Delhi, India

Delhi and Mumbai have a local competition. Tour guides will ask you which you like better. They always voted for their home town. We greatly enjoyed our tour of Delhi thanks to a fun and female tour guide (the only one we've had the whole trip), but our vote goes to Mumbai. We definetly would return to Mumbai on repeat over Delhi. Delhi is dirtier, louder (if thats possible) and more crowded at 30M people and counting. It has some interesting sites including the embassy rows, an amazing university, sprawling campus, Humayun's tomb (some say the tomb that the Taj was based on) and the Red Fort. They say the nightlife is strong here too, but we never made it up for it!

Delhi guides tell the story of the slave who became king and the Bahai religion, which is more yoga and meditation, because its founder--a local leader--didnt like the rules of other religions, per our guide.

In visiting the University campus our guide proudly noted:

42% of the world's doctors are Indian

45% of the world's IT genious is Indian

21.5% of NASA members are Indian and 11% are women

In asking about the current political landscape and economy our guide said 'you can't make everybody happy.' This certainly is true. But Modi is popular with an expected re election in 2024 as Prime Minister. While he is in his 70's, he is 'in good health. He does yoga everyday." noted our guide.

We ate dinner at Bikhara at the ITC Mauyra Hotel, a small, quant restaurant focused on tandoori.  The side lobby sitting area has a ceiling fresco that is gorgeous and shown here.

10M people work for the Indian Railway. It is the fastest, best way to get around India. In Delhi, the trains were almost identical to our local T.  But 100% newer, cleaner and nicer. The trains were cleaner than the streets.

When we left at 5am to catch a train north, the college aged kids were just leaving the hotel’s pub.  The nightlife in Bombay is said to be much better with the ‘city that never sleeps’ mantra applying, but Delhi didnt seem far behind.

The sound of horns, well known to the world, is jarring but then soon humorous as you realize it is not often the angry, hang on the horn, impatient honking, it is more of a friendly ‘Im immediately on your left/right/butt and dont hit me’.  Given there are zero lane lines and vehicles that span from bikes to motorcycles to rickshaws to tuk tuks to cars and delivery trucks the lack of lane lines means complete chaos, with bumper to bumper to bumper taking on new meaning. And, pedestrians are everywhere criss crossing the same unmarked roads with no cross walks. The horns surely save lives.

Perhaps our saving grace was our novelty. Blonde hair and blue eyes and pale irish complexions are the stuff of movies per our guides. So much so that we were regularly photographed and even asked to be in pictures.  This is the closest we will ever be to understanding how famous people feel, and you see quickly why it is so unsettling. That said, we also had a much easier time crossing the street as locals stopped to stare.  This also is a country that ‘loves America’ and is incredibly proud of its relationship with Americs at present. This feedback was offered unsolicited by tour guide after tour guide. . We’ve been in countries where we were equally novel, but Americans were not liked.  This way felt a lot better, of course.