Following our early morning start for our 10k run on Gandhi's birthday last week, we had another 5am start on Thursday morning, this time to travel to Delhi for work. Given that we both needed to travel to Delhi at the start of October (me to recruit clever students and actuaries, Phil to visit clever scientists), we were able to coordinate these and arrange to spend the weekend following our trip as tourists in the city.
Thursday / Friday were long and busy days and went by in a blur, and we were both shattered when we reached our hotel on Friday evening, spending the first non-work evening in Delhi by going to sleep early as Phil had a headache. Not the most exciting start to our Delhi adventure, but this did mean that we were ready for an action-packed day exploring the city on Saturday.
There were a couple of memorable events before the weekend...
First for me as, upon arriving in Delhi, my colleague Megha and I had a couple of hours free before our first presentation. We went to visit Megha's grandparents (who are 80) for lunch which was brilliant. I was treated to a home-cooked feast and watched Megha's grandmother cook the meal which was fascinating. My main learning points were that (i) Indian cookery doesn't have to be complicated to be tasty; (ii) a pressure cooker is an essential part of an Indian kitchen; and (iii) becoming an expert roti maker has been added to my life ambitions.
Phil's experience was equally memorable but less positive and probably led to the headache. We booked a budget hotel for the weekend stay (a bit like a Travelodge) which was cheap but well located and perfectly clean, and good value for what we paid. Upon finishing his final work appointment, a retired professor accompanied Phil to the hotel to make sure he did not get lost, and they unfortunately struggled to find it, not helped by the incorrect phone number on the booking confirmation voucher. This isn't the sort of thing that we would think twice about, but when Phil finally arrived to check in, the professor started a shouting match with the hotel manager over the phone number issue. This escalated and led to a big crowd of hotel staff gathering, tempers being lost, and the professor and hotel manager threatening to "block" each other. According to Phil, he stood to the side looking embarrassed until someone showed him to the room. On the positive side, the message given to the hotel manager seemed to be that Phil is a esteemed western guest and should be treated with respect (!). We were treated very nicely for the rest of our stay; the hotel seemed keen to keep us happy.
For some reason, my vision of Delhi had been of somewhere rather scary and crime-ridden although my actual experience was quite contrary to this expectation. Unlike Mumbai, Delhi is a grand and (in the case of New Delhi) beautifully designed city. Some of the architecture is fabulous and Delhi has the key thing lacking in Mumbai - space - we saw no obvious slums around the city and New Delhi in particular is ostensibly much cleaner. I'm certainly not saying that I preferred Delhi to Mumbai, not at all, but I can't deny that I was impressed.
Further, Delhi is an old and historic city. Delhi is the culmination of seven cities, plus New Delhi created as a celebration of British rule at the start of the 20th century. Like Rome, there are amazing monuments or ruins round every corner and lots to see as a tourist. We packed a lot in, but hardly scratched the surface.
We hired a car from the hotel for a full day on Saturday, and were lucky to have a charming driver called Gitish (nickname "Sunny") who had great English and was an excellent guide. After a (rather deep fried) breakfast in the hotel, we travelled to Humuyan's Tomb, explored the winding streets of the Nizamuddin area and ambled round Lodi Gardens. We travelled to see Gandhi's memorial (set in beautiful gardens including memorials to others including Rajiv Gandhi) amongst big crowds of school children.
After this hectic morning, and feeling a bit over-heated, we had a late lunch of tea and cake in the Taj. We kept been told by locals that we'd travelled to Delhi at just the right time, not too hot and not too cold, but frankly it was boiling. I started melting after more than 15 minutes outside an air-conditioned environment so thoroughly enjoyed an hour in a relaxing and cool cafe (with very good tea and cake!).
Tea over, we continued our Dehli tour with a trip to Jantar Mantar (English equivalent of "Abracadabra"), an amazing complex of old astronomical instruments including enormous sundials. Sadly, the instruments are now overlooked by tall buildings from all sides, rather spoiling the sundial set-up, but this was still a fascinating place to visit.
