Today was the Delhi day. We began at 8:30AM, as usual. Breakfast was included with the hotel and was typical of what we've seen at each of the hotels thus far. Fresh fruit, cereal, toast, some Indian dishes that I can't identify, and some typical western food like pancakes, potatoes, and sausages.
We met with our tour guide for the day even though I was told yesterday that we wouldn't have one and our driver would be our guide. Oh well. He explained the difference between New Delhi and old Delhi. Once you understand it's very easy to spot the transition. Old Delhi is what you think of when you think India. Very crowded, shops and people on top of one another, very old construction, and frankly very dirty. New Delhi was completely different. Lots of space, LOTS of green space in particular, beautiful buildings that appear to be well maintained, upscale shops and restaurants, etc.
We first went to Jama Masjid, a very large mosque in Delhi. I'm not a fan of leaving my shoes outside of places so we opted out of this place. Not only that but they wanted to charge 200 Rs for every camera that you had, including mobile phones, and I wasn't about to pay for that. Next, we went to India Gate, Parliament House, President House, and the Government Secretariat Building. This, according to my dad, is a lot like Washington DC. The layout was beautiful. As our guide said, unless you come to see this you wouldn't realize that Delhi was the capital of India. Security was EVERYWHERE but apparently this was due to the upcoming Republic Day festivities on 26 January. The India Gate is an amazing monument to the fallen soliders of the Indian Army from WWI. We were treated to a marching/parade display from the troops presently practicing for Republic Day. The government buildings were all beautiful. Not much else to say about them, really.
Our next stop was Raj Ghat, the memorial to Mahatma Ghandi (Ghandiji) and the place where his ashes are kept. This was a beautiful park with very well kept plants and scenery. There are also trees planted here by each foreign president who has visited with a placard bearing their information. There were a LOT of these trees! In keeping with the Ghandiji theme, we went to Birla House, the location of his assassination and also a large grounds with memorial exhibits. To put it simply, this was a powerful experience. If you come to India, this is a must see! The most prominent thing about the exhibit is a set of steps depicting the final steps of Ghandiji. It is moving to see that the final few minutes of this great man's life are laid out in front of you. They lead to the Martyr's Column in the garden. Here we took a few minutes to walk around and take it all in. After this we went inside the actual exhibit. They have posters all over the walls describing as much about him as you would like to read. I suggest that you plan to take your time here. I could have spent several hours more than the 1 or so that we were there. This exhibit was one of the most powerful I have ever seen. On top of that, it was a great way to marry the modern history of India with the context of the very old historical monuments that we have seen here.
We then went to Qutb Minar. This is an amazing minaret and monument park. The pictures from this site should be incredible when you get to see them. This site is another must-visit! The minaret itself stands 238 feet tall and was built in 1199. It is incredible to see a monument that has withstood for that long and looks practically brand new! This place also housed the Iron pillar. It is literally an iron pillar that was constructed likely some time around 375-413 AD but some, like our tour guide, claim an earlier time of 1000 BC. Regardless, it is incredible to see a pillar that is aged to this degree that shows very little signs of deterioration. The damn thing was even fired at by two cannons, yes you can see the dents in it, and still looks amazing.
We were told we were stopping for lunch shortly and for the first time in a week I was actually hungry. The restaurant was a "global cuisine" restaurant that had nothing but tourists (dropped off by their guides, of course) inside. Fair enough. What do I do? Order a damn fine batch of nachos and BBQ chicken pizza. In freaking India. Yeah.
After lunch we went to visit the Lotus Temple. Lots of bleh here. It is a very beautful building and the gardens surrounding it are very nice. The speech that they give you going in is where they lost me. Apparently it is a Bahai house of worship. These folks believe that all religions are equal and they allow you inside to pray and worship silently to whichever deity you choose. It's a bit refreshing considering all of the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, etc. stuff that we've seen up to this point but I don't really buy this new age stuff. Make what you will of it but whatever.
Our last stop of the day was, of course, a tourist shop! By now we've gotten pretty good at navigating through these places. Yes, you have beautiful scarves and sarees and carvings and jewelery. Tax free you say? Wow. Your prices are the best around by 30 to 40% due to the backing by the Indian government and your fixed pricing structure? Amazing. Very pretty, all of it, but I've already bought all of my souvenirs for this trip and can't possibly fit another in my luggage. You ship? Damn. Oh well, thank you for your time!
Now we've returned to the hotel. I also found out that the damn hotel wifi is complimentary. Nice of them, especially considering this is our last stop along the way. At least I don't have to worry about my computer blowing up now! Tomorrow afternoon we return to Surat to Dhaval's place. I'm very much looking forward to what the rest of the trip holds as I've viewed this as pretty much the halfway point. And now that we've got reliable wifi we will try to get some pictures up on the shutterfly site (I know, how many times is he going to say that? This is likely the second to last time at worst).
