India Day 2 - New Delhi

From home before I left,  I had booked a photo tour for the day, thinking I'd better see all of Delhi that I could. I got up when my alarm rang as I was supposed to start at 9 am. All I really wanted to do was sleep and sleep.

The driver took me to my photographer guide and we went to many places. Humayun's Tomb, built in 1565, was a wonderful start to the day. The complex consisted of several structures and the area wasn't very crowded. 

The domed ceiling of the Entrance Chamber

I had hoped to go where I wouldn't be going tomorrow, but we did hit a couple of the same places. One of them was the Qutb Minar, the second tallest minar in India.  A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the tower is made of red sandstone and marble, and is 240 feet with a diameter of 47 feet at the base and 9 feet at the peak.

My guide was great at knowing where to stand for the best views. He also kept very good track of me which I really appreciated. Even in big crowds when I stopped following him to take a photo or two of something that caught my eye, he would notice and wait for me. The perfect man - haha! We saw many brides and grooms having "pre-wedding photo" sessions. My guide thought it was ridiculous. His fiancée had wanted those kind of pics taken and he had refused he told me.

We made a short stop at Agrasen ki Baoli, a 60-meter long and 15-meter wide historical step well.  Step wells are wells or ponds in which the water may be reached by descending a set of steps, and they are most common in western India. 

Lunch was at an authentic Indian restaurant at Connaught Place. It was quite busy and popular with the locals and has been in business for a great many years. I asked him to order for me and the food was quite tasty. I was a little concerned about how clean the plates and utensils were but I tried not to think about it. I hope my vaccine and oregano oil keep me from the scourge of the infamous "Delhi Belly". Time will tell.

After lunch, we went to the best stop of the day, the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Temple. It is a Sikh mosque where they prepare food and feed people on a daily basis. The food prep area was fascinating and I got a great many amazing shots. They feed hundreds, if not thousands of people every day in shifts. There is no cost to whoever eats there. Some come because of poverty, others come because of religious reasons. The food is donated as is the labor involved in prepping, cooking, serving and clean up.

My guide had one more photo stop for me, the India Gate. This structure is a war memorial dedicated to 82,000 soldiers who died in the First World War.

The time for my group tour meeting was changed to 5pm from 6pm so that changed my itinerary for the day somewhat. Our guide is K V Singh and we are to call him KV. He gave us a lot of info about the itinerary and about India in general for over an hour.

After that, most of the group went out for supper nearby. The food, Tandori chicken and butter naan bread, was delicious. However I won't be having a glass of wine there ever, again as it cost more than the food!

It seems like a good group, well-traveled, mostly Canadians, and around my age. Hurray! I am struggling to stay awake. I will sleep well!