The Capital

Today was my day to tour the capital city of India, Delhi.
It's a great city, full of history and culture...and great food as I would soon learn.
The first thing I noticed (even before my tour) was that road rules do NOT apply in Delhi...probably India. Everyone who thought Vancouver had bad drivers, bite your tongue and come to Delhi. Yeah there are lane markings, but no one follows them. I wish I could say it was uncommon to see 3 motorcycles to a lane, or 2 cars and a bus sharing 2 lanes. Forget to indicate when you were changing lanes? No worries, just do it...everyone else is. It seems the way to indicate that you are changing lanes, breaking, overtaking, turning...driving, is to honk your horn. The horn is more of an alert in Delhi than a way to reprimand someone for crappy driving, although I'm sure that is done too. Cycles, rickshaws and even pedestrians navigate through moving cars with ease. Actually, these are probably some of the best drivers, I haven't seen a single accident.
The day started with a visit to Qutab Minar, a HUGE pillar erected our of red stone that is 72m high. It was built by Akbar, but I have no idea why. The thing to note about all Mughul architecture is the symmetry. Even the Taj and Agra fort were the same, everything was symmetrical. An arch on one side would have an identical arch on the other. Two gardens on either side of a building would be the same dimensions and same look, which basically means if you see one side of a building...you've seen all sides.
Next we saw Red Fort, a MASSIVE fort in Old Delhi which was built by Indians, taken by Brits, then taken BACK by the Indians...lousy British. Red fort has some great architecture with lots of intricate inlays. It also has two museums which outline Indian military history as well as one that outlines the history of the dynasties that ruled with artifacts of actual notebooks of the leaders of the dynasties.
After Red Fort we crossed the street...which was a little more than game of Frogger with the being me, and instead of a colorful mass of blocks making a vehicle...I had a real bus/rickshaw/car/bicycle who had no intention of stopping but decided honking was just as effective.
Jama Mosque is a very nice place but walking up to you reminds of what Jesus was so upset when he saw people selling and gambling in the Temple. The mosque is surrounded by a huge bazaar and even the stares approaching the mosque are covered with people selling things. I wish I could tell you what was inside...but I wore shorts...and had a camera. The camera they were willing to let slide for a mere 200RS but the shorts were unacceptable and they wanted me to wear pants. I was almost liquid from the 40 degree temperature...long pants? Are you insane? I skipped the inside of Jama Mosque and went for an authentic Mughulai meal instead, delicious. Navigating through the Bazaar after the meal was not only a good way to take in some culture but a good way to digest...dodging traffic, Delhi's biggest hazard in my opinion!