Monsoon river

Today it pelted down and the roads again turned to rivers (and carparks). It is chaos our there!!!!

On the way to Safdarjung Enclave today

This is the same road yesterday getting ready for a parade. Decorated horses, bands and floats taking up half the road.  Never dull.

Same road yesterday

Big day in Delhi

So yesterday was a big day here in the capital....

Sadly at 10.15 am a bomb went off at the High Court and 12 people have died and many more injured. I have driven past the High Court a number of times and, like most places in Delhi, it is manically busy, especially at this hour of the morning. Can't imagine the scenes there, it must of been insane.

As a result of the bomb we were advised to all stay indoors and not go anywhere near India Gate or the High Court, obviously not big on my tour list yesterday anyway. So it was a quiet day watching the news and hearing of all the tragic loss.

Last night T and I then headed out to dinner at Kylin in Basant Lok. We had a really nice relaxed night but obviously talked alot about what had happened during the day. Maybe as a result of the days events, the restaurant was completely empty so we had all 15 odd staff to ourselves. I highly recommend the wok fried caramelised prawns..... yum! When we left we saw the shopping centre plastered with paper posters of the two suspects.... not sure if this will do the job but I hope so.

We got home about 10pm and went straight to bed only to be shaken awake at 11.30pm by the earthquake. I have never been in an earthquake before and it is damn frightening! The whole room shook and I shook awake my husband who promptly went back to sleep. He is amazing when it comes to sleep - nothing will interrupt it. It only lasted 6-7 seconds but it felt like a hell of a lot longer. I went straight to Twitter where the occurrence of an earthquake was confirmed for me and then Facebooked a couple of buddies. It was originally thought to be 6.6 on the Richter scale but turned out to be 4.2. I'm glad, 4.2 was enough and I am very scared to think what would happen to this city if a bad earthquake came, no one is prepared.

So by contrast today was quiet and happily nothing of note occurred......suits me fine.  

Tripping around Old Delhi

10am Saturday morning and T and I found ourselves at Chawari Metro Station ready to dive into the spaghetti lane ways that make up Old Delhi. Dhruv Gupta, from Masterji kee Haveli, was our guide for the day and had promised to explain some vegetarian street food to us and show us some of the tucked away parts of the city.

We started the journey in the Hindu part of Old Delhi near Chawari Metro. It was pretty quiet for this time of the morning except for a few food vendors. We stopped at our first street side food stand and tried the Kachori with a chickpea curry. It was definitely a bit on the spicy side for this time of the morning but this small meal could keep you going all day. These kachori's were thick, dense little morsels which had been deep fried in oil. It was full on flavour! This small snack would be enough to keep you going for ages!

Popular Kachori stand

Chatting to a local Kachori lover. Photo by D Gupta

A close up of the chickpea curry

After this we moved further into the rabbit warren of Old Delhi and watched all the morning vendors selling their fresh fruit and veges (or big bags of rice) and dodged the local goats. 

Crazy goats. Photo by D Gupta

Catwalk style! Photo by D Gupta

One of the great things about exploring an area with someone who lives there is you get to see things that you would normally just pass by. On this walk we saw Sultan Raziya's Tomb which is tucked down a tiny little alley in the middle of dense housing and a mosque that had been around since the 1300's. We climbed to the roof of the mosque and watched boys flying kites and pigeon callers spending the morning setting their pigeons free and calling them back. Old Delhi looks pretty amazing from the roof tops.

Kalan Mosque

Our friendly guide......  Photo by D Gupta

Top of the mosque. Photo by D Gupta

The next stop was a small Hindu temple that when you entered had the main bell at the reception but was then full of 85 bells that were busy being rung by devotees, what an amazing sound.

Hindu temple of 85 bells.   Photo by D Gupta

After visiting the temple we discovered a small school with the cutest group of children soaking up knowledge.... they were super cute and welcomed us into their classroom with a big hello!!!!

Then it was time for sweets and sweet it was. We met a gorgeous old man who was sitting patiently by his boiling milk watching the world go by. He sold us some delicious milk cakes. They were very good but so sweet you would be doing well to eat the whole thing.

And then to cement the sweetness we tried some Mango Kulfi. I really liked this, I love mango and it was so deliciously cool on the hot Delhi day.

Mango Kulfi. Photo by D Gupta

Then it was time for brunch at the Gupta's beautiful haveli. The Gupta's haveli is a four storey home with a central courtyard surrounded by rooms. I love type of home and it is perfect for this climate. The central well lights up the house but it is also very cool inside, and when it rains they can enjoy this as well. On arrival we enjoyed a fantastic fresh lime soda.

