Back To Day 1

After a difficult night’s rest, we emerge from Hotel Alka to take a driving tour of very hot Delhi… the tour of death (dum dum dum). First we went by the historic Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi. We reluctantly trusted a gentleman to watch our shoes while we entered a mosque for the first time. We climbed a huge flight of steps to enter mosque courtyard. The building can hold 25,000 people, but instead we saw thousands of pigeons and a few people seeking refuge in the shade. After burning our feet on the hot stones we decided it was time to allow the Muslims to enjoy the mosque and headed to the next stop, Humayan’s Tomb. We climbed a huge flight of stairs (again) and baked in the intense heat while pretending not to notice the bats right over our heads in the tomb stairwell. Next on the tour was the RajGhat, where Gandhi was cremated after his assassination. His cremation platform was a large slab of onyx, now decorated with oil lamps and marigolds, as well as the words “hare ram”, Gandhi’s last words of praise meaning “oh God”. Next we went to lunch, which was kindly chosen by our driver as one of the probably most expensive restaurants in Delhi, but which also had the coldest water in Delhi according to Sherry. The waiter wasn’t a fan of us sharing our dishes, but we enjoyed the expensive food and the air-conditioned facilities. After lunch we headed to the Q’tab Minnar, the first Islamic constructions in India which marked the beginning of Mughal reign. We were impressed with the enormous size of the pillar but were unimpressed with the metal minaret in the courtyard. We posed for a large amount of photos with locals and enjoyed wandering around the ancient remains.