December in India, Part 4

Shopping in Karol Bagh on December 22nd.

December 21 - Southern New Delhi

On Saturday the 21st, we hired a car for the day and visited several sites in the southern park of Delhi.

Breakfast at the Hotel

The first stop was the Qutub Minar.  Wikipedia says that it "is the 2nd tallest minar (73 metres) in India after Fateh Burj in Chappar Chiri at Mohali which stands 100 meters tall.  The Qutb Minar is made of red sandstone and marble. The stairs of the tower has 379 steps, is 72.5 metres (237.8 ft) high, and has a base diameter of 14.3 metres, which narrows to 2.7 metres at the top. Construction was started in 1192 by Qutb-ud-din Aibak and was carried on by his successor, Iltutmish. In 1368, Firoz Shah Tughlaq constructed the fifth and the last storey. It is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins, collectively known as the Qutb complex."

 

 

After this we went to Hauz Khas, a upscale neighborhood near a lake and some ruins.  We had lunch there and did some gift shopping.

We spent the rest of the day shopping.  First at a market called "Dehli Haat" which we thought was "Dilli Haat".  Bargaining is the norm at the latter and apparently frowned upon at the former.  Yeongmi and I got ourselves in trouble by bargaining too aggressively at the first place.  We had lots of fun at the second one.

Traffic in Delhi was pretty bad and it took a long time to get from one place to another.  The subway might've been more efficient and less costly, but at the price and with a badly sprained ankle I was glad we hired a car.

Our Driver

Dinner

December 22 - Temple Tour

On Sunday we took a tour with the same company that had arranged for our home visit.  We had a nice guide and a leisurely Sunday tour of several beautiful temples in Delhi.

In the evening we walked through Karol Bagh, enjoying the shopping and the crowds.