THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH – DELHI / “It’s a dry Friday”

 

 

 

 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH – DELHI / “It’s a dry Friday”

We woke this morning to the horrifying news that the Taj Mahal Hotel that we stayed at in Mumbai just 10 days ago was under siege. Somehow terrorists have stormed the hotel and taken hostages (they’ve also attacked 9 other locations) and we’re really shocked and a bit unsure what we should do. We met at breakfast to discuss our plans; I called the US Embassy and asked about travel safety – and at the end we decided to continue as scheduled and head north tomorrow to Amritsar in the state of Punjab to see the famous Golden Temple.

We met our guide, Pushkar, at 10 and went to see a Mughal Mausoleum HUMAYUN’S TOMB inside a peaceful garden. We arrived early enough that we were almost the only people there. We had an enjoyable walk around and were able to take photos to our hearts content.

Afterward we toured an excellent site that is a memorial to the great Mahatma Gandhi (called the Place of Mahatma Gandhi’s Martyrdom or “GANDHI SMRITI”) because it is the place where he spent the last 144 days of his life before being assassinated in 1948. You follow Gandhi’s footsteps through the site until you reach the exact spot where he was killed. There are signs all around with quotations from Gandhi and details about his life and you realize was an incredible man he was.

Then as a last hurrah to Delhi, we went to the SANTUSHTI SHOPPING COMPLEX for lunch and (you guessed it) more shopping. This is a highly recommended stop; shops include the marvelous OGGAN (don’t miss designs by SONAM DUBAL www.sonamdubal.com) and ANOKHI (wonderful block-printed clothes and bedding).

Back to the hotel (with visions of cocktails dancing in our heads) only to discover that because of upcoming local elections on Sunday, no alcohol could be served at the hotel after 5 pm. But Cliff and Cathy had a flash of brilliance and decided to try calling room service to see if wine were available via back-channel, and voila, a bottle of red and white wine – plus dinner – appeared. The perfect sustenance for yet another night of “textile tsunami”, which is our name for pulling everything out of the bags and repacking, again, this time for a one-night jaunt to Amritsar.