Good flight, although my seat was very close to the loo and so quite a lot of disturbance. We got to the hotel about 12 o’clock.
After a quick rest and wash we headed out at 1:30 for what we all assumed to be a quick orientation tour. We were soon given a stark reminder of how hard life is for some.
We drove through Old Delhi, passing the huge Red Fort.
Our first stop was the Jama Masjid Mosque.
As non Muslims we were required to don silly overdresses, although I think this was just to give the locals a laugh, as no one else appeared to be asked to. This sweet looking little girl was guarding the entrance to what was one of the worst toilets I'd ever seen (if only I'd known what was to come!)
I wish I could remember what the stones were for.
The Muslim quarter is a warren of little streets, packed with people, foods, animals – you name it.
A few of us would like to have got out for a wander but we were told it wasn’t safe? In fact to stop us be hassled by a tout, our guide brought the goods onto our coach so we could look in peace.
We then went on to visit a Ghandi memorial, sited where he was cremated.
Then an hour journey back to the hotel through the evening rush hour, getting to our hotel involved doing a u-turn on the “highway” to cross what seemed to be about 13 lanes of thick traffic – it was a real experience and not for the feint hearted; no one wanted to give way, yet no accidents.
So much for a quick orientation tour; Delhi is huge and the traffic so bad that we didn’t get back for 6 hours.
I only had my camera set to RAW first thing so not many images.
Unless internet access improves, sadly my blogs will be few and far between – it's painfully slow.