Delhi!

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14 March

We started the day with a rooftop breakfast watching eagles fly around over Delhi. From the hotel we walked a couple short blocks to the metro station. The Delhi metro is fantastically cheap and super modern. However, if you go out the wrong exit of the station, you could end up walking heaps further than you'd planned. Not that that would ever happen to me...

After about a 25 minute walk in the heat and sunshine, we arrived at the India Gate. It's an impressive monument to British Indian Amry soldiers and the home of the Indian Army's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After a few snapshots (and a few poses with some Indian tourists fascinated by three beautiful Westerners), we hopped in a tuk-tuk to Humayan's Tomb. The Mughal tomb is in a massive complex of other tombs, buildings and spacious lawns. After wandering for too long and losing each other somewhere in the tomb, we stopped for a cold drink among the tiny Indian squirrels at the canteen.

From the tomb, we tuk-tuked it up to the nearest metro station to catch a cheaper ride across Delhi to the Chawri Bazar, a seemingly endless market. Each area is devoted to a different type of ware. We walked along doorknob, showerhead and stationery streets. At the end of the market we reached the huge mosque of Jama Masjid, which we opted not to go in and instead headed straight for the Red Fort. If you've been paying attention, you'll remember there was a Red Fort in Agra. The one in Delhi was built by Shah Jahan when he moved the capital from Agra. Once we'd hoofed it all the way there, we were exhausted and chose to take a tuk-tuk to the nearest metro and head back to the hotel. Not as easy as it sounds. Every tuk-tuk driver in Delhi knows someone who owns a shop. He gets commission if he brings visitors there. Yelling "No shop, No stop" when trying to negotiate fares does little to deter them from trying. After climbing into a cycle rickshaw pedaled by the most cross-eyed man I'd ever seen in my life, we quickly discovered that he was less than keen on taking us directly to our destination. He also wouldn't take no for an answer, so 100 m down the road, we got out and sought a tuk-tuk, which was a better option anyhow.

After a good clean-up at the hotel, we headed out for dinner at the same restaurant we'd eaten at the night before. It was that good.

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