Delhi, India

After an entirely unremarkable flight from Krabi to Bangkok, we decided to head into the city to kill part of our expected five hour layover. We picked up a few last minute souvenirs, ran some errands and ate one last plate of Pad Thai before returning to the airport for our flight. Unfortunately, as soon as we got back to the airport we found out the flight had been delayed and wound up with five hours on our hands again. We managed to entertain ourselves by reading in book stores, browsing duty free shops and reading in the lobby. At the very last minute we had a chance encounter with old friends, brothers Laird and Brad, from Delaware. By the time we finally cleared customs in Delhi at almost 3:00AM, our host, Mr. Ericson, was a sight for sore eyes.


When we woke up the next morning, the Ericson's recommended we take a "windshield tour" through Delhi with their driver, Sanjay. As we rolled past countless embassies lining wide, straight streets, I thought it strange that Delhi looked nothing like I had imagined. Sanjay then told us that Delhi is split in two distinct sections, new and old, and that we were in New Delhi which had been carefully designed and planned by the British.


Our first stop was Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President of India's house. Until 1950 this was known as "Viceroy's House" and was the residence of the British Governor-General of India.








The photo below shows a Secretariat which is adjacent to but not part of the Presidents house. The architect incorporated many traditionally Indian elements, like water and the dome, in the building's design.

The photo below shows the fence around the President's and is notable for the combination of British wrought iron and Indian red sandstone.

We left the President's house and drove past a few other landmarks including India Gate, a monument to Indian soldiers who died fighting in World War I. India Gate bears a great resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. After a few minutes of driving, the broad parkway turned into a narrow one lane street, traffic ground to a stop, horns started blaring and Sanjay announced "this is Old Delhi." Cows meandered lazily about the streets and men threw up their arms haggling with vendors while vehicles of every shape and size imaginable jockeyed for every precious inch of forward progress. This was what I thought of when I pictured Delhi.

Pictured below: a small bazaar in Old Delhi.

We also visited Jama Masjid, one of the largest and most well known mosques in India. The mosque was commissioned by Shah Jahan, of Taj Mahal fame, and completed in 1656. As we climbed the stairs, faithful Muslims rushed by, answering the call to prayer.

That evening we went out to dinner with Mr. Ericson who introduced us to uttapam and paratha, two classic Indian dishes that are not well known in the west.

The next day we took off by train for Agra and the Taj Mahal. This will be covered in the next post.

On the fourth day in India, we visited the National Museum where there are more than 200,000 pieces of art spanning 5,000 years of India's history. Later that evening we met up with Ryan and Brian, two of my friends from college who also happened to be in Delhi. They are sailing around the world with two other friends from Northwestern as part of a non-profit venture that links classrooms with global expeditions. You can follow their journey here.


The next day we visited Humayun's Tomb, the first example of Mughal style architecture in India.

Humayun ruled from 1530 to 1556 during which time he lost and regained control of India before massively expanding the Mughal territories.

Humayun was father to Akbar the Great and great grand father to Shah Jahan, both of Agra fame.

Pictured below: the crumbling entrance to a smaller tomb near Humayun's
Later in the day we visited Qutb Minar a complex of Islamic religious buildings dating from the late 1100s.

The centerpiece is a 72.5 meter tall tower but the many crumbling buildings and intricate carvings are far more interesting.

Pictured below: carvings on a prominent wall
Pictured below: carvings from the interior of a tomb

Pictured below: the complex from its entry, the base of the tower is visible on the left side

Ellie and I were concerned that we might run out of room in our passports on account of profligate stamping by customs agents in Hong Kong. We took advantage of some spare time on our last day in Delhi to stop by the US Embassy and request extra . We walked past hundreds of Indians waiting in line to apply for Visas and stepped back on to American soil for just a brief moment.

Finally, we visited Tughlaqabad, the crumbling remains of a fort city built in 1321. The city ran out of water and was abandoned only six years after it was built but some impressive fortifications still stand.

Delhi has grown around and over top of the massive complex, so in many places there are modern houses and businesses where the old fort used to stand. In some areas though the remains of buildings and roads are still visible.

We hopped around the ruins for more than an hour and covered only a fraction of the complex.

The next morning we boarded a plane for Varanasi and the holy Ganges River!