Delhi, Agra....

The guide arrives at 7:30am..we are on vacation aren't we?..I want to sleep in!!
Our stops: Red Fort, Lotus Temple, Chandini Chowk, India Gate, Jantar Mantar & Qutub Minar.
Delhi is not only the historic city but also quite rich in its architectural interests dating back to the Mughal Empire.

Red Fort Massive, Red and a Fort!
Closed due to the preparations for Republic Day..booohoo :0

Chandni Chowk Crowded & Chaotic
We passed it for later

India Gate Reminds me of New York! Barricaded with bleachers set up for the parade and all….are we going to get ot see something at all?

Raj Ghat & the Parliament Closed …seriously is anything going to be accessible to visitors like us. Why didn’t anyone in Baroda tell us that we’d run into these problems. WHY?

Lotus Temple Beautiful, Pure and Sarene.
It was peaceful and cool inside. No idols in sight.

Ishkon Temple Got voted out. It was getting too late and Shuara was heat stricken. Something cool for her before she faints.

Qutub Minar At first glance all I can say is WOW! It was completed in the 13th century.
Can one grasp what it must have taken to build a minaret of this stature?
Manpower, materials and zero technological instruments that we have in today’s age. Yet, it looks flawless.
I did notice that a lot of the other structures around had either been neglected or have succumbed to the environment. At one point the girls were leaning on something that we later found out, were graves. I took a lot of pictures and the ones I am in are not as good. Not that I don’t make a good subject or maybe it was the photographer’s fault. Who know?

Jantar Mantar, we were a bit late. 125 rupee bribe plus regular tickets later we were let in. Its Red, big and neglected. The guide told us that it still can tell time even with all the modern buildings around. What an amazing feat?, A Giant Sun Dial in the middle of a busy hustle bustle of a metropolis. Some more pictures later I was too tired to walk and was too hot. Some how it was humid and muggy in the city.

We got back to the hotel, all tired and grungy looking from a days worth of tourist stops. Our white shirts and jeans had red stains from Jantar Mantar. I so needed to take a long bath. I insisted we go to eat later and as always I won. We bathe, took a quick nap and then headed out to eat. Moti Mahal was the destination and my favorite butter chicken again. I liked Jawarlal’s better and the naan was much better there too!

We are to just bum around tomorrow and see a little more of the city. Raj’s promised me some shopping. We’ve the air on and Raj’s in deep slumber already. I am watching Zee TV. It’s an old flick with Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini, until slumber arrives..good night :)

Delhi, Agra...etc!

We get to Delhi around 10am on Jan 17th 2006. We hail a CNG Rickshaw to Dariyagunj, we get to the Hotel, and not having any IDs on us are unable to get a room.We were told by "people" in Baroda to leave our IDs in Baroda. We were stupid enough to listen to them! Asgi comes to our rescue and knows the mayor of Delhi's son who gets us the best hotel in Dariyagunj. Thank you Zartaj! :)

Delhi in January is quite warm for us. Its noisy, crowded and funky smelling. We bathe, take quick nap and head out to see Jamah Masjid. Zartaj joins us and Raj arranges our site seeing, shopping intinary with him for the rest of our stay here. Wow, the traffic here is amazing..if it were like this back home, it would be a mayhem. Can you say a mutli car pile-up!!!

Jamah Masjid


We enter the mosque through Gate No. 1 and we were all awestruck by the architecture. The mosque was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and was completed in 1656 AD. Zartaj's coming along made so much more easier for us to get in. Being so close to Independence Day the security was tight and they weren't allowing any digital cameras in. Thanks to Zartaj, I was able to take in my Canon and our Canon DC20 as well.

I went crazy with my canon, taking in the faint light of dusk I snapped as many pictures as I could before the sun set. The beautiful minarets, a window above one of the gates, sunset beyond the main minaret all became water to my thirst. I am not a professional photographer, but I do possess a keen sense of right and wrong when it comes to taking pictures. Shuara enjoyed running through the throngs of pigeons in the vast openness of the mosque. It was very peaceful there, for a moment you forget that just outside the gates there is poverty, noise and masses of local people going about their daily routine.

We ate at Jawaharlal's and the food was good. I had my favorite, butter chicken with fresh made naan. After dinner we took a stroll along the Jamah Masjid and just wondered how people live here. It was loud, crowded and funky smelling. How did they live amid the noise and chaos. I guess, its' their way of life. They choose to live there, just like we’ve adapted to our small town.

We have an early morning tomorrow and I am quite tired. We have booked a guide who comes along with a sedan. He is going to charge us 4.50 rupees per kilometer and take us around to see Old & New Delhi and then some.