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Delhi Diaries - 2

Since I was a 'Delhi veteran' and claimed to know everything that is there to know about the touristy Delhi, I was spouting off facts about all the places as if it were my own backyard. We entered the hotel via a backdoor entry and reached the reception. The reception resembled the office of a business tycoon from the dubbed Telugu movies, complete with the Dad and the Son. They agreed to keep our luggage safely till it was time to check-in so that we can go off sightseeing.

The plan was to travel solely by Delhi metro and not depend on Uber or rickshaws. When we realised that Qutb Minar was just 4-5 kms away, we decided to give in and take a rickshaw. The funny thing about rickshaws in Delhi are, (they obviously don't go by meter) the fares multiply in terms of 20. It is either 40 or 60 or 80 or 120.

No dearth of willing rickshaw-walahs either. We jumped into one and within no time reached the gates of Qutb Minar complex. It was an early Sunday morning around 8.30 and the place thronged with people. I was continuously blabbering about how Qutb Minar is actually very big from up close and not like how we see in the pictures. I was like a very annoying parakeet that sat on Kiran's shoulders and spoke at its top speed.






By then the sun had decided to come up and it was hot. Like typical mallus we spotted in Qutb Complex, Kiran also wore the expression of "Ithano ee Qutb Minar - Meh". After clicking a few pictures, selfies and some ledge selfies we soon left the place. At the gates, the rickshaw guy wanted to take us to some market but we somehow convinced him that we have actually planned our own itinerary without his help. He took us to Hauz Khaas and we wandered in looking for a place to have breakfast.

We zeroed in on a South Indian restaurant that had waiters dressed up in 'mundu veshti' walking around looking totally unaccustomed to that attire. After breakfast we walked around a bit in Hauz Khaas and felt that it was the S.M Street for High Fashion clothes and ganja - a deadly combination.
At the end of the street, there was Hauz Khaas fort and a little stretch of green. This was new to me as we hadn't explored this area in our last and only Delhi visit. As we came out of the fort, we saw an interesting looking shop that advertised itself as vintage/old/antique store. Sadly it was closed and since we didn't harbour a desire to have ganja offered by the locals we escaped from Hauz Khaas to our hotel.



We ended up resting for quite a long time and avoided the noon sun altogether. After making plans to meet a friend for dinner, we decided to leave the cosy comforts and step out to see Lodhi Gardens. Since I forgot to mention - we have been taking autorickshaws throughout the day as the total distance to and from the Metro station were larger than the total distance to travel by autorickshaws. So much for our plans to only travel by Metro!

Lodhi Gardens is apparently a popular picnic spot and filled with people on Sunday afternoons. There are a few monuments dotted across the park and people were throwing rings to catch and generally having a nice family time. We left when it started getting dark and decided to walk to Connaught Place. After some distance, we slowly came to the conclusion that our plan to walk 6 kms was a foolhardy one. On consulting Google Maps we sent a prayer heavenward for letting that thought enter our heads -  we were walking in the wrong direction. Hailed another rickshaw, climbed in and reached Connaught Place to find it to be the exact opposite of what we expected - Shady, Scary and Crowded. We left within 10 minutes and reached Chor Bizarre for our dinner date. It was a Kashmiri place, beautifully decorated with Chor Bazaar stuff. The food was delicious and spicy and after a merry dinner with good company and great conversation we ended our first full day in Delhi and fell flat on the hotel bed and slept.

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