Ok, so keeping the blog up to date with all our adventures with Jane and Dennis didn't happen quite as I anticipated! They left last Monday and I'm only just getting to the first installment, it turns out that planning lots of trips and going on already planned ones is really quite time consuming!
Anyway, I will start at the beginning. Jane and Dennis flew to Delhi arriving on the 26th November and I flew up to meet them. As I expected, Delhi was a bit of a shock to the system! They were pretty exhausted and a little shell shocked when I met them at the hotel. Their attempt at a wander around the area in the morning had resulted in only a very speedy walk around the block. Delhi is not a place you can wander around! They were pro's by the end though!
That first afternoon we had a very good lunch and then, after a bit of effort getting there, a visit to the Red Fort (we are slightly lacking in good pictures at the red fort, but see a previous post from when Ben & I went in August). Then to Connaught place, the middle of the business and commercial centre of New Delhi, for a few much deserved G&Ts! We finished the day with a fairly hair raising auto rickshaw ride back to our hotel. They certainly drive a lot faster in Delhi than they do in Bangalore, and this guy wasn't helped by the fact that he couldn't find our hotel. Angry auto drivers are quite scary!
The following day we went for a slightly more relaxed mode of transport and hired a car and driver for the day. First stop - India gate. This is Delhi's main war memorial and a bit reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe, very impressive and beautiful. I was somehow expecting it to be in the middle of a roundabout, but it wasn't. Well, I suppose it was off to the side of what was once a roundabout, but pretty much all the traffic was stopped to all ways in to the roundabout. It was nice to be able to wander without the fear of being run over (except for the odd tour bus that seemed to be allowed in!). The other canopy you can see in the background is in the middle of the traffic free roundabout and apparently used to have a statue of George V in it until them moved him off to join other British relics in a park somewhere else.
Next, Humayan's tomb, the first garden tomb in India so they say which is really stunning. On to the Lotus Flower temple, I'm really pleased we got to visit here as when Ben and I came to Delhi before there was a 2 hour queue to go in as it was some special celebration, needless to say we decided catching our flight was more important!
The following day we visited the Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. It is very close to Chandni Chowk, one of the oldest and busiest markets in Delhi and the thing to do is to get a bicycle rickshaw from outside the red fort to mosque and then through the market to the spice market and back. That's what we did and it was great fun!
The view from the tower you can pay a bit extra to climb and me and Jane sporting our lovely gowns for the occasion. I guess it was to cover our arms as I had a long skirt on and Jane trousers. We were in good company wearing them anyway.
The spice market was amazing. It is a wholesale market, so for once nobody is trying to sell you anything. You do need to be a bit careful not to get clonked with boxes, hit by carts, kick a dog or step in a puddle of unidentifiable brown liquid!
A dried chili stall and Jane trying to filter the air a little (sorry about the picture Jane!). The spices in the air caught in the back of your throat a bit. Everyone was doing quite a lot of coughing, even those that worked there!
After all that excitement, we heading back to our hotel to pick up a different car for the drive to Jaipur. It should be a 4 1/2 hour drive to Jaipur. However, the driver couldn't find our hotel (turns out there are 8 hotels in Delhi called the Pearl!) so he was an hour late, and then we meet with the most amazing traffic jam en route!
Amazing, not because it was a very long stationary jam on a 3 lane road, but because of the reaction of everyone stuck in the queue. Now, I've lived here long enough to know that patience is not the strong point of Indian drivers, if you can find any way round the queue then that is what you do, even if it only gains you a foot. So I wasn't surprised when we started to come off the side of the road and head along the gravel strip at the side of the road. I was a little more shocked when we headed cross country diagonally away from the road following a stream of traffic across a field. To be fair, this started as a dirt track. But it ended up as a big semi circle across a number of fields, a bit of military area across a ditch and 2 barbed wire fences to get back to the road, where I'm sure we ended up further back in the queue than if we had stayed on the road!
It was all good fun though, and we eventually met Ben (who was a little worse for wear having HAD to drink a couple of large strong Kingfishers while waiting for us!) just before the kitchen shut :-)
Ok, I think I am going to stop there and continue on another entry or you will all be asleep! Next entry, Jaipur.
