New Dehli tour

I went for an early morning swim. Came back in time for the 730 alarm call. Showered and dressed and then went for breakfast. Very nice buffet breakfast with nice things to eat. Had oats, fruit and pancakes.

We left at 0900. Coach took us to Chandni Chowk where we walked up the street, through a small side street and up to the Mosque. I had worn my abeya. I didn’t have to pay for the gown fee.

We walked around mosque. It was hot. There were people wanting to take photos with us which seemed a bit odd. I wondered if it was connected with face recognition and scamming.

Anyway. We got back on bus and headed for cremation place of Ghandi. Again you have to take your shoes off. Shakeel guarded the shoes. As we were leaving for the toilets across the road, we came across a demonstration. Two of our party got stuck in the memorial garden as the guards shut the gates. Shakeel had to get them out. He was a bit worried about how this would unfold. He mentioned several times about peaceful demos getting dangerous.

Back on the bus and we had a drive around past the India gate and the presidents buildings. However we couldn’t have the exact route we were going to have because the police kept redirecting us.

Eventually we arrived at the lunch place. A set menu with Dahl, mixed veg and chicken. Followed by Kulfi.

Back on the bus and then to a tower. We had some free time around the tower. There was an original mosque, a tomb and an iron tower made in the 4th century. Shakeel made the point that we had obviously lost the knowledge on how it was done not long after.

Bus back to hotel. We had to get our bags outside the doors for 615 where they would go on to Jaipur.

Sat for a while reading and writing.

Went down for dinner and met Ailsa by the lift. The couple from Bath joined us in the lift and we persuaded Ailsa to come for a drink instead of going back up to her room. We all had a drink in the bar before heading in for dinner. This time we sat with Aisling and the two ladies from Cardiff.

We settled our bill before going to bed. There were a lot of taxes and service charges.