First days...

Our first day. First tourist stop actually. This is Jami Masjid. It is the largest mosque in India. It can hold up to 20,000 people at peak prayer times! Of course, in order to hold this many people its entirely outdoors. But as its still a mosque, it is treated as such, and therefore you have to take your shoes off to enter.
From Jason: The mosque was built in 1656.
Personal note: Its about 8:30 in the morning. Jason and I were daft enough to think Delhi wasn't actually that bad. We thought "eh, we can totally do this!" More on that stupid thinking later!

This is Raj Ghat. This is the site of Mahatma Gandhi's cremation. The words on the front of the memorial are Gandhi's last words -- "Oh God!" It was a lovely memorial. Throughout the courtyard there the most wonderful magnolia trees. The courtyard is in a larger garden that is fairly sacred so it is incredibly well cared for and consequently stunning.

The arrival of the heat. If you look closely Jason looks as though he is on fire. In fact we may be at this point. Stifled by the heat, we are now thinking we were morons at 8:30 am for thinking Delhi would be in any way bearable. In fact in this picture its only about 11:00 am. The heat and humidity are like a wall. You can't escape it. The real downside has been that Jason and I measure distance and the amount of shade prior to walking to any monument, sight, etc. Its depressing as most things are quite close, but when you factor in the sweat and the heat -- they might as well be miles away!!

Okay, back to India Gate. It was built to commemorate the Indian and British soldiers who dies in World War I. On the sandstone, if you get really close (which I was because it was shady), you can see the names of all the soldiers who died. There was a little ceremony happening when we visited, so it was nice to see the soldiers at their memorial.

After an afternoon siesta and lunch (both at the hotel in air conditioning), we headed out for round two. This is Lodi Gardens. It is by far the nicest, loveliest garden in all of Delhi. Jason even thinks it might be the nicest garden ever! I am standing in front of one of the many tombs in the garden. So basically you walk around and look at all the trees, flowers, and ponds -- and then you see these tombs. Their architecture is like nothing I had ever seen. The tombs are empty inside and you are free to walk around wherever you please.
This particular tomb is called Bara Gumbad. There is a mosque attached to it that was built in 1494. The tombs are in remarkable condition, considering their age. One interesting note -- this particular tomb is so old, that no one knows who is buried inside!!