A blurry week in Delhi

Haven’t had much access to internet, (still don’t – I’m writing this in Delhi Airport with the intention of posting it tomorrow when I land in London!) and the weather has been overcast, bit cold and raining the whole time, but I’ve had Patrick to snuggle up to. We went to the Taj Mahal yesterday, got up early and drove to Agra (hired a driver, we didn’t drive) to see it in all its magnificence.

I didn’t have any expectations, because things are so often hyped up. But WOW.

Photos can’t do it justice.

Our tour guide was great, though we aren’t sure how much is true and how much isn’t. I loved the intricate details, while Patrick loved it’s size and structure.

  

Above from left: Where the craftspeople used to live and work – 20,000 workers built the Taj Mahal; Front entrance house; Ceiling detail of front entrance; me and Patrick inside the entrance.

  

Above: My feet in the shoe covers to protect the marble (no Slum Dog Millionaire kids stealing OUR shoes!); the building on the right side of the Mausoleum built to keep the symmetry that the whole place has, replicating the mosque to the left hand side; wall of the Taj Mahal; detailing on the walls – this is one piece of carved marble and the edging is inset stones such as lapis lazulis, mother of pearl and malachite. Below: The detailing to the entrance of the mausoleum – you can read Qu’ran verses inscribed in black onyx all the way around; Patrick; the roof of the Taj Mahal where you can see the hooks put in so that a black cover could be put on in the war to stop it from being bombed.

   

The day before Patrick and I had wandered around Delhi getting our comfort levels up. Patrick has been under the weather, appetite and sleep wise, and we didn’t really do as much siteseeing as we’d’ve liked, but we visited the Lakshmi…… Temple in New Delhi that was probably one of my favourite places to visit. It was very quiet, not very busy, and had lots of interesting paintings and words from the Veda all around.

After there we had a wander around Janpath and Connaught Place which was kinda interesting. We got hassled a lot by hawkers, but it was fun.

Now I’m flying out at 3.30am and I’ve just said goodbye to Patrick who is off on his adventures for the next 6 months in India and maybe Nepal. Here’s an ode to Patrick, the love of my last two years, who has put up with all my ways! Thanks babe, you’re freaking awesome. The last two years have been a blast, take care and look after yourself out there! Also, thanks for running off before I had time to blink and say good bye!

   

A quick Delhi update!

 

Had a wee wander around the Main bazaar yesterday, spent much of the day napping and hanging out with Patrick, catching up. Was feeling a bit overwhelmed by Delhi so ended up hiding at the hotel, which was still lovely. The hotel is in a dingy part of town and is in the process of being done up so is VERY noisy. Everyone is very helpful and friendly though. This is the view from our balcony!

Last night we went to the flashest bar I’ve seen in a long time. We met up with Patrick’s friend and ex-boss, Myank, who used to live in NZ. We thought we were going to a psy-trance party (quite Pat’s cup of tea) and at the last minute I decided to get out of my baggy harem pants and put jeans and a pretty top on. So glad I did! This bar was around a pool, looked like it was out of a movie, and psy-trance is not a hippy kinda thing in India! Drinks from the bar cost $20 and we got to experience a night out with India’s ‘new money’ kids. We danced all night and had to admit defeat at 3.30am due to jetlag (Patrick) and dodgy tummies. I’ve been feeling better since Friday, but not much of an appetite, much to my frustration because all I want to do is eat yummy Indian food, and gulab jamen, and pomegranates that are being sold outside the hotel!

Today we went to Old Delhi and checked out Jama Masjid – the biggest mosque in India.

   

I found it hard to deal with to be honest. It was very crowded, I was stared at most of the time and I got groped a few times much to my dismay. I’ve found Delhi much harder to deal with than Nepal, I think because I started setting myself up for London and the cold and back to my way of life that I forgot about Delhi.

The mosque was huge, very busy, and quite interesting, but what I really liked was Red Fort, just across the road from there.

It is HUGE, and beautiful, and I took millions of photos. It was constructed in the 17th century by the guy who built the Taj Mahal. It is a shadow of its original self, the British pulled down much of the inner buildings to make way for barracks after the Indian Uprising in 1847.

      

I love all the marble detailing that could be found everywhere.

There was one weird thing that kept happening – Patrick and I seemed to generate a lot of interest, though there were lots of tourists around. We had dozens of men asking for photos with us. Just me, just Patrick or both together. Young boys, men and even middle-age men. Does anyone know anything about this? We were used to being asked questions about ourselves, but the amount of photos we had taken of ourselves was ridiculous! I got pretty fed up with it, Patrick tolerated it really well.

Tomorrow all the tourist places are closed, but we’re going to Myank’s for dinner, so that will be nice! And Agra on Tuesday xx