I went to a couple sites today, The Indian National Museum and Puruna Qila, an old fort and one of the original cities of Delhi.
When I got home today the feels like temp was 114. With the sun baking down it felt hotter.
The ride to the museum was the scariest yet. It seemed like cars were cutting us off from every direction. There was one really close call. At the time the driver said a few Hindi words and waved his hands up in the air. When we got into Delhi I noticed him pull out a bottle that was wrapped in a news paper and take a big swig. This was not his water bottle. That did not make me feel any better either.
At the National Museum were many pieces from the 1200-1700 area. I think the Brits took the better pieces. Last year when I was at the British Museum I remember there being a wing with more impressive pieces with gold and other fine metals on them. This was primarily stone and a few bronze pieces. They had a weaponry area with a few swords and old guns from the 1700s. I snapped a lot of pics, but nothing really stood out to me.
We drove to the other site. I know what the name of it is, Puruna Qila, but when the driver said it I had no idea what he was saying. Finally he slowed it down and made out the Qila part. Then he took another swig of his newspaper covered bottle and put on his seat belt. There are no seat belts in the back seat. I was even more worried.
We get to the site which was the same parking lot as the zoo. I wish the other tour would have taken me here when I went to the zoo. The driver invited himself along with me. I go to buy my ticket and he is standing there tyring to say buy mine too. Mine was 100 rupees and his was only 7. I buy it for him. All the sites I have gone to the local price is 5-20 rupees and the foreigner price is 100-300 rupees. Quite a mark up, but it is still only $2-$6.
We start walking around and it is a large area. This was the spot that was in the worst shape and people were working on it. Women were carrying bricks on there head. One area looked like the entrance to the Taj Mahal. Another area looked like the entrance to the Red Fort. They began doing excavations in 1992 and found many artifacts. There was a little museum with a few of them. No pictures were allowed in the museum. Amirjit, the driver, wanted me to take a pic of him. That is one of the pics.
I have now seen all the major tourist sites in Delhi. Next are the markets. I will wait until I get a local with me before I walk around them.
Through the Expat club from last Tuesday I found a couple weekend events in September and October. I signed up for a white water rafting trip on the Ganges and a trip to the Pushkar Camel Mela which is the largest livestock market in the world. There are over 200,000 camel herders at this event which is only one weekend a year. Plus on my Rough Guide book it is the number 2 thing to see after the Taj Mahal in the area.
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