Delhi, old and new.

Well, here we are in Delhi. New Delhi in fact.
As I'm writing this paragraph at breakfast on day one, we're certainly hoping that there's about to be a massive shift in the first impressions we have been confronted with to date.
It was a big day travelling to get here. Our 1:00pm flight from Melbourne had us in Delhi via Singapore before midnight and crawling into bed about 2:00am. With the time zone shift it works out about 20 hours.
The airport was bustling even around midnight. We experienced a bit of waiting and the odd officious clerk. Outside we encountered roaming undernourished, inbred dogs searching for any morsel of food that might sustain them for another day.

The hotel is ok but strange. The rooms are smoking ones and boy can you smell it. An ashtray on the table with a booklet of matches is something we haven't seen for a long time. And now, one final story while I finish breakfast. Cheryl pulled the curtain this morning and what a sight! In typical Delhi form there was a vacant paddock of about 5 acres and strewn with small piles of dumped rubble. In the middle stood 3 or 4 dogs trying to work out which direction to head that would reward them with the best return of food for the day. In the distance is a railway station and beyond that is your typical 3rd world commission flats. Just as I was explaining how you often see people grading the rubble into small buckets, we noticed a gent squatting at a pile on the far side of the paddock. There was only two possibilities of what he was up to; he was either sorting rubble or taking a dump. You can guess which it was! 

We were out and about from about 8:30 this morning. We are in a group of 15 in this signature tour and there are 3 other Webjet groups that arrived here yesterday. Some of them are on the classic tour so we may not see them again after we leave Delhi tomorrow.
The Delhi area is huge and has a population of 28 million. That's hard to imagine but once you are out in the traffic you soon begin to believe it. It takes a long time to travel any distance in all of this traffic. We headed to Old Delhi and that took us about an hour and a half. 
The bus is exactly that. You couldn't possibly call it a coach. It reminds me a lot of the old tramway buses but a more modern version. We have a guide, the driver and an assistant driver. The assistant sits at the front left of the bus and monitors the left hand mirror. He also helps loading luggage and dishing out the water bottles. (2 per person per day)

So the rundown of this mornings activities goes something like this. We visited 

a Muslim Mosque where we shed our shoes and frocked up in cloaks and sarongs before entering. We then went on a 15 minute cyclo ride through the bazaar. We kicked on to a park in honour of Mahatma Gandhi which is also the place where he was cremated. Our final stop before lunch was at she biggest Sikh temple in Delhi.
The temple visit was impressive but the tour of the kitchen and serving areas just blew us away. They dish out between 20 and 30 thousand meals a day. 
I've undersold all of this by a long shot but hopefully the photos have captured it.

All dressed up ready to hit the Mosque

Crazy sights from a cyclo

Outside a Sikh temple

Everything is big when you are dishing up 30,000 meals a day 

Lunch was as we expected. Typical Indian fare with the naan bread. Chicken done a couple of different ways, potatoes spiced up to billy o and of course washed down with Kingfisher beer.
What a big day it has been. It's now 6:00pm and we're just back on board the bus for an hour trip to a restaurant for dinner. It is apparently close to the hotel so that will finish the day off. 
We visited India's biggest tower this afternoon. The original structure was built in the 12th century and has had several extensions to its height. It is a most impressive brick and sandstone tower standing 72 metres high. Several Mosques are in well preserved ruins on the same property. Also impressive is a 7 metre high solid iron pillar that has been on this site since the 7th century. Its history dates back to the 3rd century when it was located in southern India. No one can explain why it was relocated or why it does not rust. 

The final stop was at Humayun's tomb set on acres of gardens. Built in 1572, it is magnificently maintained. Again, I hope the photos do it justice.

Humayun's Tomb

We're enjoying temperatures around 30 degrees which is somethings to dream about just coming into winter eh!
Let's see what tomorrow brings.