After four weeks of living in the camp and taking Hindi lessons in Jaipur, I took a bus to Delhi with a couple friends from Finland so I could meet Shannon. Shannon lives in Orlando, Florida in the U.S. and had one month break for winter vacation. She flew out to travel around India with me and I missed her a whole lot.

Delhi is a pretty chaotic city with an abundance of historically significant monuments. A common refrain is that Delhi has been completely rebuilt eight times – each time for a new conquering army that swept in. The most prominent was the Mughal empire that swept in from Central Asia (the Taj Mahal was built by a Mughal King). For centuries their home base was the red fort (lal qila in Hindi).

The red fort is now a nice open-air museum featuring some of the original structures.

Jama Masjid (or Friday Mosque) is a massive mosque in old Delhi teeming with people and worshipers.

There is a minaret that you climb to the top of for panoramic views of Delhi.

Another Mughal ruler, Humayun, has a massive tomb that is considered a precursor to the Taj Mahal. We visited this site on another day.

We visited a lot of sites. Gandhi Smriti is a memorial and museum on the site of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948 – one year after India gained independence.

Lodi Gardens is a large open space with tombs and monuments from the Lodi Dynasty, which ruled Delhi in the 1300’s.

India Gate is a memorial to soldiers who lost their lives in War – most of them in the service of Great Britain in both World Wars.

Whew! We covered a lot of ground in the four days we were in Delhi, but Delhi is a massive city with an embarrassment of historical significance. Here are some other random pictures.