We took the metro back to old delhi this morning. It's definitely something you won't see anywhere else. You walk up the stairs out of the station and all of a sudden a million people are bustling in every available space. Cars, rickshaws, bikes, people, cows, goats. Moving things just everywhere and I'm always like, where is everyone going? I wonder that when I'm in traffic on a freeway too. It was hard to walk, so we jumped in a rickshaw towards Jama Masjid. Its weird how locals walk through the streets knowing where every pothole is or pole is without even looking. Even on rickshaws, they automatically avoid potholes without even looking down. What a talent! Here I have to constantly look in every direction since traffic doesn't always follow stop lights or anything.
Jama Masjid is beautiful. You climb up steps, take off your shoes, and walk through the arched entrance to a huge courtyard where up to 25000 people can pray. There is a fountain in the middle and tons of pigeons eating seeds. And then you find out Shah Jahan built it, and the Taj Mahal like architecture makes sense. He was known for his architectual intellect. We climbed up 121! steps to the top of one of two minarets and got a great view of the surrounding area. There were lots of european tourists. Pictures aren't allowed in the mosque.. unless you pay the guy who stops you haha. As we were walking out through the metal detector, a police man was sitting on the desk copying out names from a notebook called "Characters to Watch For". I laughed at the name. My dad asked what it meant, and he said people who have misbehaved or pickpocketed in the masjid are written down and watched for so they don't come back. I guess the police know what the men look like?
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