I slept well despite the guy constantly walking through the compartments late into the night and early in the morning chanting “Chai, Chai, Chai” over and over again. How many sales does he think he’ll get when everyone is trying to sleep?

Our overnight train from Varanasi arrives on time.  New Delhi seems serene compared to Varanasi…now that’s saying something. We head back to our beginning point, The Hotel Perfect.

We go for breakfast while the hotel readies our rooms. I order an onion uttapam which is like a savoury pancake with different dips.

The group decides to go to “Kitchen with a Cause” for our last supper rather than return to Aroma, the restaurant where John got sick on the first night of our tour.

We all split up for the day to do our own thing.

By now, John and I are old pros on the New Delhi subway. We head to the Chandni Chowk  Market.

This market has been around for over three centuries. We walk through narrow allies jam-packed with people selling everything.

I notice here that many men wear knitted vests, some are obviously hand knit…you know the type that granny or a mother knits, using weird colour combinations with leftover wool…the kind that often ends up being donated? Well, I actually thought that maybe those vests get sent to India but Garima informs me that grannies, mothers and wives here also knit vests. Maybe I should take up the needles again.

From the market we walk to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India. It is also very close to the Red Fort. Despite being totally covered from head to foot, I still need to pay 50Rs to rent a robe. The inside courtyard of this mosque holds up to 25,000 people. I am content sitting in the courtyard and being the subject for people’s pictures while John climbs the narrow, circular staircase up one of the two towering minarets. Non-muslims are currently not allowed inside the mosque sanctuary.

The Ghandi Memorial is located here. It is the site where Ghandi was cremated a day after his assassination in 1948. The memorial is a simple black marble platform covered in flowers in a large courtyard. A raised walkway surrounds the memorial and the entire site is set in peaceful parkland.

The National Ghandi Museum is just a short walk away.  I spent a good hour totally immersed in what I am learning about this famous man. Among many of the items on display are the blood stained dhobi and shawl he wore when assassinated, a bullet that shot him, his walking stick and more.

We head back to the hotel via the subway. There are no spitting signs advising of fines if caught throughout the subway stations. I find the number of people (mostly men) that loudly spit (hork), very disturbing. It’s not as bad as in some other Asian countries but it is still a lot more than in Western countries. People will even spit out of their car window or tuk tuks. It is something else I try to avoid stepping in when  walking.