Trip to India Jan-Feb 2013, Delhi 4

The main street in the backpacker area, a couple of blocks from my hotel.

Some of the bicycle cyclos haul interesting cargo.

Oh Oh, the area is going a bit upscale.

Well, maybe not.

Lots of fast food in the area.

And an interesting old building being remodeled.

The stamp seller where I purchase all my wooden stamps.

Trip to India Jan-Feb-2013, Delhi 3

I tried my usual good market, Dilli Haat, in the southern part of New Delhi but it was full of Kashmiri traders selling Pashmina scarves which I am not interested in.  (most of them are of dubious quality)

There was this interesting display.

Art work inside one of the Metro Stations.

The large square next to my hotel in the evening.  There is a restaurant on the third floor of the building I am facing.

I was fascinated by this tree growing out of the wall.

And this doorway.

Trip to India Jan-Feb-2013- Delhi 2

The tiles representing some of the Hindo Gods are place on the walls because people will not urinate on them with them there.

I was surprised to find a pottery market on one of the side streets.

A beautiful doorway on a side street.

Back in the main part of the City I made my usual visit to the Central Cottage Emporium near the Imperial Hotel.  I usually find some good fabric here but not this visit.

A couple of blocks away is a street full of vendors from Rajasthan.  I have some favorites here and usually find something.

A beautiful display of bags at the edge of the market.

Trip to Jodhpur, India-Jan-Feb-2012-Time to Go Home

Sadly, it was finally time to take the overnight train to New Delhi and head for home. I love traveling on the Indian Trains. By the time I am part way through my trip I usually have heavy suitcases and at the train stations there are porters (for a hefty fee) who will tote them around, find your train and compartment and get you settled in. Women over 60 get 40% off their ticket. One of my porters is watching my bags and waiting for the train to open.

Arriving in New Delhi I had chosen a new hotel (for me) on Connaught Place, the main shopping area in New Delhi. I usually stay in the cheaper backpacker section North of here and this was a real treat. The hotel was on the second floor and was absolutely wonderful. Hotel Palace Heights. Very comfortable room, excellent breakfast included, and really helpful warm and cordial staff. I will stay here again for sure.

Watching TV after a month without it was also a treat.

Murals in the hallway.

After dropping my bags and a wonderful breakfast I headed out for the Dilli Haat Market . Usually a favorite shopping area.

Very disappointing this time around. The only plus was that I can now get there on the Metro.

The next day I took the Metro to another favorite shopping area...Kinari Bazaar in Old Delhi near the Red Fort.

It is full of shops carrying all sorts of beads and trims. After all the shopping I did in Jodhpur I didn't buy very much.

A fast food restaurant in the area.

Back in Connaught Place. It is two concentric rings full of shops and restaurants.

The last evening before catching the plane home I had a fabulous dinner in the hotel restaurant. Flowers in the ladies room.

Trip to India - Jan-Feb-2012- Imperial Hotel Part 1

At noon, refreshed, I checked out and took a taxi to the gorgeous Imperial Hotel below Connaught Place on Janpath. I had wanted to stay here for years and had eaten here several times. When you pull up in the taxi under the entrance way an elegant doorman opens your door and says "Welcome Home". Built in the 30's and decorated in Art Deco, it is part luxury hotel, part museum and pure luxury. My room had a coffee maker and refrigerator of course. As well as a safe, fluffy bathrobes and huge bathtowels, and a shower I wanted to take home with me.

A goosedown comforter of course.

And hundreds of tv channels

A note on my table asked if I would like some fresh fruit, which was brought promptly by someone from housekeeping.

And fresh flowers in my bathroom of course.

Just the lounge area by the elevator on my second floor wing.

The halls were covered with wonderful lithographs, engravings and paintings.

A typical hall decoration.

The chandelier over the first floor lobby.

The only thing that I didn't understand was why they placed a scale in my bathroom. Were they trying to tell me something? When I arrived my room wasn't ready so I went for lunch in the 1911 Restaurant. The beautiful polite clerk who checked me in accompanied me down the long hall toward the restaurants explaining all the choices. I opted for a buffet---soup, salads and desserts - which was huge! Later I went to the Atrium for High Tea which I love with hot and cold finger food and more luscious desserts. I staggered out feeling like a stuffed toad. I had originally planned on having dinner in one of the restaurants there but couldn't face it.

Later in the evening a housekeeper came to the room refreshing the towels and what not, placing a rug by my bed with slippers, and leaving a pile of papers in a lovely bed tray which I had to deal with. There was a bag for leaving my shoes outside the door to have shined ( I didn't bother...this was dusty Delhi after all) A form asking what papers I would like delivered before breakfast (they come in this nice cloth bag) and a form for breakfast to be delivered at what time please?
Breakfast arrived with tea cozies and milk for tea cozies of course and a real linen napkin and placemat.
Another hall painting
The royal palm driveway leading up to the hotel. It has something like 14 acres right in the heart of Delhi.
The seatingfacing the lawn outside the 1911 Restaurant The columns are tiled.

Trip to Jodhpur India - Jan-Feb 2012- Arrival in Delhi

As usual I arrived in New Delhi around midnight where I was met by a pre-arranged taxi pickup...Just wonderful when you arrive tired and jet lagged and don't want to face the mob at the exit gates. My room at the Jyoti Mahal in the backpacker section,Pahar Ganj, of Delhi.

It even had a sitting area, TV and refrigerator. This was a new hotel for me and I would be glad to stay here again.

Some hotels have huge keys and locks.

The dining area on the roof. The view wasn't all that spectacular.

As I finished my fried eggs a yellow cat approached and tried to eat the last of my egg. I tried to shoo her away to no avail.

She won and licked the plate.

A statue in my hallway.

Looking down into the courtyard.

Hallway painting.

The hotel had a row of up to date computers for guests to use on the ground floor. These appliqued pieces were hanging over the computers. I think they are from Pipli on the east coast of India.

The hallways.

The lobby toward the front door. The alley outside the front door was dirty and not all that nice. But its only a block and a half from the main road in the area and not far from the Metro or the New Delhi Train Station.

The hallway.

Statues and "stuff" in the lobby.

A beautiful swing, statues and two grand elephants guarding the main hallway.