New Delhi
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Giant statue of Hanuman (the "monkey" god) in Karol Bagh near
our Hotel. New Delhi.
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One of the ubiquitous traffic circles, featuring and old fashioned
(but fairly new) white "Ambassador" car, which I believe in this case
was a police vehicle. Many of them are used as taxis, but mostly for
the government ministers and the big-shot tourists.
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Some of the first cows I saw in India. Unlike most of them, these
were actually in a park (near Karol Bagh, New Delhi), rather than in
the middle of the road... or worse...
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Bird-on-pig. Not a very efficient way of getting around, but better
than flapping your own wings, I guess. And anyway, he's making more
progress than the cow. There are some monkeys in the background, if
you look for them.
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I think this is my cutest monkey photo. Really, though they look
cute, they can be quite mean. Our tour guide Margriet told us about
one previous tour participant who got bit by a monkey and had to keep
stopping for the rest of her tour for rabies shots.
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And then sometimes, they just walk away when you want their photo.
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Street markings in the Devangari script, and a group of pedestrians.
My parents said this was the quietest day they saw in Delhi, because
it was a holiday. (Republic Day.)
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Two photos of a park in the middle of Connaught Place in New Delhi.
Underneath much of the park appeared to be a subway station.
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"Statesman House" near Connaught Place in New Delhi. An example of
some relatively old-looking architecture in the city.
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... right next to some brand new architecture.
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This is as close as we could get to this particular monument, because
most of this part of the city was still cordoned off after the
Republic Day celebrations.
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A tree-lined street in New Delhi, showing a bit of the variety of
transportation alternatives: two auto rickshaws, two cars, a bicycle,
some pedestrians, and a truck in the background.
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The India Gate, a monument to fallen soldiers and India's answer to
France's Arc de Triomphe. It turned out this spot played a pretty
important role in the Bollywood film we saw later in the trip. (If
you zoom in to the full resolution shot, you can actually read the
inscription.)
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We stopped for lunch at the Shangri La Hotel in New Delhi, and while
we were eating, we noticed a fairly large raptor flying pretty nearby.
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The raptor we were watching at the Shangri La Hotel took to flying
overhead -- maybe trying to get someone's leftovers.
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My first bedroom in India, at the Metro Heights Hotel, Karol Bagh,
Delhi.
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The hallway outside my bedroom. The doors were really quite elegant,
as was the clever mechanism they used for saving electricity, which I
first met here. Your room key serves as the master switch for the
entire room. When you arrive, you must place the key in a special
receptacle on the wall to get any power. When you leave, you can't
lock your room without turning the lights out.
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On to the "real" tour -- we are being taken from place to place in
Delhi in a taxi. Unfortunately, when they dropped us at "the temple"
to look around, they weren't too specific on which one we should look
at. This turns out to be the "wrong" temple, but it's a pretty
building anyway.
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A statue or "idol" from the same temple -- I can't quite make out the
Devangari below, though it looks like he's "Ramar..." something. Also
note the heavy use of swastikas in the ornamentation. My mother, who
is German, was quited offended by this until we explained that the
symbol was in use in India for millenia before the Third Reich
co-opted it because of its "Aryan" association. (Aryan is the name of
the tribes who came to India 4000 years ago, and whose language
eventually evolved into both Sanskrit in India and most of the modern
European languages. The web indicates that the word (in Sanskrit)
means "holy," "loyal," or "faithful."
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Pictures of more icons inside this temple. Of course, this was before
we learned that it is frowned upon to take pictures of the icons.
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Ah hah! This is the temple we were supposed to visit.
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As far as I know, my camera doesn't do L-shaped panorama shots.
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A prayer text, carved in marble and mounted on the wall. I'm pretty
sure the top part of the prayer is written in Sanskrit rather than in
a modern language such as Hindi.
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Now, stepping back into the garden, you can see much more of the temple.
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We're back at the India Gate area, but now looking the other way. At
the far end of this long long road (where the Republic Day parade was
held, I believe) are government buildings, but you can't see them well
through the haze. This kind of haze was prevalent all through the
larger cities in India, and even some of the smaller ones.
