Feb 14: Asphyxiation by spices

We started in at the deep end - straight into Old Delhi.  Got all dressed up to enter Indias largest Mosque, Jama Masjid.

Then a cycle rickshaw ride through Chandni Chowk, the famous old market.  No mean little ride though.  It took one and a half hours, over bone shaking broken paths and roads in an old unsprung solid tyred rickshaw.  Hair raising stuff, battling through tiny lanes and busy roads narrowly missing other vehicles by inches, with horns screeching in my ears continuously.  

We stopped off at the Spice Market area with its intoxicating aromas.  Our guide led us into the labrynth of the major warehouse - up a narrow stairwell jostling labourers with huge sacks of spices on their heads.  The smell of curry spices in that stairwell was causing everyone to cough and sneeze - even the labourers!  From the rooftop we could look down into the old warehouse where people also live, and across the rooftops of Old Delhi.  It was an intoxicating experience.

But after lunch, things were a lot calmer - Ghandis last home - we saw the place he spent his last 144 days, and the spot where he was assisinated.

And finally niches up at Humayuns Tomb, which is a building that inspired the design of the Taj Mahal

The holiday has started with a bang!  A badly written first day - no spare time to sit and contemplate.