Delhi

First solid day to experience India was a hot one, temps in Delhi were just short of a 100 degrees F and the sun wouldn't quit. However, the benefit of touring Delhi is that the British planners had the foresight to create broad avenues so that with the exception of Old Delhi, the traffic isn't too bad.

We're big believers in that you pay for things on the front end or back end but either way you pay. No other place is that thinking as apparent as in India and we got a hotel car to scoot around the city in to insulate ourselves from the ripoffs and hassles that would otherwise plague our day with standard transport. To quote the exuberant Mr. Toad from Wind in the Willows: "The poetry of motion! The REAL way to travel! The ONLY way to travel!"

First stop was Humayun's Tomb which although a UNESCO heritage monument, was a bit dull for us. Were it not very close to our hotel, we wouldn't have bothered to see it.


Next up was India Gate which is a monument built to commemorate the sacrifices of the 100,000 Indian soliders who died in World War One.

Nearby is the Parliment and Government buildings which are nice to look but aren't worthwhile to stop for. We rounded out the day at the Red Fort but it was rather empty by our standards.

Upon return to the hotel, Shauna spent a very enjoyable two hours at the spa while Ryan got a much needed haircut. The evening was spent at what was acclaimed to be the best restaurant in Asia by one publications and in the top 50 by other publications, Bukhara restaurant in the Sheraton which specializes in northwestern province cusine. It's good but we wouldn't say that it's anything different than a high end Indian restaurant in the US. The gimmick is that customers eat with their hands and luckily we have a Howard Hughes like paranoia and compulsion about hand washing so we could comply.

Pulling out of the restaurant which is located in a primed diplomatic district, we saw some guy going home on an elephant. The city officals are trying to upgrade the city for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and we'd assume that elephants on the road will be banned along with many other things.