Inside Masterji kee Haveli

We went right up to the roof and looked at their beautiful view across Old Delhi and also had our turn at flying a kite (it's harder than it looks!).

Kite flying is very difficult!

Then it was lunch time! Mrs Gupta had made a fantastic meal. Home made pickles and  freshly cooked Poori to accompany our meal. There was a cauliflower curry and a yummy dahl. We then devoured her rose kulfi. I was so full I thought I might pop but it was delicious.

Brunch time. Photo by D Gupta

Photo by D Gupta

Our generous hosts

After a well earned rest and a chat with our generous hosts we hit the streets again. For this part of the walked up to Jama Masjid and witnessed the general madness of this town.... kids hanging off rickshaws, overturned rickshaws and the odd altercation!

School bus

Whoops!

We walked through the firecracker sellers area and into the jewellery section of Old Delhi and had a little play with some jewels! Don't worry there was absolutely no pressure to buy, Mr Gupta is good friends with the owners and it was good fun but T looked a bit nervous .....

T looking nervous!Photo by D Gupta

Which one should I choose..........Photo by D Gupta

Following the jewellery store we walked the alleyways of Old Delhi, turned down Paratha Gali

Paratha Gali

and into the most colourful alleyways of Sari's, jewels, lace - amazing! You can get anything you need here and a bit more food!

More food! Photo by D Gupta

It was a great day with Mr Gupta. We walked, ate and talked for about 4 hours and it was a really great was to experience Old Delhi. One of the nicest things about this walk is it is flexible. You can guide it by your interests and try or not try what you like and no we didn't get sick.

Masterji kee Haveli

Cost and Inclusions

Rs 2000 per person 1-4 number of guests

Rs 1750 per person 5-8 number of guests
Rs 1500 per person 9-16 number of guests

The price includes the following:

Food oriented bazaar walk, some street food tasting for those who feel adventurous, all ingredients, visit to haveli, brunch and bottled water.

Phone: +91 9810 750 217

Yes I went to a Crafts Museum

So I went to the Crafts Museum..... I am not really into 'craft' or good at it but I thought it might be an interesting excursion. Hopes were low on my arrival, there was alot of work going on and there was pretty much no one around, not even my mates were to be seen! My guess is the workers were slightly more switched on for Michelle Obamas visit last November. 

Thank God for mobiles, I quickly traced my friends, we woke the ticket seller who plugged in the cash register to issue me with my ticket (admission is about Rs150 for foreigners or Rs 10 for Indians). With the cash register plugged in we had power and a ticket. He then handed me the ticket which I then handed back to the man beside him who gave it a wee rip and I gained entry - hurrah!

The first rooms known as the 'Bhuta Sculpture Gallery' were full of beautiful sculpture and ornaments. There is some really beautiful things here capturing India's rich history, unfortunately there was also bright pink damp crystals on display to absorb the moisture and a real mustiness hangs in the air. An incredibly hot day doesn't help the situation. Or maybe its just museums.... while doing research on this piece I found this on the crafts museum website:

'The institution of the museum, aimed at housing objects of antiquity, is of Western origin.  Indians themselves did not have a tradition of setting up museums of fragmented sculptures, rusted swords and out of context painting.  Broken images were immersed in holy water, worn-out objects were left to decay and merge with the very earth from which they were created. It is due to this continuous process of abandonment of the old and reproduction of the new that the tradition of craftsmanship have formidably survived in India. as archaeological museum concept in the nineteenth century, it missed out on the fact that, unlike the West, the 'past' and 'present' were not so severely divided in its case, and it therefore failed to give adequate importance in its museums to the evolving context of its culture - the living practices of rituals; festivals; weekly markets; picture-shows of itinerant storytellers; the materials, techniques and tools of artisans; the cultural changes and the attitude towards the past and the contemporary tradition as such.  it is this overlooked dimension of Indian culture which is emphasised in the concept of the Crafts Museum.'

I will test this out with visit to other museums around town. Anyway I digress.

Moving on from here we visited the folk art that at times was a little bit scary...... we moved on and got a bit more air but moving to the 'Courtly Craft Gallery' where there are displays of an old home which is pretty speccy with stunning moorish lattice work on all the windows.

Then it was time for textiles. These were really impressive and my favourite part. Sari's from all over India and beautiful traditional costumes.

WOW! Loved it.

Pretty impressive trousers

The hand weaving on these pieces is extraordinary! I would love to have tried one on to see what it weighed, it was just beautiful and so intricate.

I also loved the jewellery on display. Even though it is quite ancient the styles could easily be applied to modern day.

