Breakfast at the hotel was a mix of western cornflakes and toast with (what I chose) Indian coconut noodles, paratha and banana. We met as a group at 9am for our walking tour and made our way down to the Metro Station. On the way we passed a school where I watched the joyous faces of children under umbrellas and raincoats dancing under open hoses.
The Metro was certainly an experience I'm used to the tube in London impact that this was something else! Security is much tighter and to even enter the station you had to go through security scanners similar to in an airport. There are separate carriages for women which I'm not sure how I felt about, but were certainly more pleasant than being crammed in with multiple men! It's probably one of the only countries that I would feel tall living in!
We arrived in Old Delhi and it was very much sensory overload! Walking through the streets you could smell at any one point in time urine, the heady sense of sweet incense, marigolds flowers, disinfectant, rotting rubbish and tasty street food being cooked. You are surrounded by street vendors, men, women and children on their daily commute via TukTuk, motorcycle, rickshaw or car and the poverty stricken beggars offering to weigh you in exchange for money. It was simultaneously overwhelming and amazing.
We walked through the crowded and chaotic streets of old Delhi stopping briefly for various explanations on buildings and to sample samosas and jelebee sweets from authentic vendors.
We walked up to the red temple or Jama Masjid - Delhis oldest mosque. We had to put on even more clothes to enter the mosque despite being fully covered and it was interesting inside, but what intrigued me the most was the group of women and children trying to ask me to take the photograph in exchange for money. however I've left my camera outside because it cost £3 to take photos inside.
We then wound our way across Old Delhi to the Sikh temple - Sheeshganj Guruwara which was plush but not overly ostentatious inside. What was most intriguing about the temple is that it wasn't just dedicated to worship, there is a whole mass production kitchen attached where people were queueing up to eat ready for lunch. Some of the group got to try their hand at making chapatis. We had to remove our shoes to enter the temple and as we walked across the marble in bare feet we were aware of just how hot the day had become. At the end of the tour we decided that we were all hungry so our leader Raj recommended a restaurant in New Delhi called United coffee house.
United coffee house was icy cool with air-conditioning and very plushly decorated. I stuck to my theory of eating vegetarian food and had a very interesting cauliflower dry curry with fresh coriander and rice. We had a quick wander through the market to take on some of the atmosphere and then took our guides advice and jumped into TukTuk back to the hotel. We went to the pre-booked police TukTuk station, but we're still beset by touts trying to earn our business. It was a 20 minute ride back to the hotel and very much an experience that is hard to describe, although very similar to the traffic in Nepal! Needless to say I don't think I would ever be able to drive in Delhi!
After a brief freshen up at the hotel we met as a group to discuss our next days activities and decided to go out for another bite to eat together. I decided to sample the strong elephant beer which was pretty strong at 8%! I also had dhal with rice which was delicious and enjoyed getting to know the other members of the group much better. After the meal we decide to stop at The Perfect Hotel for a rooftop beer and drink before bedtime.
It's now midnight and I've packed my bags ready for a 5 AM departure from the hotel, but once again I am not sleepy thanks jetlag!
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