Delightful (if deserted) Delhi

Delhi often seems to be in the press for the wrong reasons, but it is in fact a fascinating ancient city packed with interesting things to see and do.  Phil and I have both visited several times but always with work so without much time to see or do touristy things, with the exception of one weekend shortly after we arrived in India.

We decided that it was high time for a return visit at a relatively cool time of year (Delhi's temperature varies from close to freezing in December up to 50 degrees in June) to sweep up lots of the sites and museums that we had not visited on our previous trips.

Here are some pictures from our weekend away:

 The Lotus Temple, set in beautifully kept and peaceful grounds, and built as a temple to "bring all religions together".

Looking down Rajpath towards India Gate.  This avenue is huge and reminiscent of the Mall in Washington D. C.  You can see the smog.  Delhi has recently been awarded the dubious accolade of being the most polluted city in the world.  

The Presidential Palace at the end of Rajpath.  When the Mountbatten's lived here, they employed over 400 gardeners.  The palace is open to the public for only a few weeks a year, sadly starting the week after we visited. 

 Another of the impressive buildings on Rajpath.  The Ministry buildings feel like a cross between Whitehall and Mughal palaces.

India Gate.  It covered with inscriptions of the names of fallen soldiers from 1919. 

 A recently discovered ancient stepwell in the heart of New Delhi - a highlight for Phil.

Haldirams - purveyor of North India style sweets and snack food

The Jama Masjid, the biggest mosque in India, in Old Delhi and close to the Red Fort.

We had an unusual quiet day in Old Delhi on Saturday as nearly everything was closed for the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections.  This was actually quite fortunate, it was amazing wandering around the narrow twisting lanes of Old Delhi practically on our own.

As an aside, this election was an interesting one.  70 seats were up for grabs and the exit polls suggested that 20 - 30 of these would go to the ruling party (BJP), 25 to 35 would go to a local party which has recently gained popularity (Aam Aadmi) with the remainder going to the Congress party and others.  In fact, 67 out of 70 seats went to the Aam Aadmi party.  This is the UK equivalent or an election in which Labour and the Conservatives come out with virtually nothing.  Interesting times, and proof that exit polls are not to be trusted!

 Deserted Old Delhi

Cricket playing in an Old Delhi courtyard 

Enjoying a light lassi and paratha lunch in the alleys of Old Delhi 

The entrance to the Purina Qila - the old fort 

Well preserved architecture inside the fort 

 A second gate at the other side of the fort, with a mishmash of bricks and design styles

The truly awesome Akshardham temple complex.  Cameras are not allowed inside this new group of temples which is quite amazing in its size and intricacy.  This is a showcase for what Indian craftsman can do today, which is an awful lot based on what we saw in here. 

A new sundial, including in our itinerary for the benefit of Frank King.  This is bizarrely located in a park with seemingly no pedestrian access, no parking and surrounded by flyovers.  The other main group in the park was a group of stoned teenage boys looking a bit edgy. 

We visited the national museum on Sunday morning as it was shut for the election on Saturday.  This is well worth a trip an requires a few hours to get round. 

Our Haldirams Delhi chaat lunch

Sri Lanka Part 3 - In Galle and on the beach

For the final leg of our trip, we travelled down to the island's south coast for a night in Unawatuna, a popular beach area close to the city of Galle, which contains the old Dutch quarter known as the Fort.

Galle Fort is enclosed within huge bastions which once protected this Dutch trading post from attacks, and now contains a delightful array of colonial Dutch period villas, churches and quaint streets which are perfect for ambling around at leisure.  The Portuguese first established a presence in Galle in 1589, which was captured by the Dutch in 1640, then taken again by the British in 1796.  It continued to serve as Sri Lanka's principal harbour for much of the nineteenth century until Colombo took over this mantle.

Galle city was hit hard by the tsunami but the walls protected the Fort area and it emerged relatively unscathed.  Over the past decade, expats (mainly British apparently) have bought up and renovated many of the Fort's crumbling properties and transformed it from a scruffy town to a cosmopolitan enclave with boutique hotels, cafes and shops which is a bit hit with tourists (including me!).  Galle now looks fabulous and wandering around the streets helped to fuel one of my life ambitions to buy a crumbling old period property and do it up...one day!

We spent a happy afternoon wandering round the streets of Galle, including a leisurely salad lunch at a local cafe, Italian gelato for dessert, visiting lots of smart home accessory shops (much to Phil's dismay) and spending quite a while searching for somewhere selling sun cream (which I'd unfortunately left in the car...).  Here are some pictures from our rambles which should give some feel for the atmosphere of the area.  Unfortunately, we arrived a little too late to snap up a bargain property in Galle and do it up.  The town is now scattered with very expensive looking real estate shops which show that the housing market in Galle has already well and truly taken off.

This picture was in the Heritage museum which turned out to be a collection of complete tat collected by someone over his life.  You would really struggle to sell most of this at a car boot sale, but it was quite fun all the same.

