Lal Qila and getting lost

Friday 4th April

- Lal Qila (The Red Fort, Delhi)

our first experience of using the dhobi (laundry) today. handing your clothes in at reception is an interesting concept, particularly when you consider that they all smell. the clothes are then taken away to be given a damn good seeing to and thrashed to within an inch of their life before being dried somewhere and fantastically pressed, appearing in the evening between sheets of crisp newspaper covered in Hindi script. everyone always looks immaculate, here - well, everyone who isn't sleeping on the streets, anyway.

street scene, Ram Nagar. and yes, that is an entirely typical Delhi electricity pole.

we also had our first experience of Old Delhi, visiting Lal Qila, the famous Red Fort. our auto-rickshaw skills are now relatively well-honed and we're getting good rates, although it does seem odd to be haggling over what is essentially the difference between 45p and 50p.

the Red Fort is massive, an adjective this blog appears to be, er, massively overusing, its thick red sandstone battlements towering over the teeming streets of Old Delhi. the old town appears more chaotic and certainly smellier than what we have experienced so far, with more regular scenes of street poverty. the way everything is squeezed in so tight is an experience in itself - even the central reservations are being used to dry washing, quite possibly ours.

Lal Qila, Delhi

entering the Red Fort and passing through a much tighter, anti-terrorist style security cordon than we have seen anywhere else, all was peace, beauty and serenity. the residents clearly enjoy just hanging out and relaxing in the open spaces of the gardens, and you can't blame them.


the gates of the fort are solid and impassable, but the delicate carved and marble faced structures within are fragile by comparison.



Shah Jahan's beautiful inner buildings are all constructed using Italian marble and have been wowing visitors since the mid-17th Century.

Detailing, Lal Qila, Delhi

the British must have been wowed - they nicked the fort as soon as possible, deciding the best thing to do would be to build their much larger and rather functional barrack buildings within spitting distance of the marble and inlaid jewels of the Shah.

the British barracks, Lal Qila.

no wonder one of the museums inside the grounds takes an understandably bitter line when chronicling India's struggle for independence.


Philippa has been attracting a lot of attention today, or maybe we have just noticed it more. all Indians have no compunction in what Westerners would call staring at anyone in whom they have an interest, as much out of surprise or curiosity than anything else. with dyed blonde, very short hair and white skin, Phil appears to be quite a curio. adults keep a degree of distance, but the younger men and women are all agog. there's no sense of threat, and India society frowns hard on any such interference, but it does seem a little odd. anyway, it is just one more thing to integrate, and i know that having me next to Phil makes a big difference.

Chandi Chowk, Old Delhi

several rather wonderful hours in Lal Qila were followed by a weave down Chandi Chownk, Old Delhi's main thoroughfare. what a concoction of sights, smells and noises! we ate (oops! for the first time that day) at Haldiram's, essentially Indian McFood, but all rather different, with hot meals from all across India actually cooked to order. the ground floor is totally given over to a fair rugby scrum of people choosing from countless racks of sweetmeats. i also can't imagine Maccy D's continuing to build the restaurant around you while you eat, but this is a place that defies imagination - India, that is, not Haldiram's.

our journey back to Panharganj was enlivened by our rickshaw driver's horn failing him, which is the equivalent of losing a wheel in Delhi. our direct route blocked by a shouty Islamic march replete with armed Indian army guards, we walked back to the hotel. we got totally lost through the tiny, ramshackle streets of Ram Nagar, nicely exacerbating our blisters (Edd's are quite impressive) but also giving us 45 minutes of sights, sounds and smells we might never have had. lots of friendly, bemused interest in us as we strolled mock-purposefully but utterly lost until we managed to figure it out and found our way back to our hotel. quite an experience, but strangely enjoyable at the time and more so in hindsight.

we eventually managed to get an overdue late pm nap after the hotel repaired our broken air conditioning (AC) unit by sticking screwdrivers in sockets and other safe practices. we gave the evening over to finding food and internet access via another stroll through Panharganj. we have videos of our night-time walk we are hoping to upload at some time, but it takes forever to do so. we finally crashed around midnight. sleep always comes quickly in Delhi, but it's rarely uninterrupted.

we both felt pretty comfortable in general today, fairly at ease with our surroundings, but still alert - you have to be in these streets! when all around you is limbless beggars in your rickshaw window, cycle rickshaws laden with 9 schoolgirls each or speeding scooters, anything less than keeping an eye out is foolhardy.

our washing came back looking better than it did when we bought it, although Edd did have one wrong shirt momentarily. we looked in vain for the secret marking system used to match clothes with their owners, just another mystery in this city of happy confusion and confounded expectations.

all our love

edd & philippa