ay of our arrival, Julia was ready to pass out for the day. However, we only had 2 weeks in India and Heather and I were ready to see the city ! Wayne took us out into Old Delhi. You couldn't get a better tour guide. He had everything planned out for us to see the parts of Delhi that is in the guide books, but not really the places for tourists. The places that the locals use everyday to buy their goods. And that's what we came to Delhi to see.We paid a tuk-tuk driver 50rs to take us to the Secretariat Metro station. What is a Tuk-Tuk ? It's a covered auto-rickshaw...... ? It's a motorcycles with a back bench and 3 wheels. Okay- here's a picture. It's one of the cheapest modes of transportation - just as long as it's not raining. Along the way we went past the Raj Path and the Parliament / Presidential grounds. The Tuk-Tuk are great for the views.
The Metros are relatively new - and built for the recent Commonwealth Games that were held in September and really cheap; around 10Rs one-way. They are very crowded. You usually barely have enough room to get on and you have to fight your way to get off. You are packed body-to-body like sardines. It's not always like that. There were special "Ladies Only" cars - wonder why - and the men stayed out of them.
Wayne had a great plan to get us out into the Old Delhi bazaars. We got off the Chawri
Bazaar stop and hit the pavement. With all of the rickshaws, tuk-tuks, people and animals there isn't a whole lot of room to move. People just flow along the shops. This area of Old Delhi is broken down in to different districts - or bazaars. And it forms somewhat of a triangle with the Chawri Bazaar Metro, Red Fort and the Chandni Chowk Metro. There are the wide roads - Chandni Chowk and Chandni Bazaar Rd where you can fit people and rickshaws and tuk-tuks; Then there are narrower side street where the buildings get closer together, people really cramp in, motorcycles are constantly honking to get people out of the way; Then there are the
ve
ry small alleyways the would lead into strange courtyards and dead-ends. This was a lot of fun, and a bit scary at times, but Joshua held up like a trouper and never ventured away from arms length. There are rumors that children have become lost and orphaned in Old Delhi...The Bazaars are streets lined with specialty marketplaces. Chawri Bazaar has paper goods and books, copper and brasswares, and bathroom fixtures. We then turned onto Nai Sarak Marg where books and textbooks and Saris. Saris are traditional Indian wear -
you mostly see women in them. They are draped dresses that can be very basic to extremely elaborate with mirrors and embroidery. When the women entered the shops they would sit down for tea and a sales person would present to them the fabrics that they had available. Shelves were lined with rows of different colors and materials. Some vendors had women packed in their shops desperate to get in, while others were empty... a Sari sale ? We then turned onto a smaller side street that was selling jewelery. Real or costume - I wasn't sure.But then we hit the parade at Chandri Chowk.........