We met with our tour guide for the day even though I was told yesterday that we wouldn't have one and our driver would be our guide. Oh well. He explained the difference between New Delhi and old Delhi. Once you understand it's very easy to spot the transition. Old Delhi is what you think of when you think India. Very crowded, shops and people on top of one another, very old construction, and frankly very dirty. New Delhi was completely different. Lots of space, LOTS of green space in particular, beautiful buildings that appear to be well maintained, upscale shops and restaurants, etc.
We first went to Jama Masjid, a very large mosque in Delhi. I'm not a fan of leaving my shoes outside of places so we opted out of this place. Not only that but they wanted to charge 200 Rs for every camera that you had, including mobile phones, and I wasn't about to pay for that. Next, we went to India Gate, Parliament House, President House, and the Government Secretariat Building. This, according to my dad, is a lot like Washington DC. The layout was beautiful. As our guide said, unless you come to see this you wouldn't realize that Delhi was the capital of India. Security was EVERYWHERE but apparently this was due to the upcoming Republic Day festivities on 26 January. The India Gate is an amazing monument to the fallen soliders of the Indian Army from WWI. We were treated to a marching/parade display from the troops presently practicing for Republic Day. The government buildings were all beautiful. Not much else to say about them, really.
Our next stop was Raj Ghat, the memorial to Mahatma Ghandi (Ghandiji) and the place where his ashes are kept. This was a beautiful park with very well kept plants and scenery. There are also trees planted here by each foreign president who has visited with a placard bearing their information. There were a LOT of these trees! In keeping with the Ghandiji theme, we went to Birla House, the location of his assassination and also a large grounds with memorial exhibits. To put it simply, this was a powerful experience. If you come to India, this is a must see! The most prominent thing about the exhibit is a set of steps depicting the final steps of Ghandiji. It is moving to see that the final few minutes of this great man's life are laid out in front of you. They lead to the Martyr's Column in the garden. Here we took a few minutes to walk around and take it all in. After this we went inside the actual exhibit. They have posters all over the walls describing as much about him as you would like to read. I suggest that you plan to take your time here. I could have spent several hours more than the 1 or so that we were there. This exhibit was one of the most powerful I have ever seen. On top of that, it was a great way to marry the modern history of India with the context of the very old historical monuments that we have seen here.
We then went to Qutb Minar. This is an amazing minaret and monument park. The pictures from this site should be incredible when you get to see them. This site is another must-visit! The minaret itself stands 238 feet tall and was built in 1199. It is incredible to see a monument that has withstood for that long and looks practically brand new! This place also housed the Iron pillar. It is literally an iron pillar that was constructed likely some time around 375-413 AD but some, like our tour guide, claim an earlier time of 1000 BC. Regardless, it is incredible to see a pillar that is aged to this degree that shows very little signs of deterioration. The damn thing was even fired at by two cannons, yes you can see the dents in it, and still looks amazing.
We were told we were stopping for lunch shortly and for the first time in a week I was actually hungry. The restaurant was a "global cuisine" restaurant that had nothing but tourists (dropped off by their guides, of course) inside. Fair enough. What do I do? Order a damn fine batch of nachos and BBQ chicken pizza. In freaking India. Yeah.
After lunch we went to visit the Lotus Temple. Lots of bleh here. It is a very beautful building and the gardens surrounding it are very nice. The speech that they give you going in is where they lost me. Apparently it is a Bahai house of worship. These folks believe that all religions are equal and they allow you inside to pray and worship silently to whichever deity you choose. It's a bit refreshing considering all of the Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, etc. stuff that we've seen up to this point but I don't really buy this new age stuff. Make what you will of it but whatever.
Our last stop of the day was, of course, a tourist shop! By now we've gotten pretty good at navigating through these places. Yes, you have beautiful scarves and sarees and carvings and jewelery. Tax free you say? Wow. Your prices are the best around by 30 to 40% due to the backing by the Indian government and your fixed pricing structure? Amazing. Very pretty, all of it, but I've already bought all of my souvenirs for this trip and can't possibly fit another in my luggage. You ship? Damn. Oh well, thank you for your time!
Now we've returned to the hotel. I also found out that the damn hotel wifi is complimentary. Nice of them, especially considering this is our last stop along the way. At least I don't have to worry about my computer blowing up now! Tomorrow afternoon we return to Surat to Dhaval's place. I'm very much looking forward to what the rest of the trip holds as I've viewed this as pretty much the halfway point. And now that we've got reliable wifi we will try to get some pictures up on the shutterfly site (I know, how many times is he going to say that? This is likely the second to last time at worst).
Sounds like you are having fun!! I stopped at the Lotus temple but didn't go in...I was so fed up with my trip, I was ready to go home :)You are having a lot of the same experiences I had..all the tourist stuff gets really annoying but you'll never regret taking this trip.
ReplyDelete