Experiencing a City with a Population Nearly as Large as Canada

Did you know the population of Delhi is 85% of Canada’s population? Canada has over 41 million people and Delhi has 35 million people, and Delhi is just a city!

Arrival

We arrived in Delhi after a 3 hour plane ride from Dubai (which was very short so far on this trip) and headed to the arrivals area at the airport. There we saw a person holding a sign that said our names on it and introduced himself as Jugal, our driver. He led us to a bus that took us to the parking lot, where his car was. He gave us beautiful flower leis in the colors of red, orange, and yellow. Shortly after we loaded our luggage in our bus (and yes it is our own small bus all to ourselves!). Our private bus was too big to fit through the small street leading to the hotel so we circled and circled the area forever!

Finally he found a hidden street big enough for the bus. In the hotel they served us welcome drinks which was Fizz apple. Our hotel room was small with two beds, a bathroom, TV, and a bowl full of free snacks! The rest of the day was pretty relaxed, we ordered room service and got some dinner and watched TV while eating in our beds!

Sightseeing

The next day we ordered breakfast, then started a tour of Old/New Delhi, where a guide joined us and went to:

• Chandni Chowk Market- Is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi.
• Jama Mosque- Has the biggest courtyard for a Mosque in the world.
• Qutab Minar- 73 meter high tower built as a symbol of the beginning of Muslim rule in the country.
• Humayun’s Tomb- The Mughil who built the Tag Mahal built the tomb, the Tag Mahal was inspired by the tomb and the tomb is considered a masterpiece.
• Lotus Temple- Is a Baháʼí House of Worship and it’s famous for its lotus flower design.
• India Gate- Is a memorial for the British Indian Army who died during World War I and is a landmark located in the heart of New Delhi.

We got a rickshaw ride through the Chandni Chowk Market and saw so many Rhesus Macaque monkeys and baby monkeys! The monkeys were adorable! At the Qutab Minar we saw like 100x more rose ringed parakeets than the monkeys! The rose ringed parakeets were so beautiful, I LOVED them! We also saw lots of cute chipmunks running around and climbing the structure.

Traffic

The traffic was like trying to navigate through a stampede of horses, because you barely moved! The cars honk a lot, all night, all day, even when a person is right beside them, and it is so LOUD! I’ve never seen traffic so bad! For dinner we could have walked faster than taking a car because of traffic!

Wildlife

New and Old Delhi used to be jungles and plains, because of that they have lots of rose ringed parakeets, Rhesus macaque monkeys, ox’s, goats, and cows. They have so many cows because they don’t kill them for their meat instead, they worship them and use there milk so they just have more and more babies. It’s also forbidden to eat cow in Delhi because cow is a symbol of motherhood, nourishment, and abundance.\

Food

My favorite Indian food is naan bread because its delicious and comes in many flavors! We’ve had naan bread stuffed with goat cheese and honey, cheese, vegetables, and more! They also have just flavored naan bread like garlic and plain. I’ve noticed that India has a lot of lassies. I’ve had a mango lassi, fruit blend lassi, and a banana lassi so far! My favourite was the mango lassi.