Our last day in Delhi was set for a Delhi tour. I had spoken with Asif and he claimed ignorance of any request I had made for a guide. After some discussion, he said a guide would not be needed and I should just visit sites on my own. He promised to brief the driver on a series of locations and I reluctantly agreed. In the end, all I got from Asif was a car and driver – at a very expensive price. I could have arranged my own car and driver for a fraction of the price. Live and learn. The driver arrived, as arranged at 9:30 Am, but it was almost 10 by the time we headed out. We started in Chandini Chowk, Old Delhi.
The driver dropped us off outside Red Fort and suggested we get a rickshaw to take us into the tiny lanes of Old Delhi. As soon as we got off, we were approached by a guy who offered to have a cycle rickshaw take us on an hour’s tour through Chandini Chowk, including stops at Jama Masjid and anywhere else we pleased. I was about to negotiate, when he said it would be Rs. 200 for the two of us. It seemed almost cruel to negotiate anything less than that and I agreed. A cycle rickshaw driver materialized and we climbed in. The poor guy drove us through the smallest lanes packed with traffic on both sides. Filling every bit of road space were hand-drawn carts, other rickshaws, scooters, motorcycles, and even trucks. We rode through parantheywala gully, spice market, stopped at a Jain temple, and more before stopping at the spectacular Jama Masjid. We walked around Jama Masjid in the blazing heat. It was so hot that it was hard to even walk on the red sandstones. We hopped back on to the rickshaw and almost an hour and half later, found ourselves back at the start. I really enjoyed this amazing ride through Old Delhi – something I had never done before and gladly gave the guy his Rs. 200 and a Rs. 50 tip.
We got back into the car and decided it was too hot (and late) to go into Red Fort. Instead, we drove straight to Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation ground. After doing a quick tour of that place, we drove through Lutyen’s Delhi and stopped at India Gate for a few minutes before driving around to Rashtrapati Bhavan (the President’s Residence). It was already after 2 PM when we stopped at The Imperial Hotel in Janpath for lunch. We had heard of the place through Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Escapes” show when he visited Delhi. The place is absolutely incredible and excessively luxurious. The Silk Route Restaurant was brilliantly decorated and I hope I can stay at the hotel some day. We ordered a Sri Lankan chicken dish and a Malabar fish curry with rice and Malabar Parantha. Both dishes were delicious and made the high price tag seem worthwhile. This is an expensive restaurant even by US standards, but the ambience is quite exceptional. I would strongly recommend it for a fine dining experience in Dehi.
After lunch, we headed to Lodhi Gardens. The gardens are quite different from what I remember and quite lush and beautiful now. There are beautiful paved paths leading to different tombs. The tombs themselves seem to be well restored and it is another place that is worth revisiting in cooler weather. We then headed to Humayun’s tomb which is nothing like I remember. The restoration of this tomb is absolutely spectacular. It cost us all of Rs. 20 to enter the grounds and it was breathtaking to see the tomb and its grounds. Again, I’m sure we would have lingered much longer had it not been for the heat. We met Rahul V for a cup of coffee after the tomb and I returned his phone to him. He had been kind enough to lend me his mobile phone during my stay and it was a lifesaver.
By the time we got to Deepak’s place, it was 8 PM and we didn’t have that much time to pack and head to the airport. We got to the airport about 10 PM and sailed through check-in and immigration smoothly. On our walk to the gate, I encountered a booth for “Matrix” that was selling sim cards for travel to various countries along with short-term data/call plans. I ended up buying a sim and plan for the five days in France and I crossed my fingers that this would work more smoothly than the adventure with getting a sim in Delhi.
Our flight departed on time and I was asleep before the wheels left the ground.
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