INDIAN ADVENTURE - 5th October - Delhi sightseeing
25 of us who had arrived early for the start of the trip took an organised sightseeing tour of Delhi by bus today. The first stop was Shri Lakshmi Narain Temple (Birla Temple) a Hindu place of worship. We spent quite a while there looking inside and outside the building. We all had red marks put on our foreheads by the tour guide for good luck - it felt a little bit daft but when in Rome...
Next we drove around New Dehli past several grand buildings from the time of the Raj and past India Gate. It was great just to watch the people pass by on the streets and in many forms of transport including TukTuks (no rickshaws here though, these are only allowed in Old Delhi). New Delhi was very green and had an affluent feel - not the madness that I was expecting but that was to be found later in Old Delhi!
Next stop was Rajghat, where Gandi was cremated, this was a very peaceful place and it was nice to spend a little time there. We had a group photograph here.
Visited Humayun's tomb. Humayun was the second Mughal emporer and the tomb was commissioned by his wife - an early version of the Taj Mahal and very striking.
Lunch next in an restaurant full of westerners. Tried to eat without using my left hand - very difficult even when sitting on my hand everytime I remembered! Similar meal to yesterday on the plane but really good.
After lunch we went to Mehranli with Qutb Minar a striking 5 story victory tower. The mosque complex was fascinating especially as it had been built from Hindu panels taken from raised temples around the area.
Lastly we were (unsurprisingly) take to a shop! It was principally a carpet shop and they showed us how carpets were made and gave us some tea. I did part with some cash to buy an elephant tea cosy! Now sitting proud of place ontop of one of our kitchen units.
In the evening the official trip started with a welcome dinner. Sat on a table with people that I did not know and met many of the trekkers! Also met with Anna which was great as we had been doing some fundraising together all year without actually meeting up.
Today was Carl's 50th birthday which was celebrated in the evening with a cake!
Next we drove around New Dehli past several grand buildings from the time of the Raj and past India Gate. It was great just to watch the people pass by on the streets and in many forms of transport including TukTuks (no rickshaws here though, these are only allowed in Old Delhi). New Delhi was very green and had an affluent feel - not the madness that I was expecting but that was to be found later in Old Delhi!
Next stop was Rajghat, where Gandi was cremated, this was a very peaceful place and it was nice to spend a little time there. We had a group photograph here.
Visited Humayun's tomb. Humayun was the second Mughal emporer and the tomb was commissioned by his wife - an early version of the Taj Mahal and very striking.
Lunch next in an restaurant full of westerners. Tried to eat without using my left hand - very difficult even when sitting on my hand everytime I remembered! Similar meal to yesterday on the plane but really good.
After lunch we went to Mehranli with Qutb Minar a striking 5 story victory tower. The mosque complex was fascinating especially as it had been built from Hindu panels taken from raised temples around the area.
Lastly we were (unsurprisingly) take to a shop! It was principally a carpet shop and they showed us how carpets were made and gave us some tea. I did part with some cash to buy an elephant tea cosy! Now sitting proud of place ontop of one of our kitchen units.
In the evening the official trip started with a welcome dinner. Sat on a table with people that I did not know and met many of the trekkers! Also met with Anna which was great as we had been doing some fundraising together all year without actually meeting up.
Today was Carl's 50th birthday which was celebrated in the evening with a cake!
Labels: trip
posted by Madeleine at
07:26
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