We can't miss the fact that we're in New Delhi due to the permeating smell in the air. It's that burning wood smoke smell that's in everything, including the a/c air inside our room. Kind of reminds me of the air smell in Cairo where residents just burnt their household garbage on the sidewalk. The other smell is the sewerage smell that's common for third world cities near the manholes & storm drains, even in our hotel bathroom. We were worried about the air quality in New Delhi after the recent news that something like 7 out of top 10 worst cities for air quality are in India. Living in New Delhi is equivalent to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day! Maybe it's self-fulfilling prophecy but I felt my throat was tingling after the short walk last night!!
We had breakfast early so we could meet our driver at 8am. I rented a car for this short trip in India because the train schedules are not flexible and we need to get to the tourist sights within the shortest time in order to fit everything in 3 days. Renting a car in India means renting a driver as well because the road system is not well developed and road signs aren't good. It's actually very affordable to rent a car and driver here: everything including gas, road tolls, driver accommodation etc. comes to about $100CAD a day. The driver can also act as an unofficial guide for the trip.
Our driver Mr Sushil showed up on time and dropped us off at the Red Fort. The temperature at 8:30a in the morning was already a balmy 38C! Luckily, the smog had subsided from its peak last week although you still cannot see any blue sky. We were disappointed that lots of places inside Red Fort were closed due to conservation. The high temperature also discourage us from walking more than necessary. The Red sandstone columns formed beautiful arches in Diwan-i-Am, the Hall of Private Audiences.
Next stop is Jama Masjid, a famous mosque in the old city. We had to remove our shoes and put on outer clothing to enter. Then we went to the impressive Qutb Minar, a victory sandstone column erected by Delhi's first Muslim sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1193 AD to proclaim his triumph over the Hindu city. Its base diameter is 15m wide and its height at 73m makes it the highest structure in Delhi. His son tried to build a taller column but the work stopped after he died early.
After these three major sights, we left Delhi and drove to Jaipur for our next stop, 5h drive away. New Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra formed the famous "Golden Triangle" in India tourist circuits.
The place looks so empty. I would have thought that there would be lots of people
ReplyDeleteThe reason it looks empty is because we went very early in the morning before the herds of tourists arrived. Plus now is not high season for tourism in their hot summer.
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