India Days One – Three: A Long Flight, A Sleepless Night And A Great Day In New Delhi

India. I first heard  of  India when I saw the Taj Mahal on a view master photo when I was in first or second grade. I remember it like it was yesterday, I saw the Pyramids, Big Ben, the Great Wall of China the Taj Mahal and many other wonders of the world through that cheap viewmaster we got from shopping at the Acme grocery store. When I saw them I was amazed and, I said to myself,  I will visit them someday. I was poor and this seemed like an impossible dream when I told my family and friends. Well I made it to the Pyramids, Big Ben, the Great Wall of China and many other places I saw with that view master.   I finally  made it to India. I write this in  Delhi , the capital of India,  early Sunday morning, after a night with little sleep.   I will see the Taj Mahal on this trip. But that will be in  a couple of days, hopefully after seeing  a tiger, cobra and some other wonderful sights.

It was a long full  day of travel to get here.  I left my home in Northeastern Pennsylvania  2 p.m Friday afternoon . It was a 2 hour drive to the Newark airport. I was traveling with  friend and met another friend at the airport. . We were  traveling in a group and we spent time in the United Lounge until our 9:30 p.m. flight departed for Delhi Airport. . It was a 14 hour direct flight to Delhi . Unfortunately, for me,   I was on a 787 Dreamliner.    The windows were tinted  the entire flight.  I was also  over one of the jet’s a wing so I couldn’t watch the passing landscape below. This is actually the sun shining through the tinted window.

I had injured my shoulders few weeks ago, and I am still recuperating.  I decided to remain on the 17 day tour and finally see India.  I had to cancel a pervious planned tour to India when I lost my beloved  sister and her husband in a tragic accident.  I had no problems in the airport or on the flight with my shoulder. . We arrived in the Delhi airport at 9:30 p.m Saturday. We made it through immigration and met a few more members of our group, and our guide Aparna , outside the airport.

It was a warm and humid night with the waning gibbous moon shining overhead. A shuttle took us through busy traffic to our hotel . Car and truck horns blared the entire 20 minutes ride. It was after 11 p.m when we arrived at the beautiful Eros hotel. Aparna helped  check us into our rooms and then gave us some a informative orientation on the hotel and the beginning of our tour. I got to my room, unpacked and wasn’t very tired since I slept a lot on the plane . My shoulder was sore and I wasn’t able to fall asleep. I got about 2 hours of sleep.

However, when the sun rose at  6:20 a.m.  I had a cup of coffee in my room and was out exploring the streets of  Delhi. I originally ws going to take a tuk-tuk, the unique  Indian form of transportation,  to  a bird sanctuary about a 20 minute drive from our hotel. However, with my injured shoulder I decided to explore some nearby parks and  temples.   I left the hotel  and walked along the  Aastha Kunj Road.  It was warm and humid with a temperature in the  upper 60’s. The skies were clear but hazy from some pollution

There ws little traffic at this early hour on a Sunday morning. There were a few commercial trucks, some motorcycles and tuk -tuks on the road but not the busy traffic I would see later in the day.

The road took me  past a major Metro Station ,

and continued under the elevated railroad track. The road also took me along Aastha Kunj Park.   This park and our hotel are located in  Nehru Place a large commercial, financial, and business center  noted for it information technology.   However, there ws still evidence of poverty in the area as I walked past famines living on the sidewalk between the street and park.

The first wildlife I saw in India was this cute, and noisy,  the northern or five stripped palm squirrel. It’s loud calls made me think it was a large bird at first. I would see hundreds of these loud squirrels and my hike that day.

After about a 1/2 mile walk from my hotel I entered the park,

and immediately  loved the peace and quiet of the trees.

However the quiet would not last long I soon encountered  these two species of birds,  jungle  babbler and

a common myna bird.   I would see hundreds of these birds on my two walks in the park and would became very familiar with there songs and calls.

I walked to a small pond  which provided an excellent contrast of the quiet nature park and the  Metro and large city beyond the park limits.

