Delhi: Day 1

O.K.! Yes I am still alive for all of you who have been worried about me! I simply haven't had access to the internet for the past ten days or so because I've been busy and gone on the trip of a lifetime! Since there is so much to write about, I'm just going to skip over getting to Delhi and start out the morning of my first day (there is still WAY A LOT to write about though!). If you didn't know, I went to Delhi with a group of women from Coimbatore. They are all business women and wanted to go to the
Indian International Trade Fair, which was happening in Delhi all week. So, while there they figured they'd do a tour of the main attractions in North India and I got to go with them!!!
Our first day we woke up early and the three of us staying in the room I was in all went out to find a tea stall on the street. It was cold outside in the morning, and we didn't know our way around so we walked aimlessly for a while before coming accross a small side of the road tea shop where we got tea for 5 rs. After tea we met up with the others and went for breakfast at a South Indian restaurant that we had seen on our walk. We ordered and ate quickly, then walked across the street to our tour bus that was parked out in front of the tour company (Panicker's) office.
Our first day of touring was focused all on sightseeing around Delhi. Our first visit was to Qutab Minar, which is a very tall tower (72.5 meters) surrounded by ruins of old temples. We had about forty minutes alotted to us by the tour guide to spend walking through the monument, and we spent that time taking photos and exploring in and around the beautiful red carved stones.
Our next stop was a shopping complex called "Best of India" where we looked around at all of the (expensive) hand made items for sale before heading off again to the Lotus Temple. The Lotus temple was absolutely beautiful! It is a temple that was built for all faiths, and was HUGE and made of white marble, cement and sand. It was surrounded by pools of water (like a lotus!) and the inside was a big hall that was completely silent. It is a rule to maintain silence while inside, so even though there were hundreds of people sitting on the many benches, it was completely quiet. We sat for a minute or so with our eyes closed, enjoying the peace before getting up to leave in order to head off to our next destination, Gateway of India.
Gateway of India is a giant arch, built as a memorial for all Indian soldiers in the armies that have been killed. It was a beautiful structure and was surrounded by colored flags, armed gaurds, and lots of people selling things like postcards, books, jewelry, even mehindi!
After having lunch at a "canteen" in Delhi, we went to a few memorials; one for Indira Gandhi, and one for Nehru (Indira's father). Both were pretty neat monuments. Indira Gandhi was assasinated (just like her son Rajiv Gandhi whose memorial I went to in Chennai) while going for a walk outside her home one day so her memorial is a museum in her home with a crystal raised pathway outside where she took her last steps before being shot down by one of her own security guards (there was a clear plate of glass where she fell).
After being rushed through the two memorials by our guide, who was very concerned of the time, we all got back onto the bus and headed off to the Red Fort. We got about an hour to walk around inside the Red Fort, admiring the beautiful Moghul architecture and the intricate carvings that were in the red and white stone. We also did a bit of shopping at the exit where there were many stalls set up selling everything from purses to jewelry to books.
Our last and final stop for the day before going back to the hotel for dinner and more shopping nearby was the Rajghat- Mahatma Gandhi's memorial. It was dark and cold when we arrived, but the presence of Gandhi's peaceful spirit was felt as we walked around the large square of black marble that was completely covered in flowers, and smelled the ever burning incense sticks. It was a jam packed day of sightseeing, with a perfect ending spot for the day where we could reflect and be thankful for how far India has come because of a wonderful man that stood for purity and freedom for everyone.
P.S. The photos above are of me at the Red Fort and then at the Lotus Temple in Delhi.