We took the Delhi metro for the first time today and comparing it to the London tube I have to admit that in a lot of respects it's a lot better! (Fair enough it was only built last year but that's completely beside the point lol). Firstly, it's certainly a lot cheaper - we got ourselves the Delhi equivalent to an oyster card, complete with 3 days unlimited travel for just 300 rupees. To clarify, that's less than £5! The tube itself is just as crowded as London but they've managed to air condition all of the carriages and there are even separate carriages for ladies to avoid the crush. If all of that wasn't enough, mobile phones have full signal on it and there are even sockets to charge your phone/laptop if the fancy took you! Taking photographs on the metro is NOT allowed (found that out when a policeman blew his whistle so hard I nearly dropped the camera!). We travelled down to Central Secretariat and after getting a bit lost, eventually found our way to Raj Path and began the ascent up the hill toward the Presidential Palace (Rashtrapati Bhavan). Edwin Lutyens was commissioned by the British government to design and build New Delhi after George V, King of England and emperor of British India, decreed in 1911 that Delhi should replace Calcutta as the capital of India. The story behind the Presidential Palace is that Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker wanted to build it atop a large hill (that had to be man made of course), resulting in a grandiose construction that dominated the ascent to it and could be seen all the way from India Gate. Unfortunately, due to a miscalculation, in reality, you cannot even really see the building from the bottom of the hill and only start to catch a proper glimpse of it as you reach the very top. The plan failed, both architects blamed each other and they apparently never spoke again. Once at the top however, the palace and surrounding buildings really are impressive. Obviously supposed to be a Raj construction, despite the classical columns, Mughal-style domes and chhatris and Indian filigree work, the whole building is unquestionably British in character.

We flagged down a rickshaw and set off for the Indira Ghandi memorial - this museum is set in the house she lived and worked in during her time as Prime Minister of India and where she was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards in 1984. In comparision to her father's house (Jawaharlal Nehru - India's first Prime Minister) which we visited later in the day, Indira's house is modest and much smaller - much more fitting I think for the woman I learned about as we were herded like cattle around the memorial. One thing I noticed about the majority of the Indian tourists is that they don't actually look at anything properly - they take photographs but they just file through without reading anything as if they're on a travelator. Dad and I bucked the trend and were there for a good while learning all about Indira, her son Rajiv and both of their untimely assassinations. In the garden, a crystal path has been erected to show the final walk that Indira took before she was killed. It really was quite strange standing in front of the place where she fell - sad and macabre all at the same time.

We walked through New Delhi to her father's house (as I mentioned previously, a much grander affair!) and didn't meet another pedestrian the entire time. The contrast between old and new Delhi is vast - new Delhi has tree lined boulevards spotted with white mansions housing judges and ambassadors. A very different walking experience to negotiating the packed streets of old Delhi where you can barely move and are constantly avoiding being run over. At Jawarharlal's place, aside from visiting the museum we also had our cheapest lunch so far - 60 rupees for food and drink for both of us - and we were joined by an older man who proceeded to eat two vegetable thalis one after the other. I'm not sure if it's because my appetite has got smaller since I arrived but that was a lot of food to watch one man eat! A quick (and very bizarre) visit to the planetarium that is situated in the grounds of Nehru's house (totally out of place but very enjoyable!) followed lunch and then we continued on to Ghandi Smitri - the place where Ghandi spent the last 144 days of his life and also where he was assassinated by a Hindu extremist who believed he was too much of a sympathiser with the Muslims. In a similar vein to Indira's memorial, his final steps have been marked out from the house through the gardens with raised footsteps along the path. At this point I realised that so far we've only really visited tombs and assassination sights - I think this might be why we end up in the bar every night! I think the only place we visited that wasn't a murder site was Nehru's place - he was lucky enough to die peacefully in his bed! Being allowed into the two rooms that Ghandi had spent his final days in really was a high point for me. He lived simply, the only objects in the rooms being a bed, meditation platform, small writing desk, a spinning wheel and his few meagre possessions - a walking stick, his glasses, knife/fork/spoon, a paperweight and his three monkeys representing See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. A simple quote of his reads, "My life is my message" - from what I've learned over the past couple of days I agree with that wholeheartedly. The guide did say that I was able to take pictures if I wanted to but despite being the snap happy person that I am it just didn't seem appropriate or necessary. There was a real presence in that room and just spending a few minutes in it alone really was enough and I left with a feeling of loss that was confusing even to me.

After such a long day, an evening drinking with my darling dad was absolutely required so off to My Bar we went. I am now officially a regular - I don't even have to order anymore, they just bring me 'my usual' and Friday night in this place really was awesome. Filled to the brim with young Indian men, they sang and danced along to every track that came on the stereo (including Baby by Justin Bieber which made me laugh hysterically, apparently he's popular over here too and hearing 50 young lads sing along was certainly a sight to see). Fantastic atmosphere and again, we got company without even looking for it, chatting to two actors in their twenties for most of the night. Fab night, bad morning. Hangovers for the pair of us but no time to waste - only one and a half more days in Delhi!