Catching up in Delhi....

Sept. 27. Breakfast and the a taxi, bags thrown on top luggage rack, to Victoria Terminus, Sleeper train to Aurangabad, arrived 11 pm. Driver waiting.

Sept 28. Tourist office in hotel made reservations to fly to Delhi on Jet Lite, good for us because India Airlines just went on strike cancelling all flights from Delhi. Hired a driver to take us to Daultabad Fort & Ellora caves, I hope I can send some pictures but they won’t do them justice. Returned for dinner in the hotel restaurant, dark and quiet, we were the only ones in the place, it looked a little sketchy at first and we cautiously ordered from the only menu in the place. What a treat, the best sweet corn soup in the world, garlic nan, tandori chicken, chicken kentuki and iced Kingfisher beer. All served to us by 2 guys lurking around our table.

Sept 29. Decided not to do the 3 hr. one way drive to Ajunta caves, instead visited Panchakki (water wheel/pools. Ghrishneshwar Temple (Jyotirlinga Shiva Temple), Bibi-Ka-Maqbara (Mini Taj Mahal). Aurangabad is a really Indian town, very dusty, dry but not as uncomfortable as Mumbai. No high-rise buildings and no actual downtown area.

Sept 30. Up early and to the airport, modern, clean, huge for the amount of people there. Jet Lite flight to Delhi took 2 hrs. No driver waiting for us, so a pstood in line and pre-paid for a cab. A little confusion waiting at curbside then finally a driver who spoke English gave us another wild taxi ride to the Hotel Grand Godwin, (Arakashan Rd., Ram nagar, Pahargani 91-11-23546891). The confusion and chaotic scenes of the streets gave away to the quiet, air conditioned lobby. Water on a silver tray while we checked-in hit the spot. The circular stairway, marble floors, Mahogany doors and beautiful jeweled miniature paintings on the wall; all were a surprise for $25 a night each.

Oct 1. To the Red Fort in the morning, impressive outer walls but signs of ageing and lack of upkeep. An aging palace and royal gardens within, at one time housed the Peacock throne which we saw in Teheran in 1978. Walked down Chandni Chowk street, what once must have been an easy going avenue is now a scene to behold: Sikhs carrying swords, knives and spears walking in the neighborhood of a temple. A gaggle of cycle rickshaws with a large blue box instead of a seat, on the side is painted Bishop Church School. Six children inside the boxes with their schoolbags thrown on top. Bullock carts unloading grain and flour. All of this with crumbling British landmark buildings peeking through the noise and moving flow of traffic and humans.

Oct 2. Mahatma’s birthday today, a national holiday. So when we arrived at the Gandhi museum we discovered that the gates were robed in garlands and closed! As were the museums, so much for our culture day, at least the traffic was a little subdued.
Tomorrow we are catching a train and then bus to Shimla, it’s the high season there and we had to call 4-5 places before finding a room. It’s at the top of the town which is on the side of a hill, the walk up will be interesting but the view should be great, I’ll let you know.