India- Delhi Day 1

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March was Spring Break time for Japanese high schools, so we took some time off from work, cashed in some frequent flier miles, and headed off to India. We flew from Kansai to Delhi via the amazing Singapore Airport on Singapore Airlines, a true travel treat- the food was good, the service was impecable, and the media selection was huge.
We arrived late at night in Delhi on Thursday March 26th and crashed at our lovely accomodation, Thikana Delhi. On Friday morning, after a tasty breakfast at the guesthouse, we headed out to do some sightseeing in Delhi. Our first stop was Humayun's tomb. The photo above and below are of the tomb of Isa Kahn, dating from 1547, located just inside the grounds of Humayun's tomb.
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The interior of Isa Kahn's tomb...
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More scenery near Isa Khan's tomb.
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On the approach to the gate of Humayun's Tomb.
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A huge side gate near Humayn's tomb.
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Joe and I with the spectacular Humayun's tomb behind us.
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Details of the tomb. Built in 1570, the tomb is a great example of Mughal architecture. For a fantastic interactive website on the Mughals click here and mouse over the screen to open the features.
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Looking out through the stone screens from the interior of the tomb.
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The lush gardens that surround the tomb.
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Another view of Humayun's tomb.
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A detail of a door on the gate to the tomb.
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The traffic of Delhi as seen from the back of a three-wheeled auto rickshaw.
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Joe at the India Gate, a memorial for the soldiers who died in World War I.
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We spent the afternoon at the National Museum where we had a fantastic lunch buffet before touring the galleries. Below is an example of Gandharan Buddhist sculpture.


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One of the many exhibits of stone sculpture at the museum.
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No spitting in the museum!
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The first floor of the museum had an exhibit on Harappan Culture, which dates from about 2600 B.C.E. to 1900 B.C.E. The exhibit incuded the famous tiny bronze sculpture of a dancing girl, which I geeked out for.
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After a few hours of museum going, we stopped for a quick tea break at the Indian chain Cafe Coffee Day and headed over to Connaught Place to do some people watching and shopping. Below is a Delhi street in the late afternoon.
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Exhausted from our first day of sightseeing, we had dinner at Sagar Ratna.
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Dosas and lassis and pakoras. Vegetarian heaven.
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