After the obligatory trip to a tourist shop to please the driver, we were dropped off at the Red Fort to explore before sunset. The famous Red Fort is an awesome structure with many historic buildings contained within it and well worth a visit.
We met with Megha and her husband Aditya who had kindly come to meet us to show us the sites, sounds and food of Old Delhi before we went to see the Sound and Light show within the Red Fort. Old Delhi is a crazy, crazy place; especially the main street Chandni Chowk. We travelled from the fort down Chandni Chowk by cycle ricksaw, a first for us, and the density of humanity on the street was incredible. The traffic didn't really move, you just progressed by squeezing into a gap in front of you wherever possible.
Our destination was Gali Paranthe Wali, a narrow lane famous for its fresh parathas - a flat deep fried bread available with a wide range of stuffing options. We squeezed into a packed open-fronted cafe and feasted on fresh parathas which were served with several (very spicy) veg curry accompaniments. We ordered a lot of food, and struggled to spend 100 rupees per head. The hygiene didn't look great, but vegetarian food served piping hot is safer than many other street foods and we were both fine afterwards.
Back at the Red Fort, we enjoyed a sound and light show which explained the different buildings in the fort and provided an interesting, if distinctly anti-British, history of Delhi. Several people we met did admit that the British (specifically Lutyens) gave Delhi some fantastic architecture, but the favour generally ends there!
We flew back from Delhi to Mumbai at lunchtime on Sunday but managed to squeeze in another famous historical site, the Q'utb Minar, before leaving the city. South of the city, this site includes the remains of the 7th city of Delhi, at the centre of which is a spectacular tower which dominates the complex. The quality of the ruins is astonishingly good and the site was teeming with visitors.
Our journey back to the airport was easy; the roads in Delhi are *almost* ordered and reminiscent of a western city at times. I thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to Delhi and will look forward to going back again.
Thursday / Friday were long and busy days and went by in a blur, and we were both shattered when we reached our hotel on Friday evening, spending the first non-work evening in Delhi by going to sleep early as Phil had a headache. Not the most exciting start to our Delhi adventure, but this did mean that we were ready for an action-packed day exploring the city on Saturday.
There were a couple of memorable events before the weekend...
First for me as, upon arriving in Delhi, my colleague Megha and I had a couple of hours free before our first presentation. We went to visit Megha's grandparents (who are 80) for lunch which was brilliant. I was treated to a home-cooked feast and watched Megha's grandmother cook the meal which was fascinating. My main learning points were that (i) Indian cookery doesn't have to be complicated to be tasty; (ii) a pressure cooker is an essential part of an Indian kitchen; and (iii) becoming an expert roti maker has been added to my life ambitions.
Phil's experience was equally memorable but less positive and probably led to the headache. We booked a budget hotel for the weekend stay (a bit like a Travelodge) which was cheap but well located and perfectly clean, and good value for what we paid. Upon finishing his final work appointment, a retired professor accompanied Phil to the hotel to make sure he did not get lost, and they unfortunately struggled to find it, not helped by the incorrect phone number on the booking confirmation voucher. This isn't the sort of thing that we would think twice about, but when Phil finally arrived to check in, the professor started a shouting match with the hotel manager over the phone number issue. This escalated and led to a big crowd of hotel staff gathering, tempers being lost, and the professor and hotel manager threatening to "block" each other. According to Phil, he stood to the side looking embarrassed until someone showed him to the room. On the positive side, the message given to the hotel manager seemed to be that Phil is a esteemed western guest and should be treated with respect (!). We were treated very nicely for the rest of our stay; the hotel seemed keen to keep us happy.
For some reason, my vision of Delhi had been of somewhere rather scary and crime-ridden although my actual experience was quite contrary to this expectation. Unlike Mumbai, Delhi is a grand and (in the case of New Delhi) beautifully designed city. Some of the architecture is fabulous and Delhi has the key thing lacking in Mumbai - space - we saw no obvious slums around the city and New Delhi in particular is ostensibly much cleaner. I'm certainly not saying that I preferred Delhi to Mumbai, not at all, but I can't deny that I was impressed.