Anyway, I will start at the beginning. Jane and Dennis flew to Delhi arriving on the 26th November and I flew up to meet them. As I expected, Delhi was a bit of a shock to the system! They were pretty exhausted and a little shell shocked when I met them at the hotel. Their attempt at a wander around the area in the morning had resulted in only a very speedy walk around the block. Delhi is not a place you can wander around! They were pro's by the end though!
That first afternoon we had a very good lunch and then, after a bit of effort getting there, a visit to the Red Fort (we are slightly lacking in good pictures at the red fort, but see a previous post from when Ben & I went in August). Then to Connaught place, the middle of the business and commercial centre of New Delhi, for a few much deserved G&Ts! We finished the day with a fairly hair raising auto rickshaw ride back to our hotel. They certainly drive a lot faster in Delhi than they do in Bangalore, and this guy wasn't helped by the fact that he couldn't find our hotel. Angry auto drivers are quite scary!
The following day we went for a slightly more relaxed mode of transport and hired a car and driver for the day. First stop - India gate. This is Delhi's main war memorial and a bit reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe, very impressive and beautiful. I was somehow expecting it to be in the middle of a roundabout, but it wasn't. Well, I suppose it was off to the side of what was once a roundabout, but pretty much all the traffic was stopped to all ways in to the roundabout. It was nice to be able to wander without the fear of being run over (except for the odd tour bus that seemed to be allowed in!). The other canopy you can see in the background is in the middle of the traffic free roundabout and apparently used to have a statue of George V in it until them moved him off to join other British relics in a park somewhere else.
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| Us all at India gate |
It is a Baha'i house of worship; which, we have now learnt is a world faith whose purpose is to unite all races and people. I'm still not really quite sure of the basis of the religion, but they go in for striking architecture and simplicity on a big scale. People of all religions are welcome inside to pray and reflect, as long as you do it in silence (and I have to say, I have never seen so many Indians in one place and it been so quiet!). It was lovely, I'd recommend a visit.
Finally, on to the Qutb Minar complex, (the minar being only the tower really). This time I got an audio tour, which meant I now know a little more about it, but not sure it's worth having the audio guide. There is too much pretending to be the people who built different bits of it and Oooing and Ahhhing over how beautiful it is and not a great deal of information. And, it seems to boil down to the fact that they don't really know why they built the tower! But, one guy built a mosque next to it, and then the next 2 guys after him made extensions to the mosque and included a college. The 3rd guy even tired to build a tower twice as big as the Qutb minar, but it never got further than the base.
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| Quitb Minar as the sun was setting |
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| Me and Dennis at the Quitb Minar complex |
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| The very impressive Jama Masjid |
Dennis and in his rickshaw
The spice market was amazing. It is a wholesale market, so for once nobody is trying to sell you anything. You do need to be a bit careful not to get clonked with boxes, hit by carts, kick a dog or step in a puddle of unidentifiable brown liquid!
After all that excitement, we heading back to our hotel to pick up a different car for the drive to Jaipur. It should be a 4 1/2 hour drive to Jaipur. However, the driver couldn't find our hotel (turns out there are 8 hotels in Delhi called the Pearl!) so he was an hour late, and then we meet with the most amazing traffic jam en route!
Amazing, not because it was a very long stationary jam on a 3 lane road, but because of the reaction of everyone stuck in the queue. Now, I've lived here long enough to know that patience is not the strong point of Indian drivers, if you can find any way round the queue then that is what you do, even if it only gains you a foot. So I wasn't surprised when we started to come off the side of the road and head along the gravel strip at the side of the road. I was a little more shocked when we headed cross country diagonally away from the road following a stream of traffic across a field. To be fair, this started as a dirt track. But it ended up as a big semi circle across a number of fields, a bit of military area across a ditch and 2 barbed wire fences to get back to the road, where I'm sure we ended up further back in the queue than if we had stayed on the road!
It was all good fun though, and we eventually met Ben (who was a little worse for wear having HAD to drink a couple of large strong Kingfishers while waiting for us!) just before the kitchen shut :-)
Ok, I think I am going to stop there and continue on another entry or you will all be asleep! Next entry, Jaipur.
Great account Kathryn! I am feeling homesick for all the noise, smells, colours, rickshaws in Delhi - especially the bicycle rickshaws! Haven't had so much fun in years!
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