I need to finish up our India adventure by telling you a little more about our time in Delhi. I already wrote about our snake charmer moment here. Check it out if you haven't already.
Our highlight of being in crazy Delhi was taking a rickshaw ride through the old part of Delhi... hence the name Old Delhi. Here is the video I took while riding with Benson, our travel agent from Abish Travels. He's a local of Delhi. Matt was in the rickshaw behind me. What a fun ride! It was in the late morning, so shops were just opening and the thick crowds of people hadn't formed yet. Watch and notice the mess of wiring above these alleyways. AMAZING. How'd you like to be an electrician here? How does one make sense of it all? Maybe they don't.
We got off the rickshaws for about 30 minutes so that we could visit the spice market. When I say spice market... I mean THE spice market that sends spices all over the world. Remember Christopher Columbus set off to go to India to get spices? They definitely have lots of yummy spices. POTENT, I tell ya! We were sneezing and having a hard time breathing in deep without coughing when we were down in the maze of the market. Benson took us up a steep, dark staircase that led us to the rooftop overlooking all of the action. So cool. We could see spices drying out in the sun. We watched men lifting and transporting heavy bags. It was a neat vantage point. People live around the spice market which I find crazy. It's such a loud place and it is hard to breath right there. I don't think they get used to it because I saw men who work there coughing.
Here is a guy that was in that dark, scary staircase. I guess he found a cool place to take a snooze.
Here is the view we first saw.
You'd never know that this is a world famous spice market, would you?
See the chile peppers in the picture down below. Notice the man in white taking inventory or adding something up on his calculator. Benson said usually the market smells mostly of peppers. I'm glad it didn't that day. Otherwise, I would have had even a harder time breathing.
Then Benson took us back downstairs to a spice shop where we spoke with the owner about his spices. We bought a bunch and look forward to sharing them and using them in our cooking.
Here are some more happy rickshaw drivers!
After our morning rickshaw ride, we met our Delhi tour guide, Ankit. His name means "something written that can't be rubbed out"... in other words, permanent. I love it. He was a quiet, young man in his early twenties who has been an official tour guide for only two years so he was obviously not as experienced as the other two guides we had.
He took us to the Mahatma Ghandi Memorial Museum. It was interesting to read about him and see many pictures of him as well as seeing some of his personal items including the blood stained "homespun" that he was wearing when he was assassinated in 1948. Last night, Matt and I watched the 3 hour movie "Ghandi" which was filmed in 1982. We both wished that we had watched it prior to going to India. We would have understood so much more about him and the history of India.
Next, Ankit took us to see the Indian parliament/government buildings. We were both hot and both beginning to have more serious stomach issues, so we weren't very attentive or interested. Just down that main road is India Gate. We walked up to that which is located in a family friendly park where people come to picnic and hang out. Got swarmed by street peddlers.
We drove through crazy Delhi traffic to get to the Baha'i House of Worship, a beautiful lotus-domed structure. Spectacular and unique.
After stopping to buy some cricket balls at a small sporting goods store, Ankit took us to the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. It is best known for the Qutb Minar tower which was started in 1193. It marks the first Muslim kingdom in North India. We would have liked to have spent more time exploring this amazing site with ruins of a palace, tombs, mosques, and courtyards. It began to lightning and then rain, so we had to get going.
Here is a picture of our driver who took us around for four days in northern India. He always had a smile on his face and never got frustrated in this chaotic indian traffic.
After shopping some more in a textile shop, we said goodbye to Benson at our hotel. Matt and I stayed one more night and headed to the airport early the next morning. Thus ended our India Adventure. But India remains in my heart, and someday I will go back. Namaste India!
We got off the rickshaws for about 30 minutes so that we could visit the spice market. When I say spice market... I mean THE spice market that sends spices all over the world. Remember Christopher Columbus set off to go to India to get spices? They definitely have lots of yummy spices. POTENT, I tell ya! We were sneezing and having a hard time breathing in deep without coughing when we were down in the maze of the market. Benson took us up a steep, dark staircase that led us to the rooftop overlooking all of the action. So cool. We could see spices drying out in the sun. We watched men lifting and transporting heavy bags. It was a neat vantage point. People live around the spice market which I find crazy. It's such a loud place and it is hard to breath right there. I don't think they get used to it because I saw men who work there coughing.
Here is a guy that was in that dark, scary staircase. I guess he found a cool place to take a snooze.
Here is the view we first saw.
You'd never know that this is a world famous spice market, would you?
See the chile peppers in the picture down below. Notice the man in white taking inventory or adding something up on his calculator. Benson said usually the market smells mostly of peppers. I'm glad it didn't that day. Otherwise, I would have had even a harder time breathing.
Then Benson took us back downstairs to a spice shop where we spoke with the owner about his spices. We bought a bunch and look forward to sharing them and using them in our cooking.
Here are some more happy rickshaw drivers!
After our morning rickshaw ride, we met our Delhi tour guide, Ankit. His name means "something written that can't be rubbed out"... in other words, permanent. I love it. He was a quiet, young man in his early twenties who has been an official tour guide for only two years so he was obviously not as experienced as the other two guides we had.
He took us to the Mahatma Ghandi Memorial Museum. It was interesting to read about him and see many pictures of him as well as seeing some of his personal items including the blood stained "homespun" that he was wearing when he was assassinated in 1948. Last night, Matt and I watched the 3 hour movie "Ghandi" which was filmed in 1982. We both wished that we had watched it prior to going to India. We would have understood so much more about him and the history of India.
Next, Ankit took us to see the Indian parliament/government buildings. We were both hot and both beginning to have more serious stomach issues, so we weren't very attentive or interested. Just down that main road is India Gate. We walked up to that which is located in a family friendly park where people come to picnic and hang out. Got swarmed by street peddlers.
Here is a picture of our driver who took us around for four days in northern India. He always had a smile on his face and never got frustrated in this chaotic indian traffic.
After shopping some more in a textile shop, we said goodbye to Benson at our hotel. Matt and I stayed one more night and headed to the airport early the next morning. Thus ended our India Adventure. But India remains in my heart, and someday I will go back. Namaste India!
