Quick-stop sightseeing tour of Delhi!

Hello everyone!
Lots to write today as we visited all the main sights in New Delhi in a quick-stop tour. (Almost) everybody managed to get to breakfast bright and early. The eggs were very varied and interesting, but we all enjoyed the sweet Indian coffee! Next, we enjoyed our very own group church, complete with Kay-Marie on the guitar and I'm sure the rest of the hotel guests enjoyed our lovely singing. After praying for our day, we headed out.

First stop was India Gate, a monument (similar to Arc de Triomphe) which was built by the British to commemorate their soldiers who died in World War One. Everyone enjoyed getting a chance to take some snaps, and some were invited to be in a few photographs of their own!

We then got back into the ASHA minibus with our trusty driver, Kamud and moved on to the Presidential Palace. We ran into a slight problem on the way to the palace as we were stopped by the police and then fined for stopping! After paying the police a reduced fine compared to their demand, we managed to walk up to the Presidential buildings. Amidst the tourists and locals taking pics of the stunning buildings, we spent quite some time snapping a monkey we spotted sitting on the wall and a hedge shaped like an elephant :)

Lodi Gardens was next on the menu. The park was beautiful and spacious and filled with exotic bonzai and jungle style flowering plants. The glorious sunshine meant all of New Delhi were out having picnics and playing with bats and balls. We got an unexpected historical tour by a very helpful guide and our whistle stop tour of the gardens was completed with an exciting sighting of some chipmunks.

Lunch was a lengthy affair as we were fortunate enough to be invited to a lovely members only Indian restaurant, Delhi O' Delhi. Highly recommended! We all helped ourselves to the varied traditional buffet food and some went back a few times for the mango ice-cream :p Getting out of the restaurant was fun when we decided to try fit 10 people in the lift (the only way out) which then went up and down a few times before beeping and saying OVERLOADED. We realised that a 10 person maximum probably did not include those who had just eaten 3 courses of yummy curry and pudding!

After lunch we headed to Humayan's Tomb, the practise version of the Taj Mahal. The site was amazing and the combination of sun and the huge, decorative red building created some great photos. As did pictures taken from the balcony of unexpected members of the group! Last stop for the day was at Sharmila and Randall's cosy home. Nadine and Shammah's family blessed us with the most tasty Chai tea we have ever had, homemade cakes and fudge and a closing inspirational prayer. The bus home was a quieter affair, with lots of full tummys and closing eyes, and on return to our hostel a number of people disappeared to their beds :)

We are all so looking forward to wearing our new Salwaar kameese' tomorrow that I'm sure we will all be up and raring to go. The slum awaits us and everyone is excited about finally getting to meet with more of the community. Please continue to pray for us and all those we will meet!

Love to all back home,
Hannah and Shammah x