New Delhi (and old Delhi) - 27-30 Jan 2001  

    New Delhi is where our group entered India, one day after the devastating earthquakes in Gujarat to the south and east. New Delhi is the capital of India, and resides in its own state, Delhi, roughly analogous to the District of Columbia in the U.S.. Delhi is directly to the east of the state of Uttar Pradesh, which contains the cities we visited next: Agra, Vrindavan, Mathura, Varanasi and Allahabad. I returned to the states after two weeks in these places, taking the pictures posted here. Mary and the rest of the group continued on for two more weeks, visiting Dakshineswar, Calcutta, Puri, Ranchi, Corbett National Park, Dwarahat, and Babaji's cave in the foothills of the Himalayas.

In New Delhi we stayed at the palatial imperial Hotel, a few blocks from the boutiques of Connaught Place. Even though we saw more extreme poverty and deprivation elsewhere, the contrast between our marble-floored hotel rooms and world of frantic autorickshaw drivers and street vendors just outside the hotel gates seemed impossible at first, and just incredible later.

    ||| Click on a thumbnail to view the full-size picture.

the Imperial Hotel

main lobby - the Imperial Hotel

Mary, front desk - the Imperial Hotel

street-side scooter repairs

shop near the Imperial Hotel

shop with gramaphones

an 'auto-rickshaw'

out for a stroll

vegetable treat vendor

potato vendor

fruit vendor and European customer

street commerce, near Imperial Hotel

bookseller, with bestsellers

vendor in open-air market

young man from Kashmir

a lantern, of sorts

family shopping for ice cream

shopping for the perfect bindi

young street vendor

Mary shopping for... something

family business

fabric stall

Imperial Hotel:  Warren and  Sikh doorman

congenial security guard  - Imperial Hotel

Mary, Kunwar, Warren  outside Imperial Hotel

WA queuing for breakfast - Imperial Hotel

waiter - Imperial Hotel

waiters in full regalia - Imperial Hotel

Richard and taxis, Y.S.S. kendra, New Delhi

Mary at Y.S.S. kendra, New Delhi

visitors to the Jama Mosque, Old Delhi

pilgrim, Jama Mosque

Jama Mosque - main gate

Mary with young friend at Jama Mosque (Red Fort in the background)

Jama Mosque dome, WA

beggar near Jama Mosque

Jama Mosque, Old Delhi

Jama Mosque and environs

market near Jama Mosque

supper at the Imperial Hotel: Trish, Harvey, Richard, Irma, Bob, Sherrie

supper at the Imperial Hotel:  Warren, Harvey, Richard, Gene, Theresa

    First posted 6 Aug 2001. Last tweaked 17 Sept 2001.

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