Up for a rather excellent breakfast, then it was time to meet the driver for the second day of our tour of Delhi.
First on the agenda was the Parliament, which is a rather impressive building, and the Presidents' residence, which has some stunning topiary in the shape of elephants.
Just down the (very) wide road from the parliament was our next stop, the India Gate, which is a HUGE monument to India's war dead. Very reminiscent of the Arc de Triumph in Paris, but with an eternal flame under it, in memory of the war dead.
The surroundings to the India Gate, are really nice gardens on either side, with fountains. The military use the this and the road leading from the Parliament, for a military parade every year. It must look pretty damn impressive considering the setting.
From the India Gate, we headed off for lunch, before visiting Humayn's Tomb, a World Heritage Site. The main feature of the site is a 72m high tower. The site also has the tomb of the architect who designed the tower. Nearby is another smaller tower, which was started but never completed, as the ruler who commissioned it died long before it could be completed. It still has a charm of it's own, but it has to be said is dwarfed by it's 72m neighbour.
After the tour, we got dropped off at what is known locally as the "underground market". Think a cross between the Barras and Paddy's and you're still nowhere close. Unfortunately for Karen they only seemed to be selling jeans and t-shirts, there was no women's clothes on any of the stalls, so we jumped on the metro in search of bargins.
Thinking the obvious, we got off at Chandni Bazaar, which was quite frankly, chaos. It's a slum area, but there were loads of shops. Only problem was they all seemed to be selling variations on hardware. And the people! OMG!! I've never seen so many people in a street at the one time. We didn't get any hassle though, and after asking the police for directions to shops that sold clothes (or other non hardware items) we jumped back on the metro for one stop. Straight off the metro, and while still a slum, the shops were all clothes shops, so Karen managed to get the shopping bargins she was hoping to get.
Back on the metro and it was nuts. There are "Ladies Only" seats, and everyone got a laugh at one poor guy getting a strip torn off him by a woman wanting a seat, as he was on a "ladies only" seat. (FYI they also have "ladies only" carriages as well)
Back at the hotel, we were so hot and knackered, that Karen uttered words that I never thought I'd hear her say. "Can we go straight to the bar?" Erm......off course we can :-) In the bar they were having a "buy 2 get 1 free on all drinks. Tonight I got very happily aquainted with Kingfisher, before packing for tomorrow's leg of the journey, Agra. It's a four hour drive and we're off at 8.00am.
(after packing, I was so tired, I hit the mini bar for another Kingfisher)
First on the agenda was the Parliament, which is a rather impressive building, and the Presidents' residence, which has some stunning topiary in the shape of elephants.
Just down the (very) wide road from the parliament was our next stop, the India Gate, which is a HUGE monument to India's war dead. Very reminiscent of the Arc de Triumph in Paris, but with an eternal flame under it, in memory of the war dead.
The surroundings to the India Gate, are really nice gardens on either side, with fountains. The military use the this and the road leading from the Parliament, for a military parade every year. It must look pretty damn impressive considering the setting.
From the India Gate, we headed off for lunch, before visiting Humayn's Tomb, a World Heritage Site. The main feature of the site is a 72m high tower. The site also has the tomb of the architect who designed the tower. Nearby is another smaller tower, which was started but never completed, as the ruler who commissioned it died long before it could be completed. It still has a charm of it's own, but it has to be said is dwarfed by it's 72m neighbour.
After the tour, we got dropped off at what is known locally as the "underground market". Think a cross between the Barras and Paddy's and you're still nowhere close. Unfortunately for Karen they only seemed to be selling jeans and t-shirts, there was no women's clothes on any of the stalls, so we jumped on the metro in search of bargins.
Thinking the obvious, we got off at Chandni Bazaar, which was quite frankly, chaos. It's a slum area, but there were loads of shops. Only problem was they all seemed to be selling variations on hardware. And the people! OMG!! I've never seen so many people in a street at the one time. We didn't get any hassle though, and after asking the police for directions to shops that sold clothes (or other non hardware items) we jumped back on the metro for one stop. Straight off the metro, and while still a slum, the shops were all clothes shops, so Karen managed to get the shopping bargins she was hoping to get.
Back on the metro and it was nuts. There are "Ladies Only" seats, and everyone got a laugh at one poor guy getting a strip torn off him by a woman wanting a seat, as he was on a "ladies only" seat. (FYI they also have "ladies only" carriages as well)
Back at the hotel, we were so hot and knackered, that Karen uttered words that I never thought I'd hear her say. "Can we go straight to the bar?" Erm......off course we can :-) In the bar they were having a "buy 2 get 1 free on all drinks. Tonight I got very happily aquainted with Kingfisher, before packing for tomorrow's leg of the journey, Agra. It's a four hour drive and we're off at 8.00am.
(after packing, I was so tired, I hit the mini bar for another Kingfisher)
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