New Delhi/Old Delhi

Yesterday was perhaps over eventful. I went around Delhi to see several big things. Amongst them was Old Delhi and the Jama Masjid Neighborhood. Jama Masjid, it should be noted, is the largest mosque in India. Just around it is a heavily Muslim part of town, and some exceptionally busy streets. Standing at the Entrance gate to the mosque elevated from the street some 20 ft and looking south into the surrounding neighborhood, one gets a true vision of India. It is the most crowded I have ever seen a street. This includes my visits to the Bazaar in Damascus as well. There are shops which sell every variety of thing and restaurants which have been in continuous operation well over 100 years.

My friend and his brother decided to take me to Karim restaurant which has been listed as "Best of Asia" by Time Magazine. It's an amalgam of three hole in the wall restaurants tucked away in a corner that I wouldn't have explored had they not known its location. They make loads of naans and other north indian classics right in the tandoor (Clay oven in the ground). We ate some kebabs and tandoori chicken. Both very good. I wouldn't say the best of Asia, but at the price they were certainly hard to beat.

A little further down and around is a section of the neighborhood where it seems there are many shops devoted to selling single items. These items seems to come together to resemble a car repair area. Many chop shops all working together. Delhi by the way has more motor vehicles than any other city in the world. Amongst the shops are a shop selling nothing but springs. Springs for shock absorbers, springs for watches, all kinds of springs, huge ones, miniature ones, everything in between. It's nearly literally a hole in the wall and contains more springs than I have ever seen in one place. To mimic this there are at least two "ball-bearing" shops, several tire shops, a shop selling only car doors (I'm not kidding). These doors may or may not contain windows, are from all makes and models of cars and may or may not be painted. Walking the streets around Jama Masjid was a task. I had to work extra hard to avoid being run over for the 3rd time. Much more crowded than my usual Indian outings. Somehow I think one could spend an entire month there of 8 hour days before one can confidently say (s)he knows what's in Old Delhi. It is overwhelming to say the least.