Day two: Minarets, mosques and Mughal architecture

( And this is why I can't put photos in the blog! Mr Googleisintent on notletting me insert them the right way around.....and now I don't appear to have any way to even delete them so this one will have to remain! Sorry!)

Anyway.....

Jan and I sprang out of bed (slight exaggeration!) to commence our routine of a walk before breakfast as we have done every trip.These meanders around the back streets of towns and cities have been a wonderful experience and we've learnt a great deal about the surroundings and especially about the people who always seem eager to help. Possibly the sight of two 'mature' women wandering around early in the morning seems a bit strange, so we do get some questioning looks but also a lot of help. This morning we asked the advice of the Reception staff and she suggested we wander around the gardens of our Hotel and the Oberoi Hotel next door as it had a hill and some tranquil gardens.So we did a tour of the Oberoi being welcomed and given 'good mornings' by all of the staff as if we belonged there!

One of the joys of travelling is, of course, the food. Even the breakfast at the Trident creates all sorts of difficult decisions to be made. Should I eat Indian or eggs that you can order any way you choose or freshly made pancakes or pastries of any shape or........ Whilst travelling we always have yoghurt to assist our digestive systems every morning: but here it's set curd, mango yogurt with fresh mango, berry yogurt and best of all: baked yogurt. Delicious. Our brains are exhausted making so many decisions so early in the day!!

Finally we staggered out to our air-conditioned mini van and headed for our first stop - the Qutub Minar. It's a very old 4-5th century Mughal mosque and minaret set in well-tended gardens. (All of the historic sights we've seen have lots of green lawns, stately old trees and neatly-clipped hedges: asign that the Government has realised the importance of restoring and maintaining them - and toget the tourist dollar no doubt).

The Minaret is 74.5 metres tall and towers above the other buildings with each of the five levels added by successive mosque leaders trying to outdo the previous one - some things never change! Raj, the tour guide asked us if we wanted to climb the 379 steps to the top. With some relief for those of us horrified at the thought of so many steps, he quickly added that it was closed. The tragic circumstances that led to the closure was a terrible event when 45 schoolchildren fell to their deaths down the steps. 

We spent a while wandering around looking at the compound of  intricately carved mosque and buildings in the Mughal architectural style and in various states of repair. Much of the carved decoration of many buildings had been covered centuries ago with stucco/cement, which fortunately preserved much of the detail. Now that there has been work to restore the buildings some beautiful carvings have been uncovered. The stone used in many of the walls and buildings was varied in colour from ochre to brown to local white marble and included the pink sandstone known in other parts of India. Some photos would help so I will try!

Lunch was needed after wandering around for hours and climbing quite a few steep stairs, fortunately with handrails!

 We met Neeta and Rachna who along with Ash, set up Destinations Unlimited, the tour company we used on our last trip. Jenny has returned many times to India and become close friends with them, and we were all pleased to catch up with them again at a very pleasant alfresco restaurant called Olive. Predominantly Italian food which was delicious, but in a lovely relaxed courtyard. A welcome rest after tramping around as if it was our first training session to be good tourists. The weather was great as it wasn't too hot and the humidity seemed to be quite low.

Refreshed by lunch we headed off to see another piece of Muslim history, a large tomb built by the wife of Humayun a former Mughal emperor in the 16th Century to house his body. It's a precursor to the Taj Mahal but shares many of its features and was designed by a Persian architect using red sandstone. The building is set in a symmetrical 'charbagh': a Persian-style 'paradise' garden divided into quadrants by water channels and pathways. The buildings are oriented towards Mecca and contain the tombs of Humayan, his wife, daughters and 150 members of the Mughal royal family. The gardens were vast and apparently during Partition were used to accommodate refugees. 

Every time we change location it takes a long time because of the constant heavy traffic. Sometimes it feels as if we've gone a few kilometres but taken hours! However I do find it endlessly fascinating to watch the city go by! 