 

 Work in progress at a house in Galle

 Church converted into a Buddhist temple

From the ramparts, you get a fantastic view of the Galle International cricket stadium, which was destroyed by the tsumani but since rebuilt and host to many international matches.  Buying a ticket would be a little pointless given the very good view from the Fort, and I'm sure that locals must make the most of this!

We finished our trip by relaxing on Unawatuna beach, a popular foreigner tourist destination with immaculate soft sand, warm swim-able water and lots of relaxing cafes selling fresh fruit juices and seafood.  There were a number of obligatory lobster coloured mainly naked British people, but the beach was otherwise a lovely sight and a great place to spend a day or two.

Unawatuna - Looking round the bay 

One of the many beach seafood cafes on the beach 

Huge prawns being delivered for lunch 

 

Buddha shrine overlooking the merry-makers 

Phil enjoying a swim 

Surfing is very popular on the beach too, although we didn't partake

We stayed in a small family run hotel in a couple of kilometres from the beach, set back in a small mangrove forest.  Our hosts were extremely welcoming, again with fantastic home cooking and a nice pool which was nice to fall into after being in the sun.  Everywhere we stayed in Sri Lanka, our hosts went out of their way to make us feel welcome, it's a very friendly and hospitable country.

Sri Lanka Part 2 - In the hills

I like hills.  I particularly like hill stations in India, and now also in Sri Lanka, as summer temperatures are similar to the UK and are therefore compatible with me.  They tend to be very green, with fresh air and another of my favourite things...lots of tea.

Sri Lanka is famous for tea.  Still referred to as Ceylon tea on the whole, it is one of Sri Lanka's three biggest exports, along with rubber and coconuts.  Thomas Lipton cut his tea-making teeth in Sri Lanka in the 19th century when he stopped by on his way to Australia and bought up a few plantations (as you do) and the Ceylon tea industry has never looked back.

We had intended to spend two nights in a converted old colonial bungalow in the countryside with the aim of two days of complete relaxation and lots of walking in the surrounding area.  Unfortunately, our room wasn't available on night one, but it all worked out nicely as the hotel owners put us up (for free) in a sister hotel in the village of Ella instead. 

Ella sits at just over 1000m above sea level and is now a popular tourist spot, mainly owing to its elegant position at the top of a valley and stunning views over the surrounding area.  There are two prominent peaks in the village; Ella Rock and Little Adam's Peak, which are popular walks with fabulous views from the top.  We didn't have time to walk up Ella Rock, but climbed Little Adam's Park early in the morning.  This was wonderful although the pack of feral dogs (albeit fairly friendly ones) at the top was a bit unnerving.

Dog on a rock at the top of Little Adam's Peak 

The path up to the peak through tea plantations 

 The view from the top at 730am

Looking over towards Ella Rock (I think) 

On the summit, before the arrival of the pack of dogs 

The dogs arrive.  They were probably friendly but I left the area anyway. 

Phil experimenting with dog photography

There's not a great deal to see in Ella itself except a few shops and non-Sri Lankan food options, so we decided to walk to our bungalow hotel which is 11km down the hill from the village.  We tried to stop to see the Rawana Cave and Rock Temple on the way, the caves are a prominent feature in Hindu mythology, but these were sadly shut.  More accurately, the caves were shut when we first walked past, but on our return journey there were two young boys dressed as monks (not looking very monk-like!) who had set up there to offer "tours" to visitors.  We politely declined and went on our way.

The route down the hill was easy, with lots of vans passing up at high speed, but all smiling and waving cheerfully as if to make up for this recklessness.  We saw a waterfall on the way (bringing our waterfall tally up to two, having also stopped at one on the way to Ella) and made it to our bungalow in time for lunch.  The food at the bungalow was fantastic, although I'll talk about this more on my food-related blog post later...

A very cute puppy which joined us for breakfast in Ella.  While I was eating my omelette, he was chewing my trainers. 

Our bungalow was on the road from Ella to Wellawaya 

Ella Gap - The view from the road leading away from Ella between Little Adam's Peak and Ella Gap 

Waterfall on the way to our bungalow 

 Yet another monkey shot...

A new road sign for us.  There are lots of landslides and falling rocks around Ella, especially in the rain season in December. 

The waterfall on the road between Pollonuwara and Ella. 

Yet another monkey

We fell on our feet again at the bungalow (called The Planters Bungalow for an interesting future visitors) as we'd been upgraded to the "family villa" as our intended room wasn't available.  It was huge and equipped with a small library so I occupied myself reading and pottering around for the afternoon whilst Phil ran up a nearby 600m hill and back.

The panoramic shot of our villa, from which you can't see the extra bedroom and bathroom.  Not bad for $85 a night.  The bungalow was really good value in general.  Some of the old colonial bungalows are crazy prices - up to $600 a night - which you wouldn't find in India. 

Our front door

The hills of Sri Lanka are misty and ethereal; they are not quite high enough for the air to be clear and cold but the area is atmospheric and very beautiful.  It's a great place to relax and cool off following time spent in the heat of the Cultural Triangle.