wandered for a couple of hours soaking up the craziness of the surroundings before hiring a auto rickshaw to take us further afield in search of a bookshop. The area that the bookshops were in was called Connaught Place and is a large circular road system with the blocks around it named after the alphabet. We needed to go to M block but the auto rickshaw driver wouldn't take us there and we ended up at a craft emporium. Surprise! They of course get commission for taking you there. I was angry but he kept insisting
it was the right block - we knew it wasn't of course. The price for the trip had been decided before we started and it certainly wasn't expensive but you know they are conning you and it is really annoying. All day we battled drivers trying to get to the correct places. One Sikh driver took us on an hour tour of the city by rickshaw which was fun if terrifying on occasion but even he didn't drop us back at the agreed spot.....
Eventually, after discovering a small shop which sold a few Western groceries (we're both not particularly enjoying the spicy food) a man (a schoolteacher) staying at our hotel spoke to us and offered to get us a rickshaw back to the hotel. He asked if we were planning to visit Rajasthan - we told him at some stage we were - and just as the rickshaw driver was driving off he jumped on board and told the driver to take us to the tourism board for Rajasthan and he would come with us to help organize our trip there! I'm afraid we lost it then - Jerry got really angry with him! Everybody in Delhi seemed
to be a tourist guide or tout with commission incentives to be had. The weather hadn't helped as it was in the low forties! We were hot, dusty and covered in pollution by this stage. At the end of a day in an Indian city your hair feels like straw - it is matted with dust and covered in a greasy film.
Jerry had a massage later in the evening as he had pulled a muscle in his shoulder and then we wandered the narrow lane ways around the hotel after dark. Fascinating as we saw many people working in what we would consider no more than cupboards, not able to stand up in them even. We watched one elderly couple painting pictures on glass panels - on the opposite side so they were actually painting mirror images. These panels were used in shrines. We talked to a group of women beautifully dressed waiting outside a house for the bridegroom to emerge. Then they would all go in convoy to collect the bride from her house. We've seen a couple of weddings from afar, but would love to observe one closely as they are very colorful, lots of music and
the bride is usually on horseback.
We asked to change rooms at our hotel as we constantly had fumes of raw onion coming through the air conditioner and it was making our eyes water badly. We've since struck that problem in other hotels though that time was by far the worst. They happily let us change rooms and even admitted that it was very strong - they said it come from outside but I'm sure it was coming up from their kitchens. Our new room was smaller but smelt onion less.
Next day was a wonderful day and made up for the frustration of the day before. India is certainly a country you have a love hate relationship with. The same deal as Pune, 8 hours or 80 klms for 650 rupees ($AUD18 - cheaper then Pune) hired us a taxi for the day. First stop was the massive Red Fort which was a much larger complex then we were expecting. The walls surrounding the fort, which was actually a palace built in 1639 at a cost of 10 million rupees. It would have been a stunning building in it's heyday as all the walls and ceilings were lined with
gold plate and the walls were made with white marble inlaid with semi precious stones. The throne alone took 7 years to build out marble, gold and massive jewels. It no longer exists but the pedestal it stood on is still on display. Many of the inlaid marble panels were still intact and very detailed but we were disappointed to see what we thought was damage caused by poor maintenance. There was the usual rubbish thrown everywhere and the gardens were very rundown. We don't think that there is any excuse for this as there are plenty of workers who could at least clean and it wasn't cheap to visit at 250 rupees each. Local Indians who I guess are the largest proportion of visitors pay a smaller entrance fee. In most Asian countries there are two tier entrance fees for main tourist sights - low for locals and much higher for foreigners. We have no problem with this but wish that they used the money for maintenance.
Whilst at the Red Fort we were constantly asked to pose for photos with families which eventually got a bit annoying. If they were happy to talk it was fine but most
of the time they just giggled at you whilst they took the photos. Thankfully that was the only place it happened! The temperature at that stage of the day was 43* and rose to 45* at midday. I really admire the people here for just getting on with their days in such intense heat - and they have months of it - so I won't complain again about our odd day of high 30's again in Toowoomba.
After the fort we visited the Jama Masjid Mosque, the largest mosque in India. Both the fort and mosque are in the center of Old Delhi and totally dominate all the other old buildings around them. You can't wear shoes in mosques and usually you can pay a small fee to have a man at the mosque mind your shoes but here they had a big sign up saying that they wouldn't mind your belongings so Jerry and I took turns to look over the mosque. I cannot afford to have my shoes (and orthodontic inserts) stolen. As usual I had to don a robe though I was well covered in long sleeves., trousers and with a scarf. The mosque floors were covered
in strips of wet Hessian as it would have been far too hot to walk across the tiles barefoot otherwise. It certainly was a large building and there were many men asleep under the shade of the large domes. Jerry went in with a group of young backpackers whilst I minded all the bags etc. However when we left a man on the front gate came running after us and wanted money for minding our belongings. He certainly didn't get any...