Absorbing hisory can be tiring and we all seemed to be suffering from some jet lag, although India is not so far away.

We were happy to return to the peace and quiet of The Trident and sit in the alfresco bar enjoying the mild temperature and have something to eat.

It was early to bed to prepare ourselves for the onslaught of Old Delhi and the Spice market.

your weary correspondent 

Dianne

Getting there and started: Melbourne to Delhi

After a long day of travelling -  flights to Singapore and then Delhi - we arrived safely and jumped in our air-conditioned van to travel from the airport to the Trident Hotel in the midst of cyber city. As the crow flies it's only a few kilometres but, as the complex Delhi roadways go, you feel as if you're going around in circles along every type of road possible and passing the same landmarks a few times but from a slightly different angle! We arrived tired but fascinated by the contrasts of this huge metropolis.

After passing rows of enormous multistorey shiny towers dedicated to anything finance,we finally arrived at the oasis in the middle of cybercity: the Trident Hotel. We've been here before and it still amazes me that in the centre of a city of 28 million people it is so quiet and green and has an atmosphere of calm. Must be due to the simplicity of the architecture and the design of the pools and gardens.

But of course technology proves to be a challenge: this time my esim worked like a dream but getting attached to the wifi, when everyone else had no problem, resulted in me meeting the IT guy the next morning who had to give me a special password !!

Aah the joys of stayin connected whilst travelling!

More importantly Kerryn had purchased and wrapped two bottles of gin in swaddling like a baby and they arrived safely too! We feel we may have underestimated the quantity we will need for three weeks and six people, but India does have lots of 'Wine and Beer' stores and tonic is freely available. Perhaps one of the better results from English domination!

Exhausted we collapsed into bed ready to fire up our travelling selves in the morning.

your happy-to-finally-be-here corrspondent

Dianne

Are we there yet??

 A week out from heading off it's the usual flurry or WhatsApp messages, phone calls and endless discussions about exactly what we should bring .....and what to leave behind!

We are a group of 6 'mature' Australian women determined to keep travelling despite the challenges of aging gracefully. We've travelled together many times now and have learnt to cope with everyone's idiosyncrasies (although I have none of course!).

So this time it's India, a country five of us have visited before. We have three weeks to explore two of the largest cities, Delhi and Kolkata, visit the ancient city of Varanasi and admire the temples of Khajuraho before heading to the cool of the tea mountains in Darjeeling.

Fortunately, we all finally conquered the task of obtaining an e-visa so we don't get returned to Australia from Immigration before we've even started! Getting an acceptable photo of both ourselves and our passports in the right format took some time. But the endless not very subtle questions about any Pakistani blood or connections was irritating. I'm not sure how many times 

The packing challenges include:

How cold is cold in Darjeeling? Difficult to answer as none of the weather services seem to agree! How many jackets and jumpers does one need to pack without weighing down your bag with unnecessary warm weather clothes before heading back to 35 degree heat further south? Tricky!

Who is bringing the Vegemite? Last trip I brought a squeezy tube and it was very well-used .....especially when someone was not feeling 100%. So Kerryn very kindly bought us all a tube, but 6 tubes of Vegemite is definitely overcatering as we only need one!

The necessity for many G&Ts is unquestionable in the heat, so someone has to be allocated the significant responsibility of bringing a tiny chopping board and a very sharp knife for cutting limes: essential for a great G&T. Then there is the question of the volume of gin we will drink at our nightly drinks event. Very challenging mathematical calculations have finally resulted in deciding on two bottles (with Indian Wine Stores as a default!).

Finally, we are all attempting to stay healthy! After last year when Helen became ill a few days before we left and missed the entire trip, we are all being super vigilant about who we are associating with. Grandchildren are to be avoided where possible and keeping our distance, as advised in COVID times, is our motto at the moment.

So, it's time to pack the essential items of clothing and then take half of them out so you have space for treasures you might buy......!

India here we come!

Your can't -wait -to -be there correspondent

Dianne