Delhi 27th February 2006

I had a bit of a lie in this morning and didn’t leave the guesthouse until nearly 09:30. I decided to visit Jama Masjid, which is the largest mosque in India and was built by the same emperor that built the Red Fort (Shah Jahan). Building begun in 1644 and it was completed in 1658, it has three gateways, four angle towers and two minarets standing 40 meters high. It’s constructed of alternating vertical strips of red sandstone and white marble. The courtyard can hold 25,000 people and it really is an impressive sight. (Photo above)

But I had a bit of an adventure on the way to Jama Masjid. I decided to walk there as it’s only a bit further than the Red Fort and it’s interesting to mingle with the locals. I took a different route than I did the day before and I eventually stumbled on Chown Bazaar, which was truly bazaar. Needless to say, I was the only pale face I saw all morning, but I didn’t feel uneasy about that. The people I came across either totally ignored me or called out “Hello”. I gave them a quick “Namaste” back and dodged cows, ponies, rickshaws, motorcycles, and people as I made my way through the Bazaar. I really wanted to stop for a Chai (tea), but none of the places looked particularly clean and I want to give my stomach a bit of a slow introduction to street dining. I really enjoyed the walk through the Bazaar, but didn’t take any photographs, as it didn’t feel right.

I missed the turn I had planned to take and ended up near the Old Delhi train station, but I had passed that yesterday so I knew that I had to double back and walk down Chandni Chowk and passed the Red Fort. At the end Chandni Chowk is a mosque so I decided to take a quick walk around there but was stopped by an elder at the gate, he pointed at my bare legs and shook his head. I was expecting this to happed today and I purposefully wore a pair of shorts that I could zip legs onto. The sight of me zipping on my trouser legs amused the elder and he called some of his buddies over to look. This wasn’t the time for me to catch some material in the zipper, but of course I did! When I finally got the legs on I started towards the entrance and the elder stopped me again and pointed to my sandals! I took my sandals off and left them by the door, I then pointed at my shirt, smiled to the elder and pretended to take it off, this caused him further amusement and he waved me in. I didn’t stay there long as there were groups of people who appeared to be getting lessons sitting around. There was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard, so I had a quick stroll around that and watched carp swimming for a few minutes. On the way out the elder stopped me and motioned for me to sit down, so I sat with him for a few minutes (he didn’t speak English) he smiled at me, I smiled and nodded back made my excuses and left. I gave him ten Rupees for minding my shoes.

A bit further up the road there is a Hindu temple, Digambara Jain Temple, so I stopped to have a wander around there. I had kept the legs on my trousers and handed over my sandals and made my way in. There was water all over the marble floors and it was fairly slippery. I made my way through the temple and stood in front of a statue which was draped in colourful garlands, a guy who was standing beside me starts praying aloud and then breaks into song. I was pretty enthralled by his singing and stood there for about five minutes and then made my way to another part of the temple. There was a big statue, which was covered with colourful garlands, and there were queues of people waiting to throw flowers at it. People in the queue started singing and praying, I just stood to the side and was glad to be apart of it. I had to push on though as it was getting towards 11:30 and Jama Masjid closed at 12:15 to non-Muslims for prayers.

Jama Masjid really is an impressive site and I didn’t need to look at my map to find it as it is visible for miles. It’s free to visit the mosque, but there is a 150 Rupee (£2 GBP) charge for cameras, which I gladly paid. The gateways are pretty impressive and when you walk through them the view of the mosque is amazing, I got some good photographs of it (photo above). I decided to walk up one of the 40-meter high minarets, never a good idea in 30c temperatures. I’m glad I did though, because the views across Delhi were stunning. I was lucky enough at the top as there were only two of us up there and there is very little space. On the way down though I passed nearly thirty people on their way up (it was a real squeeze to pass on the very narrow stairway), god knows how they all managed to fit up there.

On the walk back down Chandni Chowk I witnessed a fight between a cycle rickshaw rider and a car driver, I didn’t see the start of it, but I think the car driver hit the rickshaw and the rickshaw rider decided to seek instance justice. It was mainly handbags though and no one seemed to be injured. I stopped to have lunch in a vegetarian café opposite the New Delhi train station and I had a chapatti, plain rice and Aloo Mattar (potato and peas), which came to 35 Rupees (a little under £0.50 GBP).

I was shattered after lunch and by the time I got back to the guesthouse it was nearly 15:00, I crashed out on my bed (I chose the middle one) and lay there until 16:15. I decided to take a stroll to India Gate, which is a 45-meter arch with the names of over 90,000 soldiers who died in the First World War. I hadn’t gone more than a hundred meters when I spotted someone make a b-line for me. After spending over four months in S.E Asia you can spot someone one his or her way to nab you. Sure enough he drew up alongside me and matched my pace for about thirty seconds and then it came. “Where you from?”
“Skibberean”.
“Where?”
“Skibberean”.
Pause whilst the thought how to answer that.
“What are your hobbies?” blah blah blah.

He asked if he could walk with me, said “as long as you don’t try to sell me anything, bring me to any shops or ask me for money”. He said, “no, no, I don’t want anything from you, I’m a student”. I asked him what he studies and he told me English and that by talking to me he can improve his English. I told him I doubt it as I’ve only got a basic grasp of the language myself, as we don’t speak English in Skibberean. I told him that I was heading towards the Government Tourist Office and that he can walk with me there if he wanted. I had a rough idea where it was as I had taken a walk the day before in the general area and I’d just looked at it’s location on the map before I left the guesthouse.

He told that he knew where it was and proceed to bring me off in another direction, I told him that I didn’t want to go that way as I knew the way to get there, he told me that he knew a shortcut, I told him to take it and that I’d meet him there, needless to say he tagged along with me. Even when we got to the Government Tourist Office he tried to get me to go to a different travel agent! I declined his kind offer and spent about twenty minutes in there sorting some things out. When I got outside he was waiting for me, he wanted me to go for a cup of Chai, but I told him that I was off to India Gate. He then told me that he was a student and he couldn’t afford to buy any books, I said to him that I thought he didn’t want anything off me. He said that he didn’t but if I just came to a shop with him he would get a book voucher. I said to him that you mean you’ll get 50 Rupees commission for bringing a foreigner into a shop. He said no, it’s a book voucher, I told him to tell me the truth because I know it’s 50 Rupees and I don’t like being lied to. You can probably tell that he was annoying me at this stage. I finally got him to admit that it was commission and that he wasn’t a student. I told him that I’ve no problem visiting a shop with him if he gets some money and that he should be honest about it and not lie. He told me that I’m a good man and that we’re friends.

He brought me down a few side streets and I told him that he was bringing me to a shop that I’d been to the day before, which was true. Sure enough it ended up being the same shop, I put on my Inspector Clueso disguise (hat and shades) and entered the shop. All these shops are the bloody same, crafts, clothes and carpets; the only difference is what floor each of the sections is on. I had a quick browse around, dodged a couple of sales assistants and then made my way outside to my “new best friend”. I asked him if he got his commission and he told me he didn’t, he said that it was because I was too quick and should have spent five or six minutes in there. He then told me that he’d bring me to another shop around the corner, I reminded him of our agreement which was to visit one shop and one shop only. I told him that it wasn’t my fault he didn’t get his commission as I explained to him before hand that I had no intention of buying anything there and would just go in for a quick visit. He insisted on taking me to another shop and I steadfastly refused. Unfortunately our friendship hit the rocks at this stage (how will I cope with the rejection?) and he told me words to the effect that I was bad for not going to other shops with him. I’ll get over it.

I hadn’t turned two corners when a tuk tuk pulled up and this Sikh guy, Mr Singh, got out and started talking to me. He was very knowledgeable about Ireland (the first one to mention Bobby Sands and the year that he died), we had a conversation about the British invading both our countries and he offered to give me a free lift down the road, because he was going that way! As you know there is no such thing as a free lunch or indeed a free tuk tuk ride. But by this stage it was too late to go to India Gate for sunset as it was a two Km walk away, so I took him up on his offer to see where I’d end up. I had a feeling that it would involve some type of shopping Emporium and I wasn’t disappointed. I asked him if he was on commission and he told me only if I bought something, I told him I’d take a look and see if there was anything I fancied. I ended up buying a top and trousers for about £8.00 GBP, it’s a traditional style outfit in white, so it should be fairly cool and no doubt help me to blend in! He was happy with his commission and I was happy with my outfit, but guess who I should bump into on the way back to the guesthouse? My former best friend, I was still getting over his rejection of our friendship and when he asked me what I’d bought, I could just about get the words “a top” out before choking up…..

I went to a busy looking café on the Main Bazaar and had two vegetable thalis, chapatti and rice with a milky coffee. The meal was really filling and came to £0.60p GBP. It was an interesting day and I met loads of “characters” along the way, which I won’t go into here, but needless to say they all tried to sell me something, be it tours, trinkets, tuk tuk rides, handicrafts, pashminas and god knows what else.