Grand Adventure 2017 Day 24: A Piece of Humble Bread
I love days like today. The ones that are unexpected surprises. We woke up this morning at a leisurely 7 AM and made our way downstairs to the hotel's main restaurant for breakfast. We were fortunate enough to get breakfast included with our hotel room which meant we could just order whatever we wanted from the menu. Jenn went with pancakes, and I had a two egg breakfast with bacon, sausage, and toast. They also brought us a pastry basket and fruit to start with. Everything was delicious and it gave us the energy we needed for the day.
We came back up to our room at 8 AM and left a little after 9 AM for our sightseeing tour of New Delhi. We met up with our tour guide Shehnaz in the lobby of our hotel. There she gave us a rundown of what we requested to see on the tour and gave us some suggestions to help with traffic and to see as much of Delhi as we could. After ten minutes and a quick change to our itinerary, we were off on the tour.
Our first stop on the tour was to go to Akshardham a Hindu cultural complex in Delhi. The complex was completed in 2005 and is one of the most stunning religious sights we've ever seen. Usually, I'd be posting ten or twenty pictures but the one drawback to this spot was that it did not allow any electronics on the premises. I had to leave my iPhone and Apple Watch in the car. Although I'm super bummed I couldn't take pictures, it was also a nice experience. We dropped off our shoes and walked the grounds with Shehnaz who talked about Hinduism, its impact on India, and the importance of this complex to the people of Delhi. We went to the main temple where a prayer service was just starting and stopped and watched the entire ceremony. It was quite the experience and left an impression on both Jenn and I. The entire complex was stunning, perfectly clean, and everyone was so friendly. We met a gentleman who worked had worked in the Chino Hills temple and talked about how he was soon going to be going to a new temple in New York.
Picture Taken from Google
We spent at least an hour at the temple before leaving and jumping back in the car to our next destination. Continuing with religious sights, our next stop was to Gurdwara, a Sikh temple. Before today I knew absolutely nothing about the Sikh religion other then people (including myself) mistake them for Muslim when their religion actually has no relation. It's actually a newer religion (starting in the 1450's). At this temple, there are hundreds upon hundreds of people volunteering and helping the community. Our guide was telling us that this temple serves thousands and thousands of people every day for lunch and dinner where anyone can come to no matter your religion and get a free meal. After removing our shoes and socks we walked around the beautiful temple grounds, watched a prayer, and had one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had.
Our last stop at the temple was to the massive kitchen which feeds up to 100,000 people a day. There we saw a pumpkin dish being made along with thousands of bread that looked like small naan. At first, I'll be honest walking barefoot through the massive somewhat dirty kitchen grossed me out. And then we sat down with ten or so others rolling dough and we helped for fifteen minutes roll out pieces of bread to be cooked. I was really terrible at it and many tried and failed at helping me, but the entire experience was insanely humbling. These people were sitting here for hours doing laborious jobs to feed complete strangers who for the most part don't believe what they believe. It was a moment I'll never forget.
We left Gurdwara and got back in the car and made the drive to Humayun's Tomb. Here we walked to the entrance where we had to part ways with Shehnaz who wasn't allowed to give us a tour of the tomb. She did give us a great rundown of the unfortunate circumstances of the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, Humayun who tragically died on a staircase making his way to morning prayer. One of his wives had this tomb made for him which is stunning. We walked the grounds and enjoyed the beautiful Delhi weather. I still can't believe that its only 80-degrees here. When we originally booked this trip we were expecting 90's at least but the weather is perfect. Upon the entrance, we went to a small tomb which was stunning and then made our way to one of the most picturesque buildings I've ever seen, Humayun's Tomb.
After about an hour at the tomb we met back up with Shehnaz who got us to our driver and we were off to lunch. We were dropped off at a slew of restaurants to choose from, we, of course, went Indian. The restaurant, called Gulati is an award-winning restaurant and is known for their butter chicken. We, of course, went with that recommendation and also had chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, and rice. It was one of the best Indian meals we've ever had. Jenn doesn't often get excited by food, but today she did and it was glorious. I wouldn't be surprised if we try to come back here before we leave on Monday.
It was an incredible lunch and we were more than stuffed afterward. From lunch we met back up with Shehnaz and our driver and were off to our final stop of the day, Qutab Minar, which is a tower built by the first Muslim ruler of India, Qutab-un-din Aibak. Next to the beautiful tower is the first Mosque in India. Sadly, Shehnaz couldn't join us here either but was able to give us the full lowdown on what we'd be seeing before we went through. The site was stunning. We walked to the tower first and then the mosque and then the beautiful grounds. What struck me the most was that the tower was constructed at three different points in history by different rulers with different materials and yet it still looks cohesive.
We spent about an hour walking around the site and enjoying the beautiful weather as the sun began to set. We left a little after 4 PM. From there we made our way back to our hotel after what turned out to be easily one of the best tours we've taken on this trip. We really lucked out with our tour guide Shehnaz, she was incredible. Not only did she give an incredible tour but she was just super impressive. First, she's the only woman tour guide at her company, and she had to deal with so much male chauvinism today (and I'm sure every day) that I give her a world of credit for dealing with it and going above it. It was also fascinating to learn that she was raised in a Muslim family and is still Muslim but has pursued not only her education but a career. Jenn especially was so dang impressed with her and took a liking to her within minutes of the tour starting. One day women will rule the world and I truly believe we will be better for it.
We got back to our hotel a little after 5 PM and packed it in for the night. Jenn rested and I worked on this post. A little after 7 PM I got a chicken sandwich from room service and Jenn ate my fries. We went to bed early tonight, knowing tomorrow is going to be a long day.
I can't overstate how amazing today was. First and foremost it was humbling. It was humbling to work alongside people who dedicate their lives to helping others. It was humbling to learn about our tour guides life and her pursuit of more in a culture that's even more oppressive to women than our own. It was humbling to be able to travel here to New Delhi and experience a piece of their history that will change the way I see the world forever. Today was simply a humbling day.
