VADOULOU

What a day! We were up & breakfasted early ready to meet our guide, Raj. He arrived a little bit late but off we went with Vikram straight to the Friday Mosque. It is in Old Delhi & is the biggest mosque in Asia & can accommodate over 20,000 people praying. As always we had to leave our shoes outside & I was provided with a floor length gown with long sleeves. Bizarrely, I didn’t need to cover my head. We were both wearing socks but the granite & marble floor is cold underfoot, so I now understand why the people praying usually have a mat. Needless to say, Doug managed to capture my new fashion item!
This mosque was constructed between 1644 & 1658 & is still in use today & the current Imam is a descendant of the Imam from that time. There are certain areas where marble slabs have been placed side by side on the floor. They are decorated with inlay & they each represent a space for one person to pray, facing west to Mecca.
From there we took a walk around the surrounding market area of Old Delhi. We were there just as trading was beginning but more importantly it was clean up time. Raj explained the system to us—-basically everything from the shops is chucked out onto the street. Someone is responsible for clearing a certain section of street & piling everything together. Someone else collects that pile & moves it to another larger one & so it goes on until the rubbish is completely cleared. The streets are so narrow & congested it is hard to see how it could be done any other way. Without the explanation it would have seemed very haphazard, but in fact it was very organised & people are being gainfully employed.
Again, we couldn’t resist taking photos of overhead wires–both telephone & electricity. We took a rickshaw back to the car & immediately became guilty of travelling against the flow of traffic! Our driver had to work very hard— no wonder he was thin. I have to say that Doug wasn’t built for vehicles like that.
We went to see the site of Gandhi’s funeral pyre, with those of Nehru, Indira Gandhi & her son Rajiv close by.
We also saw a building not dissimilar in style from the Taj Mahal but constructed 80 yrs earlier. This time by a Queen as a memorial for her husband. Some say that this was the inspiration for the Taj itself but it is worth noting how building techniques had moved on in those 80 years.
New Delhi has to be seen to be believed. It is so different with wide boulevards & lots of trees. The Parliament building are fantastic & the India Gate an impressive edifice. It was a bit foggy today so we didn’t have the view from Parliament down to the India Gate but think of The Mall in London or Champs Élysées in Paris & just double it in width & length & then take away all the buildings in between & it gives you some idea of the scale. New Delhi was designed by Lutyens & I can only imagine what fun he had with a greenfield site (I think they did some slum clearance first) . He did a brilliant job & it made it all the more spectacular for us by being so unexpected.
After lunch we went to another UNESCO site ( there are a huge number in India & several in Delhi) called The Qutub Minar. This in some ways for me was the most amazing. It is a tower 75 metres high, constructed in 1199. Could this be the 1st skyscraper? It’s worth noting that the site of the tower & the surrounding area had been inhabited for at least 5000 years prior to 1199.
At all the ancient buildings today we have seen fabulous examples of carving, inlay work & construction skills, as well as the huge melange of cultures over the centuries—Mogul & Hindu & latterly European.
A long day but what a day.
Photos later when my phone has recharged!

We left Agra this morning in the fog & travelled on to Delhi. About 10 km out of Agra we took the new Express Highway & for the first time since arriving in India we just about had the road to ourselves. It is a brand new tolled, 3 lane each side almost European motorway. So we had no cows, camels or vehicles coming towards us. In fact the only animal I saw was a dog but there were plenty of people waiting for the local hourly bus service!! The speed limit is 100kph but Vikram sat in the middle lane at about 90. Several vehicles did pass us but it was very quiet. One Mercedes went hurtling past but we caught up with them in the services . It was obviously one VIP ‘cos he had a driver & 2 heavies, one of whom was toting a sub-machine gun! Probably an important businessman according to Vikram.
We are now installed in our last hotel—The Imperial. It is a beautiful building, both colonial & Art Deco at the same time. We have been upgraded to an Heritage Suite–pictures to follow.
Tomorrow we have a tour with a guide of New Delhi & Delhi, so more to follow tomorrow.

After a slow start this morning we are both feeling much better. I don’t know what the doctor gave us but it certainly proved effective. We took a walk around the hotel around lunchtime & sat by the pool to have some water & a light snack. I think that we have to say that this is one of the best hotels from a design point of view that we have ever stayed in. The use of space & water is incredible. The pool is heated so maybe tomorrow I will get to use it. I should also say that last night the staff were superb, service is definitely part of their ethos. John and Linda told us about the hotel and they didn’t exaggerate.
We met JP, our guide, at 2pm & were whisked off to the Taj in an electric buggy—all of 600m! Again the use of space & materials is to be seen to be believed. You go through an enormous gateway & there it is. I really don’t think that our photos will do it justice but I will post some anyway. The history of the whole thing is amazing—all for the love of a woman who died in childbirth. 22 yrs in the making using marble that had to come 400 km—no mean feat in the early 1600’s. The architect came from Persia & his design was quite revolutionary for the day. There is a minaret at each corner, all built with a 2 degree tilt so that they would fall away from the Taj in the event of an earthquake. JP was very good & didn’t rush us, he just let us absorb the whole thing. We haven’t seen the baby Taj or the fort that was on our original itinerary but nothing can trump THE Taj Mahal.
Photos of the hotel next & then I will post some from my phone of the Taj.