A cock roach in my omelette is hopefully not a sign of things to come as we made our speedy getaway from our hotel with our hired driver for the next six days, Laxman.
First stop, the Jama Masjid, a magnificent mosque somewhere in Delhi, with beautiful orangey misty views of the Red Fort about a mile away, endless birds flying overhead and little in the way of hassling touts. An hour later we were walking around the Fort’s impressive red walls which are extremely good at keeping the beeping Delhi car horns out of earshot.
Our whirlwind tour of Delhi then took us to Humayun’s tomb – an appetizer for the Taj Mahal with its huge dome and tourist gaggles (mostly Indian and mostly part of a school trip). Our last stop before leaving Delhi was Hasrat nizan-ud-din dargah, a dingy Islamic area, with dark alleyways, strange smells and beggars crapping in the street. It was also uncomfortable being publicly berated in English for wearing shorts unknowingly about to enter a mosque. Not even profusely apologising could help or stop the eyes from all around the small, cramped square from staring.
A meal at the ‘world famous’ Karim’s restaurant was swift before we were again speeding south, this time out of Delhi and towards Agra, the driver’s home, ducking and weaving through the traffic – cars, motorcycles and camels.
One day in and we were already craving some western food, so finding the local Pizza Hut was a necessary evil, on my part especially as Gemma can happily eat curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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