There were quite a few folks walking in the park at this early hour. I roamed the trails,

stopping to admire some of  the beautiful  flowers blooming along the trails, some visited by insects, I believe this is a Asian honeybee visiting a purple spider worth flower.

this a  trailing daisy ,

and these silk floss tree flowers. As I note in all of my blog post I am no expert and rely on my iPhone apps for identification. Please let me know if I misidentified a plant, animal or bird.

I continued my exploration of the park, past another small body of water, here I would see two more species of noisy birds. First a flock of rose ringed parakeets.   I had just seen this birds on a recent trip to Rome were they were introduced and are now an invasive species.

I also saw this house crow the first of many I would see on my hikes.

The trail took me past some fields were young men were playing cricket.

I also saw this temple in the distance.

I soon heard loud music and chanting and I approached  the ISKCON Temple. It is a  Hindu Temple of Krishna  and Rahda.

I followed the music toward the temple. The temple wasn’t open yet but there was a ceremony going on in a tent. I took off my shoes and stopped. It was very emotional I was asked to participate in the ceremony . I did and it was a very moving experience that brought tears to my eyes. As I was putting my shoes back on   a gentleman approached and offered me some sweet sack which I later learned were made from chick pea flour and were a customary  gift at these services. It was a wonderful start to my visit to India.

I continued on my walk through the park. I also wanted to visit the more famous Lotus temple.

As the morning progressed more people entered the park. young and old, alone or in groups and with many families with children

I walked under the trees ,

with pretty white jasmine flowers growing along the path.

I saw many of the birds I saw earlier and a few new species including a few red vented bulbuls ,

an Oriental magpie-robin,

this rufous treepie

a Eurasian collared dove

and this beautiful black kite perched in a tree.

Dozens of these birds soared overhead.

I left the park and followed the road to the Lotus Temple. It was now very busy.

The road was lined with vendors selling all kinds of foods from Chinese

to local Indian food, some of the vendors wanted their photos taken.

I got to the Lotus Temple just around 8:30 when it opened. Unfortunately, so did a lot of other people. There was a long line at the gate.

I wanted to get back to my hotel for breakfast so I didn’t wait in line.

I began my hike back , again entering thd park. I saw many of the same birds I saw earlier.

There were also a lot of friendly dogs in the park,

and a few cats too.

I walked back to my hotel finishing my 3 mile hike and,

joining some friends for a great breakfast buffet.

I returned to my room, edited photos and slept for a couple of hours. I got up around 3 p.m and decided to return to the park. It was a different world now,

so much more traffic, both motor vehicle and pedestrian. Vendors sold all kind of foods and music filled the air. It was a carnival type of atmosphere.

I was glad to get into the peace and quiet of the park.

I roamed the trails looking for new species of birds,

and I saw a few , mainly at the small pond in the middle of the park.

Here I saw this red-wattled lapwing

and a few Indian pond herons stalking their prey in the pond. I also saw many of the common mynas , jungle jabbers and other birds I saw in the morning. Here is a link to a gallery in my blog website with more photos of the birds I saw on my hikes. India Days One to Three . Delhi birds October 10 to 12 2025.

We had a group meeting at 5:30 and I walked back to the hotels arriving just in time for the informative meeting. Our guide was wonderful as she welcome our group of seasoned travels. As many if you who follow me know, I most often travel alone . However, India is a beautiful country but not one for the solo traveler. I am glad I chose thus group and this tour guide for this visit.  After our meeting I had an excellent meal at the Chinese restaurant in the hotel, beginning with kimchi and mushroom soup,

with shrimps and rice in a tomato sauce as my main course. It was delicious. I retired to my room, and fell asleep for a few hours, I’m typing this at 3 a.mWe have an early start and I hope to get a few hours of sleep before another day of exploring India. Here is a link to a gallery in my blog website with more photos from   my hikes. India Days One to Three . Delhi  October 10 to 12 2025.