On our first day in Delhi (April 4) it turned out to be a holiday so everyone was at home spending time with family! Our driver helpfully told us this fact so that we could make the most of the break in the traffic to hit the sites that were farthest away from our hotel! Thanks for the tip, Kuber!!
So our first stop was the Red Fort — built by (guess who?) Shah Jahan, when he moved the capital from Agra to Delhi in 1638.
Beyond the entrance there was this old market area filled with stalls of crafts and other souvenirs in a non-pushy environment.
Inside the fort we found all the usual features — here’s the hall of public audiences!
And the hall of private audiences!
A lot of the structures were designed to have water flowing through them for cooling purposes, which was really impressive.
After the Red Fort we went to check out a modern Hindu temple called Swaminarayan Akshardham. It was a large elaborate complex with strict security — we had to leave all bags and electronics (including phones!) outside. So I don’t have any pictures except for this one taken outside the gate!
It was pretty impressive, particularly the carved marble domes inside the temple. The complex had lots of other offerings including a food court, playground, water show, boat ride, and animatronic show! We skipped most of it so we could get back to the hotel and relax. Back at the Oberoi, the view from our room:
And the view of the tranquil pool area.
That night we dined at the Oberoi’s fancy Indian restaurant, Dhilli. We had a delicious meal, and the kids were able to see directly into the kitchen through a viewing window, and even see the tandoor ovens they’d learned about in Jaipur.
The next morning we enjoyed our last fantastic Indian hotel brunch at the Oberoi. Blaine particularly enjoyed these donuts.
By this point in the trip Sarah seemed to be eating mostly plan baguettes at breakfast! Hmm.
Our first stop that day was the Qutb Minar, built around the year 1200.
Tourists used to be allowed to ascend to the top until an accident in 1976 when 45 people died in a stampede to exit after the lights failed. The kids kept looking for other things to ascend.
Next we went to another more modern site, the Lotus Temple, a Baha’i temple built in the 1980s. It was gorgeous!
Blaine enjoyed learning that the marble used in the temple was transported from the Penteli Mountain in Greece, the same marble used in the construction of many ancient monuments, including the Parthenon.
Next we went to see Humayun’s Tomb. You may recall from the previous post about the Mughal emperors that Humayun was the 2nd Mughal emperor; he died in 1556.
Our last stop was the Old Fort, aka Purana Qila. This site dates back to the 3rd century BC but was rebuilt by Humayun.
Unfortunately it’s also the site where Humayun met his end one night when he was stargazing on top of this structure, which was the library. He hurried down the stairs when he heard the call to evening prayer and fell; he died of his injuries two days later.
After that we went back to the hotel for more relaxing at the pool and a poolside lunch, then we showered and packed up to get to the airport for our evening flight to Abu Dhabi!
