2 Weeks in India | 72 hours in New Delhi: Day 2

Our second morning in India was the start of D's conference which left J and I to be tourists together. All three of us got breakfast together in the hotel; it was included in our room rate and it was delicious so why wouldn't we? After breakfast, D grabbed a car service to her conference while J and I perused the internet in search of a decent itinerary.

We decided to try and do things that were within walking distance of our hotel.

TOMB OF SAFDARJANG

I coined the nickname "the tomb raiders" for J and myself because this was the first of many tombs we visited. Entry for foreigners was ₹200 ($3).

I don't know if it's because we were there relatively early or because it's just not that popular of a destination, but it was pretty quiet and empty, which was nice.

J suggested I do a few jumping photos but our mutual timing sucked so I ended up doing a normal pose. I managed to snap J jumping though, because I'm awesome.

LODHI GARDENS

Once we'd decided we'd had enough of the tomb, we walked to the nearby Lodhi Gardens for a wander amongst some greenery. The sun was pretty brutal so we were craving the shade.

Within the gardens themselves, we visited three more tombs. The first was the Muhammad Shah Sayyid Tomb.

Next we stopped by Bara Gumbad and Shish Gumbad.

Bara Gumbad, which translates to "big dome," is an ancient monument and mosque.

I made J pose like some other dudes were posing.

Shish Gumbad, which translates to "glazed dome," is a tomb for the last members of the Lodhi dynasty.

We also popped by the rose garden, which was kind of pathetic, maybe because of the season and weather. I feel like they should choose a flower that is more robust and would thrive in the heat.

We saw these magnificent green birds everywhere, which I much preferred to the pigeons. These guys never hung out on the ground though. We only ever saw them flying or hanging out in trees.

The final stop in Lodhi Gardens was the tomb of Sikandar Lodi, who was the second ruler of the Lodi dynasty. I know you're wondering why my spellings are all over the place; I think the anglicization of many words resulted in various spellings (e.g. Lodi vs. Lodhi, Safdarjung vs. Safdarjang) and I'm just using the more common spelling where applicable.

I liked this tomb the best. it was quaint and gorgeous and the coolest (in terms of temperature as there was loads of shade).

KHAN MARKET

And just because it was kind of on our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Khan Market for a wander. It was bustling but not really my cup of tea and honestly, I was just tired and drained from spending so much time in the sun so we didn't really shop.

GULATI

After D got back from her conference in the late afternoon, we freshened up and headed out. For dinner, we decided to go to Gulati after reading rave reviews.

After we ordered, the server brought us some coriander chutney and onion chutney and some pickled vegetables.

We started with a vegetarian appetizer that had various delicious bits including a really divine paneer and some fritters.

For our mains, we got aloo mekhi, which was a spinach and potato curry with loads of cilantro, which was just slightly spicy and incredibly delicious.

We also got authentic chicken tikka masala. It was heavenly. D said that it was so good she wanted to slap anyone else who had served her tikka masala in the past for making garbage.

Of course we had to get rice and naan to accompany the meal and to sop up all of the delicious sauces.

For dessert we got gulab jamun with ice cream. If you've never had gulab jamun, please try it. They're little fried donuts soaking in honey and they are incredible.

Unlike the evening prior, we still had a little energy when we got back. So D and I donned our hotel robes and went downstairs to the health center to have a sauna and a steam. Our skin was glowing and it gave me a really good night's sleep.

xoxo.