The Moto Wanderer: India/Istanbul Trip Day 3: India gate and clubbing the night away (2/27)

After a long day past 2 days, we slept in and got a late start to the day. Everyone meets in lobby and gets to the shuttles where we go to lunch. The place we go is under renovations so we go across the street to Lutyen's which has a large expat clientele which was par for the course on many of the places we went for food. Have some interesting looking cocktails and some good food and then we head out to India Gate which is their Arc de Triomphe (has names of people in different military divisions who I guess died in battle carved all over the gate) on the mall opposite the Parliament house.

Lots of people gathered around the India Gate.

Cool structure behind the india Gate.

Thats the parliament building in the far background.

You can start seeing the definition of the gate.

See the Parliament building there in the distance?

I guess this is kinda like the eternal flame in Arlington?

View from the other side.

Cool people hanging out at the Gate :)

Drive around the parliament house entry a few times (cool building which we will come back to later in the trip to explore but there is no where to park today so we dont stop) so people can look at it and then park at the india gate lot so we can explore a little bit. Walk around a little bit and I leave the group as I wanted to go look at other things and this older lady pins a little Indian flag on me (no asking just comes up and does it) and then asks for 100rs. I said no and told her to take it back as I am not paying and start walking in and she then says the 100rs is an entrance fee. Entrance fee to a public space???? I think not my friend. So then she says its for a donation for the kids she teaches, where I wondered why she was out at 2pm during the day hustling foreigners instead of teaching her kids; so naturally I say no and just walk away no longer listening (when we were leaving these ladies were no longer around which makes me think the cops shooed them away). Take some pics around the gate and the group catches up so we hang out for a bit and then go check out a nearby fountain real fast before getting on the vans to go check out the Lodi garden area.

The Tomb. Cool looking building.

Another side with a little better lighting.

Pretty flowers in the park.

Going up into the tomb.

Tombs and look out the other side.

Actual garden in the garden :)

Another cool looking tomb.

Front view.

This tomb is much bigger and more intricate than the first.

Liking the carvings/stone work all around this building.

Dre also approves of the stonework.

So beautiful!

Little carving to the side of the window.

Amazed at the preservation of the detail.

People chilling on the footsteps of the tomb enjoying the weather.

Explore a few of the tombs in the park and one of the guys talks his way into a pick up game of cricket saying he plays/can hit (gets smoked). Leave the gardens and go to Kahn market for drinks to pass the time until it is time to go to Ritika's mom's place for dinner. Go into parallel where they have an Indian craft beer (white rhino) and some smokey old fashions which were both extremely delicious and a cool spectacle to open. Gets dark so we head to mom's place for dinner; lots of people in a small place but loads of fun. She doesnt drink much and has tons of booze so she opens her liquor cabinet and had some Henny (this was a recurring thing we saw on this trip - places had Henny for the group :) ) as well as other options that everyone enjoys as the night goes on. Dinner time and its family style serving with 4-5 delicious dishes; everyone was concentrating on the meat dishes, but I thought the lentil (Daal) dish was by far the best (absolutely phenomenal - I had a couple plates of just it :) ). My roomies and 2 other people then go with one of Ritikas "brothers" to a bar. Turns out to be a club just like you would find elsewhere in the world. Stay for a bit and then we all are tired so head home. Driving there is crazy as laws seem merely like a suggestion; on the way home, our ride ran a few red lights and was swerving all through the "lanes". Was pretty impressive to watch as it just embodied the organized chaos seen throughout the trip thus far. We get back to the hotel and head up to the room and as we were settling in our neighbors were just getting back so we hopped over the balcony and joined them for some drinks. Had some Swedish candy, one was a black licorice COVERED in salt; yes you read that right, they consider the combination of salt and hard black licorice as candy. Had one as I had to try it and I did not like it; I do not typically like much salt on things but I do enjoy licorice so it was a toss up. Hit a wall and head to bed as they are still going.

Ever seen a smoky old fashion?