This is our last morning in Delhi and we wake up really early to watch the sunrise and hear the birds waking up. This is not intentional, necessarily, but the time zone difference is still influencing us and we go to sleep quite early and wake around four AM. The smog is still out in force in the morning but the sun finally breaks through after some minutes for a nice view of the gardens and the trees.
We watch the birds for some time including the barbets and then it is time to go downstairs to eat breakfast. We eat as much as we can as we don’t know when we will be able to eat again and if it would be edible by us or too hot.
We are all packed now so we pay the outstanding balance at the hotel and then it is time to pick up our driver and drive to the first destination for the day the Lotus Temple, one of the thirteen Baha’i temples and the only one in Asia. The entrance to the complex is free and then we have to walk through the garden exploring all the time and looking for birds while making our way to the temple entrance.
The temple is an architectural marvel from the outside, it is a beautiful building and we are curious how it looks inside. Construction started in 1977 and ended in 1986 and the building has won multiple architectural awards and was featured in magazines and newspapers.
At the entrance we have to take off our shoes and leave them at wardrobe and then it is time to walk barefoot and wait in queue to enter the temple. We are the third group to enter so we have time to take in the surroundings, especially the temple and the beautiful pool surrounding it.
Before entering we are told not to take photos inside so we expect it to be something special and then we enter and….it is a letdown, it looks like a business conference room with chairs and really no decorations. We take a photo from outside, to respect the request, but really we have no idea why the restriction.
We exit through a different entrance and we are bit worried about our shoes but after a long detour we arrive at the wardrobe again and can get our shoes again and warm our toes.
And then we start towards our next goal. We wanted to attend an art show however our driver refuses saying that the roads are much slower, even though Google shows only ten minutes difference. Then we discuss what else we can do and we find out we will pass next to Qutub Minar that we wanted to visit on our last day so we decide to stop today so that is the plan.
It is not a long drive but we enjoy seeing the slices of life outside. There are stores, tuk-tuks and many many pigeons that are fed almost at every street corner. And then we arrive and it is time to visit what is arguably the largest attraction in Delhi, Qutub Minar.