Further, Delhi is an old and historic city. Delhi is the culmination of seven cities, plus New Delhi created as a celebration of British rule at the start of the 20th century. Like Rome, there are amazing monuments or ruins round every corner and lots to see as a tourist. We packed a lot in, but hardly scratched the surface.
We hired a car from the hotel for a full day on Saturday, and were lucky to have a charming driver called Gitish (nickname "Sunny") who had great English and was an excellent guide. After a (rather deep fried) breakfast in the hotel, we travelled to Humuyan's Tomb, explored the winding streets of the Nizamuddin area and ambled round Lodi Gardens. We travelled to see Gandhi's memorial (set in beautiful gardens including memorials to others including Rajiv Gandhi) amongst big crowds of school children.
The spectacular Humuyan's Tomb...
...and again
Mini-tomb in the Humuyan's tomb complex
In Lodi Gardens
"Naughty" (according to its owner) goat in Nizamuddin area
Very Zen Garden (in Lodi Gardens)
Shrine to Gandhi - a very simple design
The man himself
After this hectic morning, and feeling a bit over-heated, we had a late lunch of tea and cake in the Taj. We kept been told by locals that we'd travelled to Delhi at just the right time, not too hot and not too cold, but frankly it was boiling. I started melting after more than 15 minutes outside an air-conditioned environment so thoroughly enjoyed an hour in a relaxing and cool cafe (with very good tea and cake!).
Tea, ice tea, chocolate cake and bonus madeleine cakes
Unfortunately named restaurant in the Taj
Tea over, we continued our Dehli tour with a trip to Jantar Mantar (English equivalent of "Abracadabra"), an amazing complex of old astronomical instruments including enormous sundials. Sadly, the instruments are now overlooked by tall buildings from all sides, rather spoiling the sundial set-up, but this was still a fascinating place to visit.
A very big gnomon
Another astronomical gadget
After the obligatory trip to a tourist shop to please the driver, we were dropped off at the Red Fort to explore before sunset. The famous Red Fort is an awesome structure with many historic buildings contained within it and well worth a visit.
Outside the main wall of the Red Fort
One of the many palaces inside the Red Fort, once the home of the Kohi-Noor diamond and Peacock Throne (both now in the UK)
We met with Megha and her husband Aditya who had kindly come to meet us to show us the sites, sounds and food of Old Delhi before we went to see the Sound and Light show within the Red Fort. Old Delhi is a crazy, crazy place; especially the main street Chandni Chowk. We travelled from the fort down Chandni Chowk by cycle ricksaw, a first for us, and the density of humanity on the street was incredible. The traffic didn't really move, you just progressed by squeezing into a gap in front of you wherever possible.
Traffic carnage on Chandhi Chowk
Our destination was Gali Paranthe Wali, a narrow lane famous for its fresh parathas - a flat deep fried bread available with a wide range of stuffing options. We squeezed into a packed open-fronted cafe and feasted on fresh parathas which were served with several (very spicy) veg curry accompaniments. We ordered a lot of food, and struggled to spend 100 rupees per head. The hygiene didn't look great, but vegetarian food served piping hot is safer than many other street foods and we were both fine afterwards.
Our dinner
Back at the Red Fort, we enjoyed a sound and light show which explained the different buildings in the fort and provided an interesting, if distinctly anti-British, history of Delhi. Several people we met did admit that the British (specifically Lutyens) gave Delhi some fantastic architecture, but the favour generally ends there!
We flew back from Delhi to Mumbai at lunchtime on Sunday but managed to squeeze in another famous historical site, the Q'utb Minar, before leaving the city. South of the city, this site includes the remains of the 7th city of Delhi, at the centre of which is a spectacular tower which dominates the complex. The quality of the ruins is astonishingly good and the site was teeming with visitors.
Close to the tower. The carvings are in immaculate condition.
Q'utb and surrounding tombs
Posing
Our journey back to the airport was easy; the roads in Delhi are *almost* ordered and reminiscent of a western city at times. I thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to Delhi and will look forward to going back again.
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