New Delhi, the capital of India

Delhi and New Delhi are not the same thing! New Delhi is the official capital of India, a district of the city of Delhi. The government buildings of India are concentrated here, along with many sights.

Population of New Delhi

The population of the New Delhi district is 295,000 people, and that of the city of Delhi itself is more than 11 million.

Sights of New Delhi

We spent 2 days in this city. On the first day we walked around the city on our own, looked around and took care of practical matters for the rest of our route — we bought train tickets to Varanasi. On the second day, to manage to see most of the interesting places, we decided to take a bus tour of Delhi. As last time in Mumbai, the tour was aimed at local Indian tourists, since we again booked it at a guesthouse for locals. It cost 250 rupees per person in an air-conditioned bus. During the tour we visited a beautiful Hindu temple and the square where the government buildings are concentrated: the presidential palace, the parliament, the ministries. We stopped at India Gate, built in honor of the soldiers who died in World War I.

We stopped by the Gandhi family house — it is now a museum dedicated to Indira Gandhi, one of India’s best-known prime ministers. Very interesting — we recommend a visit. A notable part of the tour was a visit to the amazing Lotus Temple, the main Baha’i temple in India. The Baha’i Faith is a religion meant to unite all existing religions. A person of any faith can come here. The temple has no altars, no pulpits, no statues, and there are no images on the walls. Only benches for visitors.

The Lotus Temple in New Delhi

We also visited the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, where part of his ashes is kept. Overall we liked the tour, it was much more interesting than in Mumbai. We also liked Delhi itself more than Mumbai. There are fewer people per square meter, it is cleaner, more decent and somehow more civilized. Fewer beggars living on the street, fewer people trying to sell you something.

Interestingly, while we were walking around the city, people kept coming up to us to help, completely unselfishly, and tell us where things were, what to see and where to eat. One of the locals walked us to the government tourist center, where we were given a free city map and told about the sights worth visiting. A tourist center is a place meant to help tourists with information for free. There are also fake tourist centers, where they will want money for any service, try to push a tour on you or sell you a train ticket with a big commission. The best and simplest way is to buy tickets at the station or through MakeMyTrip.com.