The Real Delhi!

Wow - not unexpected but still an eye opener as we spent a while on a bus to get to two UNESCO heritage sites out of the 37 in India out of 1,092 total in the world.  This is not one of them and I did not get a banana shake!!!

 This is not our hotel.  The news is all over here about a fire this week in a hotel and the huge lack of safety measures and no. of people killed.  Wow - glad we are on a tour and in a luxury hotel.

 Typical street scene.  Everyone buys their fresh fruit and vegetables of the day from the street vendors.

 And the traffic!!!!  Wow - I've seen bad traffic and honking but never like this.

 I really need to read up a little more on India history and there is a lot of it over 5,000 years or more!

 There are stray dogs all over the place and they have babies and the moms are skinny!  Our guide told us there is a dog pickup troop that picks them up to neuter but not kill.  They live on the mice and rats they find everywhere and I must say I haven't seen a mouse or rat but I've seen cows in the traffic and monkeys all over!

 Our guide on the right and she is a mom of a 19 and 21 year old and this is one of many amazing trees.

 Another UNESCO site Mughal mausoleum and there 100 people buried under here and on the grounds - all cremated I think.

 A pretty old woman on her hands and knees cleaning the tombs of the very rich.

 Another guy cleaning out the water drains with a small brush on his hands and knees.

 And a little message from the Quoran and it's a good one.

 No we did not drink the water on the grounds of the UNESCO site but we did use the washroom!!!

 Schools are free but parents send their little kids out on the streets to sell balloons and flowers as they need the money more than the education or so they think.  It's a different world!

 Just another view on our drive:

 This is a real ambulance and I do not want to go anywhere in it for sure!

 Click on pic to read the sign.  There is a lot of difference between the equality of men and women and the progress is very slow.

 Millions of kids in the schools and I think a million were at the UNESCO site.  Boys and girls go to separate schools and visits the sites on different days so it is "boys' day" today and our guide said is much less frantic on the girl days!  They all want selfies with us and if two get a picture 100 more pile up close by.

 This is the other UNESCO "Qutub minar" aka minaret - site - the first major Islamic construction built in the 12th century.  The arch in the background faces Mecca.

 And this is the minaret and it was open with a circular stairwell to first floor until 1981 when the power went out, it was pitch dark and a 300-400 count school group and others were in there, panicked and ran down and 47 died and it has not been opened since.

 Yes it's a real police station but our guide said since it was raining this morning the police "mostly don't come out"!

All for now.  Have an early flight to Varanasi and a one night stay to visit the Ganges River so we have to have our bags out by 5:15am.  It's 6:07 pm here now and time for a glass of wine and a snack only as we had a huge lunch!