Delhi
November 3, 2007

Heather and I began our whirlwind trip of India in Delhi. We were immediately accosted by the extremely polluted air. Both of us got sick almost immediately upon entering the city. It was so sad because Delhi would have been a really beautiful city if the air were breathable. We marveled that people could actually live there at all!

We checked in to a little hotel called the Blue Saphire (which was actually quite nice, especially considering the low price.) When we asked the manager where we could buy a map, he directed us to a local tour guide, thus initiating us into the Indian world of commissions. The tour company sold us a package tour including a driver that would take us around to see the Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur). Heather and I were initially skeptical, but it seemed like hiring a car would save us a lot of hassle traveling around, so we agreed.

We really liked our driver at first, but then he decided that he wanted to take us to every tourist junk stop in Delhi (where of course he got a commission.) We told him to stop, thinking that warning would be sufficient, we decided to keep him as our driver for the rest of the trip.

As we visited many monuments we discovered that people were quite anxious to come up and say “hello” to us, especially would-be “guides”. While we also got a lot of attention in Bangladesh, but there we didn’t feel like people wanted something from us, they were just curious. In India, however, Heather and I decided that “hello” actually meant “give me money.” We managed to push through the beggars, however, and did see some beautiful things in Delhi.

Flower Market
We walked through this gorgeous flower market to get to the Qutb Minar.

Qutb Minar
This is a photo of the minar (tower) at the Qutb Minar.


Detail of the Qutb Minar
The carvings at this place were unbelievably beautiful! I think this was my favorite monument that we saw while we were in India. (Yes, that even includes the Taj Mahal!) The quality of the work was unbelievable!


Heather
Inside a building at the Qutb Minar.


Jamali-Kamali Tomb
We had to pay the caretaker quite a bit of money to see the inside of this tomb. The decoration was lovely though...


Parliament Building
As seen through the haze of Delhi pollution...


Humayun's Tomb
This building was a precursor to the Taj Mahal. You can definitely see the resemblance.


Window in Humayun's Tomb
I simply ADORE these carved light screens. They are incredibly beautiful.