Delhi

As always, it was the middle of the night when we touched down at the airport in Delhi.  Then there was the wait in line to have our passports stamped and then on to the baggage carousel.  We were almost the last people off the plane, so didn't have to wait long at all to see our luggage arrive.  Then it was out the doors and a walk along a long line of guys holding up signs with people's names on them.  I always feel a bit sorry for these guys, who have to go out in the middle of the night to collect foreigners and shuttle them to their hotels, but our "sign guy" didn't seem at all put out.  From there it was a short walk and equally short wait for the car and driver to arrive.  Rajkumar is our driver for the remainder of our stay in Delhi and our tour through Rajasthan.  We got to our hotel at around 4:30 AM.

I was all for resting up on Sunday and then touring Delhi on Monday -- mainly because I got pretty sick on the plane; the tail end (I hope) of a virus that started back home.  However, Monday (yesterday) was a Muslim holiday, which means that all of the Muslim sites would be closed down.  As everything we wanted to see was Muslim, we pulled ourselves together and toured Sunday, then rested in the hotel on Monday.  Today we leave for Pushkar.

What follows is a brief tour of a little bit of Delhi.  (Our driver is waiting for us, so I will try to add some captions later)  Enjoy!

The entrance to The Red Fort.  As always seems to be the case at popular monuments and temples, it's lined with places to spend your money!

Coming through the gate of The Red Fort

 

Turrets on The Red Fort

  One of the side gates at The Red Fort

Qutub Minar

Detail of the red carved marble on Qutub Minar

One of several gates heading toward Humayun's Tomb

View of Humayun's Tomb dome through the second of the three gates.

Tomb detail showing inlay.  This is similar work to that on The Taj Mahal, but done in red marble, rather than white.

Humayun's Tomb with reflecting pool.

We ended up at a craft shop, where they were only too willing to roll out dozens of carpets and teach us all about technique, materials, and why you pay more for a very, very good all-silk, hand-knotted carpet.  (No, we didn't buy.)