Feb 15: Quttab Minar, Lotus B'hai Temple and finger food

A long day but not so frenetic, a lot to do with the fact that the drive between sites is so long in Delhi traffic.  Every day is rush hour, all day.  Bumper to bumper, beeping horns, dust and just plain chaos.  The first day we were astounded by it all, but only 24 hours later we take it for granted.  We've stopped taking photos and just sit back calmly watching it all as if it's on a tv screen with just the occasional comment like, how many people are fitting into that tuck tuk (the law says a limit of 3, but just like those old Benny Hill movies, people just keep piling in!  Or noting the pigs or goats that appear on the side of a major ring road!  Occasionally at a traffic light children will tap at the window begging for food or money, or try to sell a balloon.  Our Guide is scornful of them because education is free, they should be at school, but their ignorant uneducated parents don't send them.

We start our day at the archaeological site of Quttab Minar, with its tower that began life in the 4th Century, then added to by successive moguls.  An optical illusion makes it appear to be leaning, so it is often referred to as the leaning tower of Delhi.  There is an extensive area of ruins surprisingly well preserved in this chaos of Delhi.  We have been here before, but forgotten all the fine details of the carvings, so it was good to be back.

From there to the Baha'i Lotus Temple - a modern wonder that contrasts with what we've seen up to now.

But time is marching on and we're hungry for lunch.  To a food market where our GUIDE Vik, who is a keen cook, introduces us to his favourite Rajasthan staple food.  We are served a selection of vegetarian curries, chutneys and pickles, along with rice, meal balls, and naan bread.  What we had to do was break it all up, squish it all together with our fingers in the metal tray, then shovel into our mouths with our fingers.

Didn't manage it too well I'm afraid, and ended up using spoons.  Elspeth would have made a much better job of it!  It was delicious though - a bit spicey but manageable.

Time left for a spot of shopping (no oligation of ... they say) and we feel compelled out of the goodness of our hearts to contribute to their economy.

All too soon our final day here is coming to a close and we must inch our way back to the hotel through the traffic.

For our final meal we eat at the top 5 star hotel in Delhi, "Where Heads of State Choose to Stay".

Hotel   .?? with its impressive foyer -

Very swish, pretty expensive, but quite an experience.  It took us an hour to drive there in rush hour traffic, and we were'nt sure it was going to be worth the effort at the end of a long day.  On reflection though, it completed a rounded experience of modern Delhi.  Old and new, rich and poor, we've had a taste of it all.