Penguin Travels: 10 India

Day 11 – Old Delhi

Rafeeq appeared in reception at 9.00 to take us on today’s adventure, which was quite a late start for us. We walked round the corner to the nearest Metro station to make our way to Old Delhi. I was very impressed with the system, which was only about 4 years old. It was clean and quite spacious, but with lots of stairs. The others used the escalators, but I decided I needed the exercise now my ankles were fine, so I walked. On the trains, they announced not only the next stop, but also whether you would be alighting from the left or right. I thought that was a brilliant idea, which should be adopted on the London Underground. After all, there is nothing worse than being on a crowded tube and finding that you have to force your way right across the train to get off at your stop.

Despite having to change at Rajiv Chowk, no one was missing when we got off the tube at Chawri Basar.

Rickshaws outside Metro Station

Street in Old Delhi

There were a few cycle rickshaw drivers outside the station and Rafeeq did his usual haggling. I shared with Jude. We started to drive through the commercial streets of the old city. In the first street, all the shops were selling books and stationery. Surprisingly, despite it being 9.30, most of the shops were still closed. I would have expected an early start before it got too hot. Things did start to get busier as we continued our ride. One street was full of shops which sold tassels, beads, sequins and similar decorations. You could see the inside walls of the shops lined with bags full of different colour beads and pearls. The next road was the jewellery street. Jude remarked about the jewels twinkling amid the decay as the shop buildings were definitely past their best.

Domes of Jami Kasjid Mosque

We came out onto a main road and could see the Red Fort from a distance. Rafeeq said that it was not on our itinerary as Agra Fort was so much better. We were allowed to get out of the rickshaws and take some photos though. After more weaving in and out of the traffic and going round the back streets, we left our rickshaws to visit the Jami Kasjid mosque.

There was quite a wait to get in and Bob and I decided that we did not really want to go to see it. Knowing that we would be free to explore by ourselves for the rest of the day, we decided to start our tour early. We walked round the corner to the shops, passing a goat with its kids by a gate. We could see the outside of the mosque and took a few photos outside walls and domes. We had no idea where we were going, but saw a bit of the real Delhi. The first street was definitely the place to go if you had fallen foul of the chaotic traffic. You could buy bumpers, brake light covers, tyres and everything else you might need to repair your car, as well as horns, so other drivers would know you were there in future. We turned a corner and came to a plumber’s paradise. It sold everything you might want from U-bends to a brand new bathroom, including the tiles.

Red Fort from Outside

Inner Entrance to Red Fort

Eventually our path took us back to the mosque, but there was no sign of the others, so we decided to visit the Red Fort. We took some photos from the outside and then bought tickets and headed in.

Throne in Red Fort

Buildings and Lake inside Red Fort

Once past the first entrance, we walked through a corridor lined with shops. We did not linger to get souvenirs and kept going to reach the fort complex proper.

Mosque inside Red Fort

Interior Decoration

The fort did look a bit like the one in Agra but the rooms were not all open to the public, so we had to peer inside over the ropes barring our way. There was a museum in the building in the corner, so we took a look. The best exhibits were some old costumes and a letter from an Indian ruler to Queen Victoria, with the handprint of his son on it. That was quite a touching gesture from one parent to another. We looked in the other buildings and I recognised some of the floral patterns from Agra. There were lots of children in and around the fort. Some were in school uniforms and were on school outings, but others were trying to sell postcards. After we had seen every building of the fort, we walked to the café at the far end across the grass and had a very welcome drink and rest. Just before we left the fort, we met up with the others who had been exploring the fort too, under their new guide, Ken. They agreed to meet up in 30 minutes to give people time to explore the shops near the entrance, so Bob and I decided to continue our adventure on our own and told Michael to pass on the message.

I suggested going to the government buildings, to see them close up instead of from a bus which is not allowed to stop. It seemed a good idea because I had been asleep when we were taken there the previous day. So we walked to the nearest Metro station, Chandni Chowk. On the way, we passed a beautiful Sikh temple. The tube station was quite well hidden and further than the map implied, but we found it eventually. We did not know how the system worked and did not know if there were return tickets or other ways to save. So I told them exactly where we wanted to go and this confused them. The girl in the ticket office told us to wait and started to serve other customers. After a long wait, when we started to wonder if we had misunderstood her, a lady came out the ticket office to chat to us. She told us that we would have to get one ticket to the government buildings and then another to get back to the hotel. I am sure that the girl in the ticket office could have explained this, but we did appreciate the personal touch. The tickets were very cheap, only about Rs12.

Parliament Building

India Gate from Govt Buildings

We left the Metro at Central Secretariat and walked towards the government buildings. A tuk tuk driver in a turban spotted us and kerb-crawled to try to get us to get inside. It took a long time, but he gave up eventually. They were watering the lawns and some egrets were taking advantage of the softer soil to find things to eat. There were no crossing places nearer to the buildings, but the roads were closed so it was quite easy to reach them. We walked right up to the parliament building at the top. The railings at the front made it difficult to take photos, but our attention was soon diverted by the monkeys outside the gates. They made a good allegory for politicians as they were lazing about, grooming, playing and indulging in X-rated activities.

We walked back and cut through some gardens to reach the Metro station. The Central Secretariat had some construction in progress, because they were busy extending the line to reach the new stadium being built for the Commonwealth Games. By now, we were experts and made our way back to the hotel, including the change at Rajiv Chowk without any problems. Our Metro station was Barakhamba Road – quite easy to remember if you thought of Barack Obama. The Metro makes it so quick and simple to travel round Delhi and it would have been good to have had more time to explore where it took you.

We had a very expensive coffee and cake in the hotel café – Rs950 for the two of us! – and then went back to our rooms, agreeing to meet up later. I gave my feet a very welcome soak to recover from all the walking we had been doing in the heat. I could hear train whistles and realised they were the tubes approaching Barakhamba Road.

Bob and I met up again and tried to find Kwality Restaurant which had been recommended by Rafeeq. The hotel reception gave us the road and the number and we walked to where it should have been. On the way, people tried to sell us things and tuk tuk drivers tried to give us a lift but we shook them off. We made some death-defying dashes across roads when we came to the many junctions around Connaught Place, which is at the centre of a spider web of roads. In the end, we gave up trying to find the restaurant and went to a Café Happy day for more coffee and cake, which was so much cheaper than the hotel. We dodged the traffic again to get back to the hotel and went to the bar. Everyone was there except Ken and Sue, so we had a drink with the others. Even the lime and soda was expensive here, so I only had the one before heading to bed.

Animal Corner