Monday 29th October - Day 3O Old Delhi
After breakfast we head on a full day of adventure and are on the chaotic roads by 9am.
There are no rules, no such thing as breaking the law by undertaking, no use of indicators, those yellow blinking lights which are so useful knowing which way a vehicle is going to turn. Here there is not such things as lanes... its a free for all including camels, cows, dogs, people, rick shaws, Tuk Tuks, cars, buses, lorries, motorbikes... you just beep that horn and away you go, right, left, diagonal, squeezing in between, you just do what you want to do to move forward! No helmets, no rules of 2 to a motorbike, why should there be when you can squeeze your wife, son and baby on the same motorbike as you!

We pass the Kashmere gate and enormous Red Fort. Today it is closed and is being cleared of a recent festival. Our driver manages to find a space to pull over so we can take photos. We pass through Chandni Chowk and arrive at Jamba Majid by 9.30am. This is Old Delhi’s largest mosque holding 25,000 worshipers in the courtyard, a staggering amount even though it is large. We leave our shoes and enter, being given a cloak and sarong for the men. Even though I am completely covered up they still like you to wear a cloak which I have no problem with at all. As we stand in the courtyard with AJ explaining more of India’s history and the mosque Kites fly above us. As we have time on our own we watch as people drink water from the small pond in the courtyard whilst others wash their feet...

Standing on the steps of the mosque after collecting our shoes we watch and listen to the chaotic sounds of Old Delhi. It is truly fascinating and even comical. AJ arranges for us all to truly experience Old Delhi on Rick Shaws! We all head off through the tiny streets & bazaars becoming part of the chaos, the only thing we don’t have that the motorbikes do is a horn! It appears Rickshaws are the the last in the pecking order on the roads. AJ warns us to keep camera’s close so no one snatches them from us and off we go. We have a tiny man peddling away carrying Russ and I trying to weave his way through the traffic and people. It’s not long before we head into the narrow streets of the bazaars. Passing through men pulling carts full of largely wrapped packages - this is Old Delhi’s postal system. Horns are constantly being blasted around us as motorbikes want to pass us. People just walk in front of us there is no care for the man breaking a sweat on his bike pulling us along the streets.

The bazaars are full of men cooking, on the streets, of shops selling beautiful materials and decorations for weddings, of spices, teas and brightly decorated chocolate and sweet boxes ready for the nearing Divali Festival soon to be celebrated. When you look into the shops thinking they will be tiny as they are so narrow but many go back deep full of goods.

There is so much to take in, to experience, to witness, electrical wires above us are a mass of tangled wires. There are no rules, their is no such thing as health and safety.

After half an hour of complete and utter madness but so much fun we disembark at the main square all laughing from our experiences. AJ now carefully keeps us all together and points buildings out which still have some of the original structure, monkeys are leaping from the roof tops, Kites flying above us, chipmunks playing the trees. He walks us along some shop fronts explaining the different goods and gives time in the spice street for purchases. I stand and watch the monkeys playing and feeding on a large tree, the locals amused at my fascination! I buy a peacock fan, the heat starting to get too hot, having AJ with is to barter is a godsend!
At 1145 we are back on the Rick Shaws to take us back to the Mosque to get back on the coach to drop us off near Walk in the Clouds for lunch. Small restaurant on the side streets where the food was delicious and just kept coming. Myself and Jo even had birthday cakes presented and Wally started off singing to us. No time to eat the cakes they are boxed up and we take them away with us!

By 230 we are on the road to Agra, a very straight road and once out of the city we travel through fields either side of us growing mustard, wheat & millet. Workers are tending to the crops, cows feeding on the grasses, camels munching on tree tops.

We stop for the washroom at a kind of service station where there is a Costa Coffee. It is dark by the time we reach Agra, our next destination for 2 nights at the Trident Taj Ganj. It is a very large hotel as all are and have been. The staff at the Trident are impeccably dressed and polite, all of the time. AJ as usual books a table for us, tells us time of pick up and what we need the next day. The next day is Tuesday, 30th October which means I will reach the grand age of 50! We meet in the bar for a quick drink before entering the restaurant. The food is amazing, a fantastic selection. A few of us take a drink outside in the middle courtyard by the pool. Norm an avid cricket fan who is also a lead singer of a band for many years treats us to a song, even though we have only been together for one full day it is like we have been together for weeks.

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day with an early kick off at 5am to visit the nearby Taj Majal when the gates open at 6am!