Pretending to be Greek in India

Tags

Delhi, India, Qutb Minar, Travel, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage site

My last day in Delhi was a whirlwind of activity. I got up early and bought a day pass for the Delhi metro. Today I was going to be brave and explore the city on my own using the local transportation… luckily for me, that didn’t last too long, I made friends pretty quickly.

Our first destination was Qutb Minar, another UNESCO World Heritage Site! I love being able to cross off these sites from the bucket list I have yet to write down! The Qutb complex is built on the ruins of Lol Kot, an old fort that now stands mostly in ruins. This is where we decided to be Greek statues, unfortunately we couldn’t recall what any Greek statues looked like, so we just did this… I love this because one, it’s funny, and two, so many locals copied us afterwards, it was hilarious!

Qutb Minar also includes the tallest minar in India. What is a minar you ask? Well, it is a minaret, a tall architectural structure featured in mosques, this one was 73 meters tall and the base was 14 meters wide. Despite this area being ruins, it’s beautiful and peaceful and almost a perfect picnic spot, except for the litter strewn across the grass and the smog… Delhi has a lot of beautiful sites and this definitely sits at the top of the list.

My First Garden-Tomb

Tags

Delhi, Humayun's Tomb, India, Isa Khan’s Tomb, Tourism, Travel, UNESCO

My first day in Delhi consisted of some fear, panic and finally acceptance. I’m here, I don’t really have a plan, so let’s wander. I go to Connaught Place, and after some happenings I have a taxi for the day to take me around. I get to visit various sites, but my favourite was Humayun’s Tomb.

Well, to be more precise, my favourite was Isa Khan’s Complex at Humayun’s Tomb. Humayun’s Tomb is a well-known tourist, as well as UNESCO site. Much like the Taj Mahal, this monument was built by one lover for another. Empress Bega Begum commissioned the first garden-tomb in the Indian subcontinent for her husband. It is a beautiful and grand, red sandstone structure, but I enjoyed seeing Isa Khan’s Complex much more.

Isa Khan was an Afghan noble, and his tomb actually pre-dates Humayun’s by approximately 20 years. The octagonal tomb with domed roof sits within a walled garden and is great for exploration. I like to climb, and enjoy being in slightly perilous situations and although you can get great photo ops at Humayun’s Tomb, you get to scale steep steps, walk along walls, and avoid dangerous gaps with thin ledges at Isa Khan’s.

It’s a pleasant mix of history, manicured lawns, and the thrill of pretending to be Indiana Jones… alright that’s a stretch, there were no whips, cool hats, poisonous arrows or gigantic, perfectly spherical boulders trying to kill me, but it was still more fun than the normal pose and click a photo sites.

Also, I met this awesome dude Ravi, from England here.

Losing the Solo Traveller V-card

Tags

Backpacking, Delhi, India, Solo, Travel, Travelling

After a 20 hour flight, including a four hour stop over, I land in Delhi at 6am. I’m exhausted, apprehensive and slightly surprised by how unchaotic it is. Perhaps it’s the time, I’m sure few cities are roaring at 6am, but I expected something much different.

I was warned that I would be swarmed by taxi drivers upon exiting the airport, that the heat would be suffocating, the smells unbearable and the noise of constant honking car horns distressing. Did I make it to the right place? I’m left alone, no one approaches me, the weather is comfortable, there aren’t any offensive smells and for the most part it’s calm.

I’m here, in one piece, I made it.