Namaste from Delhi

Good Evening from Delhi India. I left Addis Ababa Ethiopia last night for an overnight flight up here. It’s been a busy few days to say the least. 24 hours in the air, on my second country and second continent so far. I will be travelling by land for the next couple weeks as I travel across India and in to Nepal. 

 The flight over was good, no issues with luggage, delays or travel documents. Security over here has been far more intense that in North America. When I entered Bole International Airport in Addis, I hade to go through a full security, then again after my bag drop heading to gates. I then went through two more when I landed here in Delhi. So from one destination to another, 4 trips through security. Extra security is never a bad thing, especially if you allot time for it. 

 I had absolutely no issues upon landing here. Customs was very fast and luggage was also fast. As I walked out into the airport, there was a driver there holding my name so that was also convenient. I was then able to hit up a bank machine for some Rupees before leaving the airport. Given that Delhi has 40 million people, the population of the entire country of Canada, traffic was eye opening. I have to give the drivers in both Addis and here a lot of credit. There are absolutely no rules and yet I never saw one accident. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart. On that note, I need some sleep, I’ll pick this up in the morning. 

 I’m back! I slept quite a bit and feel rested now. My hotel here in Delhi isn’t in the best of areas in terms of peacefulness. Safe yes, so don’t worry Mother, but just in the middle a chaotic area outside. By that I mean there many little outside stalls, vendors and people trying to sell you everything under the sun. Also with that comes the beggars. I tend to only go out when I am accompanied by a guide. It is interesting to see but tends to be very overwhelming on ones own. However in a few hours my tour group meets in the lobby here and from there I am with a group at all times. It is always exciting meeting a new tour group as these people will be your family for the next couple weeks. 

 So back to yesterday…… My driver (Mahinder) picked me up at 12 noon and then picked up my tour guide, Naved, which turned out to be the nicest guy on earth. So very friendly as well as knowledgable in all things India. And lets face it, I kinda enjoy being called Mr Vince all day. He took me to a bunch of the sites I had on my list to see and took a lot of pictures for me. First up was India Gate. This is a war memorial located on the edge of the “ceremonial axis” of New Delhi. It is very reminiscent of the Arc De Triomphe in Paris and the Washington Square Arch in New York City. It was a beautiful monument and well worth the stop. Also while in that area, we stopped by the parliamentary palace and I took a couple. Pics from the outside. Next up was the ancient water reservoir known as Agrasen Ki Baoli. Named after King Agrasen. This is a well known stop for tourists. You can just sit on the many stairs and take in the remaining ruins and enjoy the peacefulness. I could go on to say its a must stop but lets just assume that all these places are must stops and leave it at that.  Next up was the stunning structure known as Humayuns Tomb. This is the tomb of Mughal emperor Mirza Nasir al-Din Muhammad commonly known as Humayun. It was commissioned by his first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum. Although it is called a tomb, the structure itself is massive and incredibly impressive. I have an infinity for architecture and must admit I was a little choked up walking around the grounds. Nothing like that exists in todays world and to think it was built without any technology.  That era of building culminated in the world famous Taj Mahal which I head to tomorrow. 

 After Humayuns Tomb, Naved took me for a nice lunch at one of his local stops. I do have to be careful with local cuisines here as my truculent stomach doesn’t seem to agree with certain spices etc. That mixed with the heat here could be a recipe for disaster so I play it safe when eating. I did enjoy some nice foods and on we went again. We made a quick stop at a street tea vendor where I tried a nice local tea. From there we went to Lotus Temple. A temple is a Baha’i House of worship which is a fairly new religion which I’m told is a combination of several other religions. It is build to resemble the Lotus flower which is flower of India. I also noticed it has a slight resemblance of the Opera House in Sydney. We spent a little time walking around the gardens before heading out. By this time I was getting late so we made one last stop at a local manufacturer of linens and rugs to see some nice things being made. Of course they were also trying to sell me everything from rugs to a tailored suit. It was neat to see though. 

 From there, we drove back across Delhi, a massive city as mentioned, and Naved left us at his stop and the driver continued to my hotel. I was quite tired by this point so it was an early night for me. I posted some pics on Facebook, started this post and then crashed around 8 pm. 

 As for this morning, I just had breakfast and will relax in my room for a bit, get things organized and then meet my group at 1. I will update you all later. Thanks for checking in and following my journey.