Most Western travellers would get to experience India through the Golden Triangle: New Delhi the capital city, Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, and Jaipur and its palaces. As first-timers in India, we could hardly miss visiting these major cities – who cares if we are not trailblazers? 🙂

Many of our loved ones, friends and family alike, had warned us about New Delhi, its overpopulation (15+ million people in the inner city, 23M including suburbs), its severe air pollution and the many scams. We came prepared: we had picked an apartment in South Delhi, known for its poshier, suburban atmosphere and we had limited our stay to 2 days. And guess what? We really enjoyed it, and we wished that we’d had stayed a few days more.

Forget the traffic for some time, and enjoy a well-running subway service – where you need to go through a security check before reaching the lanes (hidden behind curtains for ladies). I see clearly teenage boys oggle me and giggle behind my back – have you seen the giant white lady aside us?! We seldom saw “foreigners” (i.e. non-Indian looking people) in the South; in comparison, we quickly understood that we were back on the beaten path in New Delhi, where you could see flocks of Western-looking tourists in the city center. Still. I got used to the famous Indian stare in South India, but I was not ready to become a celebrity in North India because of my very, very pale skin and my unordinary height. I assumed that the craze about white people had faded a bit away with Internet and the social media, but the colorism that appeared with the British seems too deep-rooted to be waved off so easily.

Once I’d learnt to gently brush off my curious paparazzi after the 15th picture within 15 meters, we could set off and enjoy the city wonders. Old Delhi was everything that we’d hoped for: majestic monuments, sprinkled with the Indian chaotic, yet well-organized life. Lace-like marble architecture share the spotlight with marvellous silk wedding garments; while tuktuks continue honking their ways through the crowd and monkeys climb through the canopy of cables.

New Delhi cannot be reduced to its traditional, old core, Delhi. Our footsteps brought us along wide, well-maintained avenues boarded by governmental buildings and fancy restaurants. After the Madurai main Shiva temple, we got struck for the second time of our trip by beauty, with the Gurudwara Sri Bangla Sahib. Call me over the top, but I got emotional, facing the white and gold purety of the place. It was forbidden to take pictures in the temple, so here are some nice Google pictures for you. This was the first time in my life that I had the chance to visit a Sikh temple, and I was told that they’d all follow the same architecture, worldwide.

Crash course to the architecture of Sikh temples (to my understanding, at least)

Disclaimer: from memory – please feel free to correct me if I am mistaken!

A Sikh Gurudwara is a rectangle white and gold monument built around a central chair, which hosts the sacred scriptures (the Guru Granth Sahib). The sacred chair is richly decorated with draperies, and can only be accessed by the priests. Twice a day, the priests will enlighten the believers with readings from the sacred scriptures and then hide the books under a canopy bed. Thick carpets around this central piece invite you to rest for a moment and pray. Whether one is religious or not, I always find it beneficial to pause and reflect upon the luck and love in our lives. Be it in front of an altar, of loving friends or family or of a nice dinner. Sikh temples are famous for the free food that they offer to all, 24 hours a day, financed by the Sikh who gift of 10% of their annual income. Love thy neighbor, as another famous religion leader said. 🙂

Our New Delhi diary would not be complete without mentioning Shikha, 32, and her mum, that we met at our shared apartment. Mother and daughter were visiting New Delhi, and were astonished by the tale of our (little) world trip. How lucky we are to have so much money to spare, and the freedom to do so! My female self would not have been allowed to travel without a male chaperone in neighboring cities if I had been born in an Indian traditional family. To think that I have in mind to cross oceans later on in the year! We talked for the entire evening, helped by the magic of the phone app SayHi, which translated live between Hindu and English (big big shout out to Marion B., who told us about it!). If you are reading these lines, Shikha, thank you and your mum for these moments.

I am still running late in telling you about our adventures (still Agra and Jaipur to go, while we are currently in Pushkar) – doing my best catching up, though. Love from Dimitri and me, see you in Golden Triangle, part 2!