Next followed a bicycle rickshaw ride through the surrounding streets and into the Spice Market. I took a video of the ride and shall try and download it onto the blog. Hard work for the poor young man who did all the pedaling - it's a tough way to make a living. Above the street were draped the scariest collection of electrical wires I've ever seen! It was a very conservative area with many women wearing full burkas. The site of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation was next on the list and we were very pleased to see that the whole area was beautifully maintained. The cremation spot is covered in a big block of black granite and has a flame
from the actual cremation fire burning constantly on top of it. It was full of people paying their respects to this great man. Lunch of fruit and icecream followed and whilst we were enjoying it along came a camel loaded up with goods who feasted on all the fruit scraps. His driver got back on with the help of a rickshaw.
The India Gate and Parliament House complex area was next on the tour. India Gate is a war memorial, 43 meters high and inscribed with 13,500 names. A very impressive monument surrounded by parks and a a small lake in which a group of boys were swimming in the very dirty water. At least they were cool! The Government Offices, the residence of the prime Minister and the circular structure which is Parliament House, all constructed from red stone and surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains that actually worked were at the end of a long avenue with India Gate at the opposite end. We couldn't stay long as cars are not allowed to park but our driver drove round and round in circles whilst we had a look. There were dozens of government cars, old fashioned white cars
with satin curtains and shiny undented exteriors. We were starting to wear out by this stage - mainly from the intense heat but the best was yet to come. Humayun's Tomb was superb - beautifully maintained and is considered the mini Taj Mahal. It is made from red sandstone and inlaid with white marble which highlight the lines of the building and is the burial site of the second Moghul emperor. It was built in 1564 and during it's nine years of construction his widow oversaw the whole project by camping in the grounds. His tomb is still there and is made from white marble. There are actually 110 tombs within the complex.
Our driver then took us to the Lotus Temple, a new temple built by the Bahai Faith which follows the lines of the Sydney Opera House. It is lit at night with pink light and I'm sure it must look very pretty. It was closed when we arrived with a very long queue waiting to go in when it reopened 20 minutes later. As it is empty inside we chose not to stand in the sun and wait so left for the next spot on this bargain
tour.
The best was definitely the last. Again we may not have visited this spot without the taxi and loved it. A totally stunning complex - the Qutb Complex. Again it's a group of tombs plus a victory tower. Work on the tower began in 1199 on what was planned to be the 'greatest tower in all the world'. The tower also served as a minaret to call the Faithful to prayer. It is 73 meters high, consisting of 5 stories. It is intricately carved red stone and is probably the most beautiful piece of Islamic architecture I've seen since we visited the Alhambra Palace in Spain ( which is still my number 1 favorite building ever - though since Delhi we've visited the Golden Temple which has to be number 2 on the list!) . The complex had a mosque, again covered in detailed stonework and currently under renovation. There were walkways of arches reminisce of Roman architecture and another unfinished tower which gave you an idea of just how difficult the whole construction must have been. We concluded that the towers were constructed before any carvings were done - they were all done as the last step which
made the whole construction even more amazing.
Totally awestruck by now we returned to the car to be told we had two more other places to visit - another temple which we declined as we were too tired and - you guessed it - a craft shop. We told the driver we didn't wish to visit the shop but he explained that unless we did he wouldn't get paid foe the day. We went, refused to get out of the car as it was the same place we had been the day before (they recognized us) and the driver took us back to the hotel. He was pleased that we didn't go in as he hated being made to take people there. We made sure that he would get paid but as he said he did his side of the deal - he took us there - if we chose not to get out it wasn't his fault! And so ended another great day.
We had previously gone to the railway station which was near our hotel to book train tickets to Amritsar, the Holy city of the Sikhs, 6 hours north west of Delhi. Another hassle free purchase -
staff in the foreigners ticket sales department couldn't have been more helpful. The area around the station is just like all the pictures of Delhi you see - absolute sheer bedlam. Though it was within walking distance we chose next morning to take a taxi - simply to save us the stress of pushing our way with luggage through the chaos outside the station. Our names were on the outside of the train which we boarded to take us closer to the Himalayan Mountains. Let the adventure continue....
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