Day 3: Together we are strong (02/22/2017)

After a very peaceful night, I woke up well-rested and full of energy. At the breakfast table, I met Brendon, who was going to be my new companion. A young, nice guy who had just finished university and wanted to explore Delhi with me. Since Brendon is also quite athletic, we tried to explore a large part of the city on foot. However, we did not yet realize that we would end up walking a total of 22 km at the end of the day.

Although our exploration did not start off well, as Brendon unsuccessfully tried to withdraw money from several ATMs, we quickly had the opportunity to visit a Hindu temple complex. Here, we were quickly informed that both our heads and shoes had to be covered. Like in many temples, photography was unfortunately prohibited here as well. We felt like we were in a calm and clean place for the first time since our arrival in Delhi.

We continued our journey to India Gate. One of the main tourist attractions in Delhi, which was particularly popular among Chinese tourists. In summary, it can be said that it is nothing more than an oversized arch that is besieged by scammers. A quick photo to print here, a lucky charm there, and you quickly lose several rupees.

After taking the typical tourist photos, we quickly fled towards Humayun Darwaza, a small fort that did not look particularly spectacular at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, the fort turned out to be nothing more than a love nest for young Indians. Apparently, they felt undisturbed and unobserved here. No matter which wall or bush we looked behind, there was kissing and touching everywhere. When they noticed our gazes, they responded with a cool smile and a thumbs up. We did not want to disturb the lovebirds any further and jumped into the next tuk-tuk to our final destination, the Akshardham Temple, which had a lot to offer.

A fairly new temple, only 25 years old, offered an impressive laser show after sunset. Unlike at subway stations, train stations, temples, or hostels, the security measures were particularly high. Although our bags were scanned everywhere and we were frisked, it was new to us that we were not allowed to bring any electronic devices with us. So we handed over all our belongings in the hope of seeing them again and subjected ourselves to a pat-down search. Unfortunately, a young soldier at the entrance did not notice my belt, which had set off the metal detector. I tried to help him kindly by showing him that I didn't have anything on me by lifting my shirt. Apparently, that was not a good idea, as all the other soldiers had a very allergic reaction to my exposed upper body. Fortunately, after a quick apology and a nice smile, we still managed to enter the temple and were impressed by a fascinating laser show. About 5,000 people visited the spectacle daily, where a tremendous show of water fountains, laser beams, projectors, and children as performers was presented to the visitors.

Exhausted and with many new impressions in our luggage, we made our way home. Since we encountered many other nice backpackers at the hostel, we were not allowed to sleep before 2 o'clock. We were bombarded with recommendations for places, temples, or activities that we absolutely had to see!