Delhi Things to Do Tips by Beefy_SAFC

Hawkers and dodgy electricals Through the city Review

This fella was tame (first photo shown) - he didn't chase you and he wasn't selling chess sets. But woe betide the person who pointed a camera at him and his snake, as his assistant suddenly turned up and started pestering you for money. Yup, hawkers in India have hundreds of novel methods for extracting money from tourists, ranging from pestering, goading, nuisance, skulduggery, forgery, paying taxi drivers to take them to shops instead of hotels and...

...well, I wouldn't want to be chased by his snake!!! Cobras are poisonous, especially when they haven't been paid.

As regards Indian electricals, everything they say is true. Just hope it works and the switch isn't wired up wrong. This picture was taken in my hotel behind the dressing room table. The English Prince Phillip on seeing some dodgy wiring in Scotland once commented it must have been done by an Indian. No offence meant to Indians, but this was not the only example - you'll have to wait until the Jaipur page for the best one.

Fatepuri Masjid and Humayun's Tomb Humayun Tomb Review

Fatepuri Masjid near mainly Moslem Old Dehli is the busiest mosque in Dehli and as long as it's no prayer time, foreigners can go in bare feet. A small donation to it's upkeep is advised (the damage the pigeons that roost on it must do is no-one's business). It also affords brilliant views of the Lal Qila (Red Fort) completed in 1648.

Humayun's tomb is a few miles away from central Delhi and is a good place to escape the hustle and bustle of Dehli. Constructed from 1648 onwards (overseen by the mother of the more famous emperor Akbar, builder of the Taj Mahal), it was also the last refuge of the last emperor Bahadur Shah II prior to his capture by the British after the failed Indian mutiny in 1857.

Indian Parliament and Moghul Architecture Governmental Palace Review

Poll the Parrot can be seen next to the Indian Parliament building, the heart of the largest democracy on earth, with over 1 billion eligible voters. Built originally by the British as they relocated the capital of India from Calcutta (now called Kolkota) to Delhi, this remained the seat of government when India gained independence in 1947.

There is also much Moslem inspired architecture, dating from Mogul times before British rule - the Mosque above is very much in the Persian style I was surrounded by in Uzbekistan. The reason for all this Mogul architecture is simple - the founder of the Moguls (corruption of Mongols), Barbur, originated from Uzbekistan. Barbur, born in Samarkand and descended from both Genghis Khan and the Timurid ruler Tarmerlane (of which Babur was more proud), was kicked out of his homeland by the invading Uzbeks (not native to modern day Uzbekistan, by the way) and driven into exile in Afghanistan. After a few failed attempts to recapture Samarkand, he turned his attention east to the rich pickings on Northern India, usurping a previous Islamic regime. Most of the Mogul buildings in Delhi and Agra can be attributed to Barbur and descendents.

Within feet of the Indian Parliament, an Egret plods away in a fountain totally unphased by the locals, traffic, tourists and hawkers pestering them with chess sets and postcards only a short distance away.