Thu 29th September, 2005

So we flew back to Delhi from Leh Ladakh after approximately 3 weeks at altitude. I for one was most delighted as I immediately began to feel better 
with more oxygen available in the air!!
We had a heavy day on arrival as we had bikes to collect from left luggage in Delhi international airport, a bag of stuff at a hotel near the airport to 
collect then finding and booking into a hotel in Old Delhi. We planned to stop somewhere near the red fort as Paul hadn't yet visited there, so we chose the gold regency on price and location. Of course our taxi driver took us somewhere completely different to a hotel where he could pick up a commission, but when he realised we meant what we said he continued to the Gold Regency. 
The location was in my opinion perfect!!! slap bang in the busiest bazaar in Old Delhi where the street is jam packed all day long with vendors flogging wares of every imaginable thing, from incense to Idlis, from bags to bananas, from saris to socks and from tack to trash, and it takes hours just to walk a hundred yards because there is so much to see. Not to mention, avoiding falling into the putrid water channels down the side of the streets, side stepping the fried pakora stalls, cycle rickshaws and tuk tuks and avoiding the sacred cows.

Its the thing in this area as a tourist, to wear the salwar khameeze - trousers and shirt in cotton, to show your fully in the swing of the indian culture, needless to say Paul and I don't quite hold with that looking cool culture. Its also a mark of your tolerance and appreciation of the faith if you can also wear the red spot on your forehead!!!

Our hotel was also just 5 minutes from the main station and a 70 rupee tuk tuk ride to the red fort. we are not happy to take cycle rickshaws as we are far 
too heavy and feel guilty about the cyclist working so hard.

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Fri 30th September, 2005

Next day we tripped to the Red Fort and did the tourist bit. Out side we met a little girl flogging homemade fans. Very useful since it was steaming hot at midday. The Indian economy is growing at over 8% per annum and we know why.the little girl with no shoes was selling fans at 50 rupees, I bartered with her for some ten minutes but she would not accept less than 35 rupees.

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Rita's summary for Delhi

So we flew back to Delhi from Leh Ladakh after approximately 3 weeks at altitude. I for one was most delighted as I immediately began to feel better with more oxygen available in the air!! We had a heavy day on arrival as we had bikes to collect from left luggage in Delhi international airport, a bag of stuff at a hotel near the airport to collect then finding and booking into a hotel in Old Delhi. We planned to stop somewhere near the red fort as Paul hadn't yet visited there, so we chose the gold regency on price and location. Of course our taxi driver took us somewhere completely different to a hotel where he could pick up a commission, but when he realised we meant what we said he continued to the Gold Regency. The location was in my opinion perfect!!! Slap bang in the busiest bazaar in Old Delhi where the street is jam packed all day long with vendors flogging wares of every imaginable thing, from incense to Idlis, from bags to bananas, from sarees to socks and from tack to trash, and it takes hours just to walk a hundred yards because there is so much to see. Not to mention, avoiding falling into the putrid water channels down the side of the streets, side stepping the fried pakora stalls, cycle rickshaws and tuk tuks and avoiding the sacred cows.

Its the thing in this area as a tourist, to wear the salwar khameeze - trousers and shirt in cotton, to show your fully in the swing of the Indian culture, needless to say Paul and I don't quite hold with that looking cool culture. It's also a mark of your tolerance and appreciation of the faith if you can also wear the red spot on your forehead!!!

Our hotel was also just 5 minutes from the main station and a 70 rupee auto-rickshaw ride to the red fort. We are not happy to take cycle rickshaws as we are far too heavy and feel guilty about the cyclist working so hard

Next day we tripped to the Red Fort and did the tourist bit. Out side we met a little girl flogging homemade fans. Very useful since it was steaming hot at midday. The Indian economy is growing at over 8% per annum and we know why. The little girl with no shoes was selling fans at 50 rupees, I bartered with her for some ten minutes but she would not accept less than 35 rupees.

Back to Itinerary