DELHI - NEW AND OLD

Guess which city in India is the most crowded, polluted, busy, and has the most traffic? If you guessed correctly, you would know it is Delhi. The first thing you need to know about Delhi is that there is an Old Delhi and a New Delhi. The second thing you need to know is that you only need one minute in Delhi. It is polluted, busy and all the other stuff I said up there at the top. We all got colds in Delhi and all of the pollution can really trigger up your allergies. There are a lot of beggars, poor people, and it is kind of unsanitary. To prove it, we saw a little girl peeing on the sidewalk at a national sight!!!! And to think that everybody has mobile phones!! Speaking of national sights we had better move on to that before I give out to much information.

In one of the days that we did sight seeing, we had a driver that took us around. We first went to a beautiful Hindu Temple. Most of India is Hindu so there are a lot temples, but we went to a more well known one. Hindu seems like a very interesting religion. The Hindu people worship over three million gods and goddesses!!!!! You have to take off your shoes to go into the temple but the stone feels good against your feet. The Hindu's worship idols but there were only idols of the more important gods and goddesses. The idols are very well dressed and are very fancy. The gods and goddesses sometimes have multiple arms or blue skin!!! At each idol shrine, you get a red dot on your forehead for good luck. If you are married you get a dot and a line.

The next place we went was Humayun's tomb. Humayun was an Afghani king that ruled over India at one time. When he died, his wife built this amazingly huge tomb that was the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. Actually, it was Humayun's grandson who built the Taj Mahal when his wife died. Humayun's Tomb looks exactly like the Taj Mahal except that the Taj was made all out of marble and the tomb is made out of stone, and the tomb is not as touristed as the Taj Mahal.


We then went to see the government buildings and the president's house. In India, there is a president and prime minister. Right across from the buildings there was the India Gate. The India Gate is a war memorial. There is writing in the inside of the bend in the arch and an eternal flame. This is where we saw the little girl peeing on the sidewalk.


The next day we went to the Red Fort. The Red Fort is basically a castle made out of red sandstone. It had just became a tourist attraction in 2003 so it is not one of the older attractions. We saw a public complaints hall where the king listened to complaints of the public. There are waterways all over the grounds and lots of pretty gardens. Unfortunately, we were wearing shorts that day and Indians keep their legs covered so we got a lot of stares and that was uncomfortable.


There are two main outfits for women in India - punjabis and sarees. Yes, the word saree is actually the correct Indian spelling (not sari). A punjabi is a scarf, pants, and long shirt. A saree is a piece of cloth that you wrap around yourself. Avocet and I both got punjabis that fit us.

The traffic is terrible in both parts of Delhi. There are not enough traffic lights. Everyone crisscrosses around each other and there are more than cars and trucks on the road. There is also something called a tuk tuk. A tuk tuk is a like a scooter but has three wheels and has the handlebars of a motorcycle. There are also rickshaws that are bikes with carriages on the back. New Delhi is an amazing place but good for only one day. Our whole family hated Delhi. It is very overwhelming, but a place you have to see.