Delhi
Sunday, 11 February 2007 21:45 pm
In the middle of the night I arrived in India’s government capital. Cathay Pacific’s flights to India depart on rather strange times - they leave Hong Kong at 10.25pm, and you arrive in Delhi at 2.15am - which is 4.45am in Hong Kong. So you can see how my night-rest was torn in two!
Anyway, after the trip to the hotel - through some flooded areas on the way as I landed in a big rainstorm - and checking in it didn’t take me more than 10 minutes to jump in bed and continue the night’s sleep.
The next day - today Sunday - I did some sightseeing and visited India gate - a war memorial, the Red Fort, and Akshardham, a modern temple complex devoted to the Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Interesting sights especially Red Fort, which is where India was given back its independence in 1947.
My impressions for a first time visit to Delhi: the city is incredibly flat, i.e. there’s basically no high rise building on the horizon. From my hotel which seems to be one of the few highrise buildings I can’t see many other things sticking out of the treeline.
The other thing that’s noticeable is that this is a governmental capital. There are lots of ministerial buildings around, and the lobby of my hotel is buzzing with diplomatic or government looking folk, while body guards, drivers and big cars sit in the drive way.
Last thing to note is that I had a terrific snack in Red Fort; Aloo chat, which is potatoes with a nice mix of spices. Just marking the name here so I can remind myself!
India Gate
Red Fort