Winter Break Part 4: You're not going to get a roast beef on sourdough or a pastrami on rye in this Delhi

The train trip to Jaipur was relatively uneventful. We got in to Delhi around 11 and promptly found a taxi to take us to our hotel. Considering our first night in Delhi a few nights ago Kathryn decided that she wasn't about to put up with that for two more nights and changed reservations. To be honest, I was grateful. Sure, shady hotels with dodgy clerks and whatnot is all part of the excitement of traveling to strange lands and all that jazz but I really wouldn't have said no to a real mattress and a down-filled duvet. And wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what I got. We went down to the Nehru Place part of Delhi and stayed at the Intercontinental. Now, when I first arrived in India Woodstock put me up in the Centaur Hotel not far from the airport. Supposedly it's a five star hotel. It's nice enough but the fountains are dried up, the elevators are shaky (they ones that run), and half of it is partitioned off for 'construction' that's been going on for years. If that's a five star, then the one we stayed at was easily ten or fifteen. I must say, it was nice to be pampered.

Well, there wasn't much to do when we got there besides shower and go to bed. The next morning we booked a taxi for the day and went to a few different places.

First up was the Bahai Temple, more commonly known as the Lotus Temple because of its shape. Its a very beautiful place to see and you can hardly believe you're in the middle of Delhi except for a few run down buildings that peek out between the trees. You get a brief introduction before you're allowed to enter. They tell you that it is a holy place for any who wish to come and meditate. They ask for complete silence and no photography as you enter. It's kind of entertaining to watch families with small children get ushered straight through. I think I actually saw more adults talking than little kids. If you're planning on going and doing a little meditation might I recommend a small cushion? All of the benches are stone and not the most comfortable places to rest your butt.



Afterward we headed over to Humayan's Tomb. From the pictures below you'll be able to easily see how it was used as an inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Also pictured is another smaller tomb on the same grounds along with a mosque.

Humayan's Tomb

The mosque.

The smaller tomb.

To round things out for the morning we went to the India Gate. The structure was erected as a memorial to the men who served in The Great War (WWI). Click on the last picture to enlarge it and you'll see some of the names.




Finally, we went to Jantar Mantar, an old observatory built by Raja Sawai Jai Singh of Rajasthan. He built a total of five such observatories. Honestly, when you first come in you feel like you stepped into either a weird art sculpture garden or a playground. Anymore, I suppose you could consider it to be either.

Remember that odd looking structure from my last post at the Wind Temple in Jaipur? Does this one look similar? Turns out they're both gigantic sundials.

I'm not sure what this one does.

All of this, of course, had taken place on New Year's Eve. If you haven't noticed already, this trip was not the most planned of expeditions. That said, when we got back to the hotel that afternoon we figured we should probably figure out what we were going to do for the night. After chatting with the front desk we decided to just stay at the hotel as they promised a rocking party with a DJ at the bar. Well, around 10.30 or so we headed down to the bar got ourselves some drinks and snacks (prawns to die for) and proceeded to watch the other 18 people sit and eat as well. The DJ started playing some Hindi songs and from my seat I started doing a few dance moves I picked up at last year's staff talent show. The hotel staff particularly enjoyed when I started dancing with the song Bachna ae Haseeno, a catchy tune but it's no Benny Lava. It wasn't until about 11.50 or so that we went out on the dance floor. Kathryn and I ended up dancing with a few older Indian couples (one man ended up dropping his drink three times) and a bunch of Germans. Some of the staff came out and joined us and we danced until 1 or so. The Germans invited us back to their room to continue celebrating but when we went back to our own to freshen up first we crashed.

Good thing too. We got up early the next morning to do a bit more site seeing. First up was the Qutb Minar. The site contains a gigantic minaret, which also happens to be the tallest stone structure in India. There are other structures around the site as well.

We weren't the only interested visitors exploring the ruins.

This was the beginnings of another minaret that was to be as large, if not larger than the one already constructed. Unfortunately, it didn't get beyond the very beginning stages.

This is the Iron Pillar of Delhi (clever no?). It piqued my interests as a chemist as it is of almost pure iron and has stood exposed to the elements for over 1500 years with very little oxidation. Scientists are baffled as to how such purity was attained so long ago. There's also a folk legend that says that if one can stand with their back to the pillar and wrap their arms around it, then their wish will be granted. Unfortunately a fence now stands around it.

After some time there we went to yet another tomb. I tell ya, those Mughal emperors sure liked to build tombs with style. I think only the pyramids of Egypt can rival these as the ultimate final resting place. Honestly though, I couldn't tell you whose tomb this is. By this time we were tombed out and really just ran though the motions.





That afternoon Kathryn and I made a trip to the Red Fort. I didn't take any pictures there because, honestly a lot of it looked like stuff we had seen before. Probably the most interesting part was getting there. Our taxi stopped part way and we took a bicycle rickshaw in the remainder. Even then we only got so far. We used the subway (just a walk way underground, no trains) to get to the other side. We had to hop a stream of smelling, flowing, brown gunk that I'm really afraid to ask what was in it. Dodging post card sellers and 'certified' tour guides we got tickets and toured the fort. There was an immensely popular weaponry exhibit but that was the most exciting part that we got to see. I have the feeling that we really didn't get to see a whole lot of the fort. The place was huge and we only spent a maximum of two hours exploring. There were a few obviously colonial buildings that we didn't even get close to.

We retired to the hotel early that evening and prepared for our respective trips home. Early the next morning I caught my train and headed back up to Dehradun. I only arrived two hours late and missed my taxi. (Apparently I made out better than Kathryn though. She had a weather delay in Delhi that caused her to spend the night in Munich, miss her flight in Frankfort and not get home until the 6th (we left on the 2nd) and she lost her bags.) Luckily there's a taxi stand nearby so I got a cab and headed home. The first thing I did was to take a deep breath of the clean mountain air.

A few days later as I was walking home I saw this site of the valley below. The sprawling metropolis of Dehradun was overtaken. It literally looked like an ocean down there.

It's good to be back home.

I like the colours in this one better.

On a good note, Dad finally committed to coming out here. He's gotten a passport and is going to get a visa in Chicago on Monday. Hopefully, he'll be here within a week or so. I can't wait to go see the Taj again!