Our host Avnish, who owns the guesthouse we are in, today took us for his tour of "Hidden Delhi", which took us into Old Delhi. This is the crowded maze of streets inside what was once the walled city, where we experienced a little of the traditional side of India you might see in movies and documentaries.
This morning the pollution was particulary bad so Avnish started the outing a little later than planned to give the air time to clear. Even so the air was thick, so as he drove us much of the commentary was along the lines of
"To your right you would normally be able to see (name of monument)...".
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| Morning ablutions beside the road |
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| Roses for sale |
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| Ox power |
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| Man power |
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| Builders and plumbers etc. waiting for someone to hire them |
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| Open air ironing service, using a charcoal-powered iron! |
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| We travelled by rickshaw - here following Kevin and Linda |
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| Our lunch being cooked. Deep-fried pastry bagel things, dipped in syrup! |
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| Open-air laundry service - washing pit. |
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| Drying lines alongside the road. |
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| Possibly non-compliant mains wiring |
We rode in three rickshaws through narrow crowded streets filled with traffic and various animals all jostling for position, and some quite rough potholes to jar our bones. Avnish took us to a little eatery somewhere in there for lunch, where we could see our food being cooked on the street frontage, and it was quite clean and freshly painted inside. We are all eating cautiously and waiting to be struck down by "Delhi belly", so every new food is eyed with suspicion. So far we are all unscathed!
This area was once quite wealthy, and there are the run-down remains of fine houses. Avnish showed us one he had tried to buy, with the idea of restoring it and providing accommodation right in the old city. The deal fell through.
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| The house Avnish tried to buy |
