Early start this morning, started very groggy but the cold shower helped with that!
Our breakfast is included here but we spent too long in bed so didn't get to have that much today.
We went to a mosque in old Delhi called jama masjid. We didn't get any photos but it was a big place that's holds 25,000 people. We walked bare foot and i had to wear a covering that covered my whole body. There was a lot of pigeon poop on the floor! There were loads of pigeons and lots of people feeding them seeds as its a religious requirement before prayer. There was a massive pool of, well, manky stagnant water!for people to wash in before praying.
We then went on a rickshaw ride which was a real eye opener. We had been driving around delhi thinking things were pretty manic and unclean but the rest of Delhi is paradise compared to the old Delhi streets. It was an amazing experience. The streets were cramme d with people,clothes, monkeys, cows, dogs,carts, stalls. People were washing in the street, peeing, getting haircuts, eating,reading, chatting, lying down...people people everywhere! Live electricity wires running everywhere, everywhere dusty and dirty with everything from food packets to human waste. At one point we even went past a sewer where a boy was down it scooping buckets of everything up. It's unbelievable to think how many millions of people are living there, all of them living in poverty. Nothing I can write can describe to you what it's like!
We did a lot of driving, we saw all the political buildings, government houses and parliament buildings. We went to humayuns tomb, Who was an emperor in the 16th century who was also buried close to his wife and daughters. It's a world heritage sight and is designed like the taj mahal only this one was built first I think. The architecture was lovely, all of the windows were big and let the light in in patterns. They were made out of big slabs of stone carved into a pattern so a lot of light comes through the cut out shapes.
We then went to qutb minar which is another world heritage site? The pillar is the highest in Delhi but we aren't allowed up it anymore since an accident in the 80s where 2 chldren fell from the top, causing a stampede for the rest inside. 28 people (all school children) were killed on the day and it has been closed to the public ever since. It's in a beautiful area with lots of remains from beautiful carved stone buildings. It used to be a Hindu place of worship but a few hundred years ago it was all knocked down and rebuilt with the parts to build a mosque. There was alsonan iron pillar that was built in 4th century that, according to belief if you can stand with your back to it and get your arms around it you will have good luck. Its cordoned off now though due to it being protected. You could see the remnants of somemagnificent buildings all around...we would have liked to stay longer but for some reason the guide was rushing through it which was a bit annoying! Got some snaps though.
Liam and I then went for a meal, they took us to a 'fine dining' restaurant where we had various curry dishes. It was all lovely but we paid only marginally less than we would at home for the meal, I think the tour is aimed at the more luxurious travellers rather than budget ones! They took us to a store with handmade crafts in, I think assuming we would buy something. The owner started off very friendly, getting me to try on some shawls etc. however as we were saying we wernt buying from there he got more and more sour....resulting in him finally stating ' there is the door' !
We are now at the hotel just relaxing a little bit, we have been warned not to go out too far due to the area being 'dangerous' and full of pick pockets but i think we will venture out. If only (please forgive us!) to visit the costs coffee we excitedly spotted a few streets down!
Driving to Jaipur tomorrow, it will be a travel day :)
Me: no bites
Liam: 3 bites
