The last sweltering days of Delhi... and we went on a bicycle tour with the kids.
After three years, we finally thought they were ready to face the frenzy of Old Delhi.
There is a Dutch guy, Jack Leenders, who just started doing guided bicycle tours (you would have to be Dutch for that) and we decided to join one. Our two fellow-riders were British, visiting India for a week and wanting to experience it to the fullest. Well, no better start than a bicycle tour through the busiest, filthiest, oldest part of town!

We started at New Delhi station and immediately got stuck in traffic; there is a busstop there and buses push their way in and out, with pedestrians, riksha's, tuctucs, cars and obviously us trying to sort of wiggle in between. It took us 15 minutes before we could hit the roads, immediately being surrounded by honking cars and scooters and all sorts of vehicles passing us by left and right! What excitement!

The bicycles are of Indian manufacturing which makes them so basic that nothing can break, but also fairly uncomfortable...thank got they have good breaks and bells! Especially the bells...you NEED them!

We did not stay on the big roads and soon were zigzagging in the small streets of the bazaars, trying not to hit any cows, goats, dogs, garbage heaps, and people...what a mess! What smells! What intensity! There Delhi was, in all its long-gone beauty, leaving on big chaos behind that was right in our faces! I have lived here for three years now but I never experienced India so close as I did this time on the seat of a bike!

Roos, with her lushy 16 years, was obviously the attraction of the day. Even though she (sort of) covered up, the men she encountered all changed into drooling fools, mouth wide open, staring after her as if they had just seen one of the wonders of the world pass by. It was really funny! Roos decided that next time, she'll wear a Burka.

We stopped for Chai while riding through the quiet lanes of the Civil Lines district (where the expats used to live at the end of the 19th century), stopped for breakfast at Karim's, "the" Moghul restaurant near the Jama Mashid, and finally were able to safely yet stiff get off our bicycles at New Delhi station. It has been by far the most exciting trip I ever took in Old Delhi!

(for those interested: www.delhibycycle.com)