Another Delhi Excursion

Last weekend a few colleagues came to India on a business trip.  They arrived late on a Saturday night from a week in China.  Since no one works on Sunday in India, they were lucky enough to get a day off to explore Delhi.  This is roughly the 3rd group to have scheduled their trip in this fashion, so I am getting pretty good at being an Indian tour guide.  This, of coarse is good new for all of you when you decide to make the 23 hour+ journey to visit.

There are a several different itineraries I have devised to allow flexibility for weather, party size and general disposition of the group.  For the more adventurous group, I begin in Old Delhi amongst the throng of Muslims and Hindus packed in the narrow alleys selling their goods as they have done for 700 years.  I love this area, but Olga has sworn never to go back.  It is congested, dirty and smelly, but it is exactly as it was 500 years ago.  The group was small, young and the weather was awesome, so we began in Old Delhi.

The approach to the Mosque, Jama Masjid

Like the adventure Olga and I took a few weeks back, we began with he Jama Masjid or the Friday Mosque.  It is in the center of the Old City and is a not-to-be-missed site in Delhi.  For variety sake, I tried a different route from the main street to the Mosque and was rewarded with a grand approach.  I was also rewarded with the "you must be a tourist coming this way, so I will try to rip you off" approach.  This is my third visit to the Mosque and I know both the fee structure and how things are supposed to work.  Since it is a working mosque, there is no fee to enter. There is, though, a fee of 200 Rupees ($4.50) if you want to take a camera.  As we approached, the old man at the gate asked me to pay 200 Rupees for each person, I kindly explained that I was no rookie and entry is free.  He persisted and I persisted back until I called him out for trying to steal from people on holy Islamic site.  This took him by surprised and he stopped his opposition.  Ah, religion!  So effective when used properly.

Inside looking back at the Main Entry Gate

To enter the Mosque, all shoes must be removed and all women must be covered.  This is universal for any mosque, but this being a tourist site, they have a special process that meets all the requirements of Sharia Law and yields a pretty profit, as well.  The mosque courtyard and steps are made from huge, red sandstone slabs that retain the heat of the last 300 years.  When you remove your shoes to expose your bare feet to this geothermal wonder, the first thing that you think is "damn, I should have brought sock!"  Lucky for you before you can finish the thought, the shoe-watchman is in your face with, you guessed it, socks!  Now, this guys knows you have traveled thousands of miles and hundreds of hours just to see this mosque and is counting on you not letting a pair of overpriced, poor quality stockings stand between you and tourist bliss.  He is also smart and will simply charge you what you would pay back home - at Nordstroms - which is roughly 500x what you would pay at a store in India.  Win - win!  Another old man will drape your women-folk in brightly colored and slightly stinky scarves - one for your arms and another for your legs.  Ironically, you can leave you head uncovered - it is probably a case of hygiene trumping religion.    This guy also wants to a tip for carefully wrapping, but not touching.  Not happening!

Inside the Jama Masjid

The shoe guy also knows it would be difficult to leave the mosque without your shoes, so he is very good about asking for a tip when you hand over your shoes.  He gives a nice summary of how you need to leave them with him as there are some unsavory characters, but he will keep them safe.  The only honest guy in India.  I have devised a way to circumvent all of this.  Firstly, I bring my own damn socks and secondly I carry my shoes in a bag.  This, I may add, drives the shoe-walla crazy for it if caught on, he would be broke.  I do enjoy pissing off the shoe-walla.  I did, though, bring a camera this time, so he got his 200 Rupees. 


We exited the mosque made our way through the narrow streets of Old Delhi.  It was actually pleasant.  The weather was good and the congestion was particularly entertaining with a group of southbound rickshaws blocking the way of their northbound counterparts and no one giving quarter.  With the narrow streets, once gridlock unfolds, it can take hours to sort out between the rickshaws, motorbikes and the people.  There is a lot of screaming, but not much progress.

The streets of Old Delhi

Anyway, we then drove over to Qutb Minar, the largest freestanding stone tower in the world.  I have written about this before, but it is really a very cool place to spend some time.  There are a lot of ruins of different ages and it is laid out in a park setting.   The one thing that I will note is that there is an iron pillar that was constructed in 375 AD in the center of one of the ruins.  What makes it so interesting is that the composition is 98% pure wrought iron, yet has not shown any signs of rust in 1600 years. It has baffled archeologist and metallurgist alike.  Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of it, but I do have a great shot of the tower.

Qutb Minar

The grounds full of ruins

Our next stop was Dilli Haat.  This is a government crafts bazaar in which local craftsmen from all over India come to sell their handiwork.  It is a favorite of the local population and although you see tourists there, it is mostly Indians shopping.  Here, you can get little Hindu carvings of the gods, paintings and even furniture.  The craftsmen rotate every so often, so there is always something new.  They also have food stands from all the states, so if you are adventurous, you can try cuisine from every corner of India.  Because it is not a tourist trap, the items sold are authentic, the quality is very good and the prices (after negotiation) are very reasonable.

Finally, as with every trip, we ended up at the President's House.  This mansion sits at the end of a long drive that cuts across New Delhi like the National Mall in Washington.  As you get close to the President's house, the drive is flanked by the Offices of the Indian Government with Parliament just behind.  The whole area was the last real projection of British power when it was finished in the 1930s.  Who knew just 10 years later they would be removed as landlords.  

President's House with guard detail

Looking away from the President's House down the lane
 with the administrative offices on its flanks
- if you look closely, you can see the India Gate in the distance

One of the cool things about living in India is that all of this is right on our doorstep and we can be tourists in an exotic land at a moments notice.    The downside is that we never leave!