New Delhi is covered more or less, and it's time to see what Old Delhi has to offer. Transportation for the day is the metro. As pretty much everything else in Dehli it is crowded, dirty and chaotic. Considering myself an above average user of public transportation I don't think this will be as difficult as it looks. Wrong! Turns out the train is divided into two parts; men only and women only.. The other girls and I realize this just a little bit too late, and have to sprint down the railway to get onto the right part. We make it just in time and literalyy have to squeeze ourselfs into the packed crowd of women whom for the rest of the ride point at at us, talk in hindi and laugh. Thanks a lot women of Delhli- why don't you travel somewhere foreign yourself?
OK, now that i got that out of the system, let's continue. After 20 minutes we arrive in Old Dehli. I gotta say it certainly lives up to its name. It looks extremely old and worn out. Some of the buildings are actually so shady it's quite uncomfortable to even walk by in fear that it'll collapse.

Jumping in between tuk-tuk and mopeds in the streets of Old Dehli I can't help but think that i didn't brace myself enough for this. This is so different from anything i've ever seen or ever even imagined. I'm disgusted by the smell and the poor living conditions. The kids running by themselfs in the streets make me sick to my stumach, and the begging women showing off their babies for money makes me wanna cry. Culture shock is starting to hit me but I determend that i won't let it get to me. We reach the Jama Masjid right in time. The over 300 years old moqsue is the perfect place to escape the stress from the noise outside. We take our shooes off and enter the largest and most peacefull place you can imagine. Jama Masjid is India's largest mosque and can hold a min-blowing 25,000 people (quote: Lonely Planet). It's like entering another world, and the foggy weather makes it almost magical. Since it's quite early in the afternoon we get the mosque almost to ourselfs. I can breathe again. The stress that made me dizzy a couple of minutes ago is gone. It's just me, the mosque and incredible India.

After saying goodbye to the mosque and some very angry beggers, we head over to a sikh temple near by. Again we have to take our shoes of, and this time we also have to cover our hair. The sikh temple is like a castle from Alladin. Decorated with gold and flowers, and hundreds of men wearing turbans. Turns out this temple is more than just gold and fancy headwear. When we step out of the main room (the praying room, as i like to call it), we walk right into a giant kitchen where food for hundereds of people is being prepared. I even get to help make some bread (good karma coming my way). They ask if we would like to dine with them and we humbly accept. It wasn't the best gastronomig experience, but it was still an unforgettable one. J