India Trip - Sightseeing

We meet our tour guide, Anil. Again another friendly and talkative person. We went back to the hotel to change and pick up my co-workers camera. Off to Humayun's Tomb. We were told that the horn was used to let the drivers, rickshaws, people in front that we would be passing and get out of the way. It is used like the break. I have a great quote from the driver : While driving in India, you need good breaks, a good horn and lots of luck. That was true today and I expect every day. You see lots of mixed people from the poor, middle and upper class living side-by-side. Another interested note is that trucks are only allowed in Delhi after 9PM and before 8AM. I think that was to do with limiting traffic and pollution, but wouldn't want to see what the traffic was like with the trucks during the day. As during the day we had to deal with cars, crazy motorcycles, rickshaws- manpower and auto driven, and many people walking. The Humayun's Tomb was very interesting, lots of land, green grass and many trees, somewhat like a park. We saw many old buildings and the renovations project with the manual process of getting the bricks ready for replacement. This was a nice first stop. One downer was the Lotus Temple wasn't open on Monday. This was a must see, hope we can stop by later in the week. Now off to India Gate. We saw men on the sides of the road painting the yellow like, a very slow and manual process, without saying very dangerous.

We stopped at the India gate, but were unable to get close as they are in preparations for next week Republic parade. We got pictures and will try to upload some tomorrow. Also I observed vendors selling pani puni - a treat (hard shell made out of flour, with vegetables inside and a spicy water) that I was able to indulge in at a co-workers celebration a while back. Then we went through the government buildings and stopped for pictures in from of the Parliament building...if I am conveying incorrect information, its because of my guide, not my notes or recollection. We traveled on part of the road where the parade will be held and that part was traffic free, a nice feeling. On our travels, we say monkeys on the street, street barbers giving cuts and shaves, and a samosa stand. Another interesting quote for the tour guide: In India everything is possible and nothing is impossible....I saw lots of impossible, like driving rules and regulations.

We drove by the Red Fort on our way to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque, seating 2,500 people at full capacity. This took us through Old Delhi. If you think New Delhi is too much, you haven't seen a thing. Old Delhi is wild. I loved it. Roads were small, traffic going both ways, people, bikes, motorcycles everywhere and I didn't see any accidents. We went through the hart of Old Delhi, seeing the markets, fish and chicken and may stores and shoppes. Honestly that experiences made the whole day complete. Somewhere in the mix we stopped at a tourist store, they had lots of cool items. My co-worker bought some items, but I held off shopping till I see more items. Now on to our last tourist destination,

The last stop was Raj Ghat, Gandi's Memorial place. This again was very well maintained as spacious with lots of grass and trees. We were told that world diplomats planted trees in the lands as a lasting memorial gesture. I was another cool site. Then we returned back to the hotel for dinner. We ate at the only place open at the time. I had a very traditional Indian meal.....pizza and I tried black tea. The pizza was great, big and filling and the tea was OK. After lots of conversation and talk of our journeys, we headed back to our room and I update today's adventures. Tomorrow will be mainly work stuff so not as exciting. I would have to say this trip has been great so far, different then what I have been told in all aspects.