A Few Days in Delhi

Well we have arrived in India.  We stayed in Delhi for a few days before heading out to Rajasthan. On the plane we met a wonderful couple from Calgary who are now living in India for a few years - they gave us lots of tips on surviving in India.  I also met in the airport a New Yorker who has lived in India for many years - he mapped out an itinerary for us, which was really helpful as this country is so big and has so many places to visit - the options are endless.  When we arrived at the airport our new friend escorted us to a taxi so we could get safely to our hotel.  Well - this really is a different place - on the drive to the hotel we passed lots of garbage, streets full of potholes, homeless people, and the few women we saw were in sarees  Our hotel was in a crowded and dirty area of the town - this picture really doesn't give you the feeling of disrepair that is evident on the street.  Luckily our hotel was quiet, clean and cool so a great respite in this crowded city.

I thought the traffic in Saigon was bad, it is much more chaotic here - and everywhere you look there are people moving objects or people and the loads are unbelievably large!

Here is the local school bus - 8 kids getting a ride to school on a bicycle rickshaw.
















Also bicycles, carts and people move supplies through the city - no idea what is here but it looks heavy!

















In Delhi there is the 400 year old Red Fort, which was also the Maharajah's home.  The building is immense in size and is made of red stone.


















Inside the building the rooms are decorated with intricate carving in the stone as well as paintings of flowers with gold leaf accents. Originally this building had pools and channels throughout to provide air conditioning for the royal family. 

























Kenna, Cole and myself in the courtyard where the king would meet with the public.





































Next we visited the largest Muslim mosque in Asia - it can hold 25,000 worshippers in the main courtyard. It was built the same era as the Red Fort.  To visit the mosque Kenna and I had to wear a dress that covered our ankles, neck and arms and Cole had to wear a wrap to cover his knees.  While we were in the mosque many Muslims were present washing their feet to prepare to pray.   



















We also went to the Gandhi Memorial, a sight visited by many Indians.  It was a simple and elegant memorial for a man who is still highly revered in India and throughout the world for his peaceful protests that supported self-governance of India. 

While we were there a number of school children were also visiting the sight.  Kenna was of special interest - she was asked to pose several times and received one marriage proposal!  We are finding that everywhere we go people stare at us, take our photos and talk to us.  There really are very few tourists in Delhi and we have not seen any other Western children here so Kenna and Cole get lots of attention everywhere we go.


















While in Delhi we also visited the Bahia Temple - a religion that is all inclusive and strives to support world peace.  This lovely building is called the Lotus Temple and was designed by a Canadian.
Up close it looks very much like the Sydney Opera House - but is covered with marble instead of tiles.