New Delhi

The train arrived in New Delhi around 5:15 in the morning. We left the station and decided to walk towards the city center and walked for an hour and a half until we found ourselves at India Gate. We explored many of the buildings along Rajpath, which is equivalent to the U.S. National Mall. It is a wide green space that is framed by many museums and national arts buildings as well as the Presidential Palace. The area was very nice and I noticed many changes from previous visits of mine. While New Delhi is a large city and requires an automobile to discover, many strides have been made to improve the circulation throughout the city. We were able to walk much more easily, vehicles had designated lanes and road conditions seemed to be improved overall. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that New Delhi will be the host of the 2010 Commonwealth games. There are also strides being made to establish a metro system to mitigate congestion.

Later in the morning I called Tinu, a family friend, who arranged a government run tour for us. The tour highlighted many of the noteworthy sites including Lakshmi Temple, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, Lotus Temple, Qutb Minar, Rajghat, and Hamayun’s Tomb. The buildings were interesting to see, especially how they dealt with the surrounding landscapes and environments. I enjoyed observing how the buildings dealt with pedestrian circulation and used natural elements to influence the design of the buildings. After the tour we met up with Tinu and his family who fed us well and went to sleep for an early start.

India GateMuseum Gate DetailGandhiLotus TempleQutb MinarQutb Minar
Hamayun's Tomb