D2 - Sunday 15-7-07 New Delhi

Early in the morning , Valerios, Antonia & myself decided to check out of the Venus hostel as the airconditioning was not functioning well in all our rooms. We moved to a nearby hostel (Rs300=Rm27) and shared an aircond room with Antonio. At this point of time, I had yet to hear from our HC member (Siren) from Hanoi, Vietnam although she was on a MAS flight departing on the same day with me. The other three members ( Janna, Jukka & Don) from Germany, Finland & USA were to arrive either today or tomorrow.

At around 10.00am, we met up with our two HC members ( Caesar & Jaggi ) from New Delhi at our hostel.

In the afternoon, Antonio, Valerios and myself walked towards the busy Chadni Chowk area. In the vicinity, we visited 1) Takmal Sri Harmandier Putnei Sahibji Sikh Temple 2) Fatehpuri Masjid, 3) Digambara Jain Temple 4) Jama Masjid 5) Red Fort & 6) Raj Ghat

1) Takmal Sikh Temple was full of worshippers at the time of our visit. We sat on the carpet for 30mins listening to a musical band playing a number of religious songs-very entertaining indeed !

2) Fatehpuri Masjid is a mid-17 century mosque in the western end of Chandni Chowk.

3) The Digambara Jain Temple is located next to the Bird's Hospital, managed by the Jains to preserve wildlife. After removing our shoes, we had a quick visit of this temple.

4) Jama Masjid is one of the largest mosque in India , built in 1644. It's large courtyard is able to house 25,000 people ! At the front entrance, we had to remove our shoes and was told to leave our cameras at the front reception as no photography was allowed inside the mosque. As we feared losing our cameras, we did not declare to the reception that we carried any cameras along with us. I discreetly took a number of pictures on this magnificent mosque, the two tall minarets, four corner towers, courtyard and the surrounding places. From one of the mosque tower, I could see the ancient Red Fort wall not far away.

5) As Red Fort ( Lal Qila) was closed to the public on Sunday, we were not able to enter. Hovever, I took a few shots on the front entrance and the Red wall. The fort was built in 1638 and completed in 1648 by Emperor Shah Jehan. We passed a morning bazzar market in front of the Jama Masjid on our way to the Red Fort.
6) Raj Ghat, where Mathama Gandhi was cremated, was our next visit. This place is now a park and is also the burial place for Jawaharial Nehru, Indira Ganhhi and Sanjay Ghandi. An eternal fire lighted the Gandhi's memorial as a mark of respect for this great national hero and statesman of India. We spent almost an hour in the park and took a taxi (Rs60=Rm5.40 per person) back to our hostel.

I had a local set meal lunch (Rs200=Rm18) at a fast food restaurant in Chadni Chowk and a dinner (Rs100=Rm9) at a lonely planet recommended restaurant in Pahar Ganj.

" Without a tourist guide - we do our own mapping and land ourselves in these fascinating places ie forts, mosques, temples, memorial monuments in this mysterious India"