First glimpses of Delhi

Staying back in Delhi at this point was bit unplanned but I am really happy it happened. I had a couple of days to reconnect with my Australian friend Phaedra that I met in Tel Aviv which was absolutely awesome. From my first few impressions I like Delhi very much, bearing in mind I have mainly been exposed to the privileged areas of the southern parts of the city. Delhi feels like the gateway to the north, which I have been longing so much to see. So forgive me for trembling a few moments at the doorstep..!

The first day I spent park and garden-grazing my way up to the Bahá'í House of Worship, commonly known as the Lotus temple. Since its inauguration in 1986 the building and its architect, Fariborz Sahba, have won many awards for its extraordinary construction.



There seem to be a lot of green areas mingled into the urban landscape. At this time lots of flowers are blossoming, and the temperature is also summer perfect. In one park I found a new acquaintance, a tree without leaves but with massive red flowers. Never seen anything like it before. This world is full of astonishing beauty!



Saturday I spent with Phaedra at the Hauz Khas village and Deer park, with its bambi deer who keep their white spots even as they grow up. Cute ones! The greenery is interspersed with old Mughal temples which makes the place quite enchanting. We looped around the ruins of the Madrasa of Feroz Shah, and I just love feeling the wings of history sweeping over me at these old pale pink monuments…




We caught the sunset from a rooftop restaurant overlooking the very-green lake and the very-green trees surrounding it. How to get onto the pathway encircling the lake from the park remains unsolved, it is just there seemingly without connections. Have to look into that next time around!



Hauz Khas with all its trendy little designer boutiques, antique shops and creative rooftop restaurants gives you sort of a London Greenwich or Camden market feeling. It has a very nice vibe and I do hope to have a budget for some shopping here once it is time to fly out from Delhi!

The afternoon before leaving, thanks to a Fjällräven backpack, I started speaking to a friendly Swedish/ Danish couple. The place where we found each other was a bit off the track so we decided to jointly go for a coffee at the new Bazaar instead. They too were designers and we had a very good time together before it was time to catch the night bus up to Rishikesh.