On our own in Delhi

Monday, January 20, 2014
Delhi, India
    We first arrived in Delhi two days before the family joined us, and returned again for a week, interrupted by the short trip to Agra, after they left. Our very first day was just to get over jetlag and dare to venture out on the street for money and food. When Arthur and Kate arrived, they showed us some places they knew in Old Delhi, including the largest mosque in india, Jama Masjid, and a famous Jalebi stand on Chandni Chowk. Two weeks later, back from Jaisalmer and almost fearless, we started the first day on our own in a taxi to the Red Fort, which turned out to be basically closed for the weekend! We never did get back there.

    In other news, during the rest of our Delhi time, we explored Chandni Chowk asecond time, walked around the big circle of shops at Connaught Place, had fun jousting verbally with touts who assumed we were as dumb as we looked, mastered the Metro system, got to know Kailash Colony, the immediate neighborhood of our hostel, and discovered the sparkling food court at Nehru place, just one metro stop away .

    One day we tried seeing as many sights as we could reach via metro and walking. We were relaxed about it and did just fine, but we only got to two places! OK, we started after a liesurely breakfast, the supposed astronomical observatory Jantar Mantar deserved detailed inspection, the walk to Lodi park was longer than we thought, counting canoodling couples couldn't be hurried, and quitting for a mid afternoon dinner at the Nehru Place food court didn't help! Next day we hired a driver to cover ground more efficiently and got an early start. Maybe too early - we sat an hour in the car waiting for opening at Akshardham Mandir. It wasn't worth the wait - too much like a large amusement park. Then the driver couldn't find Nizzamudin Dargah, another must-see mosque. We looked for it on foot, but the neighborhood was too intimidating. After lunch, Humayun's tomb was definitely worthwhile, with bright sunlight and open sky, and the National Rail Museum was pure fun. Running out of time, we postponed the Lotus Temple to the following day, simply walking there from Nehru Place.
 
    All in all, our time in Delhi was a great success. After a couple of days we knew our neighborhood and how to get around. We learned to walk in the street with traffic, had fun with touts and tuk-tuk drivers, saw all kinds of people and sights, and enjoyed relaxing evenings at Bed & Chai!

    Click on the pictures for more details...

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