Lal Qila- Red Fort in Old Delhi

The Lal Qila is located in Old Delhi. The Lonely Planet guide book gives a great description of Old Delhi while the only thing that I could think of coming away from there was that it was an overwhelming sensory experience. Our journies today included 5 different modes of transportation. We first took a hired driver (arranged by a friend) to go to a restaurant and then to the metro station. The metro, the second mode of transportation, is about 4 years old in Delhi and I was truly amazed by its efficiency and cleanliness. It did get extremely crowded at a few stops, but overall it was a really satisfying transportation experience. That is to say that it was a needed relief after battling traffic on the streets. We talked to a friend about the metro later and he explained that there was a big public campaign in the beginning to get people to take care of it, use it wisely, etc and it appears to have worked magically. I at first thought that the metro was built within the last year since it was so well kept and sparkling clean. I wish I could create this type of "public campaign" in my classroom to create a desire to keep it clean all year! After the metro, we got out and took a rickshaw bicycle (third mode of transportation) to the Jama Masjid mosque. We soon realized by seeing the flocks of men in white and caps headed towards the mosque that it was the hour of prayer so we would not be allowed in for touring. It was still an amazing sight from the outside. We then hopped back on the rickshaw and headed to Lal Qila. This is when the sensory explosion occured. The street was narrow, crowded, and filled with shops selling everything from formal stationary to tubes for your plumbing to watch repair. The smell was a mix of chai, trash, sweaty people, and a few spices mixed in.
There were shouts and honks all around. I barely blinked because I was trying to capture it all.

Our rickshaw driver was a tiny man and I felt a bit guilty watching him work so hard to get us to our destination and in the end was shocked to find that for this 5-10 minute trip of grueling labor, he only asked for 50 cents. We arrived at Lal Qila. learned a new word today in Hindi...Lal=red and am actually able to remember it since it is meaningful for me. Lal Qila was built by Aurangzeb during the Mughal rule of India. The beautiful structure combined elements of Hindu, Persian, Greek, and Mughal culture. It was hot and extremely humid, so we didn't spend a long time touring, but did enjoy the description by a guide about the site.

The final two modes of transportation were a normal taxi in an old Ambassador car and a ride in the small "auto" which is a 2 seater motorized scooter with space for passengers in the back. These little guys and their astute drivers have a way of winding in and out of the tiniest space in traffic which is nothing short of a miracle. A 2 lane road will generally fit 2 normal size cars, 1-2 autos and a few bikes in between. All of these varying types and sizes of vehicles weave together with nothing more than a system of honking that translates to "look out, I am coming through". I don't know how it works, but it does. The only thing I do know is that I have not had proper preparation to drive or navigate this system of traffic.

You might be confused to think that drivers actually do keep a distance from these trucks, but as I mentioned before, there are about 2 cars, 2 autos, and 2 bikes in every 2 lane highway, so you can only imagine that there is no one who is keeping  a distance from anyone else.