We departed at 6 am to almost “empty” streets and “cool” temperatures. Not really cool, just not scorching yet. And it’s not even the hot season! Summer must be brutal with temps of 8t to 100+ degrees and the high humidity. I guess it’s all tolerable when that’s what you are used to. We actually boarded the very nice – and air conditioned – bus that we’ll be using for the rest of the time here.
Another thing – when you walk or drive down a street in Delhi, don’t be surprised by the ever present monkeys on the roads, sidewalks, lawns, and in the trees. Just part of life in India.
Just after sunrise we visited the site of the President’s House and two adjacent ministry buildings built by the British during their colonial rule.
At the other end of the long open and well-groomed plazafrom the President’s House was the India Gate – a massive war memorial to fallen Indian armed forces members. At this early morning time, almost all the people out on the plaza were men, and many of those were exercising.
The statue of Subhas Chandra Bose, also known as the Netaji’s Statue, is a monolithic statuemade of black granite, dedicated to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, commander-in-chief of the Axis-aligned Indian National Army.
After that visit we moved on to our breakfast stop at a popular restaurant for a traditional Indian breakfast of “Dosa” – similar to a very large crepe wrapped around spiced and mashed potatoes. It was quite good and filling, and the four chutney sauces were all nice compliments.
Our next stop was to our first “stepwell” of the trip. I had known we were visiting a number of stepwells along the trip, but had no idea they were, based on the picture below, I’ll bet you can figure it out…
Did you figure it out? “Stepwell” – notice the steps going down to the well? The green grass at the bottom is actually water! With this design they could also take animals down to the well.
None of us were familiar with Hindi writing, so our tour guide gave us the scoop. Hindi is written and read from left to right (like English). The line above the letters completes a word, in other words it signifies the beginning and the end of the word. A vertical line between words signifies the end of a sentence and beginning of the next.
A side note – Even our guide believes that Indians are taught to honk, before they learn to drive ! And honking is actually sanctioned and encouraged – don’t honk and you can be blamed for an accident. No wonder honking is a way of life here!
We moved on to Old Delhi (as the words imply), and visited a few temples and a mosque. Here are some images along the way.
The “Jain” faith – Jainism is an ancient Indian religion focused on achieving spiritual purity and ultimate liberation through disciplined non-violence toward all living creatures. There are approximately 4 to 10 million followers of the Jainism faith worldwide. (Wikipedia)
We also visited a large mosque in Old Delhi. And many of us got multiple requests for selfies from locals, a common occurrence for foreigners in Delhi.
Another Side Note – Of all the places I’ve seen around the world, traffic in Old Delhi is the WORST – by far! And traffic lanes are barely a suggestion.
Some Photos Walking Around in Old Delhi
Next we visited the beautiful “Gurdwara Bangla Sahib Sikh Temple.” There are approximatelyi 25 to 30 million Sikhs in the world today, making Sikhism the world’s fifth-largest religion. And quite unlike the very noisy Jain Temple, this Sikh temple provided a very quiet and relaxing atmosphere with soft music and singing of stories from the religion’s holy book. (No photography inside)
The Sikh temple kitchen is also where we enjoyed a free vegetarian lunch. The lunch is provided everyday – free – to anyone who shows up. You do have to wear a head covering, and wash your hands and feet before entering, but the meal was definitely worth it. The downside is sitting cross legged on the floor to eat!
After lunch, some of us headed to another outdoor market, some went to a famous tomb, and some returned to the hotel to relax. And we all met up again at 6:30 pm to walk to dinner at a local shopping area.
On the road to Jaipur tomorrow!
A short & witty ending…
Another successful day of not speaking the language, but getting fed anyway.
