Delhi, India is packed with monuments and interesting history, but I won’t give you lengthy guide book spiel about each one, since that’s easy enough to look up.
Religious and presidential buildings, crazy traffic, and of course the customary cow….are all too be expected, but I wasn’t expecting this…..
Bath Time
On my first day of walking down a busy and congested street in India, I walked past a group of very happy looking young men, all taking an outdoor shower/wash on the curb and in the road as we headed to the Jama Masjid Mosque. There was no embarrassment or awkwardness on their part (all modesty was in tact), and they seemed oblivious to anyone else being around as they scrubbed and lathered away, happy and smiling.
I felt an almost unbelievable sense of being in an entirely new world, a world with ‘ways’ that are not to be labelled or ridiculed, but simply accepted as ‘the way’ for where we were – a different way to what I was used to seeing or experiencing.
Jama Masjid Mosque
One of India’s biggest mosques, dating back to the 16th century, and very a popular stop for tourists.
Shoes were left outside and women had to wear one of these gowns (at 50RP) to enter the mosque – regardless of what you were wearing. Men could enter just as they were, minus their shoes. In our guides’s words “unfortunately, women are not spared…” but we didn’t have to cover our heads.
Tip: Take a spare/pair of socks with you or grab those fabulous white hotel room slippers and bring them along, otherwise your feet/soles will be pretty dusty afterwards. All shoes have to be left outside – (I admit I did worry about them being stolen or not being able to find them again in the ocean of shoes on the floor)…and having to spend the rest of the day barefoot lol…. but you probably don’t need to worry.
That said, it might be best to leave your ‘Louboutins’ behind, just to be safe 😆
More of what India does best, stunning architecture….
Lunch Stop: Food Glorious Food
We had a mixture different dishes, all served at the table like a mini buffet – everything was dee-lish, I’ve always liked Indian food and spicy food in general, so I didn’t have and worries about what to expect from the food.
The tomato soup was surprisingly watery, but very flavoursome and the naan bread was characteristically light and chargrilled – unlike the mass produced, thick ‘bready’ ones we get in UK supermarkets.
There were people around the table who said they didn’t like naan bread, and would never eat it in the UK – but they couldn’t get enough of the stuff whilst in India.
There you go. You can’t beat the real thing.
The spinach and mushroom sauce was a new one for me, and the potato naan was lovely – very filling.
Indian food (in India) is like a Piccadilly Circus of flavours, on your palette. It’s amazing what they can do with a packet of unassuming lentils. I’ve never eaten so many lentils in my life – the spicy flavours were so good.
Raj Ghat
This is where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated in 1948, Delhi, India.
Cremation is popular with those from the Hindu faith.
From what I gathered, white is often the colour of choice when dressing for a funeral.
Qutub Minar Victory Tower
No photos please!!!
During this tourist stop, I had quite a few people (who looked like locals) come up and request a selfie with me, and also requesting that I take a picture of them with ‘my’ camera, and in some cases the request was for me to take a picture of their children.
This baffled me a bit for a number of reasons, the main one being – why would you want ‘me’ to take photos of ‘your’ child???
Sometimes a seemingly entire family would ask for a group photo with me.
“Me?” I’d ask, pointing at myself to make sure they were not gesturing to someone behind me lol (like someone famous – which surely must have been the case)…this was happening with other ‘obvious’ tourists too.
Of course I smiled politely and obliged, since they asked so nicely and I didn’t want to seem rude. I guess it was a nice thing, but very new to me at the time.
The Qutub Mina, or Victory Tower, construction began in the 11th century and completed in the 13th century – just beautiful!!
Isa Khan Niazi Garden Tomb
Isa Khan’s Tomb, another 16th century monument in Delhi, India.
Tourist attractions are not just for tourists!
Usually, whenever I’ve gone on a holiday/trip somewhere, it seems very apparent that ‘tourists’ are the majority crowd at any tourist attraction.
In India, I got the impression that the opposite might have been the case. I don’t know for sure, but I got the sense that non-western visitors outnumbered the western tourists at every tourist spot we went to, and remember thinking it made a nice change – assuming I wasn’t completely wrong!
Presidential buildings above
We didn’t stop for The India Gate, New Delhi, India – but I managed to get this wobbly snap as we drove by. It’s a memorial to “70,000 British Indian Army soldiers that died during the first world war”
Humayan’s Tomb
Spotted
The only church I saw – out of the corner of my eye whilst on the road.
A church in India
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usfman
I ruined about 6 pairs of white socks on our South India tour and burned my feet on hot grounds. Yet somehow all of the inconveniences I faced felt amazingly spiritual. How about you? Check out my latest. India posts if you desire.
Cherryl
Lol, six pairs of socks – I didn’t think of it, but yes – the ground must get very hot in the summer months, especially the marble 🔥🔥I think that spiritual feeling was definitely there with me throughout – but my attention was pulled more, in all directions and the novelty of it all. I think wherever you have high concentrations of people with a strong and unashamed spiritual believe, that energy will be all around you… and in addition, the people seemed very humble, polite well-meaning, so all in all, very positive ☺️
Cherryl
I think there is something very spiritual about being in the mist of nature – including wildlife in their own habitat – away from all that is artificial (buildings, electricity, noise, traffic etc), it taps into something inside us, and reminds us that there is more to humanity – something we are not so in touch with back home!
D.S. Chauhan
Amazing photos and great writeup, Cherryl. Congratulations! Keep it up !
Cherryl
That’s very kind, thank you so much 🤗
ashok
Beautiful post Cherryl 😊💕
Cherryl
Thank you v. much 😘x
ashok
Pleasure 🤗
SueT唐 梦 琇
What an amazing visit you had. Excellent photos by the way.
Cherryl
Thank you v. Much Sue….India really is an amazing place 🌟👀
theresaly520
Remarkable photos! <3
Cherryl
Thank you 😊
Monkey's Tale
We were always asked to be in people’s picture too and also to have us take their picture with our camera! I don’t know if they thought we’d put it in FB or Instagram or just liked the idea of posing. It hasn’t happened in any other country.
Cherryl
It’s very innocent, endearing, and trusting on their part – which is lovely, in a way.
Monkey's Tale
It is lovely and courageous to approach foreigners.
Miss B Blogz Thingz Over..
Great post!
Cherryl
Thanks for reading, have a lovely week 🔆 😊
Miss B Blogz Thingz Over..
ThnQ Dear! You 2 have a blessed week make It awesome!❤️💋🤗
travelrat
I think you’d like my post at https://travelrat.wordpress.com/2018/10/16/delhi-rickshaw-ride-video/ About the photograpphy … I came across the same attitude at https://travelrat.wordpress.com/2019/04/18/more-about-people-pictures/
Cherryl
I’m looking forward to looking at these this week, thanks for the links – I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of India blogs 😊
The Mindful Gingernut
Now it’s your turn to transport me back😀 I had forgotten about the guys washing happily in the streets, and the constant requests for photos! One of the ladies on our trip started to joke about taking commission from the amount of requests we had 😂 great memories though 🇮🇳
Cherryl
50RP per shot maybe lol, next time – it was pretty surreal 💫