After we finished teaching at 12:30 we were picked up, quickly ate a hot, delicious lunch and were driven through ridiculous, insane traffic with construction galore (they're building a Metro system here in Delhi), overcongestion of cars, rickshaws, 3-wheel taxis, bikes, scooters, motorcycles, buses, trucks, cows, pedestrians, dogs and whatever else could possibly squeeze itself onto the road.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes of dangerous navigation on behalf of our driver (who later ripped us off), we arrived at Jama Masjid - the largest mosque in India. Truly stunning.
It took about 14 years to build and is made of red sandstone and white marble. Apparently the view is particularly stunning from the towers but as unaccompanied women, we were not allowed to go up.
When we first arrived, we were not allowed in because our arms were showing and this is indecent exposure for a holy place. So they provided us with robes that looked like hospital gowns. Sexy! We didn't feel that out of place or ridiculous though, as every other foreign woman there had one on.
We braved the traffic some more and next headed to Red Fort (Lal Qila), a huge fort that took 10 years to build - which isn't surprising as it's 2km long and up to 33m high in some parts. Unfortunately, we didn't realize just how huge is is and didn't give ourself nearly enough time to explore. And just to make matters worse, my camera battery died. But the pictures I would have provided you with would have looked something like these.
After that we were rushed off to Raj Ghat, the place where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated after being assassinated. It's a large park, and in the very centre is a very simple marble slab with a flame marking Gandhi's cremation spot. The whole park is quite beautiful, well-kept, green and filled with many trees.
Our driver then took us to ITDC - Indian Textile Development Corporation. An Indian fabrics factory where the prices are fixed and supposedly cheapest (but isn't that what they all say?). We might head back another day because I really would love to get a saree or a pashmina.
I've decided that I'm in love with India - it's big, loud, suffocating, dirty, poor, polluted and - at times - unsafe, but it's so completely and totally full of life that I think it's hard not to get a second-hand high off of it.
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