Delhi and New Delhi are all really the one big city, with New Delhi being the slightly newer
area laid out by the British, where the seat of government is. It's a huge, crowded and polluted city,
which doesn't make it stand out from the rest of India, but it has a lot to offer and gives a good
insight into many aspects of Indian life.
Delhi was the natural place to start out trip to India, with a couple of nights before completing
the Golden Triangle, then back to Delhi for one more nigh to collect our delayed luggage, before
heading down to Bombay.
India Gate, confusingly similar in name to Mumbai's Gateway of India, this is the centrepiece
of New Delhi. Presumably a take on the Arc d'Triomphe (itself a take on a triumphal arch in Rome),
the inscription at the top simply says "India". Just in case you weren't sure where you are.
Connaught Place is an open circular area in New Delhi near to India Gate, and the closest thing
to a public park that we found, although you still had to go through metal detectors to get in.
One of the government buildings in New Delhi. Our tuk-tuk driver was too scared to stop here.
Tuk-tuks are as ubiquitous in Delhi as they are in Bangkok, but considerably less salubrious.
We rented a Sikh driver for the day.
Main bazaar in old Delhi, this was more what we were looking for! We stayed in a grotty hole
up a fusty alley just off the bazaar, which was very convenient as the first thing we had to buy after
our luggage didn't show up was some new pants.
The view from the back of our hostel. Somewhere in there was a lot of school kids, judging
from the noise. From the front you could lean out the windows and touch the buildings across the street.
The rumours are true, the cows wander the streets like they own the place. All varieties too,
although some looked quite lumpy in strange places.
Jama Masjid or main mosque, old Delhi. We could get inside, but only after covering our
offensive knees with towels. Although predominantly Hindu, Islam is still big in India.
The walls of the famous Red Fort of Delhi, which are indeed red. The style is quite like
Fatepuhr Sikri in
Agra.
As our tuk-tuk driver was Sikh, he kindly offered to take us to a Sikh temple in old Delhi
So far as I could see we were the only westerners there.
Golden shrine within the temple. The roof was also covered in gold. I like these guys'
turbans.
In an outdoor part of the temple, there was a large pool of holy water. Nearby people were
filing past a priest, so we did the same and found that everyone was being handed a small amount of
hot nut paste, no charge. It tasted pretty good.
Density of signage and advertising around main bazaar, old Delhi.
Perhaps India's most famous son, Gandhi out in front leads some of his followers to the
bloodless defeat of the British occupation in 1947.
