Day five ...Delhi

Breakfast came at 7 including a briefing for the days schedule. Weather started cloudy with a very early rain. Apparently the rain is unusual for this time of the year. Speaking with other tour members, the weather everywhere is different this year. More heat in Australia, too much rain in the UK and in southern Switzerland, there isn't any snow.  But nothing compares to the cold in Winnipeg. Trust me, you have the sympathy of the world.

The Red Fort was built in the mid 1700 under the Rule of the  Islamic Moghul Empire.The grounds are enormous. Several buildings inside included the King's private baths, his Mosque and two buildings for the affairs of state. In 1837 when the British took over control of India, the Fort was used as a military base and barracks for the army.

Then it was off to the the main Mosque built at the same time as the Fort. The Mosque is a working environment and can manage 20,000 worshipeers. It is made of marble and two spires; one used for the call to worship and the one opposite for symmetry. Shoes weren't permitted and women had to cover up by wearing a very colourful garmet. No cameras were permitted unfortunately. Donna looked pretty bad in her coverup.

We travelled by rickshaw through the narrow streets of Old Delhi. The maze of streets and electrical wires was amazing. I really can't imagine what would happen in a power outage.

Our next visit was to the memorial to Ghandi 

then to the original site of the City of Delhi which was built  as a centre of commerce in the 700's AD and then conquered by the Afgans in 1192. The tower that you see below was constructed from the rubble of 27 temples on the original site at that time.

Back to the hotel to clean up and out for a traditional Indian dinner. We leave Delhi at 8 tomorrow morning.