18-27 July 2018

Delhi, India

Day 1:

We head to the airport, leaving the condo at 6 AM.  The flight was delayed but we made up the time in the air.  The flight from Bangkok to Delhi was about 4 hours, and we arrived in the midday.  

We were met by the a driver, porter and tour operator  from Access Asia Tours (same company as the China tour).  It would be interesting to see what we think of being on a tour after 3 months of “free-range” travelling.  We were looking forward to nice hotels and not having to make any decisions!

We were presented with flower necklaces to welcome us to India.

Hayden used a rose petal to create a finger friend.  She is Ann’s cousin. Ann was Eliza’s finger friend with orange hair made from a carrot shred, in Xi’an China at the Terracotta warriors.

We have arrived at the Oberoi Maidens Hotel, which is in the north part of Delhi.  It is a Heritage Hotel, built in 1903 during the British colonial rule.

We head out into the city to find an ATM machine.  We found 3 ATMs, none with money!  We were worried it might be our cards, but we found out the next day, it was that the machines just did not have money!

We found a good dinner place, One Up, next to the restaurant that the tour people recommended (which was closed for renovation).  All a good adventure, but not so fun because it was so so hot outside.

Our full day, 19 July, we start the day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel.  The mangos are amazing, and we love the mango lassis.  Little did we know, that this was the only place that would serve mangos!

We start the tour with a visit to the Red Fort.  It was built in 1639 by the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, and was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal dynasty for nearly 200 years, until 1856. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political center of the Mughal state.

The public entrance of the Red Fort complex.  The public would sit on the lawn for announcements and entertainment.

These are the buildings were the women of the royal family lived.  The architectural style is mostly Islamic with some Persian influence.

The buildings are undergoing renovation/preservation.

The stone flowers are inlaid into the marble.

The ceiling was originally all gold.

A beautiful marble building, with a British building in the back.  Most of the fort's precious marble structures were destroyed by the British following the Revolt of 1857. The fort's defensive walls were largely spared, and the fortress was subsequently used as a garrison. The Red Fort was also the site where the British put the last Mughal Emperor on trial before exiling him to Rangoon in 1858 (from Wikipedia).

The Emperor’s throne was in this building.  He would meet with the public audience to hear grievances, and there would be entertainment here.

The Emperor’s throne.  The largest diamond at the time was on this throne.  It was stolen by the Britishes (as our Indian guides).

This is the gate into and out of the fort.  There was a market inside the gate.

Next up is a rickshaw ride through the Old Delhi, Chandni Chowk.  

We are amazed by the traffic, with camels and cows, motorbikes, taxis, cars, trucks and buses. I tried to get the video to work on Hayden’s phone, for his vlog, but failed miserably because I couldn’t see when it was on or off, and I guess it was mostly off.

As you can see from Eliza’s red face, it is super hot.

This is a school with the little blue school bus rickshaws.

The wiring in the city is probably not up to code!

A shop selling wedding paraphernalia.

Another wedding shop.

An electrician’s nightmare, or dream!

Each street sold specific goods.  This is the jewelry street.  There was also the shoe street, spare parts street, hat street.

Mangos for sale!

Fruits and vegetables for sale along the street.

Hayden hops on as the rickshaw driver.

Check out the rickshaw that is stacked with goods!

We then visit the Jama Masjid.  

It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan between 1644 and 1656.  The mosque was completed in 1656 AD with three great gates, four towers and two 40 metres high minarets constructed with strips of red sandstone and white marble. The courtyard can accommodate more than 25,000 people. There are three domes on the terrace which are surrounded by the two minarets. On the floor, a total of 899 black borders are marked for worshippers. It reminded us of tape marks for yoga mats in a yoga studio.  We were not allowed to take photos inside the mosque.  Brian had to wear a robe around his waist to cover his legs.  Katie wore an entire robe.

Here’s a bunch of auto-rickshaws, and a horse walking down the street.

Lunch is next - we are happy to have Indian food, and the kids found a favorite dish - dal (creamy black lentils). And naan, of course!  They prefer naan over roti, which is whole wheat.

Dal is on Katie’s left.  Lydia’s all time favorite food is Chicken Tikka Masala, which we get in the frozen section of Trader Joe’s.  She loved the real thing, too!

This is an antique car which has a place to serve a buffet on the back of the car.

We next visit Humayun’s tomb.  It is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum, also known as Haji Begum. (Wikipedia).  Their son Akbar became the next Emperor.  

This building is the tomb and many members of the royal family are also buried here.

The stars are used because they are symmetric, not because of the star of David.  Hayden also noticed some swastikas and we discussed how these Islamic buildings were built way before the time of the Nazis.  Both of these are ancient symbols of Hinduism.

Humayun was buried here, way under the ground.  The tomb here is just for show, to mark the spot of where the tomb is underground, so tourists do not step on the tomb.

These tombs are for some of the family members.

The next stop was an amazing visit to Nizamuddin Dargah.  Katie’s sister-in-law Kathleen’s brother has lived in Delhi for the last several years recommended that we visit the dargah, which is a mausoleum of one of the Sufi saints, Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (1238 - 1325 CE). The dargah is visited by thousands of pilgrims every week, and we were definitely five of these pilgrims!

We girls put scarves over our heads.  

Hayden and Brian wore the white hand towels over their hair.

We walked through a very crowded alley where the stalls were selling goods to give as offerings to the shrine.  It was hot and people were everywhere.  The kids were scared, and held our hands really tight at we walked single file.    People were pushing, begging and staring at us.  The pictures below do not show the energy and the crowd, and we didn’t feel comfortable taking out our cameras.

We went on a Thursday because it is the day they have qawwali devotional music sessions.

The descendants of Nizamuddin Auliya look after the whole management of dargah Sharif.  Our tour guide was not allowed to accompany us into the shrine, so one of the descendents brought us around, named Saleem.  They changed the rules because the family did not like that tour guides were charging their clients to visit the dargah and the dargah is supposed to be free.  And also, they would like visitors to give a donation for the shrine.  They had us sign a book and we gave 100 rupees per person.

We walked out of the shrine and alley and kept over head covers on until we got back to the van.

You can see how hot we are and how freaked out Eliza is from the expression on her face.  Brian and I thought that if that was the only thing we did in Delhi, or even in India (except for visiting the Taj Mahal), it would have been worth the trip!

We were all happy to be back at the hotel.

Eliza calls herself the red-headed Einstein, ready for a swim.

Enjoying an evening swim!