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    DELHI DELIGHT

    Tracey Lynch of helloworld Nelson samples the food and shopping in Delhi.

    As a stopover, Delhi is an opportunity to experience a          When we got off at Connaught Place we got our bearings
    small taste of what India has to offer. It’s completely exotic  and headed off around the horseshoe-shaped area looking
    and will give you as much culture, adventure, spiritualism      in the shops and stalls. Books, trinkets, jewellery, crafts,
    and diversity as you want or can take.                          clothing – both Western and Indian – and even a mix of
    Our first day’s touring took us to Qutub Minar, a red           both at the famous Fabindia store. We spent hours doing
    sandstone minaret dating from the 13th century that words       the full circle and luckily there were plenty of restaurants,
    will never do justice to. The detailed and intricate carvings   cafés and eateries to give us the sustenance to keep going.
    on this impossibly tall structure were like jewellery to my     We stopped for lunch in a small eatery and I had the most
    eyes. How, why and when are all questions I asked.              delicious aloo ghobi I have ever eaten (the recipe I was
    Next stop was Jama Masjid, built by Shah Jahan between          given from the chef is shown here for you to try your hand),
    1644 and 1656, and one of the largest mosques in India.         followed with an equally delicious masala chai. Indians
    You do have to climb some pretty steep steps at times but       always smile when you ask for one.
    it is totally worth it.                                         Once we’d had our fill of shopping we grabbed a rickshaw
    We followed this with a rickshaw adventure through the          ride to Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, the most prominent Sikh
    crazy streets of Chandni Chowk market. Small narrow             Temple in Delhi. Not only is this a temple with a holy pool
    alleys are lined with equally small shops and market stalls.    but they also serve food here to thousands of people every
    Overhead are bird’s nests of electrical wiring connecting       hour of every day, all for free, to whoever walks through
    them to the mains. We had a great driver who told us all        the door. Beggar, businessman, holy man or tourist, no
    the local history and stories and even stopped so we could      matter what colour, religion or caste, everyone gets fed.
    very quickly buy some fruit.                                    We walked through the temple, watched the ceremony
    The Delhi Metro system isn’t to be feared at all, but           going on at that time and then made our way to the kitchen
    the sheer size of the population using it can be a bit          and watched the team of volunteers peeling, cutting,
    mind-blowing. We took the Metro from our hotel to               cooking, stirring, serving and chatting. It was a sight that
    Connaught Place to do some shopping. Like any other             warmed our souls. We were told that there was no need
    major international city, Delhi has its Metro for workers       for beggars in Delhi to be on the streets as they could all
    and visitors to use without having to take to the already       be fed there.
    bursting roads. It runs like all other metro systems: find      Other things you can see on a stopover are: Humayun’s
    where you are, find where you’re going and get on the right     Tomb (a Mughal Emperor), The Red Fort, a Bollywood show
    platform going in the right direction and get off at the right  at the Kingdom of Dreams complex, Delhi Gate, Ghandi’s
    station.                                                        memorial, and of course a day or overnight trip to Agra to
                                                                    see the mesmerising Taj Mahal.

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