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Rajghat is the name of Mahatma Ghandi's memorial site.
In Hindu tradition, the dead are cremated on a large pyre, rather than
being buried. This means that if you want to honor the dead, you need
something other than their grave to visit -- either a cenotaph (a tomb
with no body) or another type of memorial.
This is a bed of flowers at Rajghat, just because they were pretty.
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The walkway into Ghandi's memorial. In the background, under the
arch, people are bunched up because this is where you drop off and
pick up your shoes. Like many temples, visitors are expected to go
barefoot or in socks at this memorial.
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The actual memorial at the center of the Rajghat complex.
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Extra: A quick snapshot out the taxi window of some bicycle rickshaws, which
ironically seem to be more common in the larger cities than the
smaller ones.
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A bicycle rickshaw in use, with others in the background. Ironically,
these seem to be more common in the larger cities than the smaller
ones.
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This is in fact a very large vehicle in India... even though it is
only about the size of one of the Japanese mini-SUVs.
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A parking lot full of various types of vehicles. In the background is
Delhi's Mosque, which we were never able to get to, probably because
it was Friday afternoon.
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A photo of Delhi's Red Fort (there were multiple red forts on our
tour!). This was taken from the taxi when we were not sure whether
we'd be able to find a place to park and stop to get a closer look.
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Another photo of the Red Fort, driving the other way so it's out my
window instead.
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Another part of the Red Fort -- the place is really quite huge.
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Finally, we have gotten dropped off by the taxi drivers and we are
looking for a way to get in. We keep getting mixed messages, even
from the guards, about where we need to go to actually get inside.
Red Fort, Delhi.
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Still walking around Red Fort, Delhi.
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This dog (seen through a fence) was more 'purebred' looking than most
of the ones wandering around. Whether it really is a German Shepherd
or not, it did not look like the typical feral dog. Near Red Fort, Delhi.
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Still walking around the Red Fort. Delhi.
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An egret on the lawn of the Red Fort, Delhi.
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Still walking around the Red Fort, but getting close to the
actual entrance finally. Gé and Dad in the foreground, along with
various locals. Delhi.
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Can it be? Is there actually a way into this place? All those people
must be coming from somewhere, after all...
Loes and Gé in the right foreground. Red Fort, Delhi.
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The closer we got to the Red Fort, the more people there were. And
yet, this was still not that crowded by Delhi standards. We
are about to buy tickets and some of us would see for the first time
that there are two prices -- one for Indians, and one for "Westerners"
or "Visitors" or "Foreign Nationals." Our price was sometimes as much
as 50 times higher than the Indian price.
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The rather daunting Lahori Gate of the Red Fort, seen from the
outside. New Delhi.
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An inside view of the Lahori Gate of the Red Fort, after we had passed
through security. New Delhi.
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A brief history of the Red Fort, focusing on the post-colonial Indian
military presence there. New Delhi.
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The bazaar (originally the Persian and now the Hindi word for
"market") inside the Red Fort. New Delhi.
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A display of beaded jewelry in the Red Fort bazaar. New Delhi.
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A rather diverse and impressive display of cast bronze statues (mostly
religious) in the Red Fort bazaar. New Delhi.
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This is the former armory building within the Red Fort in New Delhi,
which has now been turned into a military museum. We didn't actually
go in for lack of time.
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Side view of the armory building/military museum. Red Fort, New Delhi,
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There ware guards of various sorts in many of the places we visited.
I was rarely certain whether they were police, soldiers, or
professional security guards. In this case, given the location at the
Red Fort, I suspect this gentleman is a soldier. New Delhi.
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Soldier with rifle patrolling at Red Fort, New Delhi.
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Another of the buildings inside the Red Fort. New Delhi.
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The building stones (whether sandstone, marble, or other materials)
usually have intricate carvings. Red Fort, New Delhi.
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Even the colorful sandstone of the Red Fort is nothing compared to the
colorful clothing of the people in India. Adult men generally wore
sedate colors, while women had many colorful saris and children of
both genders seemed to have colorful clothing.
