I am in the heart if old Delhi, constant honking, trains whistles go on day in and day out, there's people on the street all the time, there's always something happening outside of my hotel door so today I decided to spend some of my morning walking around the hotel area and getting a better taste of OldDelhi.
Here's the view of my hotel window.
I walked up and down the streets, looking at buildings, paying attention to people's interactions, making sure I didn't step on something yucky, avoiding spit on my feet, avoiding getting hit by cars, laughing at the chaotic traffic, peeking at the street food ( I feel like its impolite to take pictures if I'm not buying), and most importantly... Taking it all in!!!!
To be honest it is not that easy walking on these streets, I have to be very alert of everything! Cars come from nowhere, sometimes there isn't even space for people to walk between cars because they are so close together! It's crazy! And the honking!!!!... It takes some adjusting!
Mid day I got picked up by the grandparents of two of the kids that I babysit and they took me out for lunch! So incredibly nice of them!
They gave me a mini tour by the India gate and the streets of Delhi and then we headed for lunch at the Delhi Golf Club where I got to see a more upscale side of Delhi.
(I had one of my favorite dishes.. Chana bhature)
After lunch we spent some time at different shops and dropped me off at Khan market.
Since I'm not a shopping fan I quickly walked around it. They had all kinds of shops, from fruit stores and delis to L'Occitane, bath and body work, and Adidass
Since Lodi Garden was walking distance from khan market so I decided to to walk there on my own. I didn't know exactly where but I knew it was somewhere "that way" so I walked quickly until a saw a park like place on the other side of the street. There were no signs but using my logic I decided that I should probably cross the street and check it out. Thankfully I was right and I had reached my destination.
Walking around Lodi Gardens was magical! The place was beautiful, and I even stopped for a while to soak it all in! I loved the birds chirping and I wished I had something to capture the sound and the whole experience.
One thing that I was found funny was all the couples that I saw! Many of them hiding in the bushes hugging each other or kissing, it seemed very secretive... And probably was!
Here's Bara Gumbad tomb and mosque. The arquitecture of this place was fantastic!
I spy some parakeets!
It was getting late so by 5 pm I quickly made my way out of the gardens and back to Khan Market to catch the next metro to Connaught Place.
When I entered the metro it was CRAZY!!!! to the point that men were getting hit with the metro doors while metro police tried to shut the door! I was shocked.. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE WAIT?!? I didn't even want to go in anymore (plus there wasn't any space!) I decided to go to the end and see if maybe people were lazy and didn't want to go all the way to the back and then, at the very end of the train I found... WOMEN ONLY wagons!!! and I was SOOOO happy!!!
Once at CP I walked around and went to a store called FabIndia to see if I could get some tunics but they just didn't look right on me so I left empty handed.
When I came out and was ready to go to back to the hotel I heard some music and saw lights coming from the main plaza and of course I had to go check it out. I followed a couple that seemed like were heading over there and discovered that there was a youth festival happening.
Everyday for about a week youth perform different Indian dances and I had the pleasure of witnessing some awesome dances! So lucky!
These kind of unexpected experiences are the ones that I love the most!
After an hour or so I decided to go back to the hotel and in order to get a rickshaw I went back closer to the metro station where the outside market was totally happening!
Finally it was time to go back, I looked at the rickshaw drivers and picked the one that was dropping off a woman. I knew the ride back to the hotel was 50Rupees so that's what I offered him and he happily took me back to my hotel on my first Indian rickshaw adventure!
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