We spent a quick couple days in Delhi. I started with a long-awaited trip to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. I was walking through the maze of a bazaar that surrounds the mosque when I saw a turkey wandering around too. I briefly considered asking the cost to prepare it for my Thanksgiving dinner before I grasped the enormity of the task of making my request understandable to non-Thanksgiving celebrators.
I gave up and instead headed towards KFC in the center of New Delhi for the next best thing. There I ran into a couple Americans celebrating as well. Afterwards, I picked up the suits that I had tailored--looking like a million bucks now costs under 200. Just as it was getting dark I headed towards the Dargah near the Nizammudin station for some qawwali music (sufi devotional singing). I only caught a couple minutes of it before the musicians packed up and prepared for the evening prayers. Walking around the tight alleyways among hundreds of people praying, eating, and socializing was an amazing experience though. For the evening I met with a friend we met on the way to Everest Base camp and checked out Delhi’s night life.
Katie met up with me the next day after having some time off in Rishikesh, and we took some time to explore Old Delhi before we left. and we stopped by Haldiram’s restaurant and sweet shop. They served some of the best lunch platters (thalis) as well as Indian sweets, but for both Katie and me, they are a taste that we have yet to acquire. Haldiram’s also claims to have branches in California, so we’d like to see what it’s like back in the States.
With a half an hour to spare before our train I sprinted along the main street to check out the famous spice market. It’s an incredible assault on all the senses, and much more industrialized than I expected. Instead of handfuls of spiced traded, shop owners were trading in entire sacks of dried chilies and turmeric. I was dodging porters, handcarts, and trucks rather than other spice shoppers. Once, I was practically hit in the face by a strong waft of cardamom, though I never managed to locate its source. Everybody was hacking and coughing in the chili hallway because of the irritating fumes.
We took a long afternoon train to Ajmer and hopped onto a bus to Pushkar, where Brahma dropped a lotus flower and produced a nice lake. The lake is now surrounded by hotels, temples, a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere, and hippies. Great for reading. It also makes for great sunset pictures, as the day’s last rays dance on beautiful Mughal architecture.
Aside from that, it’s not a particulary enthralling town. Once we had picked over the handicrafts and imbibed at all of the major coffee bars, we felt the need to move on. They did have a particularly good lassi/smoothie place that made a killer muesli fruit salad lassi in the morning.
Old Delhi is dwarfed below the Friday Mosque
I gave up and instead headed towards KFC in the center of New Delhi for the next best thing. There I ran into a couple Americans celebrating as well. Afterwards, I picked up the suits that I had tailored--looking like a million bucks now costs under 200. Just as it was getting dark I headed towards the Dargah near the Nizammudin station for some qawwali music (sufi devotional singing). I only caught a couple minutes of it before the musicians packed up and prepared for the evening prayers. Walking around the tight alleyways among hundreds of people praying, eating, and socializing was an amazing experience though. For the evening I met with a friend we met on the way to Everest Base camp and checked out Delhi’s night life.
Hubbub at the Dargah
Katie met up with me the next day after having some time off in Rishikesh, and we took some time to explore Old Delhi before we left. and we stopped by Haldiram’s restaurant and sweet shop. They served some of the best lunch platters (thalis) as well as Indian sweets, but for both Katie and me, they are a taste that we have yet to acquire. Haldiram’s also claims to have branches in California, so we’d like to see what it’s like back in the States.
With a half an hour to spare before our train I sprinted along the main street to check out the famous spice market. It’s an incredible assault on all the senses, and much more industrialized than I expected. Instead of handfuls of spiced traded, shop owners were trading in entire sacks of dried chilies and turmeric. I was dodging porters, handcarts, and trucks rather than other spice shoppers. Once, I was practically hit in the face by a strong waft of cardamom, though I never managed to locate its source. Everybody was hacking and coughing in the chili hallway because of the irritating fumes.
We took a long afternoon train to Ajmer and hopped onto a bus to Pushkar, where Brahma dropped a lotus flower and produced a nice lake. The lake is now surrounded by hotels, temples, a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere, and hippies. Great for reading. It also makes for great sunset pictures, as the day’s last rays dance on beautiful Mughal architecture.
Aside from that, it’s not a particulary enthralling town. Once we had picked over the handicrafts and imbibed at all of the major coffee bars, we felt the need to move on. They did have a particularly good lassi/smoothie place that made a killer muesli fruit salad lassi in the morning.
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