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We're now on the approach to another of the large buildings inside the
fort; I elieve this is the one called Diwan-i-Amm. Red Fort, New
Delhi.
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Another building inside the Red Fort. New Delhi.
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This is the ornate carved marble throne for the emperor, which uses
many of the same techniques of marble carving and semi-precious stone
inlays that make the Taj Mahal so famous. The protective screen in
front of it makes it a bit difficult to get a good picture. Red Fort,
New Delhi.
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... but I kept trying. This one shows more of the detail of the
carving and inlay. Red Fort, New Delhi.
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This photo gives a much better view of the inlaid stones in the marble
bench. Red Fort, New Delhi.
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These ubiquitous little creatures look like a larger version of
American chipmunks, but they move more like squirrels and are referred
to as squirrels by the Indians. The place I heard the term most
often, however, was in reference to the squirrel-hair brushes used for
the incredibly fine detailed paintings (on silk and earlier on ivory)
that are a tradition in much of Rajasthan. Near Red Fort, Delhi.
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Bird on a wire. In this particular case, I'm not sure what the bird
was, but I know what he was sitting there for, because my father
happened to walk right under him at an unfortunate point in time.
Near Red Fort, Delhi.
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One final parting view of the Red Fort, including a soldier patrolling
on the top of the wall. New Delhi.
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Motor scooters and tiny motorcycles are a major form of transportation
in India. It is very common for two or more people to ride on a motor
scooter.
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In some cases, a woman in a sari will ride side-saddle on the back of
a scooter or motorcycle.
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Our tour of Delhi brought us back from the other side of the giant
Hanuman figure, so I got another view. Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
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Gé points out that Indians park like they drive -- very very close to
one another. Delhi, outside Metro Heights Hotel.
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The electrical power in India is notoriously unreliable. This might
be part of the reason! As far as I can tell, the only building codes
that are seriously enforced are the ones which make money for the
government. Along one of the market streets in Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
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Dad in the middle of one of the bazaar (market) streets in Karol Bagh,
New Delhi.
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A better sense of the chaos and crowds in one of the bazaars. The
cars on the left are parked; the cars in the middle are driving
(probably both ways!) and the pedestrians are all out in the middle of
the street because there are no sidewalks, or because the sidewalks
are clogged with vendors spilling out of their shops. Here you can
also see why there are electrical power lines all over the place.
Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
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I took advantage of a relatively clear moment where you could see a
few of the shops among the crowds. Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
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More bazaar chaos.
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For all the colorful clothing, you need colorful fabric. I just loved
the colors of this particular store. Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
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Meanwhile, right across the street from a wide range of shops, we saw
this ornate temple. Karol Bagh, New Delhi.
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The outside of our overnight train to Bikaner. It's actually brown.
It turns out there are (at least) two different gauges of tracks, and
it seemed to me that the brown trains ran on the narrow tracks and the
blue ones on the wide tracks.
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This cow was hanging out with us in the train station outside Delhi as
we waited to board our overnight train.
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The train car we were in was a sleeper car in which each cabin slept
four. The upper bunk hung down from the ceiling on chains, so that it
could be folded up out of the way. Train station, near Delhi.
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This trains was so modern that it actually had air conditioning as
well as the fan. Never mind that it was winter and we were about to
travel into desert-like areas where the temperature fell into the 40s
at night -- the air conditioning ran full tilt all night long. Some
of our neigbors stuffed socks into the vents to keep from freezing.
At least the fan could be turned off!
Train station, near Delhi.
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Here, Dad is sitting on the lower of two bunks in our sleeper
compartment. Eventually, this would turn out to belong to a rather
taciturn Indian gentleman who was not part of our group in any way.
Still in the train station, near Delhi.
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Mom in between the two rows of bunks. Still in the train station,
near Delhi.
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"Howdy, neighbor! Want to drop by our place?"
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Loes (pronounced "Luce") and Gé (I won't try to explain how to
pronounce it -- my parents just Americanized his nickname to "G"), two
members of the Dutch Djoser group, stop by to see how our tiny
compartment compares to their tiny compartment. Or maybe to see if we
need any more whiskey.