Back to Delhi (2-24)

We arrived in Delhi early Monday morning—on time—and our agent met us on the train, which was a nice surprise. First on the agenda was resting in our hotel room. I’d slept on the train fairly well, but Kasey hadn’t.

After a few hours, our driver picked us up for our last day of sightseeing included with the tour. The agent had suggested a temple that we could spend a few hours at because there’s a lot to see, but it’s closed on Monday; so the driver made some alternate suggestions, some of which we’d been to the week before. When we drove past the President’s House, it was barely visible; so it was good we’d been there before. First we wanted lunch, since we hadn’t had breakfast. This turned out to be a project. We told him we didn’t want to go to an expensive restaurant; he took us to the same expensive restaurant the guide had taken us to the week before. Then he suggested a restaurant in a garden. We knew that would be expensive, and it was. It occurred to me that perhaps the driver doesn’t know how expensive the restaurants are and just knows that many tourists are taken there. Kasey explained again that we wanted a small, local restaurant. This time he took us to one. The food was good, and we were happy.

After eating, we returned to Lodi Gardens, where the second restaurant is, to walk around. There we saw a 15^th century mosque 

and two 15^th century tombs 

and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and gardens.

Next we went to Gurudwara Bagla Sahib Sikh temple. Since we hadn’t been to a Sikh temple, we especially liked this suggestion. When we entered, our driver went with us, which doesn’t usually happen. First we went to the welcome center for foreign visitors where we left our shoes and socks and were given a head covering, as people who enter the temple must have their hair covered. No tobacco is allowed in the temple, and we were asked if we had cigarettes. When we walked to the temple, there is a small pool of water to walk through to clean one’s feet. Inside the temple, there are no images—statues or paintings. There were some men playing music while people sat to pray. The dome is gold covered. There is a very tall prayer pole that people walk around in prayer. A main feature of the temple is a large pool of holy water. 

On the outside edge there is a small trench of water for people to use to wash and bless themselves. A man told me that this water is holy water coming from a natural spring. There is a carpet on which to walk around the pool, which I thought was especially nice after walking on hot marble at the mosque in Semarang, Indonesia.

Our last stop was a handicraft store. The salesmen there weren’t very pushy and let us walk around on our own after a brief tour of the shops. We both bought a few items. My purchases were a painted Buddha and a brocade pillow case. It was handy that the shop took credit cards and I had mine because we were on the way to the airport.

Tuesday was an extra day. Transportation to the airport is included in the tour, but, since our flight wasn’t until 10:30 PM, we paid for a car and driver for the day. In the morning we went to Sarojini Market since I really wanted to see a local market and it was closed on Monday. Since we parked near the vegetable market area, we walked through it on the way to the main market area. 

When we arrived shortly after 10:00, most vendors were just opening. There were many piles of items wrapped in plastic outside the shops, and the shops were not yet open. We watched as people unwrapped their goods and started to put them on display. By the time we left, all the shops and stalls were open and the market looked like a different place. 

Many of the trees have altars around them. We both enjoyed shopping and spending most of the money we had left. It was a good thing to do just prior to leaving.

Since we liked the restaurant on Monday, we returned there for lunch again. On the way we drove down embassy road, a lovely road on which many embassies are located. There are signs pointing out the various embassies. The median has well-groomed bushes and flowers.

After lunch it was time to go to Kingdom of Dreams, which our agent had suggested for the afternoon’s activity. The main activity there is a theatrical show. They put on three Bollywood-style shows that combine a story and musical performances. The one that afternoon was Zangoora, the Gypsy King, an old Indian story in which a prince is lost and raised as a gypsy, is found, and becomes the king. The show is truly an extravaganza with lighting, acrobats, songs, and dancing. We had translators that provided the spoken parts in English. 

After the show, we walked around the Culture Palace, which is mostly places to eat and shop. 

The setting is like Las Vegas casinos with buildings on the sides and a sky on the ceiling. It was a great way to spend our final few hours.

After the show, we were dropped off at the airport for our flight back to China. We had our last Indian meal, and I had my last lassi.

Random information

At many stop lights in Delhi there are vendors selling things like newspapers, water, and towels as well as women and children begging. They would tap on our windows to get our attention.

Our guides often referred to the caste system, which surprised us, as we thought that was no longer in place. Perhaps they still use this language to refer to different levels of social status.