My good friend John recommended us to sign up for the Old Delhi Bike Tour. A quick search online return with the one and only Old Delhi Bike Tour (www.delhibycycle.com). They have a few packages but we went for the original Shah Jahan tour (Old Delhi). It cost 25 Euros per person and we registered for it a few days before the trip. As we approach to the actual date, we were concerned that Obama visit will have some parts of the city being curfew off. But the tour organizers told us not to worry about it. The rendezvous time is at 6.30am around the Old Delite cinema.
We left our hotel at 5.45am and arrived at the Old Delite cinema by 6.20am. It was darkness around the Old Delite cinema. There were a large number of tricycles parked in front of the cinema. I recce around the area first, trying to figure out the exact rendezvous location. The website gave very detail description on how we can walk from Delite cinema to the carpark area.
And below is our gathering point. I noticed all the participants are ladies except for me.
We began our journey into the Old Delhi streets. We zipped past the Delite Cinema, past Turkman Gate and arrived at Chawri Bazar. The route takes us through small winding and uneven paths. You will need pretty good bicycle skill to manoeuvre your way through. The Chawri Bazar is like a circular town square right in the heart of old Delhi.
People were still fast asleep at this time and it's quite quiet.
We continued our journey and arrived at the residential area of the Spice market. We parked our bikes along the road and climbed up 4 flights of stairs to the top of the building. It gave us an astonishing view of the surroundings.
Our guide told us this is also a member of the Old Delhi Bike Tour group.
After we made our way down, the Spice market is starting to come alive with hawkers pushing their wares to the shops.
We continue our cycle through the busy roads and arrived at the Civil Lines. They wanted to show us the contrast between the Old Delhi district where people live in poverty to luxurious mansions just across the main street. We had a short chai break at this time.
Here I am with my bike.
Finally, we arrived at the Jama Masjid and is dazzled by the majestic architecture of the mosque. The guide told us people who could not visit Mecca, will visit the Jama Masjid.
It is lunch time and it is Indian food at the Karim. They told us this is one of the original chain restaurant that serves very good Prata with Mutton curries.
Here is our brunch spread.
I walked back to the main street to have a quick snap of the Jama Masjid.
And we continue our journey down the busy market street.
As the Delite Cinema is quite a distance from the subway, I decided to hop on a tricycle to bring us over to the nearest subway line. It cost 60 rupee for the 10mins ride.
Thank you to our driver.
The Delhi metro is remarkably clean and advanced.
Prior to returning back to our hotel, we visited Delhi Haat which sells a variety of handicrafts.