It took us about an hour and a half to walk through the galleries and then visit the 'display village'. At the end you get to a number of artisans that are selling posters, clothing, jewellery etc.... at touristy prices. Unfortunately there wasn't a little stall selling chai as the courtyard would have been a nice place to cool down with a drink and just watch.

This museum was actually a very pleasant surprise and a quiet little spot to chill for an hour or so.

National Crafts Museum

Pragati Maidan,

Bhairon Road,

New Delhi-110001

9.30 am - 5 pm

Jaipur for Janmashtami

For the long weekend of Krishna's birthday, known as Janmashtami, we left the fasting Anna Hazare back in Delhi and headed to Jaipur. We decided to drive and was told the 230kms would take about 5 hours. Seriously 5 hours???? This is a shorter distance than Perth to Yallingup! This seemed crazy but I also know the roads here so I didn't doubt them.

We set off at 6am on Saturday morning. The road had sections of complete insanity, especially as the monsoon rains had caused a fair bit of flooding.

Thankfully not on this bus!

School on a Saturday and this...... bit tough.

Unbelievable conditions on the great highway.

Beside the rain, the other problem is the massive, colourful, completely erratic trucks. They drive those things like they are hatchbacks! Just insane and of course accidents are never far away.

The woman driving this Honda was furious but the truck just drove away....

Broken axle and a jack-knife - awesome!

Thankfully we avoided the accidents and arrived to the old wall of Jaipur 6 hours after we left Delhi. For those of you considering a trip to Jaipur there is a 40 min flight...... I strongly advise it.

Welcome to Jaipur

Jaipur is striking when you arrive, the amazing Amber Fort perched on the hill, the kilometres of pink walls protecting the city, camels, elephants, dogs everywhere. It's pretty amazing!

We went straight to our accommodation at Samode Haveli. It is a 200 year old house which is still in the same family. We had a great room overlooking the gardens, heaps of space but I had left S's cot at home! Agh .... They offered me a cot that would barely have kept a newborn safe let alone a walking busy toddler so I "politely" declined and S was given a bed on the floor of the walk in wardrobe.

Once I had regained my composure over the bed fiasco we headed to lunch. I chose poorly so I won't review this lunch but S enjoyed some of the local music.

Then to the pool. It was a great pool for families with a big pool, a toddler pool, a spa and also a walk out ledge that toddlers could play on. There was also a bar that served us an ice coffee or a mojito!

S and T enjoying the wading ledge

Saturday night we headed out to eat at 1135 AD but Anna Hazare protests had blocked off a couple of streets and we weren't going to make it up to the restaurant so we headed back and ate in the courtyard of the hotel. We had a Rajastahani feast and it was very good. Lots of meats and breads and all washed down with a couple of bottles of very good Australian red.

Sunday was tour day at the Fort. We paid our Rs900 and hopped on our elephant and 'zoomed' our way to the top. We had a fast elephant called Rani whereas our friends hilariously had the slowest elephant on the planet.  We managed to resist purchasing anything on the way up and enjoyed the slow swagger of sitting on an elephants back while soaking up a pretty speccy view.

Rani's mahoots orange turban

A very pretty Hati

Stunning view from the back of our elephant

The Amber Fort in Jaipur is impressive. Its a huge fort, full of sprawling rooms, grounds and makes for a really interesting tour. We visited the hammam, the gardens, the wall of mirrors and the water chamber. It was excellent. There are some also pretty interesting things to see at the end of the tour - snake charmers, stores Hot Pink and Tulsi plus a modern art gallery. Impressive!

Manicured gardens of the fort

Following a good two hours at the Fort we took the stroll down the hill, wound our way through the old city and ended up at Anokhi cafe for lunch. It is a European menu of pizzas, fritters, salads and pasta and really very good. It's attached to a large Anokhi store so you an do some shopping while you wait.

My friend M and I then left the kids with their dads and went shopping. There is so much shopping to do in Jaipur and we barely scratched the surface. We searched out some sparkly bangles, blue pottery and some nice fabrics but a return trip is a must!

After a splash in the pool, a mojito and leaving the kids with their babysitter we tried again with 1135 AD restaurant. This restaurant is at the Amber Fort and it is beautiful. They have refurbished one of the rooms in the Fort and it is stunning, completely over the top but that's it's charm. The meal was sensational and the garlic naan was possibly the best I have ever tried. There is no booze served here due to its location near the temple and the price for 4 was about Rs4500.

Inside of 1135 AD

With our friendly waiter

So our last day in Jaipur saw us chilling by the pool before we battled the highway back to Delhi.

It was a lovely weekend shared with great people and Jaipur is definitely worth another visit in the not to distant future.