DAY 7: FAREWELL OLD DELHI, Delhi, India

We walked down the grand staircase of Jama Mosjid that led to a busy street intersection adjacent to the mosque. We hopped on a tuk-tuk and asked the driver to take us to Chandni Chowk metro station.  After a brief visit of Old Delhi, it was time for us to return to New Delhi, where we would find a place for dinner and then take the express train back to the airport.  It was late afternoon and the traffic at Old Delhi was quite congested, allowing us a little more time than expected to witness the street scenery of the old city one more time.

Before our Indian trip, we came across a book by Japanese author and stage designer Kappa Senoo (妹尾河童).  The book was called Kappa’s Peek at India, in which Kappa used hand sketches and diary text to record the people, buildings, street scenes and sites that he saw and experienced during his trips to India back in 1980s.  The Indian street scenes that he depicted with his pencil sketches: the shops, the vehicles, and most important of all, the myriad different people doing various things for living echoed vividly to what we were seeing outside the tuk-tuk.  For us, the half hour tuk-tuk ride through the narrow and chaotic streets of Old Delhi was a remarkable journey allowing us to understand another facet of this complex and visually fascinating nation.

Small streets in Old Delhi were swamped with vehicles of all sort, all of which were moving slowly.

Motorcycles were pretty common in Delhi.

Vendors selling samosa-like snacks.

Bicycle rickshaws were still pretty common.

Given the traffic and sometimes poor conditions of the sidewalk, it wasn’t the easiest city for pedestrians.

The rickshaws revealed the difference of social status of different local people.

A bicycle rickshaw driver resting.

Streets were full of vendors selling different merchandises.

Public water sourse for washing and cooling.

The banana vendor.

Water drinking was essential under the hot temperature.

Street vendors doing all sorts of trading and bargaining.

Each person on the street looked as if there was an interesting story behind.

Bicycle rickshaws were very common on Delhi streets

Coconut vendor.

Under extensive globalization, international brands such as canon and Sony appeared everywhere.

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Other posts on 2016 Ladkadh & Delhi:
Introduction – LADAKH – The Land of High Passes, India
Day 1.1 – ENROUTE TO LEH, Ladakh
Day 1.2 – WALK TO MAIN BAZAAR, Leh, Ladakh
Day 1.3 – LEH PALACE, Leh, Ladakh
Day 1.4 – HOTEL LADAKH GREENS, Leh, Ladakh
Day 2.1 – NAMGYAL TSEMO GOMPA, Leh, Ladakh
Day 2.2 – LALA’S CAFE AND TIBETAN CUISINE, Leh, Ladakh
Day 2.3 – SPITUK GOMPA, Leh, Ladakh
Day 3.1 – MONASTERIES OF THE INDUS VALLEY DAY ONE, Ladakh (with map)
Day 3.2 – THIKSEY GOMPA, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 3.3 – CHEMREY & TAKTHOK GOMPA, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 3.4 – HEMIS & STAKNA GOMPA, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 3.5 – MATHO GOMPA & SHEY PALACE, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 4.1 – ON THE ROAD WEST OF LEH, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 4.2 – LAMAYURU GOMPA, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 4.3 – ALCHI & LIKIR GOMPA, Indus Valley, Ladakh
Day 4.4 – FORT ROAD IN THE EVENING, Leh, Ladakh
Day 5.1 – SHORT HIKE NEAR PHYANG, Ladakh
Day 5.2 – PHYANG VILLAGE, Ladakh
Day 5.3 – NOMADIC WOOLLEN MILLS & BON APPETIT, Leh, Ladakh
Day 6.1 – ZINGCHEN GORGE, Ladakh
Day 6.2 – SHANTI STUPA, Leh, Ladakh
Day 7.1 – LEH AIRPORT TO RED FORT, Delhi
Day 7.2 – RED FORT, Delhi
Day 7.3 – JAMA MASJID, Delhi
Day 7.4 – FAREWELL OLD DELHI, Delhi
Day 7.5 – UNITED COFFEE HOUSE, New Delhi