Only in Delhi: Out and about

Over the last few days we’ve been doing a bit of exploring. We’ve gone further afield than Delhi’s usual tourist haunts and some of the places are quite peaceful (by Indian standards)! Again, Lucy Peck’s book ‘Delhi: A Thousand Years of Building’ has been integral to the visits and well worth purchasing if anyone is moving to/interested in exploring Delhi.

Mehrauli Archaeological Park

The park is full of monuments including Rajon ki Baoli (a large step well) and Jamali Kamali’s mosque and tomb – the best preserved tomb that I’ve seen in Delhi. It’s a great place to explore and there there are hundreds of ruins scattered about the park. Its also worth venturing into Mehrauli to see the Palace which is next to the tomb of Qutb Sahib.

Rajon ki Baoli - there was no water in it even though the monsoon season has just finished so i was able to walk right to the bottom.

A platform at the top of the Palace in Mehrauli - I didn't step all the way out as there were massive cracks in the wall so it felt pretty precarious

Intrepid explorers

Inside Jamali Kamali's beautifully decorated tomb

Suraj Kund Tank

We drove to Suraj Kund Tank which is out past Tughlakabad. The drive there and back is an experience on some of the craziest roads in Delhi; avoiding people, bikes, cows and tractors to name but a few – worryingly I quite enjoy it - maybe its time for me to leave India!

The tank was built in the mid 11^th century and in order to preserve it, someone decided it was a good idea to build a theme park next door. So just outside this amazing feat of engineering you have camel rides, monkeys being fed by tourists and one of the strangest theme parks I’ve ever seen. It made the visit quite surreal and was one of those ‘only in India moments’.

The impressive tank

The entrance to the theme park

Posing at the entrance

No monkeys were harmed in this photo shoot

Camel ride

Tughlakabad

After the tank, we drove back to Tughlakabad for a wander around the walled city. We were shown around by a nice security guard who took us to the storerooms, a jail, the palace and a secret passage. We also went across the road to visit Adilabad (the crossing part took at least five hair raising minutes dancing with traffic).