Advertisement
Published: February 4th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Hey, turns out, In Delhi at least its getting pretty easy to find time in the evening to come on here! We had trouble getting to sleep last night, guess we're just taking a bit of time adapting to the time difference! We decided not to bother with another day in Delhi so we went to the station and found the tourist booking office although plenty of men tried their luck at directing us the wrong way! The man was really helpful and we've booked a few trains, tommorow at 6am we're off to Agra for 2 days for the Taj Mahal, cannot wait! We also booked our next 2 trains after that; from Agra to Jaipur on the 7th in the morning, we're not that keen on seeing Jaipur as it sounds a lot of hassle and a bit overated so we're only there for the day time before leaving for Ajmer on the same evening. Ajmer sounds beautiful and is only 12km from the small town of Puskar which is supposed to be amazing!
So today was going to be a day for cramming some sites in and getting a few things sorted out. We went to the
prepaid rickshaw stand at the station and (under watchful eyes of all the drivers) payed 60 rupees to go to Humayuns Tomb - The precurser to the Taj Mahal. We began by wandering around the smaller tombs which were beautiful if you look at the pics. There were tiny little pitch black staircases which we could take to the roof. On the roof the lack of health and safety is brilliant, one slip and you're off the edge - not a chance you'd get that at home! But having been blown away by these beautiful tomb, the real deal was something pretty spectacular. The similarities to the Taj are pretty obvious and we spend a good hour or two just admiring it in the sunshine! Indian couples were gathered in the amazing gardens sitting together under trees in the shade.
Having worked up an appetite we grabbed a rickshaw back to dead central Delhi - Connaught Place, a big circle with streets radiating out of it. We spotted a subway and thought we'd remind ourselves of home. I had the sub of the day (chicken meatball marinara - no beef here!) which hit the spot. We then wandered around
looking for a place to sort out some indian sim cards. We found a nokia store and signed up to Vodafone India. Unfortunately my phone was locked on my network so I had to buy a cheapy phone (an oldschool nokia) but it wasnt too pricey and he said I could sell it back to someone quite easily when I left India. So now we have indian numbers. Mine is 9873972264 although remember to add the international code for india which is +91 or 0091 infront of the number. Its like 6p to text home and only 15-20p a minute to call so will save big bucks! I do have my English phone still going so use that if u have trouble and ill still get it!
Anyway, feeling pleased with ourselves we heading off to the Jama Masjid, a huuuge mosque near the Red Fort. Walking up the mosque we passed a slum with real poverty, many beggars approached us along with the usual people trying to sell stuff. Going up the steps we attempted to enter but we were told we had to wait 10 mins as the afternoon prayer was still ungoing, so we sat on
the steps to wait, there was a group of women next to us, Muslim I think going by the clothing and location, who asked us to take a picture of their baby! Was so cute and they were really nice and friendly, didnt really speak a word of English but it was a really nice encounter 😊 We then nearly fell for our first scam! We took off our shoes to enter and a man said shoes had to be left outside and they were kept there, there was a load of pairs already there so we thought urrm ok. He then followed us into the Mosque and began giving us a tour, I told him we didnt have any money and didnt need a guide but he went "it is a private mosque sir, everyone must have guide". What about all the other people without guides I asked "oh theyre part of tour groups its ok".. It all seemed a little fishy. We tried to lose him but with no avail, he then shook my hand and asked for his fee, i refused and he went on about how its his business etc etc. It was therefore definitely time
to go get our shoes back!! So off we went, we did have to part with about 20 R to get them back but thats only like 25p so it could have been worse! We then went up the Minar to check out the view. The lack of health and safety presented itself even moreso this time with walkways along walls with no rails etc and then after a claustrophobic and steep, tiring climb up the dark 200 steps we made it to the top, a tiny little circle with a small area to stand around the edge with nothing but a few center metres between you and falling back down the stairs to your doom! On the plus side the views were spectacular out accross vast Delhi, it was from up here that the dust and smog really shows, the sun disappeared way before it got under the horizon! After a while enjoying the view we headed down and out of the Mosque, we briefly looked around the edge of the slum and really saw some terrible poverty. Many people smiled laughed and waved. On the walk back and out towards the road the call to prayer sounded out.
It was very strange, such an eery noice echoing over the city, it sent a little shiver down my spine but was quite a nice sound (if that makes any sense at all)! I felt so far from home!
We got back to Paharganj and bought some indian clothes to fit in a bit more and got some dinner at a much cheaper place, food was good again, had an onion Dhosa which is food from the South - like a triangular naan with loads of veggies fried into it and stuffed with potatoes and stuff - delicious! All washed down with a few glasses of lassi (youghurt and fruit mmm). On the way here katie got a henna and its drying as we sit here, got to be up in 6 and a half hours to go to Agra.. maybe bed would be a good idea!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0456s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Alex
non-member comment
It all looks crap.
I'm not at all jealous that I'm watching the oc whilst doing some thrilling Maths calculations and you're in lame India, waste of money bro, waste of money. p.s where are the frilly pink things?