Sunday January 15th - Delhi

Today's highlight was a visit to the Sufi (Moslem) section of town called Mizammudin. It was absolutely wonderful; a photographer's paradise. Narrow streets filled with vendors of every kind. Poultry sellers, butchers, bread bakers (baking flat puffy bread along the sides of a what appeared to be nothing but a large hole in the floor), barbershops, clothes makers, and "restauranteurs" deep frying delicious looking items in enormous iron woks. Every conceivable sort of shop set into tiny slots along a windy alley.

A baker making naan.

The whole scene reminded me of a cross between some small villages I've seen in Gujarat and a Moroccan medina. And all shops were run exclusively by men. Each piece of equipment used - like a manual sewing machine or flat iron or straight razor - was absolutely ancient by our standards; something out of the early part of the 20th century if not earlier. Men wore long white shirts and white crocheted skull caps. Some older men had bright orange hennaed beards. Black and white floppy-eared goats roamed the alleys freely. We inched along the narrow streets peeking into shops, marveling at how colorful (and archaic) everything was and how friendly people were.

Occasionally when we felt brave we'd ask someone if it was alright to photograph them. 9 times out of 10 the person appeared to be delighted. We never asked a woman though; most were veiled. At some point along our walk the call to prayer began and we were excited to come upon a mosque full of men in devout prayer. The mosque was very open to the street so we were able to get a good look inside without being obtrusive.

Baha'i Temple

We pulled ourselves away in order to stop at the Baha'i Temple, a gleaming white temple shaped like a lotus flower. Its petals reminded me of "sails" of the Sydney Opera House but it had an otherworldly quality like a massive ship from outer space sitting in the middle of Delhi. I confess I don't have a clue what the Baha'i religion is but that is a topic for investigation another day. Crowds were so thick trying to get in that we decided to stick with viewing it from the outside. Fortunately today's weather was much warmer than yesterday's so it was quite nice just walking around outdoors in the warm sun.

In the late afternoon we stopped by the Kahn Market which has some rather nice shops hidden within a place that otherwise has the appeal of a seedy mall in Chinatown. Had a late lunch of wonderfully spicy soup before returning to the hotel by 5. Ferris and I treated ourselves to a glorious massage (I know you were wondering how long it would take us to have a massage!) at 6:30. If I had known yesterday how superb the Imperial Hotel Spa is I'd never have left the hotel. The architecture is beautiful - a white marble Moroccan tiled hamam with 20 ft ceilings. The women's locker room has a hot tub which we took the time to enjoy post-massage. I highly recommend the "Imperial Depth" massage should anyone be planning a trip... Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 7am to catch a flight to Lucknow. Bags are 99% packed. Breakfast will be at 6am.

Our nightly ritual.  No camping for me I suppose.