Visiting the Humayun tomb was eye opening. The more we travel and see the largess of the world, the more the saying “It’s good to be the king” really shows you how wonderful life was for the chosen few. Emperor Humayun was no different.
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The tomb dedicated to Emperor Humayun in Delhi is further proof of that death doesn’t stop the grand life! We got to check out the emperor’s final resting place on our recent trip to India. I would say this is one of what to do in New Delhi for sure.
Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) – the official residence of the President of India. Over 350 rooms in this immense estate. As close as we were allowed to get.
Our opinions of New Delhi differ greatly. Let me start by saying that upfront. It has taken me almost four months to write this post. Our trip lasted three weeks. I thought my feelings about the country would be obvious to me at the get go, but no matter how much l tried, l couldn’t really find a word to sum it all up, unlike Federico, who made up his mind almost instantly. A lot of people have a romanticized idea about India l think. You can understand why though.
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Take a look at movies like Eat, Pray, Love and The Last Exotic Marigold Hotel. They play up the mystical, spiritual vibe that one imagines India to be. You run there to “find yourself” , meet up with some Yogi like Deepak Chopra sort of Swami, and find the meaning of life and what not. In actuality, what you find is quite different. Truthfully, it is not that impressive, same as the Hollywood fantasy of stars at every corner. Our visit enabled us to see parts of the city, and nearby ones that a casual traveler might not have been exposed to. We even got to experience a festival in the city.
Sep 21, 2019 @ 9:39 AMA colorful horse and his handler on the streets of New Delhi celebrating a Hindu holiday.
During our visit to India, we were fortunate enough to experience one of the many Hindu festivals that take place in New Delhi. The monsoon season which always brings lots of rainfall to South India and runs from June to early October had just ended .
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I think after all that wetness, the people were extremely happy to have good weather and another reason to celebrate. From what l gather October is the start of many a festival, culminating with Diwali, the biggest autumn hindu festival, and one that is celebrated by millions (Hindus, Sikhs and Jains) over a five day period with fireworks and plenty of family feasts.
Our day in New Delhi with a native included seeing India Gate in New Delhi.
How to spend a day in New Delhi with a local: We decided to do some sightseeing during our visit to India as it provided some welcome relief from the hospital appointment filled days. I was definitely not interested in living like a local by taking a bus or one of those death on 3 wheels tuk-tuks to get around (apart form clinic appointment runs). No thank you. Perfectly happy to ride in a very new, air-conditioned SUV driven by a competent driver :-).
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We had no idea what we wanted to see or eat. It just had to be Indian cuisine. We therefore chose to let the driver decided on our New Delhi day itinerary. As we had already visited Humayun’s tomb, that was off the table. Here are the places he chose to show us to on our day in New Delhi.
Taj Mahal to me, is the mother load of all tombs of which there are plenty in India. This ginormous mausoleum, an ode to love lost, is truly one of the magnificent wonders, and yes, it is touristy, but definitely a destination that needs to be seen on an India visit. Here is a recap of our visit to the most beautiful wonder of the world.
