Yesterday I thought ... uh oh, I'm not going to like Delhi (we got soooo hassled by beggars and people trying to get us to go to certain shops). However, today was much better and I think I've adjusted to dealing with that kind of annoying behavior again (had it in Egypt a few years back).

This morning we wandered around Old Delhi for several hours, beginning with a trip to the Jama Masjid (the largest Mosque in India).



If you look really closely, you'll see Leah posing in this picture.









After the mosque, we took a walk through one of the cloth bazaars nearby. This provided many excellent opportunities to take pictures of the amazing electrical work here. The wires really look like part of a living organism, stretching, intertwining, and reaching out to new buildings.





The electrical lines are so similar to the vines in a jungle, that they are inhabited by monkeys.




This walk through the bazaar was also very reminiscent of Egypt, with thin streets, lots of people, narrow shops (some deep, some shallow). In every shop, there were one or more men either sitting and drinking tea, folding cloth, or making calculations on casio calculators.











We also stopped for a cup of "authentic" chai (called Masala tea in India).

Today Joel left to fly home and I left to fly to Delhi. Leah arrived in Dehli at about 2pm. We've lost Val, Robert, and Sheila, and gained Leah and an American named Mike (from California).

Joel tries his turn at bat in an impromptu game of cricket.

We saw almost nothing on our morning walk (Joel saw a wild dog and we saw some deer). But the scenery was beautiful and I finally got the panoramic feature on my camera to work. Click on images to enlarge.

I've found that reading Indian newspapers is refreshing. Nothing is quite what you would expect. I've been photographing some of my favorites.

I think you can click on each photo to enlarge it enough to read or see more clearly.

For Mat (if your illustration career doesn't pan out):



For Karen (who is always fond of new kitchen gadgets):





If you always wondered where Indian women get the bindi they put on their foreheads:








And for our cats, who would absolutely LOVE this: