India Day 5

This morning we were out of the hotel by 8:30 and off to do a bit of sightseeing in Delhi. The weather is invariably warm and muggy and the smog is intense. I was thinking that something was wrong with with either my camera or my camera card because the pictures are all a little "faded", this morning scene is not  rays of sunshine as the sun rises to beautify another day....it's rays of smog. 

Anyhow, what do you do? Breath deep, hope for the best and carry on. 

We went to the Jama Masjid mosque this morning, the largest in India. Its marble and red sandstone and holds 25,000 people. It is to Muslims what Jerusalem is to Christians. We had to make sure we had no food or gum, and they supplied us with gowns to cover shoulders and legs, both men and women, and they were very strict about it. One fellow had super long legs and they were in quite a dither trying to find a gown long enough to hide his hideous, white. North American calves!

Below, prayer mats being laid out

In this picture, notice the women in long gowns, they are other tourists in the gowns they supplied, we had to have all our skin covered. The men were washing face, hands and feet in preparation of prayer. I highly enjoyed the experience as I doubt I'll ever get the chance to go into a Muslim mosque again.

Me outside the mosque overlooking part of Old Delhi.

Next we went to the Raj Ghat, which is Gandhi's cremation place. It was a nice garden and memorial, but what is most memorable are the bathrooms.....filthiest I have ever seen, and I've travelled to some pretty dicey places. It was also very smoggy. Poor Gandhi, he would be so disappointed. 

Then we moved onwards to the India Gate, the traffic here is unbelievable, and I mean really unbelievable. Bumper-to-bumper means literally that.

The do, however, have what I assume to be a high-tech hydro electric system. I say this because I've never quite seen a system like this, it includes monkeys running across and over they wires, screeching and pooping as they run. This is where we outsource?

Old Delhi was pretty amazing. The streets are a winding maze of confusion, and if one wandered off, chances are good one would never be seen again. 

Headed off to the India Gate next, a monument similar to others in almost every country, an eternal flame and a memorial to soldiers who died in war. It was huge and impressive, but not my kind of sightseeing. There were a lot of soldier there though, it's a place prone to protests.

I'll finish the rest of day 5 shortly....gotta run! The pool is calling.