India, New Delhi

Thanks for your comments: blogger isn't showing the reply button so I can't respond! will try to resolve.

Just stumbled across this unpublished post from our last trip to India  (2019) better late than never!

We are off to India again next month and I am sorting out what to wear/take with me.  We will be going to Kolkata, Darjeeling and Kerala this time.... below is a detailed account of some of our adventures last time....

Delhi:  Arrived at Suraya Hotel late, ate a fabulous curry and took a quick walk round the vicinity to check out surroundings.  Lots of stray dogs, market stalls of flowers, traffic, dust, fumes and noise.

New Delhi, Surayaa Hotel area

fresh fruit juice outside the hotel

Day 1 we had curry breakfast at hotel, Indian masala tea (cardomon, cinnamon, milk) and ventured out.  A 15 minute walk across ridiculously heavy traffic, negotiating tuktuk, rickshaw, cars and lorries, not to mention mopeds driving on the wrong side of the road and cows sleeping on roadsides, walking across traffic or standing and staring into space.  We made it in one piece to the Metro, bought tokens in the automated machine, (having Googled the metro route we carried a list of stops/3 changes for route to Connaught circle and on to Chandni Chowk in the heart of Old Delhi).  Connaught was mainly expensive designer shops ( not our thing) so after walking round the entire perimeter to get our bearings, we moved on to Chandni Chowk market area which was much more interesting.

A huge market constructed of a laberinth of alleys and lanes running off the main route full of sari silks, Indian clothes, shoes, trinkets and onwards to the fruit and street food area.  We saw monkeys running along the tops of traders shacks and swinging from electric cables.  Cows were everywhere (they are painted/decorated to show ownership) and many dogs.

There is wealth and poverty in equal measures here and we were constantly approached by a range of begging children, disfigured adults and touts wanting to show us places to shop, all just trying to earn a crust any way they can.  We saw a long queue of migrant workers and homeless getting curry and rice from a charitable organisation, the workers were giving their finished paper dishes to the stray dogs.  There is food available daily from these food stations twice daily we discovered, not everyone is homeless though, some people are visiting family in the nearby hospitals and are displaced/sleeping outside while they visit loved ones.  No doubt these food stations are a welcome help.

We found the food market full of stalls laden with fruit and vendors cooking up various deep fried spicy delights, rolling bread dough and stirring pots of curry.  We were warned by some locals though that the oil used to cook street food in the markets is often recycled from restaurants so not particularly clean or healthy.

Getting the metro was fairly easy with the help of locals, fun,  and the best way to get around, also a welcome bit of air con away from the smog.  The week we visited, New Delhi had been on the news due to the high smog caused not only by traffic fumes but the burning of crops nearby which the Government had banned but were unable to enforce.

Metro smog advisory

Schools were closed due to the smog and we took the precaution of wearing dust masks when we were in traffic.  There was a smog indicator at one of the metro stations which was displaying 463 (500 being the maximum on the scale of severity).  We found that riding the tuk tuks also exposed us to traffic fumes and poor visibility.  That said, it's an experience not to be missed and the smog was unavoidable.

Day 2  we took a guide for the day and an air con car and saw Humayuns tomb
On which the taj mahal was modelled 85 years later.  This tomb is smaller in scale but displays all the familiar features and design of the Taj Mahal.  Built in 1562 by the moghuls it was influenced by Persian architecture.

Lunch was bananas

Qutab Minar.  A Unesco world heritage site, this is the oldest brick minaret in the world built on the remains of an earlier hindu temple, any human images were defaced by the muslims when they took the temple over and built their minaret,  but other detail remains.  The minaret contains in its structure an iron which does not rust.  Our guide, Sunny, shared my interest in Eric von Daniken (Charriot of the gods) and we discussed theories on the possibilities of alien influence, he found a video on his phone of what appears to be a human form flying around the minaret which was seen only a few years ago.  My imagination was captured by the strange iron that does not rust and, for me, made the excursion take on a new dimension - were we looking at alien influence during those times?

structure contains iron that does not rust, our guide could not explain this further

We took a rickshaw ride around the muslim quarter for a bit of fun and headed back to our hotel for a sauna, tea and cake and a freshen up.

Our evenings were spent in the Upgrade bar, a short potholed walk from the hotel where we negotiated our beers down to half the hotel prices by suggesting they give us a happy hour! and so came back again.  I have put them on Trip Advisor as they were friendly and welcoming and had aircon.  Dinner was Domino Pizza as we felt in need of some carbohydrates!

there's more in my travel blog (Magic Carpet Travels) which you may have read before but this one seemed to miss publish. .. Pressing publish now!