Blogs from New Delhi, National Capital Territory, India, Asia

On our third day we drove to Iksha’s Uncle’s neighbourhood (Iksha is Grace’s second cousin) - he is a fun loving, luxurious man who loves Joanna Lumley (a fellow Kashmiri!) The neighbourhood was groovy with lots of coffee shops, bars and beautiful houses with lattice balconies. We headed to red fort, which was closed- like everything else in the city on Mondays- silly didis!!!! So instead we went to Humayan’s tomb which really gave Taj Mahal as it was another mausoleum. The lattice windows and ceiling carvings were beautiful. We even saw a man restoring the red paintings on the walls. Iksha had brought bananas so we posed like tourists and Hattie was a fashion model for multiple Punjabi families. One couple had traveled for three days from Kerala via train and were showing Hatts all ... read more

Two thirds of the way there, and what exactly was 'just around the corner'? - the city of Agra and The Taj Mahal, in all its elemental splendour, surely a travel experience which should at very least be on every traveller's bucket list, if not already ticked off that list. The choice of hotel, the Seven Hills Tower, proved to be a fine strategy, given that the location was safe and tranquil, easily accessible to main sights and eateries, and the hotel itself ranks above par when it comes to overall facilities. A walk from the hotel to the Taj Mahal, with GPS leading the way, led this traveller through a labyrinth of run-down residential areas with one or two commercial options, which became a more frequent sighting the more one approached India's most revered building. ... read more

Our hostel has the advantage of being right next to Delhi Gate tube station so after a quick breakfast we went to get the metro across to New Delhi. The wonderful thing about metro systems is that they’re fairly similar world wide and so it was easy to buy a ticket and find our platform. And it’s air conditioned. It’s so similar to home there was even a WHSmith inside the station! Alighting the tube we walked to Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Dargah. This is the mausoleum of a Muslim Sulfi saint who died in 1325 (Nizam-ud-din). There are a number of later kings and nobles whose tombs are nearby. The shrine is in a bazaar and down narrow lanes past people selling offerings. On the way you see the Baoli, a step well. To enter the shrine ... read more

India day three After yesterday's very stressful Delhi Day, I was super keen to explore a different area of Delhi away from the main tourist sites and the old town craziness. Turns out the craziness is endemic to the city and not restricted to one area! On my way to the metro station in the morning I passed the usual street hawkers pedaling their wares of fly covered fruit and vegetables and the general clothing/silver jewellery. There was also a lot more people about today and I couldn't work out why until I saw a jeep with the back part converted into a shrine and a couple of people in orange robes preeching into a microphone - it was a Sunday, people were off work and school. No wonder the streets were packed! I made my ... read more

The past couple of days in Delhi have been fairly mad, the city just doesn’t stop! Wikipedia tells me it has a population of 16 million to just slightly more than Hangzhou and about 1/3 that of Shanghai but it honestly is such a sprawling metropolis that it feels much bigger than any city in China. On Saturday, my first full day here, after sleeping for 13 hours I took a Tuk Tuk to the Red Fort. The ride itself was an experience- I don’t think I’ve ever seen the underside of so many trucks so close up! We did get there much faster than any metro though and, as it was school time, the traffic in the city was bad so we went the long way and through the President’s area with some beautiful gardens. ... read more