Two Days in Delhi

I thought having five days to see Jaipur, Agra and Delhi, I would feel rushed.  Instead, I'm happy that the tour has come to an end.  Yesterday we went to the Red Fort in Delhi. And had we not gone to Amber fort in Jaipur on Sunday, followed by Agra Fort on Monday, I might have appreciated it more.  Once again, we were taken advantage of by a rickshaw driver, this time the bicycle variety, who dropped us at Jama Masjid instead of the Red Fort.  And since it was, in fact, red, it took  us a while to discover the con.  Nothing in the description of the Red Fort in the Lonely Planet seemed to match up with what we were seeing.

Red Fort

At least the driver got us close and we found the way to the Red Fort on foot.  It really was a spectacular bit or architecture that I did enjoy touring.  But, it was developed in the same style as the Agra fort and both are now blended together in my mind.  After an hour or two wandering the grounds, we decided to find a place to eat.  Although, we seemed to be in a very touristy part of town, finding a sit-down restaurant was nearly impossible.  We probably walked 2 miles in total before we found one of the Lonely Planet recommended spots.

Our lunch spot was very close to one of the bazaar's that Nick wanted to check out, so we headed their next.  However, he must have confused the names, because this bazaar seemed to specialize in paper (i.e. wrapping paper and wedding invitations) as well as hardware.  Since neither of us are planning to marry soon, nor were we in need of new faucets for the bathroom, we decided to beat the heat by getting a beer.

Qutb Minar

Alien? Iron Pillar at Qutb Minar

Today, we decided to give sight-seeing one more try by heading to Qutb Minar in South Delhi.  I was reluctant to visit another fort, but this one was worth the drive.  Qutb Minar dates back to time of Islamic rule in India and had very different architecture that what we'd seen before.  The main site is actually the Qutb Minar, a 250 ft. tall, five story, minaret which really was an amazing site.  The rest of the complex is made up of a number of tombs and mosque as well as a mysterious iron pillar.  Some believe that the pillar was brought by aliens because it is constructed of iron so pure that it could not be cast using the technology available at the time. And yet, it still stands, rust free, for 2000 years.

We decided to end the day with a bit of shopping.  Tomorrow, we return home, to the land where hailing a taxi is tough (instead of 5 rickshaws competing for your business), shopping is easy (don't have to worry about being hassled for just looking) and eating is safe (fortunately, I never had stomach problems, but Nick never felt 100%).