We only had two full days in Delhi and so on the first day we took a tour of New Delhi and Old Delhi. Our second day in Delhi we were given the morning off to pack, had an afternoon meeting with the CEO of Harley Davidson India and traveled back to Europe/USA that evening. New Delhi is honestly nothing like I imagined. It is so clean, the roads are very wide with multiple lanes and it is so, so green. I can totally believe that it is the greenest capital in the entire world. Everywhere around the city there are trees and parks. I'm surprised that Bangalore is considered the park capital in India, and not New Delhi. Seeing everything be so pretty and organized was a welcome change.
During our city tour we drove past the parliamentary buildings and the India Gate, as well as some mosque's and temples. It was interesting seeing how different Delhi is from the rest of India. It is definitely a more vibrant and busy city. Fortunately, our professor also organized for us to visit Old Delhi. Because the bus wouldn't fit through the small streets of Old Delhi, the whole group took bicycle rickshaws through Old Delhi.
Old Delhi reminded me of Mumbai so much. Despite the fact that Delhi has more people than Mumbai, in New Delhi you would never sense it, but in Old Delhi you most definitely do! It is so much like Mumbai: the buildings are all old, there are people EVERYWHERE and there are endless piles of trash. We stopped at a spice shop in Old Delhi and we rode through the wedding market, shoe market, jewelry market and silver market. It was very interesting seeing how things were perfectly organized and set up beautifully. That is one reoccurring theme I have seen in India: among the chaos there is actual order and beauty. That is something I would never had learned without coming to India and witnessing it on my own.
Being in Delhi was very bittersweet because I knew that this was the end of my Indian Adventure, but it was a lovely way to wrap up things in India. I sincerely hope to return to India and hopefully visit other cities. I love Indian people, culture and food now even more than before. I won't say that I love the way the service industry currently is, but I can see the potential for improvement. I am excited to return to India and see what changes have taken place. Thank you for the awesome experiences and memories, India!!
Emalisa xo
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| Parliamentary building in Delhi. |
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| The parliamentary buildings were actually very large. |
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| So much greenery. |
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| We also visited the India Gate that was built in honor of the Indian soldiers that died in WW1. This was also close by the parliamentary buildings. |
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| I believe this was the 6th or 7th World Heritage Site we visited on this trip. |
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| Humayun's Tomb. |
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| The gardens of Humayun's Tomb. Delhi is so green and so beautiful! |
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| After visiting the tomb, we got on the bicycle rickshaws and explored Old Delhi. We got on the rickshaws in order to best experience the small and narrow streets of Old Delhi. The best wouldn't have fit in most of the streets and walking 24 students would have taken waaaay too long, haha. Note the excitement on our faces though! |
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| It was two people per rickshaw. We rode on the actual roads which was absolutely frightful. |
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| Old Delhi reminded a lot of Mumbai: smaller shops, many people, chaos everywhere. |
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| The streets in Old Delhi are so small that cars aren't able to pass at all. For that reason everyone rides the bicycle rickshaws. |
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| Amazing how much they can fit into such small places; 10 shops in one building... |
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| I really appreciated seeing all of this though. Definitely the India that I imagined before coming. |
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