A Day in Delhi, India

I arrived in the Delhi airport two hours later than expected, thankfully the driver from the hotel was still waiting there. The ride to the Metropolis hotel was interesting as the freeway was packed with trucks, cows and carts and horses. After a harrowing 30 minute drive, I arrived at the hotel, meet Tyson in the room and promptly went to bed. After breakfast, we took a quick walk around Pahar Ganj, the neighborhood where we were staying. It was packed with people, littered with trash and reeked of various smells. We decided to do the power tour of the city and hired a driver to cart us around for the day.

Our first stop was a war memorial to the Indian soldiers slain in battles. It was still the morning, but we could already feel the heat and it was forecasted to be above 100F. Not too far away was the presidential palace and a whole slew of government buildings, including the parliament. Our driver wasn’t allowed to park there, so we quickly hoped out to grab a picture of the palace. Just as Tyson and I were taking the photo, three guards in elaborate outfits marched by. Next was the history museum. It was a little disappointing, although I learned a decent amount about India’s past.

After a fantastic lunch, we went to Humayun’s tomb. Tyson had been to the Taj Mahal the day before and I guess Humayun’s tomb is similar, although not nearly as large nor grandiose. It is a World Heritage sit and was a precursor to the Taj Mahal and I was thoroughly impressed with the architecture and the surrounding grounds. After that, we did some shopping for presents to bring back home and then we decided to go to Red Fort.

Apparently, our taxi couldn’t park there so he had us take a rickshaw. Now I only briefly mentioned the traffic situation in Delhi above, but it must be noted again that riding in a rickshaw through Delhi is one of the most fear inducing events I have ever partaken in. Much more so than climbing mountains. Not only are there thousands of cars, but there are no lanes, no lights and every car and truck honks continuously. Miraculously, we didn’t die and made it to Red Fort. It was late in the afternoon and we were both tired, but we enjoyed walking around the fort, although I wish I learned a little more history about it. After dinner at the hotel and a couple of Kingfisher beers (the only India beer worth drinking), we headed to the bus terminal and began our 16 hour journey up to Manali.