We had a good flight from Jaipur to Delhi, although the pre-booked meal turned out to be nothing more than a small tin of cashew nuts and a carton of pomegranate juice!
I'm pleased to say that the air pollution has eased a bit - there have been a few short rain showers and the breeze has picked up so the air is clearing. Many tourists are wandering round wearing face masks but I don't think the conditions really warrant that unless, of course, they have breathing/health issues.
We are staying at CP Villa, a villa with 3 guest rooms in a leafy suburban area in Gole Market which is a great location in Delhi being very quiet yet 5 minutes walk to some decent restaurants and 15 minutes walk to Connaught Place which is an important shopping/meeting hub - a little like Bluewater I guess.
What appealed to me about this place is that each room has its own small garden/patio area so it has a nice spacious feel to it.
We see lots of tiny squirrels here - very similar to the 'chipmunks' we get in Fuerteventura which are really Barbary Ground Squirrels - the main difference being these Indian ones climb and the Fuerte ones don't.
Our room was previously occupied by the family's guru so is said to be 'spiritally charged' … hoping for great things then!
We got a Tuk Tuk to Ugrasen Ki Baoli which is a stepwell (water temple/reservoir). David has always been fascinated with stepwells and this one is quite impressive with 108 steps down to the lowest level - its a protected heritage site now
India Gate is set in a large park area and is a popular with locals and tourists alike. There are lots of food and 'tat' vendors which is inevitable given the numbers of visitors the Gate attracts.
Once called the 'All India War Memorial, the India Gate was built in 1931 and inspired in design by the Arc de Triomphe. It is built of yellow and red sandstone and granite and has the names of more than 13,000 servicemen's names, including soldiers from the UK who died in WW1.
Under the Gate burns the 'Flame of the Eternal Soldier' - you can just about see it in this photo
Nearby is another monument known as 'The Gate Canopy' or The 'Empty Canopy'. It used to house the marble statue of George V, Emperor of India but following the declaration of Independence from Britain the statue was removed in 1947.
Apparently there were plans to install a statue of Gandhi in the Canopy but that hasn't happened (yet).
I'm pleased to say that the air pollution has eased a bit - there have been a few short rain showers and the breeze has picked up so the air is clearing. Many tourists are wandering round wearing face masks but I don't think the conditions really warrant that unless, of course, they have breathing/health issues.
We are staying at CP Villa, a villa with 3 guest rooms in a leafy suburban area in Gole Market which is a great location in Delhi being very quiet yet 5 minutes walk to some decent restaurants and 15 minutes walk to Connaught Place which is an important shopping/meeting hub - a little like Bluewater I guess.
What appealed to me about this place is that each room has its own small garden/patio area so it has a nice spacious feel to it.
We see lots of tiny squirrels here - very similar to the 'chipmunks' we get in Fuerteventura which are really Barbary Ground Squirrels - the main difference being these Indian ones climb and the Fuerte ones don't.
Our room was previously occupied by the family's guru so is said to be 'spiritally charged' … hoping for great things then!
We got a Tuk Tuk to Ugrasen Ki Baoli which is a stepwell (water temple/reservoir). David has always been fascinated with stepwells and this one is quite impressive with 108 steps down to the lowest level - its a protected heritage site now
From the stepwell we set off to find the India Gate. On the way we spotted this on a wall and as I was photographing it a very nice man passing by explained that the symbols were put there by a family moving into a new house to bring them good luck
India Gate is set in a large park area and is a popular with locals and tourists alike. There are lots of food and 'tat' vendors which is inevitable given the numbers of visitors the Gate attracts.
Once called the 'All India War Memorial, the India Gate was built in 1931 and inspired in design by the Arc de Triomphe. It is built of yellow and red sandstone and granite and has the names of more than 13,000 servicemen's names, including soldiers from the UK who died in WW1.
Apparently there were plans to install a statue of Gandhi in the Canopy but that hasn't happened (yet).
We love to try Street Food and have found on previous visits to India its a good idea to book an organised tour as the Guide can explain the various dishes and how to eat them!
This one started at 5pm with us meeting our Guide/group at Connaught Place which is one of the largest commercial centres in the region. It was named after Victoria & Albert's 7th child, Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught & Strathearn. Construction work began in 1929 and was completed in 1933.
We took the subway to Chandni Chowk (moonlit market) the largest wholesale market in India.
I took a photo of the subway map and was then told photography is not permitted. Security is very strict here and we all had to go through body scanners before being allowed into the station - it must cause havoc in rush hour I'd think.
Next up was aloo chaat (fried cubed potatoes with a spicy chaat masala) and jalebi a dessert which isn't to my taste (too sweet for me) they are pretzel shaped sweets made from deep fried flour/dough and coated in honey or sugar and rosewater.
Aloo Chat being cooked
and finally to a dessert place where we had Indian rice pudding and Lassi (kind of yoghurt/milkshake).
It was difficult to take photos here, the light was poor and the streets were so busy …
and a few 'people' shots taken when we were out and about - these were taken near the India Gate
This one started at 5pm with us meeting our Guide/group at Connaught Place which is one of the largest commercial centres in the region. It was named after Victoria & Albert's 7th child, Prince Arthur, 1st Duke of Connaught & Strathearn. Construction work began in 1929 and was completed in 1933.
We took the subway to Chandni Chowk (moonlit market) the largest wholesale market in India.
I took a photo of the subway map and was then told photography is not permitted. Security is very strict here and we all had to go through body scanners before being allowed into the station - it must cause havoc in rush hour I'd think.
Our first food tasting was dahi bhalla (lentil balls in yoghurt flavoured with spices and Tamarind - absolutely delicious). I think I look as bad as I felt in this photo (!)
Aloo Chat being cooked
We then tried chole bhature (chole is a spicy curry made with chickpeas and bhature is an Indian Flatbread), again fabulous.
We carried on to a chicken shop serving nothing but crispy fried chicken coated in wonderful spices (Colonel Sanders eat your heart out)!
I have to say I was feeling very under the weather with this cold and I had a pretty violent headache so the 4 hour tour was quite tortuous. We were a small group, just David and myself and a couple of lovely guys, Pash and Adam, so I was trying very hard not to be a party pooper but would rather have been tucked up in bed. However, the places that our Guide, Stanley (yes really) took us to were old established businesses that have been specialising in these dishes for decades and are extremely popular as was evidenced by the queues at each one.
We walked between most of these places but then shared a rickshaw to get to Khari Baoli, India's largest wholesale spice market - the streets were manic and noisy.
and a few 'people' shots taken when we were out and about - these were taken near the India Gate
The stepwell is an amazing structure and the Street food looks delicious. Hope you feel better soon Sue xx
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