St Joan of Arc - Udayan

Today we began our adventure touring through Delhi at the Jama Masjid Mosque. The mosque had beautiful architecture and it is the second largest in the subcontinent created by Shah Jahan the emperor and famous architect of one of the Seven Wonders of the World which we will be visiting tomorrow. We then went on a tour by cycle rickshaws around the back streets of old Delhi, the smell of incense and the buzz of commercial activity hit us the most. We even saw many monkeys!!!!

We then went to Raj Ghat, Ghandi’s cremation site, which we all found a spiritual experience. Afterwards we could not resist the temptation of a McDonald’s as a small home comfort. The next destination was Birla House, the site of Ghandi’s assassination and the place where he spent his last 144 days. We walked round the house which is now a museum and took in the calm atmosphere; we followed his last steps which led out into a beautiful memorial garden. Everybody found this an awe-inspiring experience and was the highlight of the day.

Soon after, we arrived at Humayun’s Tomb, built to glorify the second Moghul Emperor. Costing around 1 million rupees in 1547 to build in traditional Moghul fashion; the tomb became the blue print to which the Taj Mahal was built. Our final stop was to the first mosque ever built in India. The ancient 75m tall tower, along with the beautifully detailed architecture was a true feat of engineering, we wondered how they’d managed such a project in 1211 without cranes and modern scaffolding! It was also a photographer’s paradise with all of us catching some good snaps.

This was a brilliant day, made all the better by our amazing expert guide, Ashim, who bore a striking resemblance to our own head of music, Mr. Berditch: it was uncanny!

After a long and tiring day we’ve packed our bags in anticipation of the 3.45AM start which we’re all greatly looking forward to tomorrow!! (NOT) So now it’s time for us to go to bed and we’ll keep you all updated.

Big hugs and kisses to everyone.

xxxxx